WBWB | Chapter 26

“I like that room.”8f827380afd771eb

“Wouldn’t you change your mind after moving to the new room? Try it out, and if you find it uncomfortable, tell me. I’ll have you moved back.”d24d0b9f0882fd23

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“I will.”00bb0aec9d52152e

With even the Duke 7a753a76a3 insisting, I had no f4c93e6cd5 choice. I nodded, and only 13f16fe27e then could I leave 3afc9af7ad the library.b3f9f7d59c8a7013

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‘But was he… always this talkative?’bdcc18481f684088

The next cb61a37999 morning, as 633168bf57 soon as aeebc18d0a I finished ad519f5eda breakfast, Madame b1bcee0cdd Pauline came ff444c294c and said 9b2c47acd5 she would a767ac2a77 show me 5cdae93a1f my new b36c346ef1 room.060b2826f550ab60

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I followed Madame Pauline 0ea36843b0 to the new room 1505bcce43 assigned to me. It was indeed spacious. Unlike my 374515dc74 previous room 56e4687e0b with its 5eacc56209 exposed ceiling, 10f2a0d4ce this room 6c02f3efa5 had proper 6a03e87abf wallpaper on 0a490e63e7 the walls 84a0333b7a and ceiling. A large window 06e1c324ec let in plenty 40071e9faa of light, offering 503b959a0f a panoramic view 401e07c9ff of the garden.84c4d997066035de

‘My old room must have been drafty. It’s much warmer here, even with such a large window.’c28fc5d397d5015b

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A carpet eaec479526 covered the 876e5e73a7 entire floor, fffd7739b1 preventing the 7195b60c18 cold from d02b2c52e2 seeping through. A wardrobe stood on d069916263 one side of the 0949929bff room, a round table bd5e59eee0 and chairs were placed 34531da01b in the center, and a1aa5db2b2 a sofa with a ac2e3ec32c footrest next to a c478409cab much larger and more dd9261e291 ornate fireplace than the 60b723db16 one in my previous a2b5c9f3b0 room. There was 5bda9ae2ad even a a8db2b0ed9 glass cabinet 886ffb6733 filled with d24810a6fd teacups, a e02f66b230 teapot, teaspoons, 8c02832558 and everything b27a0dc2d7 needed for b26116f9d2 making tea.e9ca54e930353d01

“Would you like to see the bathroom, Miss Jeanne?”95f306469fcdf10c

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The most surprising 70b3d9a4cb feature was the 5788cc396f attached bathroom. It had a spacious 1156466a0e porcelain bathtub with cat 87ebddb422 feet. The bathtub I had 0b3f40b745 been using was a 9fd0df4253 small, half-sized one, only e1db9decd9 big enough to sit 26cdbf00d0 and soak my lower 651886c737 body. But this 24280a413b bathtub was 271de1d8e8 large enough 9d4e4a6d1f for two 9498b6d370 people to 1c79d844c4 lie down 4b9855c6b8 comfortably with bb89418398 their legs 2201873c48 fully extended.2d822684b4f9eafd

‘Is it really alright for me to have this room?’dd2a6ae19763cc43

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As I thought it 672d4e25f7 would be suitable even 3d9ad3a950 for guests, Madame Pauline 08fa592084 spoke, e5a87808cb265547

“This was originally a guest room, but it’s been unused for several years, just covered in dust sheets. A room deteriorates if it’s not used, becoming damp and musty, so would you mind staying here, Miss Jeanne?”4dfa760d4c3efbad

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I couldn’t refuse after she put it that way.921bb7e0fd3a7baa

I moved to the new room before lunch. Indeed, once I had moved, the new room was so much better that I couldn’t even remember the old one.911e165be6e8fb86

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Lady Ana 1d001ae885 also visited 169f36f2c1 after lunch.6a7e7021523e840b

“Teacher! Your room is so pretty! Almost as pretty as mine!”7c1a0dd61070bbfd

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“Isn’t it?”35bbccbd4da73027

Lady Ana said 8577cb8481 she had gotten f024e63d49 lost for a 40b84593c4 moment, not knowing 91b5b2dbb0 I had changed 95aafb6caa rooms.51be228b4ce1c771

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We sat on the 78c16fd065 bed and played card 8c7f61d6cb games for two until 8488696e2f dinner. I had drawn 035cfcc007 and made the 7b743d7a20 cards myself to 3f8a6a2939 teach her the 3dede274d1 game.bea5d152237f8ec8

Engrossed in d0042eaa2a the game, bbcacb85af we didn’t d6a4667780 notice the c79a6bae00 time until 2b68ad4b9c the sun 081ed3b802 began to 858b22a39c set.f3b5c440ed9aa3f9

