FDND 07

 Chapter – 07

Wow… she’s so beautiful.

Even though it was morning, the dim room was filled with a woman of breathtaking beauty.

Her wavy golden hair, a lovely face with a hint of aloofness, and those bright blue eyes that seemed to shine with a mysterious light.

Ah.

So eyes that sparkle like stars really do exist.

“What’s that?”

The beauty pointed at me with a finger as I stood there with my mouth half open. Then the head maid, standing nearby, smoothly introduced me.

“Allow me to introduce her. This girl is Magritte, the new maid assigned to taste your food for poison, my lady.”

My lady?

I was too stunned to say anything as the head maid introduced me. If Susan hadn’t pushed down on the back of my head to make me bow, I probably wouldn’t have even managed a greeting.

The duchess was so young and radiant that it was hard to believe she already had three children.

Wait—did the duke kidnap her right after her debutante ball?

What a thief…

“Hey! The spoon! The spoon!”

Huh?

Susan’s urgent whisper snapped me out of it. That’s when I realized I’d been noisily clinking my tasting spoon against the bowl while eating the soup.

“Eek!”

That was the one thing I was not supposed to do! Horrified, I looked up at the duchess.

“Hmph.”

The duchess actually said hmph.

I’m doomed.

Please, just don’t cut off my head, I beg you.

“I—I’m so sorry! I’ll make sure she learns properly, my lady!”

Brave Susan bowed so low her forehead nearly hit her knees, shielding me with her words. I scrambled up and followed her lead.

The duchess watched us calmly and continued eating her soup as if nothing had happened.

No one dared to speak until she finished the last spoonful.

By the time my back ached and my knees were trembling from bowing so long, she finally spoke.

“Everyone stays while I get dressed today.”

“Yes, my lady!”

Her maids replied in unison, their voices sharp like a regiment of knights.

Susan, always quick on the uptake, quietly pulled me aside. I could feel her fingers trembling — a sign of how tense she was.

Whew, I’m alive. That was close.

They say too much beauty can paralyze reason. I used to laugh that off — what a silly excuse, I’d thought — but now I knew it was real.

I just hadn’t seen anyone this beautiful before.

Anyway, I was lucky.

Thanks to the duchess’s mercurial mood, I got to witness, for the first time, how a noblewoman dresses.

“I’ll brush your hair now, my lady!”

“Which dress will you be wearing today?”

“Lastly, may I pin your brooch? Which one would you like?”

While the other maids worked, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. The duchess, graceful as a painting, was just about to lift a jeweled brooch when—

Clatter.

The brooch slipped from her fingers, rolling across the floor until it stopped near my feet.

Oh no—something that expensive!

I quickly bent down to pick it up.

And the moment I straightened up, I realized everyone in the room — the duchess included — was staring right at me.

What…?

The duchess’s gaze flicked from the brooch to me, then back again.

Then, with an elegant snap snap of her fingers, she extended her hand.

As if under a spell, I walked straight over and placed the brooch into her palm.

The Servants’ Dining Hall

After the duchess’s breakfast, the servants had an early lunch.

“Wasn’t her ladyship acting really strange today?”

“Right? She didn’t yell, didn’t lose her temper, actually finished her meal—and even took her medicine!”

The chatter erupted the moment we sat down.

“Girl, you’re really lucky.”

All eyes turned to me—the talk of the day.

Apparently, a lowly maid like me wasn’t even allowed to pick up something the duchess had dropped. Returning the brooch like I did was a huge breach of etiquette.

“I thought she was going to have you flogged.”

“Oh, come on. She wouldn’t beat a kid this young. She’d probably just starve her for three days.”

“Cough!”

I choked on my soup.

“Don’t scare the poor thing! You’re making her nervous.”

“What? I’m just telling the truth. She needs to know so she won’t mess up again. Next time, she won’t get off so easily—she’ll either get whipped or fired.”

The sharp-eyed maid glared at me. I nodded furiously until she seemed satisfied and changed the subject.

“Did you hear? Her ladyship’s going on a picnic this afternoon—right after lunch. Can you believe it?”

“A picnic? But she hates sunlight! She never leaves her room.”

“I love picnics! How long has it been—two years?”

“What’s there to love? If she has one of her fits again, we’ll all suffer… ugh, I’m nervous already.”

I quietly dipped my bread into the soup and chewed carefully.

It was best to listen and remember what the other maids said — their gossip tended to be reliable.

Especially the lessons learned from experience — like how getting on the duchess’s bad side meant at least three days without food.

But my senior maid, Susan, seemed to think differently.

When we’d returned to our quarters earlier and I thanked her for defending me, she said,

“It’s fine. Don’t mention it. Just… don’t think too badly of her ladyship. She’s actually a good person.”

“Really…?”

“Yeah. Last year, when my mom was really sick, she was the only one who helped me. Paid for medicine, gave me time off… even some extra travel money. She might be strict, but she’s got a kind heart.”

Susan’s eyes grew moist as she remembered.

“Sniff! Got it? Anyway, her ladyship’s skipping lunch, so rest for a bit. The tasting maids will fetch you later for the picnic. I asked them to, so just go along. Okay?”

After she left to help with preparations, I lay down and dozed off.

What woke me was the neighboring maids knocking on my door.

Just like Susan said, they came to get me that afternoon — and they were a lot chattier than she was.

“I heard it myself! Her ladyship called the duke ‘hey!’ Like, just ‘hey’!”

“No way! Even if they’re the same age, how could she speak so informally?”

Wait.

I tripped over a small rock and fell. Not because I couldn’t avoid it, but because I was too shocked.

“Hey! You okay? You’re not hurt, are you?”

One of the maids helped me up, brushing dirt and grass off my clothes and hands.

“They’re… the same age? The duke and duchess?”

“Yeah! But is that what you’re hung up on? Watch where you’re walking, honestly!”

I grabbed her arm and kept walking, my mind spinning.

Seriously—who’s the problem here?

Why did the duke age alone? Did he take on both their years or something?

“Alright, from here on you walk alone. Her ladyship’s right over there. Don’t mess up this time, got it?”

I nodded hard at the warning.

The Bertier Duchy’s garden was beautiful—so artfully designed it looked like a painting.

But amid that beauty stood a boy who didn’t belong.

Who’s that?

A black-haired boy, half-hidden behind a large tree, peeking through the gap in the trunk to watch the duchess.

No one stopped him, even though he was blatantly spying on her.

Could that be the young master…?

I passed him and took about twenty more steps.

The duchess, standing under her parasol and gazing at the scenery, turned when she heard that preparations were complete.

The midday sunlight shone upon her, and her golden hair fluttered gently in the breeze.

Ah.

Her eyes met mine — no longer like stars, but like a clear, glimmering lake. Beneath them, her softly curved nose and faintly pursed lips were turned toward me.

I couldn’t help but whisper, as if in a trance—

“Wow… that lady’s really pretty.”

Then, the next instant, I realized what I’d done.

Wh—what did I just say!?

I slapped both hands over my mouth and dropped to my knees.

“I—I’m sorry!”