Timid and Shy - Chapter 24

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

24.

Frederick claimed exhaustion and returned to his quarters without delay. The Empress exhaled slowly. With Frederick here, there would be no place left for Robert.
“How could some bastard ever presume to stand against our Frederick?”
The meeting between Frederick and Parma was postponed once more. Even after arriving at the Capital, Frederick sent letters and gifts but made no effort to see her in person.
Frederick acknowledged that Parma was beautiful, yet his heart remained unmoved. There was something about her eyes, her bearing, that persistently grated on him.
He knew well enough that he would need the Gareth Family to become Emperor. Called the Lion of the West, the Gareth Family possessed a military strength that Wiscom could never provide—a power that even Cressida could not give him.
Frederick swallowed a sigh. And he recalled his grandfather’s words.
‘To become Emperor, I must naturally accept this much.’
“Once I’m Emperor, what does it matter…….”

***

Parma harbored considerable resentment toward Prince Frederick. She had finally secured him, yet opportunities to see him remained elusive.
Immediately after the engagement, Frederick had departed for Cressida, depriving Parma of any chance to display her triumph. When she sent a letter proposing to visit him there, he refused with surgical precision—claiming he could not impose such a long journey on his betrothed. However gently, however courteously he phrased it, a refusal was still a refusal.

‘I wanted to walk arm-in-arm with Prince Frederick right in front of that false, modest Isabel Wiscom and show her…….’
At the Debutante Ball, Isabel had conducted herself as though she held both princes in the palm of her hand. Yet Prince Robert had broken with Philip, and Prince Frederick had been taken from her.
Unlike her dazzling debut in society, Isabel had simply vanished.
Since the announcement of Frederick and Parma’s engagement, Isabel had not appeared at a single social gathering. Some still attributed this to her notorious shyness, but Parma could only scoff. Here was a woman who had even tried to seduce Frederick through her own relatives.
‘Shy? She’s ashamed to show her face. Or perhaps rage runs deeper than shame?’
Parma believed Isabel’s absence from society owed largely to the Duchess of Wiscom’s failure to establish herself in that circle. Yet rumor had spread through society that delicate-natured Isabel Wiscom could not bear to face Parma Gareth—that Wiscom House had delayed the Debutante Ball and hidden Isabel away out of concern for her fragile temperament.
After hearing this gossip, Parma had grown to resent both Isabel and Wiscom. And she made no secret of it.
‘They dare conceal their own weakness by blaming me?’
The Duke of Gareth had accepted the Empress’s proposal with equal enthusiasm. Acting as guardian to Prince Frederick was natural enough, but displacing that distasteful Duke of Wiscom was a tremendous bonus.
When Frederick finally arrived at the Capital, Parma wished to see him at once. But Frederick fixed their next meeting at Robert’s Welcome Ball and would not budge.
Parma sought out her father, the Duke of Gareth, to air her grievances.
“What good is an engagement if I cannot see him? What are the Empress and Cressida thinking?”
The Duke of Gareth, whose massive frame and rough features belied a gentle disposition, replied softly: “What are they thinking? You’ll spend your whole life with him once you’re married—what’s a few missed meetings before then? Be patient. Savor this time. Now you can spend your days exactly as you wish. Once you’re Empress, you’ll have to lead the Imperial Court, and leisure will become scarce. Later, you may want to rest, but you’ll find no time for it. Enjoy this season while it lasts.”
Parma’s face remained clouded with discontent. The Duke spoke on, his tone warm and encouraging.
“When you see Prince Frederick at the Welcome Ball, won’t you be all the more delighted? If you’d been meeting him constantly since the engagement, would you be so eager for that day? The loveliest young lady in the realm will stand at his side that evening—he’ll count himself fortunate. I hope you’ll treasure the sweetness of longing, for that time is brief.”
Parma came to agree with her father’s words. The infrequency of their meetings did kindle a tender, joyful anticipation each time they drew near.
Following the Duke’s counsel, Parma threw herself into preparations to be the most beautiful lady at the Welcome Ball. Watching her efforts, the Duke released a breath of relief. His thinking aligned with the Empress’s.
‘The more often they see each other, the sooner problems will emerge. Keeping them apart as much as possible is the best strategy.’
No one knew Parma’s nature as well as the Duke of Gareth. Should Prince Frederick ever provoke her anger or displeasure, she would quickly turn on him and cast him aside.
‘And Prince Frederick would show her no patience either.’
This arrangement was ideal for now. The Duke also wished to preserve the alliance with the Imperial House.
The Duke swallowed a sigh. He knew such a tactic would work only temporarily. Yet it served Parma’s desires and benefited Gareth.
‘As they both mature and gain years, perhaps their dispositions will improve.’

***

The Wiscom household, too, bustled with preparations for the Welcome Ball. There was something they meant to accomplish at that gathering.

The former Duchess deemed the current Duchess’s salons for artists utterly pointless. It struck her as absurd to feed and coddle these mediocre artisans merely to hear them offer praise or a few empty words.
It mattered not that the Capital was currently experiencing a flourishing of art and culture.
The Duchess held different views, but since the former Duchess had come at her own request, the Duchess deferred to her judgment entirely.
The crucial matter was to make Isabel act of her own volition. Isabel had been stubbornly resisting, claiming that her pride would not permit her to seduce a man already engaged to another.
The former Duchess smiled with arrogant confidence and said: “Dignity can be salvaged later. I shall persuade her.”
That single sentence was all the current Duchess needed to hear.
The former Duchess made her way to Isabel’s bedchamber and dragged her from the bed, commanding her to ready herself.
The former Duchess sat rigidly upright while Isabel, having groomed herself completely, faced her with equal stiffness. Isabel spoke in protest.
“Mother, you wish for me to break Prince Frederick’s engagement. You’ve told me countless times how base such an act would be…….”
“Engagements can still be undone. It’s hardly irreversible.”

