28. Nobility’s Dignity (1)
“I’m terribly sorry, Your Majesty the Empress. To think that I delayed your meal because of me… Ah, I never imagined this would happen…”
Yvette turned pale when she saw the silver dishes still covered. She looked like she might collapse from shock—or from crying too hard.
But even more serious than Yvette being late for the meal was the state she was in.
“What on earth happened to you?”
Rasilia asked, her face hard.
Yvette’s clothes were smeared with soot in several places. It was obvious she had tried scrubbing them to clean up, which made the situation all the more pitiful.
“Well, Your Majesty…”
Yvette hesitated to speak. Instead, she kept twitching her eyebrows, clearly unsure how to explain.
“Lady Shreiden. You should know it’s no use trying to keep things to yourself. Answer me with the understanding that I have other people I can ask.”
She meant she’d ask Pipi if Yvette didn’t speak up properly.
Yvette quickly picked up on that and gave a hesitant nod.
“Ah… Right. So, the thing is…”
There had been an accident on her way here.
As Yvette was walking down the stairs, a bucket full of ashes from a fireplace suddenly fell from the banister above her head. She was covered in ashes in an instant, so she couldn’t see who had done it.
But it was obvious. The maids had clearly decided to put her in her place.
These kinds of “accidents” disguised as mischief would keep happening. She’d just have to be careful from now on.
Yvette, with her practical nature, was well aware that she was the current head maid of the Empress’s palace. She couldn’t get into fights with the noble-born maids, but at the very least, she was determined to find a way to manage the court servants.
That part was fine. What really upset her was something else.
“I was just… so upset that my clothes got so dirty… I couldn’t serve the table looking like this, covered in soot…”
Tears welled up in Yvette’s round eyes.
Rasilia let out a light sigh.
“This is my fault. Getting rid of Madame Pashard wasn’t enough after all.”
Yvette’s head snapped up.
“No, what are you saying! How could this possibly be Your Majesty’s fault? Please, I beg you—don’t say such things. This happened because I am inexperienced and unskilled! I’ll improve from now on, Your Majesty!”
“No. The people who gave you a hard time are from the Empress’s palace. That means I failed to properly manage those under me. You don’t need to serve at the table—go change your clothes. What happened today will be investigated and dealt with later.”
“I… I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I truly am sorry.”
Yvette straightened up, her face on the verge of tears.
Serven wore a slightly sympathetic expression.
“Since the meal has been delayed for so lo—khem, well, perhaps we should now proceed with the meal. Khem.”
Persson discreetly gestured for Yvette to leave.
The reason he trailed off his sentence—unusual for him—was likely because of how pitiful Yvette looked. Nothing about her—her clothes, jewelry, speech—suggested she was noble. And yet the Empress kept calling her “Lady,” which left him unsure whether to speak formally or informally.
“Ah… I’m truly ashamed. I’ll take my leave. I apologize, I truly do.”
Yvette left the dining room.
Rasilia, her face still not bright, turned to Rescal.
“I must apologize for the disturbance caused by the affairs of the Empress’s palace. Please, let’s eat now.”
“I wouldn’t have minded if it was delayed even more.”
Come to think of it, Rescal was still holding Rasilia’s hand, drying it with a napkin. Her hand had dried long ago—it was really just him fidgeting with it now.
“You must be hungry.”
“Not at all.”
“…Well, I am.”
“Ah.”
Rescal slowly let go of Rasilia’s hand.
Taking that as his cue, Persson lifted the lids of the silver dishes in smooth succession. The removed lids were then neatly stacked on a large silver tray and handed off to another attendant waiting outside the door.
“I’ve been thinking this since yesterday,”
Rescal said, picking up his fork and knife and gesturing toward one of the dishes.
Persson swiftly carved the roasted venison haunch and placed a slice on Rescal’s plate. Rescal then cut it in half and set one piece onto Rasilia’s plate.
He did it so naturally that anyone would believe the Emperor and Empress had always dined side by side like this.
“I find it hard to believe that you’ve truly lost your memory.”
…Clink.
Rasilia’s fork brushed the edge of her plate, making a faint sound.
It wasn’t very noticeable—but that little sound spelled tension.
“…Why would you say that?”
“I don’t mean you’re lying. I just mean… it seems like you’ve become a completely different person.”
“…”
She nearly dropped her fork.
“And I like it.”
“…”
“You said you were hungry, so eat plenty.”
Rescal continued placing food onto Rasilia’s plate—one dish after another. So focused was he on watching what she liked that he didn’t even notice the food on his own plate was going cold.
“…Thank you. But Your Majesty should eat as well.”
“If you wish.”
The meal continued—gentle, yet oddly disconcerting.
“Riyan.”
Serven approached Riyan, who was perched on a windowsill in the hallway outside the Empress’s dining room, swinging his legs.
