WBWB | Chapter 46

Summer passed, and the Duke returned. As expected, I didn’t get a chance to see him after he returned. Still, I felt relieved just knowing he was back. If he had been seriously injured, I would have heard about it. Wouldn’t I? Probably.

…There would have been a great commotion in the mansion. Even as I reassured myself with that thought, I couldn’t shake off a lingering anxiety. What if he had returned injured, even if not seriously?

But I had no way of knowing. My days continued as usual, even after the Duke’s return. As time passed, I grew increasingly restless. But what was there for me to be restless about?

I didn’t know what I wanted. I just wanted to know if he was alright. If he was unharmed, if anything had happened to him during the expedition. And, and… I wanted to go back to our weekly dinners and conversations.

Perhaps…

‘Should I have accepted his offer?’

At the time, I had been offended and humiliated by his proposal to be his mistress. But if not knowing anything about him was this agonizing, wouldn’t it have been better to accept, even if it meant becoming his mistress, just to be closer to him? After all… hadn’t the feelings been mutual? He had wanted me, and I had wanted him.

‘Wouldn’t that have been enough?’

I just wanted to give in, to do anything to escape the pain of not being able to see him, the pain of not being able to talk to him anymore.

‘Should I?’

But then, the faces of my family flashed before my eyes. My mother, my sister, and then my grandfather and father. Could I face them in the afterlife and tell them I had become the Duke’s mistress?

‘That I fell in love with someone and became his mistress because I couldn’t be his wife?’

I didn’t think I could.

‘That I couldn’t help myself because I was in love?’

That’s when I came to my senses. No matter how painful it was, I didn’t want to do anything that would bring shame to my family.

Besides, the offer had been a one-time thing. If the Duke of Skadi had truly loved me, would he have given up so easily after a single rejection?

‘What if he felt the same way as I did? What if he was suffering just as much?’

The answer was obvious.

‘He wouldn’t be able to stay away. If he was as tormented as I was.’

I shouldn’t delude myself into thinking we felt the same way. He had simply tested the waters, like any other nobleman at court. I steeled my resolve, determined to move on.

Then, one day, the servants in the mansion became noticeably busy. 

Madame Pauline, her keys jingling, bustled every corner of the mansion. The maids scrubbed the floors on their hands and knees until they gleamed. The servants replaced discolored wallpaper, and ladders were propped up against walls as they meticulously cleaned every windowpane, window frame, and chandelier. Some furniture was carried outside, chopped into firewood, and replaced with new pieces.

Puzzled, I learned the reason from Lady Ana.

“Her Highness the Princess is coming to visit soon! There might even be a ball, and we might get to dance, Teacher!”

It was all because of the Princess’s visit.

“…Her Highness, you say?”

“The First Princess. You were the prince’s tutor, weren’t you? Have you met the princess before?”

I knew the First Princess. I had seen her from afar, heard the rumors about her, and knew what kind of person she was.

“I’ve seen her from a distance.”

Princess Chrétienne de Lances, the First Princess, was a true social butterfly. Her assertive and confident personality combined with a sharp mind and stunning beauty made her incredibly popular wherever she went. When she appeared at balls, every man, married or unmarried, with or without a lover, vied for a dance with her.

However, as the saying goes, the brighter the light, the darker the shadow. . And the princess had a dark shadow of reputation trailing behind her. It was well-known at court that she enjoyed toying with men’s affections, and once she was certain of her victory, she would mercilessly  discard them without a second thought.

She also enjoyed watching duels. For this reason, many young noblemen dueled for her favor, like fighting cocks. Duels, of course, resulted in injuries. But no one could dissuade the Princess from her cruel hobby, not even when noble sons were injured and bled, because she was the King’s favorite.

Then, an incident occurred, too significant to be hushed up. It was the duel between the son of Duke Choiseul, one of the King’s most trusted advisors, and the son of Count Saint-Germain, which resulted in the death of the Duke’s son. I knew about this incident because it was a major event that cast a pall over the court for a time.

The two young men, once close friends, had quarreled over who was more favored by the Princess, eventually resorting to a duel. But the Duke’s son shouldn’t have been allowed to duel. He was the sole male heir to the duchy.

When a precious son of a noble family became involved in a duel, other influential nobles usually intervened to prevent it. And even if the duel took place, it was usually just for show. But because the Princess wanted to watch, her young followers kept it a secret, preventing it from reaching the ears of the older nobles.

The two young men dueled in the back courtyard of the palace. The Duke’s son won. But as he held his sword to the Count’s son’s throat, demanding he acknowledge that the Princess belonged to him, the incident occurred. The Count’s son, refusing to accept defeat, drew a dagger hidden in his boot and stabbed the Duke’s son in the thigh. The Duke’s son collapsed, bleeding profusely.

Everyone screamed. And witnesses claimed the Princess watched the whole scene from her balcony. The Duke, having lost his heir, roared his grief and vowed revenge.

Alarmed by the Duke’s wrath, Count Saint-Germain fled to the southernmost part of the kingdom with his son and his belongings. The Duke wanted to raise an army and destroy the Count’s territory. The problem was that other nobles’ territories lay between the Duke’s and the Count’s.

Should they allow the Duke to pass through their lands for his revenge? The nobles argued, and the matter was finally resolved only after the King intervened. The King stripped Count Saint-Germain of most of his lands, demoted him to Baron, and gifted one of his own castles to Duke Choiseul.

But this wasn’t a perfect solution. The King declared dueling a sin and ordered the Princess, the instigator of the incident, to confine herself to the Temple Monastery. But right then and there, when the confinement was ordered, the Princess burst into tears and proclaimed her innocence.

‘I instigated the duel? That’s slander! I went to the balcony and saw them because my maid told me a duel was taking place! Even while watching, I didn’t know why they were fighting!’

Despite the Princess’s claims of injustice, the King sent her to the monastery.

However, complaints continued to erupt among the young noblemen. They all wanted the Princess back. The noble sons who had been killed or exiled due to the duels were forgotten, and gradually, the only topic of interest became when the Princess would return.

The Princess made a triumphant return to society after a season. At her first ball after her return, she wore a black veil and mourning dress to honor the memory of the deceased Duke’s son, and even her mourning attire became a fashion trend.

“The Princess must be beautiful, right? All princesses in fairy tales are beautiful!”

Lady Ana asked with certainty.

“Yes, that’s right. She’s very beautiful.”

“What about her voice? What’s the Princess’s voice like?”

“I’ve never spoken to her directly, so I don’t know.”

Excited about the Princess’s visit, Lady Ana bombarded me with questions. I considered telling her about the rumors I had heard, but in the end, I said nothing.