The Grand Duke's Maid Writes a Consultation Log Today - Chapter 74

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Grand Ducal House Maid Writes a Consultation Journal Today Chapter 074
The afternoon sunlight was stretching long and low through the window.
It was around the time the simple meal was coming to an end.
Elysia set down the dishes one by one on the tea table, then lifted her head again.
And she wore a look of utter disbelief.
“……Are you saying Lady Sheila chose these herself?”
“Yes.”
The one who answered was the Head Maid.
“Strawberry cake and chocolate mousse cake. She told us to prepare both.”
Elysia went blank for a moment.
It had been a truly long time since Sheila had been the first to say what she wanted to eat.
And of all things, dessert!
She could not stop the corners of her mouth from twitching upward.
“You must make sure to eat a lot today then.”

* * *
Sheila’s room.
Elysia did not know where to fix her gaze in the midst of this bizarre landscape.
Yulias and Sheila sat across from each other with the desserts between them, expressionless as though they were facing a chessboard.
Yulias narrowed the space between his brows.
“……Why are you looking at us like that.”
Elysia hurriedly shook her head.
“No. It’s just…… it’s nice to see the two of you spending time together.”
“You speak of useless things.”
Though his response was blunt, his gaze remained fixed on Sheila the entire time.
Sheila pricked a strawberry with the tip of her fork, deliberated for a moment, and then parted her lips ever so slightly.
Elysia thought a moment too late.
Perhaps she should have called Joshua along instead. If she had, this gathering might have been a little less awkward.
But Joshua had already bolted away like a flash of lightning, absolutely thrilled by Yulias’s permission to go examine the library to his heart’s content.
Having eaten the strawberry, Sheila spoke in a tiny voice.
“……It’s sweet.”
Yulias looked down at the desserts.
Both the strawberry cake and the chocolate mousse cake looked sweet enough to make someone sick just by looking at them.
“I see.”
“…….”
“…….”
Silence descended once more.
In the end, Elysia lowered her head and swallowed her laughter.
It was seriously, dreadfully awkward.
Sheila quietly took a bite of the chocolate mousse.
Then, a moment later, she silently nudged the plate a fraction toward Elysia.
It was an invitation to eat.
“Pardon?”
Elysia’s eyes sparkled.
However, the one who moved first was Yulias.
Clink.
Yulias picked up his fork and sliced away a piece of the mousse cake.
“Your Grace?”
“I am checking to see if it is poisoned.”
“…….”
“…….”
Elysia finally failed to contain herself and burst out laughing.
“If you do that, Your Grace, the Lady will misunderstand.”
“What misunderstanding.”
“……She will think you’re snatching her dessert away.”
Yulias’s expression stiffened minutely.
On the other hand, Sheila flinched for a second, then let out a small burst of laughter.
It was a brief laugh.
At that exact moment, the air inside the room grew noticeably softer.
Yulias’s fingertips paused for a second, and he stared at Sheila without a word.
As if it were an expression he was seeing for the very first time.
Elysia quietly poured the tea while looking back and forth between the two.
Up until just a moment ago, these two had been trapped in an awkward silence.
Yet it was strange.
Though not many words were exchanged, the atmosphere was far gentler than before.
It felt exactly like snow softly melting away after winter reached its end.
Elysia offered a small smile.
‘Thank goodness.’
It was a true relief.
Knock, knock.
Along with the sound of knocking, Hilmaiten stepped inside.
“Your Grace.”
A single black envelope was held in Hilmaiten’s hand.
A seal clearly stamped with the crest of the Imperial Family.
The moment they saw it, the atmosphere in the room sank once again.
Yulias accepted the envelope.
“Was this sent from the Imperial Court?”
“Yes. It is an invitation to the ball hosted by the Imperial Family this time.”
Elysia’s eyes widened slightly.
A ball.
It was a space where the nobles of high society would gather in one place, making it the absolute most uncomfortable environment for Sheila.
Yulias tore the seal without a word and read down the invitation.
And the moment he reached the final line of the invitation, Yulias’s eyes sank with a chilling coldness.
[Princess Aresina Askilla eagerly anticipates her reunion with the Lady.]
The air in the room grew heavy in an instant.
The awkward peace that had been sustained while sharing dessert just moments ago vanished as if it had all been a lie.
Elysia carefully looked toward Sheila.
The child did not say anything, but her fingertips beneath the table were trembling faintly.
Yulias seemed to have noticed it as well, as his gaze paused for a moment, but that was all.
He simply folded the invitation slowly and placed it down upon the table.
“……Is this a gathering that the Lady absolutely must attend?”
Elysia spoke up cautiously.
“Even if it is an imperial invitation, the Lady’s condition has not yet fully recovered.”
At those words, Sheila’s gaze slowly lifted.
As if she had been waiting for someone to say those words on her behalf.
However, Yulias did not answer right away.
He lightly tapped the edge of the invitation with his fingertip, then continued in a low voice.
“If we decline, it is highly likely to become even more troublesome instead.”
It was a calm voice.
Yet Elysia could tell.
The fact that he was currently quite displeied.
“The fact that the Imperial Family went out of their way to explicitly mention Sheila’s name…… means it is not a simple invitation.”
Elysia’s expression hardened.
It was certainly strange.
Normally, invitations like this were merely sent to the Grand Ducal House, and it was rare to single out a specific person’s name.
Furthermore, the fact that Princess Aresina herself had explicitly mentioned Sheila was even more concerning.
“…….”
“However…….”
His voice dropped a bit lower than before.
“This time, if you do not wish to go, no one will force you.”
Sheila’s pupils wavered faintly.
Elysia also looked at Yulias with a startled expression.
If it had been the Yulias of the past, there was a high probability he would have prioritized attendance for the sake of the relationship between the Grand Ducal House and the Imperial Family.
But right now, he was asking for Sheila’s intent first.
“If you do not want to go, you do not have to.”
It was a short, composed sentence.
Yet Sheila could not answer with any ease, which was unusual.
She merely stared blankly at the invitation on top of the table.
Elysia cautiously parted her lips.
“Lady…….”
It happened at that exact moment.
Sheila reached out her hand very slowly.
And she pulled the invitation resting on the table toward herself.
Yulias’s eyebrows shifted minutely.
Sheila stared at the invitation for a long time. As if she were reading the sentence written inside it all over again.
Before long, her gaze slowly turned toward Elysia.
And she spoke in a truly tiny voice.
“……I’ll go.”
Elysia’s eyes went wide.
“Lady?”
Sheila bit her lips tight and clenched her fingertips.
Signs of anxiety were glaringly evident, but she slowly continued her words once more.
“I don’t…… want to run away.”
Yulias’s gaze slowly drifted over to Sheila.
A tremor passed through his eyes.
Elysia bit her lip as a sudden wave of emotion welled up inside her.
Those words were not a simple declaration of attendance.
Because it was no different from Sheila voicing for the first time that she would no longer avoid the terrors of her past.
Only after a long while did Yulias open his mouth.
“……Very well.”
It was a low, quiet voice.
“Then let us go.”
He slowly pushed himself up from his seat, then added as he looked down at Sheila.
“Because this time, I will be by your side.”
Sheila’s pupils trembled slowly.
Elysia held her breath.
It was because she could understand what those words truly meant.
For the first time, Yulias was explicitly stating that he would stand by the child’s side.
And at that moment, Elysia saw it.
After a brief hesitation, Sheila very slowly reached out and grasped the very edge of Yulias’s sleeve.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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