Lady to Queen

“Say that again. What did you say?”

Meanwhile, Rosemond had just woken up, and asked Glara in an angry voice. Glara reported the news again to Rosemond with an intimidated facial expression.

“There has been news that both of Their Majesties had spent the night together in the Central Palace yesterday.”

“Spent the night together. Yesterday? How? Why?”

“His Majesty had another episode yesterday.”

“Then you should have woken me up!”

‘I had woken you up…’ Glara made a face as if she was about to cry, and provided an excuse.

“As a matter of fact, the people from the Central Palace had come here. However, Marchioness said to not wake you up, that you would sleep more…”

“…”

‘Darn it all,’ Rosemond sweared openly. If something like that had happened, it would be possible for them to have spent the night together. If in an extremely weak state, and therefore having the desire to rely on compassion… In addition, if they had already spent the night together, then that would be enough… ! Rosemond screamed in a voice full of rage.

“Aaaauuggh!

“Marchioness, please calm down!”

“Why is everything not working out as planned?”

Of course, the important thing was that the Empress was a barren woman. So she didn’t have to worry about the issue of a pregnancy… Rosemond just felt bad. This was a man who she had thought had only belonged to her. Although the relationship had gone south, she thought he would just lay low and be quiet for the time being…

‘Did I make the wrong decision?’

“Glara.”

Rosemond called out to Glara with a voice that was shaking. Glara replied quickly to make sure that the fire did not spread over to her as much as possible.

“Yes, Marchioness.”

“Contact January and hire an assassin.”

“Your Majesty, again?”

But the allotted amount of time was too short… Although Glara timidly tried to make excuses, Rosemond was simply obstinate.

“Hurry up! If this continues, the Empress’ seat may forever remain distant from me. Is that what you want?”

“If it is looked at for the long term, Marchioness, there are still many other ways. This is way too dangerous of a method…”

“The last time I failed, but I did not get caught.”

Rosemond said this in an eerie voice.

“Just do not get caught this time as well, Glara. A secret can only be innocent.”

“… I understand.”

Glara nodded her head at Rosemond’s stubbornness.

“I will send a letter to Madame January. But Marchioness, the timing should be…?”

“I have to watch out for the right moment. Write to her that I will inform that part of the information later. Tell her to pay off the funds using my name.”

“Yes, Marchioness. I will do it like that.”

Rosemond saw this as an opportunity to finally end everything. She was planning to finish all her work on this occasion. Her patience was gradually hitting rock bottom, and she was continuing to get older.

“Does she think I am just a servant for errands or something.”

January had received the letter, and secretly complained to herself. Although they had joined forces for mutual benefit, Rosemond was pushing it too far these days. She muttered to herself as if she had no choice in the matter.

“Well, it will be all over if Rose becomes the Empress and I become the Duchess.”

Until then, she had to bear with it a little more. As January quietly mumbled to herself, this time, she placed Rosemond’s letter in her jewelry box once again. She always wrote ‘Burn this letter’ at the end of the letters, but no way would she do so. As a woman who knew the nature of Rosemond better than anyone else, it was absolutely impossible for her to do that. ‘How could I believe you?’ January let out a snort of laughter.

Rosemond was a woman capable of ditching her as soon as she got in trouble, or asked for help. No, she might even go so far as to place all the blame on January instead.

That was why in order to prevent such a situation, where she would not have to die alone, January had been steadily collecting all the evidence. Of course, this was a secret to take to the grave when it came to anyone else.

-KNOCK KNOCK

In that moment, someone knocked on the door of the room where January was, and she let out an ‘eek’ sound, and quickly closed the lid of the jewelry box. She spoke quickly.

“Yes, come in.”

It was the butler who appeared when the door was opened. She asked him with a casual expression on her face.

“What is the matter, butler?”

“Lady Grochester brought these precious cookies, and said that she wanted to eat them with Madam January. How should I relay your answer to her?”

“Precious cookies?”

“It is a snack that is made only for the Imperial Family, and it is said to taste superb.”

“Is that so?”

It was news that was enough for January, who loved sweets, to open her eyes wide. She nodded her head, while humming a tune.

“Sounds good. I will go down.”

She was so excited that she immediately went down the stairs, forgetting the fact that the jewelry box containing the letters had to be returned to the original location.

“Oh my, it is so delicious.”

January exclaimed with words of admiration, as she bit into the sweets that Petronilla had brought. The sweet and savory flavors were perfect for January’s taste buds. Petronilla smiled and told her.

“Eat a lot of them, Madam. If you want, I will send more to this estate.”

“Oh my, really?”

“Of course.”

Petronilla awkwardly laughed at January’s words, and asked her.

“But all of a sudden, why are you doing such a favor for me…”

“Oh my, suddenly you say, Madam. That makes me sad to hear that.”

Petronilla evoked her good people skills that she had unconditionally exerted in front of many young ladies in her past life.

“I had originally wanted to get along with you, Madam.”

“With me?”

Even facing the doubtful glance, Petronilla replied without being affected by it.

“Yes, Madam. Because you are such a beautiful person.”

Petronilla said this, and slurped the black tea she was holding. Was it Keemun tea? Petronilla murmured to herself, and proceeded to add on.

“I am someone who likes beautiful people.”

“Oh my, how good you are with lip service.”

Petronila’s emergence didn’t feel so unpleasant to January, who had lived a daily life full of frustration, as she had always been confined to the home because of her position as a mistress. January slowly began to let go of her wariness using the sweets brought by Petronilla as the starting point, and by the end of their conversation, she started to naturally talk with her.

“So the dress I bought this time after having begged for it was…”

“Ah, one moment please.”

Petronilla gave a pretty smile, and told January.

“Please excuse me, Madam. I seem to have drank too much tea.”

