Chapter 15
The next day.
At noon, with spring sunlight pouring down, a tea party was being held in the duchy’s garden after a long time.
Lady Meltain and Madam Quillian.
Alice turned her gaze away from the two seated together.
It was suffocating to watch.
The tea party had barely begun, but it was already making Alice feel breathless.
I want to escape… like a bird.
But in reality, she couldn’t leave her seat between Lady Meltain and Madam Quillian under the gazebo.
Though they smiled at each other, invisible beams seemed to pass between Madam Quillian and Lady Meltain’s eyes.
Lady Meltain used Alice to disregard Madam Quillian, while Madam Quillian subtly belittled Lady Meltain as a noble from a rural estate.
And the winner was Lady Meltain.
She didn’t even blink at Madam Quillian’s dismissive attitude, instead focusing on probing Madam Quillian’s weaknesses.
Madam Quillian, who wasn’t acknowledged by the duchy’s retainers.
Lady Meltain’s skill in subtly touching on this point and then retreating was remarkable.
As expected of the female protagonist who slapped supporting characters with her sharp tongue in high society.
Alice turned to look at Madam Quillian but quickly lowered her eyes when she saw the chilling smile.
I need to cleanse my eyes.
She gazed at the flowers sparkling under the fresh sunlight.
Red flower, you resemble the fierce Lady Meltain, but you have a gentle charm.
Because you can’t speak.
Focusing on the flowers made her feel a bit less suffocated.
But then Madam Quillian’s slightly raised voice was heard.
“You want to go out?”
Go out?
Alice, who had been looking at the flowers, also turned to Lady Meltain.
Madam Quillian was looking at Lady Meltain with her smile erased.
“Yes. I’d like to visit the temple.”
“The temple?”
Alice’s eyes widened at the word that suddenly caught her attention.
Unconsciously joining the conversation, Alice gave an awkward smile under Madam Quillian’s sharp gaze.
“Haha, suddenly mentioning the temple… Please continue, Mother.”
“Ahem, Lady. Why this sudden desire to go to the temple?”
“Well… Our family is under the duchy’s patronage, and I’m also receiving the duchy’s grace by staying here.”
Lady Meltain lowered her gaze as she continued.
“But with my brother still unconscious… My heart is truly uneasy. So I thought I’d go to the temple every day to pray for my brother’s health.”
Her face, filled with melancholy, seemed to be worried only about her cousin brother’s health.
As if there were no other intentions.
At this, Madam Quillian’s expression clouded with difficulty.
She didn’t want to allow the outing, but it seemed she had no grounds to refuse.
Praying at the temple…
Alice, who had been quietly observing Lady Meltain, spoke up.
“Hearing Lady Meltain speak like this, I feel truly ashamed as the Duchess, Mother.”
“…Well, I suppose it might sound shameful since this is something you, as the mistress of the duchy, should be doing, not an outsider like the Lady.”
Madam Quillian looked at Alice with eyes sparkling as if she had found an excuse to refuse.
But unfortunately, Alice wasn’t trying to help Madam Quillian.
Alice furrowed her brow as if embarrassed and said,
“So I will go to the temple together with Lady Meltain.”
“Yes… What?”
Madam Quillian, who had been nodding, widened her eyes as if to say, “What nonsense is this?”
“If I go to the temple with Lady Meltain and pray for the Duke together, wouldn’t our prayers reach the gods faster?”
“…Haha. Of course, that would be the case.”
The corners of Madam Quillian’s mouth trembled slightly.
She seemed very displeased with this situation.
After taking a sip of tea as if to gather her thoughts, Madam Quillian said to Lady Meltain,
“Lady, I’m sorry, but could you excuse us? I suddenly remembered an important family matter. It’s something I need to discuss with the Duchess alone… I’ll give you an answer about your outing after I finish talking with her.”
“…I hope you truly understand my concern for my brother, Madam. Then I’ll return to my room first.”
As Lady Meltain left the garden, Madam Quillian immediately shouted at Alice.
“What did you just do? When did I ever say you could step forward? How dare you interrupt my conversation, do you really think you’ve become the Duchess just because you’re sitting in that seat!?”
She’s very angry.
Keeping a slight distance from Madam Quillian, who was spitting as she spoke, Alice thought.
It seemed the frustration that had built up towards Lady Meltain was added to it as well.
Madam Quillian, who had rapidly spewed out her rough anger, caught her breath.