Riyan turned to glance at him and mumbled,
“Be grateful I didn’t have my sword.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You knew it was me.”
“There are a few others who walk like you.”
Serven frowned.
“What? In the royal guards?”
“Yeah. A few of them have gotten pretty good lately. Don’t let your guard down.”
“Damn it. I thought I was second-best after you… Anyway, did you hear what just happened?”
“Hm? What?”
Riyan blinked.
He expected Serven to be annoyed that others had caught up to him in skill, but unexpectedly, Serven had something else to say.
“What just happened in the dining room.”
“You mean the maid being late?”
“They say some of the other maids dumped ashes on her. But do you know what Her Majesty said?”
“Hmm… Don’t tell me she saw through our wicked, devious plan to make a court servant a lady-in-waiting?”
“No. Apparently not.”
“Then why ask?”
“She said it was her fault.”
Riyan looked confused.
“…Huh? What was?”
“She said it was her failure to properly manage her subordinates. Can you believe that?”
Riyan’s jaw dropped.
“Wow. That’s actually crazy.”
“Even if she’s pretending to have lost her memory… can someone really change so much?”
Riyan pondered for a moment, then shook his head vigorously.
“I don’t know… I mean, I was fine with Her Majesty becoming a different person if she’d made that decision. But this isn’t just a change of heart—it’s like she really is someone else.”
“Exactly. I don’t understand anything anymore.”
Serven sighed.
“And honestly? Watching that maid get treated like that didn’t feel good at all.”
“…Damn it, you’re right. At this rate, we’re the ones who look like the villains.”
When Riyan grumbled, Serven gave him a stern look.
“Let’s be clear, you’re the one who came up with this. Not me.”
“Shut up, brother. Who was it that called me a genius, again?”
“Turning a servant into a lady-in-waiting—that twisted idea was entirely yours.”
“Whatever.”
Riyan scratched the back of his head.
“Well, we’ll need to keep an eye on it so things don’t get too out of hand. She can’t get hurt.”
“Yeah.”
“You’ll be staying in the Empress’s palace for a while, right? Do your best. I know those maids aren’t exactly easy to deal with.”
“…Can I hate myself a little for ever calling you a genius?”
“Oh, that’s a separate issue. The idea was brilliant. Anyway, we need to find out whether Lady Shreiden and Her Majesty are up to something together.”
“…”
“Good luck.”
Riyan gave Serven a firm pat on the shoulder. Serven sighed again.
Feels like indigestion.
Rasilia rubbed her irritated stomach as she returned to her chambers.
The longer the meal went on, the more excessive the Emperor became. Every time she took a bite, he asked if it was good, if she liked it, if she wanted more. And if she nodded, he quickly served her another portion.
Later, he even asked if slicing it was a bother. He started slicing it for her—and looked ready to feed it to her himself, so she had to hastily refuse.
Frankly, Yvette didn’t even need to come. The Emperor had practically served the entire meal himself.
Next time, I’ll insist on eating alone. …He wasn’t like this before, though.
The Emperor’s changing behavior could all be chalked up to the Blue Moon.
Rasilia took a deep breath.
Just one more day. Just one.
It was fortunate that a stream of audiences had been scheduled for the Emperor after breakfast.
He was planning to cancel all of them again, but the imperial secretary looked like he was about to cry, so Rasilia stepped in and urged him to do his duties.
Thanks to that, she was finally able to get some distance from him. The secretary, watching the Emperor drag his feet to the audience chamber, remarked in astonishment that His Majesty had never walked this slowly before—but Rasilia couldn’t be bothered to care.
Just one day.
After that, she’d fake illness if she had to in order to keep the Emperor away.
It was as she was entering the reception room with Serven that—
“Shh.”
As the guards moved to open the door, Serven stopped them.
“…?”
Rasilia looked at him.
Serven silently opened the door himself and whispered,
“There are voices inside. You should hear this.”
“Ah…”
As Serven said, sharp voices were indeed trading barbs inside, full of tension.
“…A lady of a ducal house? You’ve got to be joking.”
“Look at yourself. Dressed like that, you think you can be the chief maid of the Empress’s palace? You’re a disgrace to Her Majesty.”
“Nobles are dignified because they maintain standards befitting their station. Not knowing your place is the opposite of dignity. That’s what we call vulgar.”
“If you have even a shred of sense, step down yourself. Before something really bad happens to you.”
Yvette gave no reply. She probably couldn’t say a word.
“…I see.”
Rasilia clenched her fist tightly.
“Thank you. I would never have known if not for you.”
“It’s nothing, Your Majesty.”
Serven tried not to show his guilty conscience.
“So, what will you do now?”
Rasilia gave a cold smile. No one here knew it, but that meant she was furious.
“They spoke of nobility’s dignity. I suppose it’s time they learned to embody it.”
