Me, a Princess? My Lord! - Chapter 94
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 94
Crash!
The maid who was roughly pushed lost her balance and rolled across the floor. A sharp scream burst from the maid’s mouth.
“Ah! Ugh…”
Blood trickled down from her forehead where it struck the corner of the desk. That wasn’t all. The floor was full of all sorts of sharp objects – broken porcelain fragments and splintered wood pieces. Having fallen onto that, the maid’s skin couldn’t remain unharmed.
The housekeeper, startled by the sudden commotion, hurriedly entered the room.
“Master, is something wrong…? Good heavens, Lisa!”
The housekeeper saw the maid trembling on the floor and rushed over.
“What is this…? Did you do this to this child, Master?”
“How have you been educating the servants? She laid hands on me without a word.”
“I apologize. But this child is young and hasn’t been learning the work for long. That’s why she showed such inexperience…”
“Must I concern myself with such things?”
The housekeeper silently met Clovis’s eyes. Taking a deep breath, she helped the maid to her feet.
“The doctor hasn’t left the estate yet. Go get treatment first. Hurry and leave!”
After the trembling, tearful maid left, the air in the room grew heavy.
The housekeeper carefully spoke up.
“That maid made a mistake with you, Master. It’s my fault for not teaching her properly. I’ll go out and scold her well and educate her thoroughly.”
“…”
“But you went too far this time. I know you didn’t intentionally hurt her badly, but it was excessive.”
Clovis responded sarcastically to the housekeeper’s words.
“So what are you telling me to do? Hold onto that maid and apologize? To a mere maid like that?”
“Master.”
“Who exactly are you to lecture me? Don’t make noise and just quietly clean the room. That’s your job.”
The housekeeper’s face hardened stiffly. She had worked in this house for over 40 years. It was since the time when Clovis’s mother, the first wife, was still alive.
Since the duchess was often bedridden, the person who actually cared for and looked after Clovis throughout was the housekeeper. She was in that room the day he was born, and watched all the processes of his growth from the closest distance.
She worked passionately without ever taking a single vacation, and did anything for Clovis’s sake. She covered up his faults and cleaned up his messes, devoting her entire life…
“If you don’t want to work, I won’t hold you back, so leave the estate. Though I wonder where would need an old maid, if you go far from the capital to some distant countryside, you might be able to find a place to barely make ends meet, right? Such places are always short of workers.”
“Master.”
“Don’t look at me with such insolent eyes. You should be grateful that I’ve kept an old, useless maid as housekeeper and fed and housed you.”
Clovis clicked his tongue.
“Well, when a maid acts like a princess… The nation’s discipline has completely collapsed. What a terrible thing!”
The housekeeper’s body trembled with humiliation. She barely squeezed out her voice from deep within.
“…I’ll send a maid to clean the room shortly.”
The housekeeper bowed politely and quickly left the room. The moment the door closed behind her, her body swayed greatly.
Fortunately, Mabel, who was nearby, hurriedly caught and supported her body. Mabel looked at the housekeeper’s pale complexion and asked in a worried voice.
“Are you alright, Housekeeper? Your complexion…”
“Mabel.”
The housekeeper took her hand and barely managed to stand up again. She lightly patted Mabel’s hand and said.
“The master’s room has become a mess. Go and clean it up. There are many sharp objects, so be careful not to get hurt.”
“Yes, Housekeeper.”
Mabel watched until the end as the housekeeper staggered away down the corridor. Her eyes sparkled and gleamed.
‘The relationship between the housekeeper and Clovis has soured. No one knows as much about his secrets as the housekeeper does.’
Mabel’s mind began to work quickly. She had a feeling that somehow the situation was going to become a bit more interesting.
* * *
“Love Triangle Blooms in the Royal Palace: Prince Pretium Caught Between Two Princesses?”
Deshion frowned as he looked at the headline printed as large as a door on the front page of the newspaper. Though he usually didn’t even glance at such tabloids, this time was an exception.
‘Since I’m confined and can’t go out, I have no choice but to get social news this way.’
“At this banquet, Prince Lawrence Evan Pretium appeared together with Princess Anastasia Janette de Panther. However, the situation changed subtly toward the end of the banquet. Prince Pretium drew the attention of attending nobles by creating affectionate scenes, such as personally putting on Princess Heidi Beatrice de Panther’s shoes.”
Deshion’s expression gradually darkened as he read the article. His eyes moved faster and faster.
“The engagement between Prince Pretium and Princess Anastasia is a publicly known fact… Attention is focused on the relationship between Princess Heidi and Prince Pretium.”
The thin newspaper crumpled instantly in Deshion’s hands. Having thrown the finished newspaper far away, he leaned back against the chair. He muttered quietly.
“…Lawrence Evan Pretium.”
He had long known that Lawrence was interested in Heidi. No, come to think of it, he was the one who had provided that opportunity.
Though Lawrence had somewhat frivolous aspects, objectively he wasn’t such a bad man. There were reasons why Anastasia coveted him so much. His family, appearance, and everything else were flawless, and his personality seemed to match quite well with Heidi too.
The situation was also favorable to Heidi and Deshion. After the fact that Heidi had worked as a maid at the Haisen Estate was revealed, public opinion about Heidi among the nobles wasn’t very good. It was because it touched on class and hierarchy, the most sensitive issues in conservative noble society.
But as scandals with provocative titles like ‘Royal Love Triangle’ spread like wildfire, interest in Heidi’s past story was gradually dying down.
‘It’s a good thing. It’s a good thing, but…’
Why didn’t he feel so good about it?
Deshion rubbed his stiff neck with his palm and fell into thought. His heart felt strangely complicated.
He suddenly recalled a conversation he had with Eloise not long ago.
“Brother, do you perhaps… like Heidi?”
On the day he was caught staring intently at Heidi’s portrait, Eloise had asked him that. Whether he liked Heidi.
“Don’t say such nonsense.”
“It’s not nonsense…”
“It’s not like that, so don’t imagine things, Eloise. And don’t spread such words around either. It could cause trouble for the Princess.”
Deshion naturally denied it. It wasn’t true, and the feelings he harbored for Heidi were merely pure friendship and respect. He dismissed it as ridiculous.
But was that really the case?
Deshion tried to suppress the emotions that kept surging up from within him and steadied his breathing. Whenever he thought of Heidi, complex emotions he had never felt before swirled in his chest.
Those emotions sometimes made his mood extremely elated, and other times made him tumble into a bottomless abyss. Today seemed to be closer to the latter.
‘Feelings are feelings, and I must do my work. Work for Heidi.’
Deshion let out a deep sigh. He opened the drawer with a slide and took out several neatly arranged sheets of letter paper.
After thinking for a moment, Deshion dipped his pen nib in ink. His hand moved quickly.
“To His Majesty King Alexander Linkheim Cherot de Panther.”
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————