Petronilla’s voice came out awkwardly, and January nodded her head in understanding. She spoke in a benevolent voice.

“Please go on ahead. I will be waiting.”

“Thank you for your consideration, Madam.”

Petronilla bowed elegantly, and went up the stairs in a hurry, as if she really was someone who had to use the toilet urgently. While she was away, January was eating the delicious snacks brought by Petronilla, when she suddenly felt a bit suspicious.

‘Wait a minute… There is a bathroom on the first floor as well?’

January judged this much, and hastily stood up from her seat. Was this woman possibly… January hurried upstairs to her room. No one was in her room. She looked inside of the jewelry box with rough movements.

“One, two, three, four…”

There were a total of 17 letters, and fortunately nothing was missing. January let out a sigh of relief, and closed the lid of the jewelry box. Then, a voice came from behind her.

“… What are you doing?”

Surprised by the voice, January let out a scream. She calmed her heart that was going up and down, and looked at Petronilla, who stared at her with a mysterious gaze. Petronilla said.

“Why not eat more of the sweets.”

“Ah… had to check out… something of mine.”

“Aah.”

‘That was what it was,’ replied Petronilla. January asked Petronilla with a detached voice.

“There is a bathroom on the first floor…”

“… Ah.”

“Why did you go up to the second floor?”

January forced a smile and asked this, and Petronilla spoke with amazement, as if she had just found out that information.

“Oh my, I did not know, Madam.”

“…”

“It is just that the location on the second floor was the one I knew about because the Duchess had shown it to me… I do not know what is on the first floor.”

“…”

“I did not want to ask a question regarding something like this… If I had offended you in some way… ”

“Not at all. No.”

Only then, did January smile naturally, and said to Petronilla.

“That could not be, my Lady. Do not worry about that.”

“Thank you for your consideration, Madame.”

Petronilla gave January a pretty smile, and approached her while pretending to be on friendly terms.

“Alright then, shall we go down and continue our conversation again?”

“Where did Nilla go?”

Patrizia was handling some documents in the Empress Palace when she asked Mirya this, and she replied without delay.

“She went to the Duke of Efreni’s estate.”

“Ah.”

She muttered to herself as if she knew the gist of it.

“She must be busy ensuring the job is complete.”

“I am sorry?”

“It is nothing.”

Patrizia responded in a nonchalant manner, and asked Mirya another question.

“More than that, is there any news from my home? I have been so indifferent to my family these days.”

Patrizia’s father, the Marquis of Grochester, was certainly a high-ranking noble who participated in central politics, but he did not reveal himself with great presence. Originally, he was a man with that sort of personality, and since his daughter became the Empress, he had become that much more careful. Patrizia was grateful for her father’s attitude, and at the same time felt apologetic toward him.

“Come to think of it, it will be my mother’s birthday in a few days.”

Patrizia thought for a moment, and then asked.

“Will I be able to attend?”

“There is no reason why there would be a problem, Your Majesty.”

“Hmm.”

Patrizia, who then pondered about it, gave a small nod.

“Rafaella, then will you be in charge of the preparations to go out, starting from tomorrow?”

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

Patrizia smiled and gave the instructions in a slow voice.

“Mirya, send a message to my father. That I will be visiting in three days.”

“I cannot allow her into this house anymore.”

January muttered to herself as she walked around the room. Lady Petronilla, that woman is dangerous. January’s intuition was telling her this. It was the same feeling she had when she first met Duchess Efreni. That kind of feeling was rare. Moreover, the Duchess of Efreni openly showed hostility to her, but this woman did not even do that.

Like someone waiting for a prey to be caught in a trap… January paced around the room with a frustrated expression on her face, and soon hid the jewelry box out of sight with an irritated look. After a while, she fell into deep thought with a serious look on her face.

“When does Duchess Efreni plan on returning?”

Really, it was truly difficult for the mistress to become the actual wife. January was letting out heavily agitated sounds, when she was surprised by someone suddenly opening the door, and entering the room. An unexpected person was standing there. When January confirmed who this was, her face became brighter.

“Oh my, Jacob.”

It was her young son. January quickly went up to Jacob, lifted him up high, and hugged him. She asked him tenderly.

“What is it, baby? What is the reason you are in your mother’s room?”

Even as a child of the mistress, Jacob had to grow up in the hands of a nanny, because half of his blood belonged to that of a high-ranking noble anyway. As someone who originated as a commoner, January could not understand such a situation, but she was obedient and followed the rules for the future. Jacob, who was still young, whined to his mother.

“The nanny is suddenly crying, Mother.”

“The nanny?”

She asked him in a puzzled voice. Elena, Jacob’s nanny, was a woman without any tears. She asked him why.

“Why?”

“I do not know?”

Jacob shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. Intuitively thinking that something big had happened in the household, January opened the door and went out.

“What is going on, butler?”

She called out to the butler with a coy look on her face. The butler looked at January with the same facial expression he always had. January did not like that face for some reason, so she asked again with a slightly sharpened expression.

“I heard Elena cried in front of the child. She needs to be careful, still a young child…”

“Please understand, Madam.”

There was an edge in the butler’s voice. At his response, January flinched involuntarily. She instinctively knew something was wrong, and asked him.

“… Is there something going on? There is, right?”

“…”

The butler said nothing. Looking closely, the butler’s once white eyes were now reddened. January patiently waited for the butler to respond. After a while, the butler opened his dry lips.

“The Young Master…”

There was only one person in this family that could be called “The Young Master,” Henry, the child of the Duchess of Efreni. She intuitively predicted what was going to come next, and urged the butler to speak further.

“The Young Master…? Why, what has happened?”

“… Has closed his eyes forever.”

At the end of those words, January had to force down the laughter that almost burst out in that moment.