BWC 08

Chapter 8

Unaware of my approach, the noblewoman holding a feather fan continued to chatter away.

“Watch the princess closely at today’s ball. She might already have some twisted hobby we don’t know about. If too much Arazine blood runs in her veins…”

“Is that really so unpleasant to you?”

I cut her off mid-sentence.

The gathered nobles all turned to look at me simultaneously. The noblewoman snapped her feather fan shut and wrinkled her brow at me.

“And who might you be?”

Surprisingly, no one seemed to recognize me.

According to etiquette, the one who interrupted should be the first to introduce themselves. But I had no intention of following that.

“I think what matters more than who I am is what exactly you were all talking about.”

Their faces twisted in unison.

“How rude. Who interrupts without even stating their name or status?”

The noblewoman narrowed her eyes and scanned me from head to toe. Seeing my worn-out clothes and hastily styled hair, she let out a snort.

“Ah, I see. Not someone worth introducing, is that it? Well, they did say even nobodies from minor houses showed up at today’s ball. Then you probably haven’t heard the rumors circulating in the capital either.”

The nobles around us began to chuckle. I sighed in disbelief. The noblewoman immediately erased her smile and glared at me.

“You don’t even have a title, do you? A mere maid from the countryside, daring to speak out—”

“Oh my, Your Highness the Princess!”

Just then, a passing young maid recognized me.

“Princess?”

The noblewoman raised her eyebrows sharply as the maid rushed over and bowed low.

“Your Highness, what are you doing here?”

Ignoring the maid, I turned back to the noblewoman. She was so shocked she dropped her feather fan to the floor.

“You asked who I was.”

I deliberately tilted my head playfully as I introduced myself.

“Daughter of His Majesty King Alexandre II, Princess Estelle Elizabeth of Ellendril.”

The nobles gasped and quickly lowered their eyes.

As I continued to stare directly at the noblewoman, she hurriedly bent down to pick up her fan and bowed deeply.

“Please forgive my rudeness. I….”

“Do I really not look like His Majesty’s daughter to you?”

I cut her off again, intentionally.

The noblewomen’s faces turned pale. They realized I had heard everything. Unease swept through them as they exchanged nervous glances.

Only the noblewoman with the fan kept her composure.

“It’s a misunderstanding, Your Highness. We were merely expressing concern over foolish rumors spreading among ignorant commoners.”

“Concern? About what, exactly?”

“His Majesty treasures Your Highness, yet it pains us that people speak ill of you for no reason. We were lamenting that, and I fear our words were excessive. Please, we ask your generous understanding.”

Huh. Not bad.

I glanced around. The attention of newly arrived nobles was already turning this way. A few were whispering among themselves. And right in the middle of it all, the noblewoman was begging me for forgiveness.

More precisely, she was trying to force me to forgive her.

The newcomers had no idea what led up to this. To them, it probably looked like I was randomly picking a fight with the noblewoman.

If I didn’t let this go quietly, rumors would spread that I was a petty and temperamental princess.

The old me would’ve backed down out of fear of judgment. And most nobles would’ve accepted an apology here, thinking of their social reputation.

But I had no reason to do that now.

Smiling slightly, I asked in a biting tone:

“So what you’re saying is, His Majesty the King is such an incompetent and worrisome father that he can’t stop the slander against his only beloved daughter?”

The noblewoman’s head snapped up in shock.

“That’s not what I meant!”

“Oh? Then let’s ask the others…”

I froze my smile.

“I’ll report all of this to His Majesty myself.”

The noblewoman, now panicked, grabbed at me.

“Y-Your Highness, please—what do you mean by that?”

“What do I mean?”

I swept my gaze over the other nobles. Their faces had gone past pale and were now visibly green.

“Those who spread rumors do so because they enjoy them. All of you were gleefully gossiping about me. That made me angry, because it’s wrong.”

I shrugged nonchalantly.

“But you don’t seem to think it was wrong at all. So clearly, I must be mistaken. That’s why I’ll consult His Majesty directly and ask for guidance.”

The noblewoman’s face drained of all color.

A noblewoman’s status was directly tied to her family’s power. If I told the king exactly what happened, her husband would undoubtedly face consequences. She could even be punished for defaming the royal family.

I turned away from her with deliberate indifference. I had barely taken a step when her frantic voice rang out behind me.

