Ch.82Court (2)

“Mmm…”

Lying in bed, Chloe stretches with her fingers interlaced while thinking about her brother.

When will he return?

He does come back during breaks from work, but those are just fleeting moments that leave a lingering taste. Since he has to return to work shortly after, rather than satisfying her desire, it only creates an even greater thirst.

I wish he’d come back soon and hold me… It’s not as lonely as before, but still, I feel alone.

Thump— Thump—

“Haaah…”

Chloe places her hand on her belly and concentrates, feeling the faint heartbeat with her entire body, and smiles with satisfaction.

Yes… this is it… this feeling, this emotion, this satisfaction.

The fruit of our love and our only connection.

Come to think of it, it’s truly amazing. Before this child, how did I ever spend such boring time—

“Tsk.”

“…You.”

But Chloe’s happiness instantly scatters into thin air at the sound of tongue-clicking from the corner of the room.

That sound, filled with contempt and mockery toward her, passes through her ears and unpleasantly stirs her brain. She can no longer return to her previous state of mind.

Her nemesis and the rolling stone that constantly interferes with her interactions with her brother, that cursed Ines, now dares to interfere with her connection to her child—no, no.

‘I must endure.’

I am not alone. Moving violently might harm the baby.

Above all, brother said that the child in my womb feels my emotions exactly as I do. That means if I feel anger, the baby feels the same anger.

No matter how irritating that woman is, I must suppress my anger. I cannot give my baby a bad experience.

Having made this judgment, Chloe takes a deep breath and decides to deliberately ignore Ines.

‘I must endure.’

The same goes for Ines.

Ines, who had been happily feeling the presence of her husband’s child during her lonely time alone, had her happiness scattered into thin air because of Chloe’s pathetic laughter.

In the end, Ines was greatly upset and about to lash out as she would to her inferiors, but after going through the exact same thought process as Chloe, she decides to ignore her.

“…”

“…”

The woman’s laughter that had just been overflowing with happiness is now nowhere to be found, and only silence settles in the room.

This problem could be solved if they didn’t share a room, but as mentioned before, the anxiety of not knowing what that woman might do out of sight prevents them from separating.

The uncomfortable cohabitation continues today.

……….

“What…? Jeanne has become a maid?”

“…Yes. I came running as soon as I confirmed it.”

“Hmm…”

Two servants entered simultaneously through the open door.

One is Ines’s person, and the other is mine, but the information they bring is quite shocking.

‘A maid? What is brother thinking?’

Surely he doesn’t mean to keep her close in the castle because he doesn’t want to visit the prison each time—no, that can’t be it.

One mistake is enough. I shouldn’t doubt brother anymore; there must be another reason.

Let’s stop thinking about that… and think about Jeanne instead.

‘Hmm… I’m a bit worried about what Jeanne might do.’

Though her mind may not be sound, her ability is real. Jeanne knows the secrets that both Ines and I have.

What if she, who couldn’t speak for fear of being dismissed as slanderous while imprisoned, becomes free and has nothing to hold her back?

Of course, brother wouldn’t listen to such a madwoman, but what Jeanne would say is still the truth. I need to prepare for any possible situation.

‘Should I threaten her not to speak… or spread rumors that she’s a liar so no one would believe her… if I choose this, on her first day—wait, as soon as you confirmed it?’

While contemplating countermeasures against Jeanne, Chloe notices something strange in her underling’s words.

As soon as you confirmed it?

I was thinking of planning based on when Jeanne entered as a maid, but that phrase bothers me slightly.

My underlings’ eyes and ears are spread throughout the palace, so there’s no need to specifically mention “as soon as confirmed.”

I might be overthinking, but I have a bad feeling.

“…When?”

“Pardon?”

“I’m asking when this Jeanne entered the palace.”

“…Two hours ago.”

“Two hours?”

It might seem short, but for Chloe, who usually received reports on palace events by the minute, this is an absurdly slow pace.

