episode_0063

My mother arrived at the town house around sunset.

“Mother, you’re here.”

“You must be tired from the long journey; shall we take you to your room right away?”

“……”

With a face mixed with fatigue and annoyance, my mother entered. She smiled, glanced at my brothers who were approaching from both sides, gesturing her inside, chuckled, and lightly waved her hand.

“Hehe~ Do you think I’m an old woman? Even if I’m getting older, I’m not that bad yet.”

“Didn’t you stop by the Imperial Palace before coming here? We know how exhausting that place is now, so how can we not worry?”

“Fortunately, I only met with His Imperial Consort today, and the conversation went smoothly.”

“That’s a relief.”

My brother smiled gently with his eyes, as if genuinely relieved.

I didn’t want to keep either of them close, but His Imperial Consort felt a bit more reasonable than His Imperial Majesty.

My mother, looking at my brother as if he were cute, took off her wide-brimmed hat and said,

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen your faces, let’s have dinner first, it’s dinner time anyway.”

“That sounds good. Francis, is it okay to head to the dining room now?”

“Yes, we can serve the food immediately.”

“Then let’s do that. Mother, let’s go to the dining room.”

_

It was a meal where I didn’t know whether the food was going into my mouth or my nose, it had been so long.

It was because I was afraid of what my mother would say, given what I had done without thinking.

“These days, Wilhelmina is…”

“I see.”

“Haha…”

Unlike my worries, the story that flowed throughout the meal was a mundane update on recent events, but I was anxious throughout the meal, wearing an awkward smile, as I didn’t know when the arrow would be aimed at me.

Fortunately, my story was never brought up until the end of the meal.

I figured it was consideration from the two of them, as they didn’t want to scold me in front of others.

The only mistake was that I realized it too late.

“Ugh…”

After finishing the meal and returning to my room, I stroked my bloated stomach and leaned back in the chair.

I deliberately ate less because I thought this would happen, but my solar plexus felt stuffy as if I had indigestion.

“Shall I bring you some digestive medicine?”

Emilie, who was tidying up the bedding, glanced at me and said as I rubbed my upper abdomen with a grimace.

“Um… no, it’s okay.”

I hesitated for a moment, but almost immediately smiled and shook my head.

It wasn’t severely painful, and I didn’t feel like I was going to throw up, so I didn’t think there was a need to.

“Please tell me anytime if you need anything.”

“Okay.”

Emilie didn’t seem to think my condition was serious either, as she didn’t offer again and moved to the window.

Then, Emilie slightly raised herself on tiptoes, grabbed the curtain, and gently pulled it, covering the window.

Why does she bother to stand on tiptoes?

The window isn’t high, and she isn’t short.

Is it a habit?

It’s cute, so I didn’t say anything on purpose.

Because she would try to fix it if she was aware of it.

– Knock knock

As I was watching Emilie stand on tiptoes every time she pulled the curtain, a knock broke the silence and echoed.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me, do you have time by any chance?”

“Ah…”

A very small sigh escaped at the sound of my mother’s voice from beyond the door.

I should have just said I was taking digestive medicine.

“Sigh… Yes! You can come in, Mother.”

I took a deep breath, got up from my seat, and shouted loudly towards the door.

Then, the doorknob turned, the door opened, and my mother appeared, wearing the dress she had been wearing since she arrived, with only a shawl draped over it.

“What brings you here?”

“I was talking to Edward during dinner, so I didn’t get to talk to you, so I came to talk to you a bit.”

As I guided my mother to the tea table next to the window and asked why she had come to see me, she glanced at Emilie with a faint smile.

“Emilie, you can go back for today, I’ll call you separately if I need you.”

“Yes, have a pleasant night, both of you.”

“Okay.”

“Alright.”

I immediately sent Emilie out because it seemed like they wanted to talk alone.

Emilie immediately lowered the curtain, bowed her head, and left the room with hurried steps.

A room left alone with my mother.

We sat in front of the tea table without saying a word, looking at each other’s faces, and paused in silence for a moment.

“Your face has become much slimmer.”

It was my mother who broke the silence first.

I’d been hearing that I looked sharp lately, so I touched my cheeks, wondering if I had really lost weight.

Did I lose weight?

I’m not sure.

“I think it’s because I’ve been moving my body a lot lately.”

“You’re not skipping meals, are you? You seemed to be picking at your food a bit earlier.”

“That’s… because I was a bit nervous.”