“No, Your Highness. I was thoughtless. Please, forgive me!”

“No need. I don’t care for apologies from people who don’t truly believe they did anything wrong.”

“Please! I’ll do anything!”

“Oh really? Then…”

I spun back around to face her, looking down at her with a wicked grin.

“Why don’t you get on the floor and beg for forgiveness?”

Her face turned completely ashen.

Kneeling before royalty was common enough, but prostrating oneself on the ground was reserved for only the gravest offenses.

For a noblewoman with a title to bow like that to a princess ten years her junior—whom she had just been mocking—was the ultimate humiliation.

“I knew it. You can’t do it. Because you don’t think you did anything wrong in insulting the royal family. His Majesty would be very saddened to hear that.”

I threatened her sweetly.

If she kneeled, people would talk, and I’d be labeled a petty, mean-spirited princess. But that didn’t bother me one bit.

If she didn’t kneel, however, she’d suffer far worse.

King Alexandre would never overlook someone who insulted his only daughter, who had barely survived a deadly illness, and his beloved late queen.

“…I was wrong, Your Highness.”

At last, the noblewoman fell to her knees on the cold floor.

“I sincerely apologize. Please, I beg your forgiveness.”

Her white forehead touched the ground, and her elaborate wig became a mess.

I looked down at her for a moment, then casually shifted my gaze. The nobles who had been gossiping with her scrambled to follow suit and kneeled.

“I was wrong too.”

“Please forgive me, just this once!”

I turned back to the noblewoman with a gentle smile—though it was actually a smirk.

“With an apology this heartfelt, I suppose I’ll make an exception and forgive you.”

She finally looked up. I picked up her feather fan from the ground and pressed it into her trembling hands.

“Thank you… Your Highness.”

Her arms were shaking. She clenched the fan tightly, clearly fighting back waves of humiliation.

I glanced once more at the nobles still kneeling and then turned my back on them without a word.

“Let’s go.”

I strode out of the ballroom with confident steps. The young maid hurried to catch up.

And just like that, it was over.

There wasn’t a single person in that hall who could stop me now.

✦

“Your Highness, where on earth have you been!”

The young maid fussed over me all the way back to the Princess’s Palace. I answered her casually, not even glancing her way.

“I wanted to get a feel for the atmosphere.”

“But the banquet is about to begin! When are you going to get dressed? His Majesty must be waiting!”

I calmly cut her off.

“I can get ready quickly. No need to worry.”

“But, Your Highness—”

“Go and tell His Majesty that preparing took longer than expected and I’ll be joining the banquet a little late.”

“But still—”

“Go!”

Startled by my firm tone, the maid finally fell silent and hurried off.

At last, alone, I covered my mouth with both hands and let out the laughter I had been holding back.

It was hilarious.

How pitiful those nobles were. How ridiculous the court’s high society was. How all of them reacted like startled cats at the bite of a mouse. And how I—who had once endured all of this in silence—had never once dared to fight back.

Was it really this easy?

Was it always this simple?

Had I suffered all that time, holding it in and enduring the pain, when something so satisfying was within reach?

A rush of exhilaration swept through me.

It hit me then—how different this life was from the last.

Traditionally, the king and the highest-ranking female guest—the princess—would enter the banquet together to mark its beginning.

In my previous life, I would never have dared go against that.

But now, I was the legitimate daughter, with a plausible excuse of still being unwell.

I had no interest in the throne, so I didn’t need the king’s favor or the admiration of the nobles. Besides, Alexandre’s attitude toward me had been strangely kind.

So, as long as I didn’t push too far, I could afford to be a little unruly.

Still suppressing my giggles, I leaned against the wall.

Maybe it was because the tension had drained from me, but once I started laughing, I couldn’t stop.

And then suddenly, a deep voice echoed from the end of the hallway.

“Your laughter carries all the way down the corridor, Your Highness.”

A voice I’d never heard before. Yet strangely, the tone felt vaguely familiar, like something I had heard once before.

I turned in the direction of the voice.

Standing three steps away was a middle-aged man I didn’t recognize. Judging by his attire, he was a high-ranking noble.

“You are…?”

“They say His Majesty is about to enter the ballroom. And yet, you are still not dressed?”

I stopped.

Instinctively, my expression soured.