With so many underlings I’ve spread throughout the palace? Even brother’s midnight walk with Jeanne a month ago was reported immediately, so why is this taking so long during daylight?

“She was immediately assigned to work in a secluded area by the head maid upon entering. I heard she spent the entire morning cleaning windows in a remote location.”

“Hmm… I see.”

Seeing Chloe’s expression turn sour, the servant quickly offered an explanation, which Chloe found plausible and nodded.

Of course, Jeanne had actually entered the palace four hours ago, not two, and the delay was because servants who had spotted her kept quiet and didn’t report it.

The servant deliberately gave false information, judging that reporting the truth would cause Chloe tremendous stress and suffering. Though, the fact that meeting Jeanne had weakened his fanatical loyalty to Chloe also played a part.

With her curiosity satisfied, Chloe doesn’t spare a glance at the servant beside her, but merely tilts her head slightly upward, pondering how to deal with Jeanne.

“First, bring Jeanne here. By any means necessary.”

“Yes, Lady Chloe.”

After contemplating for a while, Chloe finally chooses the safe path.

Even if she were to speak the truth about me and that woman now, everyone, including brother, would dismiss it as nonsense, so there’s no need to take hasty risks.

“Bring that woman here.”

“Yes, Lady Ines.”

Ines makes a similar judgment to Chloe.

Unlike Chloe, Ines knows nothing of Jeanne’s ability, which is precisely why she feels no threat from her.

Ines simply wants to satisfy her curiosity by asking whether Jeanne has the qualities of a concubine, if she still behaves rudely toward her, what she thinks of her husband, and under what conditions she was released from prison.

If Ines had known about Jeanne’s ability, she wouldn’t have had a single question to ask.

Different people from different factions leave the room to carry out the same order, and the uncomfortable silence returns to the room.

……….

“…What is this?”

Returning to his duty of managing palace personnel, Leclerc frowns as he examines the contents handed over to him.

There are far too many people without proper backgrounds.

Orphans with unclear origins, individuals with suspicious documentation—there are countless issues to point out.

How could such people be allowed in the palace where His Majesty resides?

“Sigh… Lady Ines.”

Leclerc calls Ines’s name aloud while pressing his forehead with two fingers.

He knows this behavior is extremely disrespectful, but he feels he couldn’t bear it otherwise.

After massaging himself for a moment, Leclerc grips the documents with the same hand that had been pressing his forehead and begins to identify and classify suspicious individuals, his face contorted with displeasure.

With so many people working in the palace, and needing to carefully examine each person’s details to avoid mistaken identification, time was tight. However, Leclerc resolves this by temporarily suspending all other duties. For the current Leclerc, there is no more important task than eliminating potential threats.

“…There are so many.”

Having started his work in the morning, Leclerc finally completes his task as the setting sun casts a glow.

Rather than being impressed with his ability to finish reviewing all palace personnel in just half a day, Leclerc clicks his tongue in surprise at the sheer number of suspicious individuals within the palace.

While there isn’t much to criticize about the attendants, who must have clear backgrounds, the situation with the servants is horrific. It’s a miracle that no assassination attempts have occurred so far.

Of course, all these people are underlings of Chloe and Ines. Chloe, dissatisfied with only Ines’s underlings spreading throughout the palace, had negotiated with Ines to place her own underlings as well, resulting in the palace being filled with potential threats.

Naturally, Leclerc, unaware of this, seriously questions Ines’s qualifications.

‘I’ll need to conduct brief interviews before deciding on their treatment. As much as I’d like to remove them all without such formalities, it would be a great disrespect to Lady Ines who selected them.’

One might question whether he’s being too aggressive for merely an acting position, but the rights and duties of an acting role are no different from the official position.

Leclerc feels obligated to manage all palace personnel, even as an acting manager.

Of course, that’s not the only reason. To his eyes, having served the House of Bourgogne for decades, this is an intolerable and terrible situation.