WYPGD 05

Chapter 5

As though she had made up her mind about something, Betty squeezed her eyes shut and fired off her words in one breath, almost like she was shouting a battle cry.

Then she cautiously opened her eyes, let out a deep sigh, and continued.

“Either way, His Grace the Grand Duke usually stays in the western tower, where his study is, rather than the main building. You’ll hardly ever run into him.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“Well, that’s true, but… Could you please still not go? You really don’t have to worry about me! If it were the other way around, perhaps, but…”

There was a subtle look of concern on Betty’s face as she continued.

For some reason, I felt a ticklish warmth in my heart.

Perhaps it was because, in my previous life, I had been much more accustomed to taking care of others than having someone worry about me.

Betty might not have been very good at expressing herself, but I could vaguely feel how sincere she was.

“Are you worried about me?”

When I smiled gently, Betty’s face turned as red as a tomato.

“N-Not really… I’ve only been serving you for a week, after all, and I don’t know you, and you don’t really know me either… Of course, I did think you looked incredibly cute, like a tiny white snow rabbit, when I first saw you, but that was only for a moment…”

“Hmm.”

Once again, Betty began muttering incomprehensible things to herself.

I quietly stood up from my seat.

I was holding the little madeleine in one hand.

“To be honest, I’m small too, but you, My Lady… You’re not only small, you’re so delicate. Somehow, I feel this sort of protective instinct toward you that I’ve never felt toward anyone else before… Mmph!”

While Betty rambled on with her eyes fixed firmly on the floor, I popped my own madeleine into her mouth.

Betty’s eyes widened, and she was instantly rendered speechless.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, I quickly spoke.

“Thank you for worrying about me, Betty. Like you said, we don’t really know each other yet. So why don’t we start getting to know each other from now on?”

“Mmm…”

“I’m not as weak or fragile as you think.”

“Mmph.”

“So let’s go. To the main building.”

Perhaps because I sounded quite determined.

The tension gradually faded from Betty’s wide eyes, and a look of resignation appeared on her face.

After swallowing the madeleine, Betty grumbled.

“…Please don’t blame me later.”

Inside the room that received the most sunlight in the entire main building, a woman was brushing her gorgeous golden hair in front of a vanity.

Her soft hands were covered in pure white silk gloves, while her slender wrists were adorned with large pieces of jewelry made of pearls and sapphires.

The dress she wore was made of blue fabric that complemented the sapphires beautifully, displaying its own unique hue.

Delicate golden embroidery adorned the fabric.

“Mmm~”

Her eyes, slightly upturned and filled with allure, contrasted with her full lips.

The softness of her facial features added an indescribable charm to her appearance.

And that wasn’t all.

Her figure was filled with curves.

Most notably, her voluptuous chest and her slender waist, cinched tightly by a corset until it looked as though it could fit in one hand.

Even to her own eyes, the reflection in the mirror was breathtakingly beautiful.

It was almost as if…

“I look like the Grand Duchess.”

Indeed, she looked like the perfect Grand Duchess.

“If it weren’t for that woman.”

Grind.

At the thought of the woman who had been called “cursed,” her blue eyes flashed viciously.

The benevolent expression she had worn only moments ago cracked in an instant.

The woman, who had clenched her teeth audibly, angrily threw down the brush she had been using.

Her name was Katarina Hugo.

She was in the Grand Duchess’s room in the main building of the Grand Ducal Castle.

But Katarina was not the Grand Duchess.

“Ha!”

How had things ended up like this?

Her resentment and anger naturally turned toward the person who had taken what should have been hers.

Renee Blanche.

What if that cursed bastard really managed to beguile Zenos?

“No! Aah!”

Unable to contain her rising anger, Katarina let out a sharp scream and breathed heavily.

That was when—

“U-Um… Lady Katarina.”

“What is it? Don’t you know how to knock?”

A maid’s voice came through the slightly open door.

As though she had forgotten that she herself was not the owner of this room either, Katarina turned around irritably.

The young-looking maid went pale and immediately lowered her head.

During the few days since Katarina had arrived at the Grand Ducal Castle, her behavior had been quite something.

Yet no one had been able to stop her.

“I heard that all the decorations on the carriage the young lady arrived in are made of real jewels!”

“I heard she has had a long-standing relationship with the Imperial Family. Apparently, she was originally supposed to become the Grand Duchess…”

“She’s the eldest daughter of Count Hugo! I heard that after the family’s local businesses became wildly successful, they even covered their toilets in gold!”