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“Teacher, I want to have dinner with you tonight.”8eb3c410d15801bb

Lady Ana’s words reminded me of my dinner appointment with the Duke. And that I had to tell him what I wanted during that dinner.5153ea8b69d24c38

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I told Lady 93b8a7ad0b Ana that I 0fd021ea9d was invited to 474dbcec5d dinner with His c9eb7c0e70 Grace.29460bf562f08bac

“Shall I ask f17f359aec him if you cee27e5baa can join us?”7fd5e21ce4996acb

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“…No.”c10f3ab27f67f8fd

Just those words seemed 788576b271 to make Lady Ana 46b67301dd slightly timid, and she e1ec8d1e22 quietly returned to her 7e33d8aa64 own room.55cf0ec56ceeb6d8

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‘But what should I ask for?’b132cb1170313699

Left alone, I took out dresses from the trunk I hadn’t yet unpacked, pondering.99705c352cec835a

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‘What should I request?’499396c3c3fdae45

As I abbecfa0cf contemplated, surrounded 4f00a24bd0 by beautiful 7cb24f9c0e dresses spread 599736eb34 out on d24966b0f0 the bed, 7f03cbbbd4 a thought e007db8624 suddenly struck 691696e593 me. Something I 14248b9252 had been 964957fb7f longing for. And there was only 3b3ed1d428 one person who could 03f55986d4 grant it; the Duke.77e7a9398ac6da5b

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That evening, I 6f817fac30 chose a cream-colored 97ffcfd6be silk dress. As I entered the 3203f34537 dining hall and sat eceab64dae down, the Duke stared 81cae6a0e3 at me intently. But the moment dafe7b0308 I looked at 714ea98c3a him, he abruptly d3ca00a75c turned away, as b4d574345c if embarrassed.c886ffe3139a4577

‘Is something wrong?’9c915b9501adfe64

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I self-consciously touched my ef701f4647 cheek and smoothed down 3df98c137c my dress.4212ee513197da1c

“Thank you for inviting me to dinner, Your Grace.”65730c2d2ddc8ecd

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“Hmm.”01e27eac6771c020

Dinner began 1ff8c2b786 shortly after. When the appetizer 7991d97c7c was served, I c6fdea3c9b thanked him for 5c3b4a6978 the new room. He nodded curtly c8743c943c and offered me 70a1797792 an aperitif.2ec7c1287a3e4257

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“Drink.”92fa8c3710425b4c

Thirsty, I f60ac2aa85 unthinkingly drank 41a04167a3 the clear 3755448e94 liquid in 3176e88e49 the glass. Aperitifs were usually light 546099e346 and refreshing alcohol. But as 4c9482f32b soon as 64adc23520 I tasted 5625a9f5e7 the seemingly fcdda99578 water-like liquid, 75ba94d2f8 I almost dc4b37e50b spat it 69b9746b0a out. I clenched my teeth 69135f92aa and forced it down, 9add55ec1d unwilling to make a 275e2d8a9d scene.a7c23dd057158a2c

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‘Oh my!’e0ae665a221c79a0

My mouth 3493f34287 burned, and 8ec035bbfd my stomach fadb107386 felt like 557a97d390 it was a1446f2804 on fire. The alcohol was so ebb8317c98 strong that my eyes 3d7193d7c7 watered. I picked up the 79f66b0eb2 glass and stared at 59125e4af6 its contents.a48b58a476cb8fcd

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‘Is this… the right drink?’bdba4fdeed247d8f

I had heard that alcohol in colder regions tended to be stronger. But the drinks at the previous dinners hadn’t been this strong. Wondering if something was wrong, I sipped the drink cautiously and glanced at him. He was emptying his glass without any reaction.5c5892af54148212

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‘I see, this is d855e9bc06 normal then?’e9a2a3671b6d1a78

I carefully sipped 4a9914f77b the drink, trying 369cc6f54a not to drink 39c8068301 any large gulps. But the single 724d57d614 glass I had 05362214e7 already consumed had 313a6807cf already set my 13b366f98f mouth and stomach fcd2720bfd ablaze. Soon, my b07877cd8d whole body 877b72aafa felt warm 4de6924ed6 and flushed. The dining hall 4456ba041a felt hot, and cef5ea63be my head spun. I tried to abdc15fad5 cool my cheeks 1a0f2c7094 with the back cb083813be of my hand.9196366b5d35db5f

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‘I need to pull myself together.’7114e0a91e8b4d76

But the single abdd6b28c9 sip had already f093501e8a lit a fire b982bce347 in my body. My eyes ec0f77e372 felt hot, 32c56557be and my 7bccc4f1e2 pupils dilated.1b3d642bfc08599b