When she had calmed down a bit, Alice cautiously opened her mouth.
“How could I dare to act as the Duchess? I only said I’d go with Lady Meltain to help you, Mother.”
“Help? How did you help when Lady Meltain needs to be kept from going outside? Do you know who she might meet outside? We need to keep the duchy’s affairs from leaking out!”
“That’s why it would work if I go with her, wouldn’t it? If I stick right by Lady Meltain’s side, how could she carelessly talk about the duchy’s affairs?”
“…”
Madam Quillian, who had been fuming, paused.
She seemed tempted by Alice’s words.
“Mother, if we just outright prevent Lady Meltain from going out, she’ll really think something strange is going on. If she gets suspicious and sends a letter to Baron Meltain… Couldn’t Baron Meltain visit the duchy?”
Then… real rumors could spread in the capital.
As Alice added quietly, Madam Quillian was greatly shaken.
Since Edellm had not yet come of age, Madam Quillian wanted the duchy to appear problem-free to the outside world.
If rumors spread that there were issues in the Dearrut duchy, collateral relatives and domain vassals would rush in to interfere with the succession issue.
Madam Quillian’s deliberation was brief.
“…Not a bad idea. Can you really keep an eye on Meltain to make sure she doesn’t say anything unnecessary?”
“Of course, Mother.”
Of course, that’s a complete lie.
Alice had not the slightest intention of monitoring Lady Meltain.
She just didn’t want to miss this golden opportunity to go to the temple.
But Alice’s golden eyes sparkled as if it was all for Madam Quillian’s sake.
With a face full of loyalty, as if she had a tail it would have been wagging.
“Hmm… Keep a close watch on that Meltain from now on. If even the slightest strange rumor circulates, I won’t let you off easily.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
At Madam Quillian’s final permission, Alice gave a triumphant smile.
Now I can go to the temple!
* * *
“You’re here early, butler.”
Alice, who had arrived at the Duke’s bedroom with excited steps after receiving permission to go out from Madam Quillian, greeted the butler.
Seeing the door close, the butler bowed to her in greeting.
Then he raised his head and said to her,
“Young Madam, I have finished washing the Duke’s body.”
“Huh?”
Alice tilted her head.
Originally, she had been in charge of Kylus’s upper body, while the butler handled the lower body.
It had been a perfect division of labor, so why suddenly…
The butler answered in a calm voice.
“No matter how I thought about it, having you tend to the Duke didn’t seem… right, so I did it all myself.”
“But this… is what Mother ordered me to do.”
“Don’t worry, Young Madam. I won’t tell the rand Madam that I did everything. Of course, I won’t tell Maris outside either. From now on, I’ll do all the work, so please rest while you’re here.”
“So… you’re saying you’ll do all the work and keep quiet for my sake?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm…”
Alice looked at the butler.
The butler lowered his gaze as if he was only considering her welfare and had no other intentions, but Alice didn’t believe it.
After all, she and the butler weren’t on particularly good terms.
While they didn’t openly show dislike for each other, the butler believed she was Madam Quillian’s person.
So it wasn’t likely that he was genuinely concerned about her doing this kind of work.
Was my work not satisfactory?
Or could he no longer bear to see my hands touching Kylus’s body?
Whichever it was, he was trying to keep her away from Kylus.
And from Alice’s perspective, there was no reason to refuse the butler’s offer.
Although she had gotten used to tending to him, it wasn’t a comfortable task.
She had been doing it because of Madam Quillian’s orders, but now he was offering to keep quiet about it.
She should accept it with delight.
But why do I feel this way?
Whether she had grown attached or was just upset at being treated as a dangerous person to Kylus, she felt quite displeased.
Alice turned her gaze to Kylus, who lay quietly.
I told you not to get attached. Get a grip.
Alice quickly averted her eyes from Kylus.
Then she answered the butler.
“If you’re willing to do that, I’m grateful. Please do so.”
“Yes. Then please rest before you leave. I have some business to attend to, so I’ll take my leave.”
The butler bowed deeply and left the bedroom.
Alice rolled her eyes for a moment, left with nothing to do in the room.
She needed to spend some time here and then leave so that Maris wouldn’t be suspicious.
That’s why the butler had told her to rest before leaving.
But now that she was told to rest, the Duke’s spacious bedroom felt awkward.
“Hmm…”
After unnecessarily looking around the bedroom, she slowly approached Kylus.
