Timid and Shy - Chapter 9

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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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9.

It surprised Sophia to find the Duchess of Wiscom waiting for her. The Duchess seemed perfectly at home in the drawing room.
Sophia had expected the same treatment as her first visit—to be kept waiting at length, then dismissed with a purse of coins tossed in her direction.
That made the Duchess’s unexpected show of consideration all the more suspicious.
‘So waiting for me first counts as sincerity? I’m losing my edge. Don’t tell me she’s found another use for me.’
The change in behavior put Sophia immediately on guard. As she took her seat, the Duchess smiled and spoke.
“You look better than expected. I was worried, hearing you’d been confined to your room these past days.”
“I haven’t even begun to understand what’s happened yet. If I’m going to cry, I should at least do it when I know the full truth.”
The Duchess raised an eyebrow, studying her. Sophia reached for a teacup and continued.
“This won’t end here, will it? If it were simply a matter of my disgrace, you wouldn’t need to wait for me like this.”
“Is it so remarkable to have tea with one’s niece?”
Sophia gave a bitter smile.
“I’ve been here a month now, and this is the first time we’ve sat facing each other over tea. I’m not saying that to make you feel guilty—I’m saying that if you have something to tell me, don’t waste time with pleasantries. Just speak.”
The Duchess set down her cup and gave Sophia a measuring look.
“You’re more perceptive than I gave you credit for.”
Sophia said nothing. Had she truly been perceptive, she would never have found herself in this predicament to begin with.
“We didn’t use you because we enjoyed it. Not that telling you will help, but even a ducal house cannot ignore the currents of power. Sometimes we must do things we’d rather not. Robert—the Crown Prince is not suited to Isabel. And both the Empress and House of Cressida oppose a union between Robert and Isabel.”
“If Frederick and Isabel were to marry instead, that would be ideal—if such a thing were actually possible.”
The Duchess smiled faintly.
“You know the difficulties as well as we do. This is only the first step—creating distance between Robert and you. What truly frightens us is displeasing the future Emperor.”
“Frederick will become Emperor? That much is certain?”
“Of course. Everyone knows it. The fact that Robert commands Uranos Castle means nothing. Robert has no real prospect of the throne. But since the future Emperor dislikes Wiscom’s proximity to Robert, we had no choice.”
“You needn’t explain all this to me. Just tell me what you need me to do.”
“Then listen. A Smear Campaign against Robert is about to begin. It starts with his disrespectful conduct at the Debutante Ball. Abandoning you like that—how ungracious. And once that takes hold, other small incidents will be added, and the newspapers will overflow with articles.”
Sophia’s face showed genuine bewilderment.
“Is all that necessary? I understand little of capital politics, but if everyone already knows Robert cannot become Emperor, why destroy him further?”
“That is the nature of imperial succession disputes. To eliminate even the smallest glimmer of hope or possibility. As the incident from the Debutante Ball grows, Robert may come to resent you. So return to Ariel as quickly as you can. Put the capital and its affairs out of your mind. Even in anger, Robert won’t pursue you to Ariel.”
The Duchess produced a purse of deep crimson velvet.
“Fifty gold coins. Add them to your dowry. This is my sincerity as your aunt.”
Sophia gazed at the purse—velvet of deep scarlet, lustrous and fine. She took it without a word. One of her predictions had proven correct, yet she felt no satisfaction.
Watching Sophia accept the purse, the Duchess’s smile deepened.
“You mentioned going to Pinay House. Perhaps you should pay your farewell visit today.”
Sophia gripped the purse tightly but said nothing. Without waiting for her response, the Duchess rose gracefully and left the drawing room.

***

Before Sophia’s carriage had even come to a full stop at Pinay House, Helen burst out and flung open the door.
“Sophia, are you all right?”
Sophia descended from the carriage, speaking as she did.
“Am I all right? I suppose so. Actually, I’m not sure. I need to ask you something.”
Helen’s eyes widened.
“Me? You need something from me?”
“Over the past few days—the articles in the magazines and newspapers, and what your friends have been saying. Particularly about Frederick and Robert.”
“Well… I can tell you what I’ve heard.”
Helen hesitated, then seemed to steel herself.
“All right.”
Sophia’s face registered surprise at her reluctance.
“Why? Have the articles about me been that harsh?”
“Let’s go inside first. We can talk there.”
Helen drew Sophia close in a comforting embrace and led her into the house. Sensing their need for privacy, Pinay deliberately excused herself.
From the expression on Pinay’s face alone, Sophia could tell that the articles and rumors might be worse than she’d anticipated.
Helen led Sophia not to the drawing room but to her own bedroom. The magazines laid out in a line on the bed suggested that Helen had already collected every piece of gossip and newspaper she could find.
Helen handed the magazines to Sophia, saying:
“Start with the sections I’ve marked. Once you read the articles, you’ll understand why you shouldn’t be walking around right now—you ought to be in bed.”
Sophia opened the magazine Helen had given her. As she unfolded the marked page, a large headline caught her eye.