“Afraid of getting scolded by me?”

“…Yes.”

“Pfft~ You’re still a child.”

As I raised the corners of my mouth awkwardly and lowered my head slightly, my mother covered her lips and laughed, leaning back slightly in her chair.

“Then, what kind of story do you think your mother came here to tell you?”

“Um… Weren’t you coming to tell me not to act too arrogantly?”

At my answer, my mother smiled with foxy eyes and shook her head.

“I was at first.”

“What about now?”

“If you’re not going to do nothing, then you might as well make a big splash, as much as His Majesty can handle.”

“Pardon?”

I made a blank sound and stared blankly at my mother.

“At first, I thought you were being arrogant and reckless when I saw His Majesty, but when I saw the Imperial Family subtly encouraging your behavior, I guessed it was over.”

“Ah…”

“The moment you catch the Emperor’s eye, it’s as good as having no choice. He will never leave you alone until he gets what he wants. You know how His Imperial Consort got hooked, don’t you?”

“Yes…”

The story of how His Imperial Majesty and His Imperial Consort got married was no exaggeration to say was the greatest madness among the actions His Majesty had shown.

That’s because he made His Imperial Consort, who was then a ‘Duke,’ a ‘maid.’

I’m not mis-speaking the word servant, he really made him a maid.

The reason was truly absurd, because he always wanted to keep him by his side.

What’s even funnier is that His Imperial Consort accepted it.

He worked as a maid for half a year, and then got married half a year later.

Logically, it’s a strange request to accept, and if it were me, I would have seriously considered a rebellion because I would have thought the Emperor was crazy.

My mother and father said that there was a certain story behind it that was not easy to reveal, but I couldn’t imagine in my head, being just a regular person, what reason there could be to accept it.

“So don’t resist unnecessarily and just go with the flow. I don’t know what His Majesty wants, but if he achieves his purpose, he will let you go cleanly, probably…”

My mother wasn’t sure either, as her voice faded towards the end.

“Hoo…”

My mother let out a shallow sigh and turned her head towards the window with the curtain half-drawn.

Then, as she looked at the moon visible through the gap in the curtain with wistful eyes, she raised her eyebrows as if something had occurred to her, frowned, and asked.

“Um, William, do you have a child named Lizena Elizabeth among the people you work with? With gold hair and eyes.”

“Oh, yes, how did you know?”

“Tsk…”

My mother, disgusted and even clicking her tongue, sent me a pitiful look and said in a serious and grave voice.

“The one you really need to be careful of is not anyone else, but that child.”

“Pardon?”

“I can’t tell you much right now, but the moment you get deeply involved, you can consider your leisurely and ordinary life over. Just remember that, okay?”

“Pardon? Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.”

I didn’t understand exactly what she meant, but my mother’s expression and voice, as she held my hand tightly and widened her eyes, were so desperate that I nodded quickly and said I understood.

“This is all your mother has to say. I’m planning to stay in the Imperial Capital for a few days, so feel free to ask me anything you want.”

“Yes.”

My mother, who had gotten up from her seat with a smile, patted me on the shoulder and left the room.

_

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

My gaze towards the Elizabeth princess became a little uneasy after my mother’s warning, but other than that, there weren’t any big changes yet.

I can’t just fire someone who’s doing a good job, and if even my mother is reacting like that, then firing her wouldn’t solve the problem.

The best thing to do is to be wary of getting closer, as my mother said.

I don’t know if I can do it well.

I can’t even hide my gaze properly right now, there’s no way I can hide the subtle distancing…

“Don’t just stand there blankly, tell me what to do today, we’re busy, aren’t we?”

“Right… I know.”

The Elizabeth princess’s urging broke my deepening reverie.

My head is complicated, but there’s too much work right now.

I lightly slapped my cheeks a few times, widened my eyes, looked at the staff, and opened my mouth.

“Okay, we’re going to start sewing in earnest from today. Everyone remembers the assignments you were given when we started work on Monday, right?”

““Yes.””

“Then raise your hands if you’re in charge of embroidery.”

Princess Fannie, along with Katerina and Adelheid, raised their hands.

“Good, Herbert and Elizabeth, what did I tell you to do?”

“You told me to find a dress that suits Katerina.”

“That’s right, the rest don’t have anything set, but work hard to help the others concentrate. Use the others a lot, okay?”

““Yes.””

“Good, everyone has to work hard to get it done by Friday, so let’s start working now.”