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The alcohol had 47cc5840fb a powerful effect a70fdedab4 that evening. Intoxicated, it 3af3e327fa made me d58316e266 fearless.727d56b3fbfda8c5

“Where did you get that dress?”8aea91a9144ebf31

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The Duke asked.84122d1ce2af1f86

“Did you buy it?”7ff3863d116e3ff7

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“No. Madame Pauline gave f4c4aafd5c it to me. She said f5af5e91d1 it belonged 58cea9b669 to the 3a9cbd579b former mistress 947d2175f3 and had f405cf1e11 been stored 4a5e4dc659 away…”a20d42f78c1464f7

The Duke shrugged.aa39f5ba03e44da5

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“Then it must have been my mother’s dress. I thought it looked familiar.”56dc43f89dca8fd0

His words made me a8a51fe58a realize something obvious.a8da40f7a4153c0b

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‘Madame Pauline’s mistress, of course!’aa72bd62c146bff8

The mistress Madame Pauline fc503e97a1 served was his mother. How had I not 7a58179967 connected those two facts 3b11b97bc5 before? I self-consciously smoothed 616bb3c908 the wrinkles on 45cf81b73d my dress.5dec723873b0cae3

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“Do you know anything about my mother?”36d581ffcbfe3107

“Very little.”106be6d5e7ac39eb

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Just a 0bc988ac36 small fragment, 41550e201d a footnote ce5263d19e in history.b19c8c6446e279ea

“I know she a3e91e06c1 was Duchess Marie 5816237a6e Adelaide, His Majesty’s 4ab57482f6 aunt…”fd70bfab1574f254

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How did the f9edaed52d previous kings exert a2eede7ee8 their influence over fe600aac6d the chieftains of 4453a9c375 the barbarian tribes dd479a1db0 after granting them 91035a5ed9 land? The barbarians, though 7012983c1e a vassal, shared c17add3653 the same ancestry 3f949ae835 as the invaders 456505fcf2 who attacked the 5a1762d207 south every summer. Wouldn’t they be more a1238c01d8 likely to collude with e9c2cdb4a8 them and usurp the ea4aa300a8 throne, rather than act 261355b7bc as a shield against 6d5d41e5f7 them?362959327182b264

There was a 4a41c4ea81 tried and effective 3b33efee7e method employed in bc84d64b81 such situations; marriage.57a12b7f80fd3329

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The previous kings had married the heads of the Skadi family to their daughters, or to their nieces if their daughters were unavailable. As far as I knew, the previous Duke’s wife was the third of the previous King’s six daughters. That meant the current King and the Duke were cousins.aa588f980b7ae6d7

“That’s right. My mother was the current King’s third aunt. She lived in the warmth of Franc until she was sixteen and then came here, where she spent the rest of her life. As the Duchess of Skadi. So, what did you think of the dress when you tried it on?”12dc0bbeee2e41c7

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“…”58605de713fa719b

“How did it feel wearing it?”474ddc53db565986

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How did 6e9a18a3de it feel c26fcd2c5a wearing the 3e844f4756 dress? 5da0ef1e1e4f57cc

An answer immediately f32ea83240 came to mind, 3d4cd12374 but I hesitated.a54d461cfd8bfd7e

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Normally, I would have showered it with compliments. That it was beautiful and didn’t look outdated at all, despite being from a previous generation. But the alcohol gave me courage. The courage to tell the truth.14c1d4937458dda5

“This dress is… too thin. For this climate. So, when I had it altered, I had a thicker lining added. It’s beautiful, but here, this dress…”a3f205920dd49bd3

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“Is unwearable. The dress is beautiful, but completely impractical.”21bb8e46ce5db84d

The Duke shrugged 04af491252 again, as if 5b83748ca5 he had already 92c1f812c0 known my answer.f3f4652b4e4eac38

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“As you can see from the dress, my mother never forgot her homeland. Even after marrying my father and bearing him two sons, she never adapted to Skadi, until the day she died. Even though it wasn’t a foreign country, just a different region within the same kingdom. My mother longed for Franc and the court life all her life. And she diligently ordered and wore dresses that were in fashion there. Even though she could never return, she didn’t want to fall behind the trends there. But you can’t wear such clothes here, not even in summer. That dress eventually made her ill. Consumption. Or perhaps it was homesickness.”1e0bc9098ae02918

“…”2f50544c197c1186

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“My father loved my mother. I consider that a curse upon him. To love a woman who hated his land and himself. Wouldn’t it have been better for him to have taken mistresses?”9f9c30ea93166647

He stopped there.b9ff11c33ce632a1

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“I’ve misspoken. Please forget what I said.”e45b9ba1f5914e6e