“The Blanche Marquess family is certainly famous too, but apparently the Grand Duchess herself is an illegitimate child? If that’s true, there’s no comparison to begin with.”

“But… how did their positions end up being reversed?”

And it was understandable.

Katarina had arrived in a manner so extravagant that she could not even be compared to the Grand Duchess, who had arrived without making a sound.

Unlike that woman, who had come here pitifully in a cargo carriage with no one there to welcome her, Katarina had entered through the grand gates of the Celeste Grand Ducal Castle with her head held high.

Officially, she had come as the new Grand Duchess’s companion and personal maid.

But every servant in the Grand Ducal Castle knew the truth.

That woman will become the mistress of House Celeste someday.

That was why the young maid could only continue speaking in an even more trembling voice.

“I-I had something urgent to tell you, Lady Katarina… I-I’m sorry.”

“What is it?”

“Her Grace the Grand Duchess…”

“The Grand Duchess?”

Katarina’s brows immediately drew together.

Gasp!

The maid hurriedly corrected herself after inhaling sharply.

In front of Katarina, the word “Grand Duchess” was taboo unless it referred to Katarina herself.

“L-Lady Renee has come to the main building!”

“…What?”

The woman who had been practically shut away in the annex as though she barely existed—why?

Why all of a sudden?

“S-She just passed through the lobby…”

“Is she insane?”

Katarina abruptly stood up, her movements filled with irritation.

Without even responding to the maid, she swept past her and strode down the hallway.

So now she wants to reclaim her place? She doesn’t even know her place!

Biting down on her plump lips, Katarina quickened her pace.

Her hand gripping the hem of her dress tightened so much that it left wrinkles all over the soft silk.

When she reached the top of the main staircase connected to the hallway, she could see the lobby below at a glance.

And standing there was…

“Where’s the library?”

That woman was really there.

With an irritatingly innocent expression on her face.

“……”

Unconcealable contempt seeped into Katarina’s blue eyes.

But after letting out a quiet sigh, Katarina soon put on a pleasant smile.

“My goodness!”

Then she began gracefully descending the stairs.

The abundant hem of her dress, covered in lace and frills, fluttered cheerfully with every step.

In contrast, the petite woman standing below, dressed in clothes that were even plainer than a maid’s, simply stared at her blankly.

What? She’s even more shabby than I expected. There’s nothing special about her.

Katarina almost felt foolish for having been so wary of the woman in the annex all this time.

Then again, if she thought about it, Zenos hadn’t even given that woman the main building.

Not that he had given the main building to Katarina either.

Still, unlike Renee, who had practically been driven into the annex, Katarina had been assigned the largest room in the separate building adjacent to the main one.

At first, it had wounded her pride as a count’s daughter to share accommodations with the servants…

But Zenos clearly knew that she openly came and went from the Grand Duchess’s room in the main building, and yet he had never stopped her.

So I won.

Lost in that strange sense of victory, Katarina’s footsteps came to a stop in front of a pair of old, dirt-stained shoes.

With the most impeccable etiquette, Katarina greeted Renee.

“Greetings, Your Grace the Grand Duchess.”

But apparently, that foolish woman didn’t even know proper etiquette.

Renee awkwardly nodded her head and blinked several times.

“My name is Katarina Hugo. I came here as Her Grace the Grand Duchess’s personal maid. I apologize for not greeting you sooner.”

“My maid?”

At the same time, the two women looked directly into each other’s eyes.

Renee’s red eyes were impossible to read, yet there was a peculiar sense of firmness within them.

Perhaps because of all the talk about her being a cursed illegitimate child, Katarina’s shoulders involuntarily tensed.

And then, from the mouth of that cursed woman—

“Anyone looking at you would think you were the Grand Duchess.”

“What?!”

An unexpected barb slipped out.

A crack suddenly appeared in Katarina’s perfect mask.

Concealing her slightly twisted lips, Katarina asked again.

“What do you mean by that…?”

“I mean that you’re really beautiful. Are maids usually like that?”

Ha! What an insolent girl.

With an innocent expression as though she genuinely knew nothing, Renee had just insulted Katarina.

What she had meant was—

No matter how extravagantly you dress yourself up and desperately try to show off, I’m still the Grand Duchess, while you’re nothing more than a mere maid. Know your place.

……

Katarina’s appearance suddenly became utterly ridiculous.