Isabel was disappointed when even her grandmother, whom she had trusted, spoke the same words as her mother. Isabel said:
“No matter if he is a prince, I don’t want to humble myself like some common woman flattering him for his favor. Besides, I would be inserting myself between two people. What will everyone say about me?”
The former Duchess spoke to Isabel with unusual coldness.
“There is only one way for you, as a woman, to bring honor to our house. Marriage. I dismiss much of your mother’s scheming, but if you can only marry the prince, you must do whatever it takes. You must repay everything you have enjoyed until now.”
“Grandmother!”
At Isabel’s anger, the former Duchess pressed on.
“Win Frederick’s heart. It is not a matter of snatching Frederick from Parma Gareth. How much affection could those two possibly share? Your task is to take Prince Frederick from the Empress and Cressida. Have you considered what would happen if you had Frederick in the palm of your hand? The fact that those southern rustics dare to look down upon us—all of it stems from Prince Frederick being in their grasp.”
The former Duchess took Isabel’s hand and spoke soothingly.
“Isabel! Do you understand? This is a matter great enough to shake the Empire itself. If your opponent is the prince, the stakes change entirely. With you, the Empire could fall into your hands. In this matter, even I side with your mother. Now we must secure Prince Frederick by any means necessary. This is the only way to make the Empress pay for her betrayal of us.”
Isabel knew well that her grandmother’s words were full of sophistry. When she was young, her grandmother had taught her strictly so she would not learn her mother’s methods, yet now she was pressing her to master every scheme her mother employed.
Isabel spoke, holding back tears.
“Grandmother, I hate it too when other houses disrespect Wiscom. Even if it is the Empress.”
The former Duchess smiled faintly and spoke.
“Of course, if it is Wiscom, it should be so. If you shimmer before Prince Frederick, even if you cannot claim him for yourself, you can at least give the Empress and Cressida a headache.”
Isabel spoke heavily.
“But I still have to contend with Parma Gareth. With her temperament, there’s no telling what she might do. Even if it doesn’t come to blows, we’ll end up quarreling before everyone. She’s a woman who doesn’t flinch at infamy or a damaged reputation. She picks unnecessary quarrels and doesn’t let pass even disputes she could overlook.”
The former Duchess spoke sternly.
“Are you saying you’ll retreat because you fear Parma Gareth? If the Gareth Family connects itself to the Imperial Court, do you think they’ll simply leave Wiscom alone? Cressida won’t want to hear jibes about being a southern plantation owner. She won’t want to be called a rustic. For that very reason, she’ll try to push us Wiscom out from the center and establish her own position. The Gareths will help her do it. And you’re going to simply fold your hands? Isabel Wiscom?”
Isabel understood one thing clearly: if Frederick and Parma were to marry, there would be nothing good for Wiscom in it.
Once even the former Duchess stepped forward to persuade her, Isabel began preparing for the Welcome Ball, her expression dark.
Isabel spent each day persuading herself that what lay ahead was a matter upon which the future of the Wiscom House and the Empire itself depended.

***

While the Capital stirred with excitement over Prince Robert’s Welcome Ball, Ariel too was bustling with activity.
Construction was underway in various places, and interviews were in full swing to hire personnel for the knights’ order. While Ariel Castle was at its busiest, Jack was climbing the mountain following Sophia.
Even as he wiped away the sweat flowing constantly, Jack’s mouth did not close.
“They said they needed ten people, but sure enough, nearly fifty have come crowding in. They all caught the scent of money. The interviews are practically amateur talent shows now. People are raising hell trying to secure positions by any means. Huff, huff.”
Sophia answered with difficulty. As the slope continued, Sophia too was breathless.
“Of course. Getting hired in a domain means you have steady work. Your livelihood is guaranteed for decades.”
“Exactly. Once hired this time, it’s almost like having work for life.”
A man falling behind them as he followed along Jack and Sophia’s conversation spoke up.
“Is working for life such a rare opportunity? Isn’t that normally how things work in a domain?”
Sophia paused and waited for the man to catch up before speaking.
“Until now, Ariel has only hired people on a project basis due to budget constraints. Even now, among the hired staff at the manor, there are only about seven permanent positions, and most of the time we bring people in as needed. Or we pay them by the job.”
The man was unusually large, with a broad frame and substantial build. He wore a neat, clean uniform that seemed utterly out of place for mountain hiking. This man was Gunter, the Imperial Auditor who had come to Ariel along with the budget.
Gunter spoke as he caught his breath.
“Ariel’s circumstances were worse than I had imagined.”
Jack frowned at Gunter’s words, but Sophia nodded matter-of-factly. Gunter wiped the sweat away and waited for Sophia’s response. Sophia spoke.
“Well…… it certainly wasn’t good. I’ve never gone a moment without worrying about money. Even when we budget seasonally, new expenses keep cropping up. Incidents keep happening, and managing them requires more money. We barely managed to keep up.”
“Incidents?”
Jack spoke, pointing toward the summit of Titania.
“There are accidents every season. People who go where they’re told not to and break their legs. People who go missing. People who eat poison mushrooms by mistake. And then there are people who sneak in to steal medicinal herbs from other people’s herb gardens. There’s a lot going on.”
Gunter began to look up at where Jack was pointing, but felt a sudden wave of dizziness.
‘It’s just a backyard mountain, they said? But looking up at it makes me dizzy—just a backyard mountain?’

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