〈The Most Unfortunate Woman in Uranos!〉

The articles turned out much as Sophia had anticipated—and yet they exceeded her expectations.
The pieces that appeared in magazines and newspapers were remarkably similar in tone: Sophia had suffered an irredeemable wound at the hands of Prince Robert before all of society, and she had spent what was now being called the saddest Debutante Ball in history sitting in stunned silence.
Far more articles had poured out than Sophia had foreseen. And nearly all of them painted her tragedy in deeply dramatic hues, suggesting she had received wounds so grave that she might never live a proper life again.
Sophia had not realized that sitting lost in thought throughout the Debutante Ball would spread so widely. Though she had not intended it, her behavior had undoubtedly worked against Prince Robert as well.
‘What are all these illustrations?’
There were many pictures of her sitting with her face buried in her hands, or of a woman hidden among crowds of people. Everything that had happened to her was drawn with maximum sensationalism.
After examining several more magazines, Sophia turned to Helen.
“Never mind what’s happened to me—what’s the public sentiment toward Prince Robert?”
Helen frowned. To her, what Sophia had endured mattered far more than anything that disrespectful prince had done. But when Sophia pressed further, Helen relented.
“Prince Robert was never particularly popular to begin with. Though one couldn’t say an unmarried prince was unpopular, it’s just that Prince Frederick was so exceptional. He has a truly enormous following.”
When Sophia gestured for her to continue, Helen did.
“In a charitable light, Prince Robert was quiet. In a less charitable one, he was forgettable. But now there are articles condemning him for disregarding and treating poorly a lady of lower rank. Everyone’s cursing him. And you must understand—the readers of gossip magazines are mostly commoners or ladies of lesser titles. The public censure against Prince Robert is quite severe.”
Sophia found herself agreeing, and yet she couldn’t help doubting whether public opinion had any real bearing on matters of succession. Helen had not left out the matter of Frederick and Isabel either.
“They say Prince Frederick danced with Miss Isabel Wiscom, and that’s why Prince Robert got angry and abandoned Sophia at the ball. An elder brother jealous of his younger brother—what a pathetic scene. Blinded by jealousy, he abandoned his own partner. It’s outrageous.”
Sophia spoke quietly.
“Yes. That’s the crucial part. That’s what they wanted people to think, isn’t it?”
“What do you mean?”
“Prince Robert’s rudeness, his jealousy of Frederick, his inferiority. The picture of an inadequate elder brother envying and resenting a superior younger one. If things develop along those lines, Prince Robert will truly find himself cornered. He’ll be furious. He’s enduring both heartbreak and slander.”
“But…you needn’t concern yourself with him like that. He went too far, no matter if he is a prince. There are harsher words I could use, but I hold my tongue out of respect for his rank.”
“I want to feel that way, but since I’m entangled in this whole affair, I can’t help but worry. Not about what happens to Prince Robert, but about what might happen to me.”
“Ah! You mean Prince Robert might blame you for everything going against him and actually retaliate? That could genuinely happen. What should we do? Should we hire mercenaries to protect you?”
Sophia thought that if Prince Robert actually did her any physical harm, Wiscom and Prince Frederick would dance to the music of it.
‘Surely Prince Robert isn’t that much of a fool.’
Sophia calmed the agitated Helen and spoke gently.
“It’s only speculation for now. Prince Robert might not direct his resentment toward me at all. I was simply caught up in it, after all. When you consider that he’s not only lost Isabel to his younger brother but is being condemned for it—well, he has room for leniency, doesn’t he?”
“You’re right. He should blame the Duke of Wiscom instead. Imagine using Miss Sophia to separate Prince Robert and Isabel like that.”
Sophia didn’t think that was quite what had happened, but the more she considered it, the more she could see how it might appear that way.
‘A tragic love story between Robert and Isabel. It would work rather well, wouldn’t it? Rather like the template for a romance novel. I could use something like that.’
But would the magazines and newspapers have any reason to write favorably of Prince Robert?
‘Linking Isabel and Prince Robert actually serves Gareth’s interests well enough. But there’s no reason for him to actively defend Prince Robert and risk making enemies of the Empress and Prince Frederick. It’s only gossip, after all.’
Sophia nodded to herself. Even if both Gareth and Wiscom disliked House of Cressida, neither would intervene without significant cause.
‘The Duchess of Wiscom mentioned being threatened by the Empress, so House of Gareth would find itself in a similar position.’
Over the following hours, Sophia examined Helen’s scrapbook alongside her concerns—a collection of articles chronicling Prince Frederick’s accomplishments.
No matter how much Helen tried to deny it, the articles she had gathered made it impossible not to recognize her as an ardent admirer of Prince Frederick.
There were the names of noble youths close to Frederick, and accounts of how much his uncle Lord Cressida and grandfather Count Cressida doted on him.
Sophia had learned far more about Prince Frederick from Helen than she had expected to gather from the Pinays.
The strong bond between House of Cressida and Prince Frederick was well-known. But there was not a single mention of Prince Robert anywhere.
The way the Empress’s own family clung so closely to Frederick made it abundantly clear to anyone who looked that Robert carried none of the Cressida blood.
Through this display of favoritism, they were broadcasting that Robert was not the Empress’s son. And so the citizens of the capital, though Robert was the firstborn, never believed he could become Crown Prince.
Sophia spent the evening in Helen’s chambers, reading articles and conversing. Though the Pinays pressed her to stay for dinner and breakfast the next morning, she declined and returned to Wiscom Manor.
‘I should stay another day or two and avail myself of their generosity further. I’ll eat heartily at dinner and again at breakfast tomorrow.’
She meant to read through all the magazines she’d brought home from Helen’s—mostly gossip, but even that revealed something of the entanglements and scandals among the capital’s nobility.
‘I’ll have to use plenty of expensive candles too.’
Sophia was contentedly scheming ways to make good use of Wiscom Manor’s resources.
In the midst of these calculations, the carriage suddenly jolted to a stop with a dull thud. Before Sophia could open the window to see what had happened, the door swung open.

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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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