Chapter 10

Author: gucchi

TL: N. Irene

(tl: Sorry for the delay. I promise to post 5 chapters this week! Btw, it’s actually my younger sister’s birthday on June 15 (she’s turning 9 years old. I’m 5 years older than her.) so I have been a bit busy these days.

Chapter 10

A week later.

I came to the laundry room to wash the bed-linens.

I was washing them at the corner of the laundry room when a servant, who was eyeing me for some time, yelled loudly at me.

A middle-aged. thin woman, the kind of servant who always looked cross.

Though that’s only what I think.

She seemed to be in a worse mood today, and the shouting didn’t end there.

She snatched a small washboard and threw it at me, even though she knew it would hurt me.

The washboard came flying towards me when it suddenly fell on the floor.

It fell… without hitting me? …I’m being protected?

Perhaps… the guard protected me using magic.

To others, it probably looked as if it had hit me.

“How could you hit such a small child…” a voice said.

“Come over here. Do you want me to do your laundry with you?”

It was a young female servant I had never seen before.

The servant who had thrown the washboard at me snorted and left.

“Thank you for helping me.” I thanked the female servant.

“No problem. Are you all right? Does it still hurt?”

“It’s alright, I’m fine.”

I had never seen this servant before, but she didn’t look like a lowly servant.

Her manners were neat and her hair looked well groomed.

Her slightly thin hands did not look as if she had been doing the laundry for years.

Her glossy light brown hair, shimmering in the sun, could have been a commoner’s,

But her bright green eyes were evidence that she had aristocratic blood.

She could be a noble daughter of a fallen family.

Even lowly servants cannot work in the royal court without a letter of recommendation from a noble.

She called herself Ellie and my curiosity for her grew.

I washed the sheets in silence, thinking that there was nothing I could do about it now.

Ellie also continued washing without saying anything.

Amidst the sound of splashing water, I heard the servants, a short distance away, talking.

“Come to think of it, did you hear about last week?”

“I heard the Duchess wasn’t looking good after the dinner party.”

“I heard – the Duke has a new mistress, didn’t he?”

“Yes, that’s right. I hear he doesn’t drop in on the chief lady-in-waiting much these days.”

“Perhaps, the chief lady-in-waiting’s days in luxury are about to end…”

“By the way, if Princess Eliza gets adopted by the crown prince, the Duke will have to live in the palace as he is her father.”

“I wonder if the Duke will also take up residence in the palace as her guardian…”

“Wouldn’t that be so? Even now, Princess Eliza spends half the year in the palace.”

“I hear that Princess Eliza is very kind and talented, unlike the Fraca Princess.” (tl: Fraca means failure.)

“Hey, is Princess Eliza really going to be the heir to the throne, instead of Princess Fraca?”

“Yes, that’s what I’m saying.”

“She’s always selfish and brutal with the servants, so only the old, strict servants are allowed to go near her.”

“The Fraca Princess is also reluctant to go further with any of her education.”

“Instead, Princess Eliza is being given the same education as the princesses at the duke’s house.”

“I see! So it’s all decided then.”

I was wondering what happened to those tutors the duke put on me.

I wander how he faked it, with the budget and all.

The duke got a tutor for Eliza right away… Oh, could it be embezzlement?

It should have come out of my, the princess’s expenses, right? I wonder if Mr Surveillance will report it to me. (tl: she’s calling the guard ‘Mr Surveillance’. It’s a bit cute.)

“I’m glad Princess Eliza is taking over the throne, but I’m not sure about the Duke having more mistresses in the palace.”

“I don’t want to be a mistress…”

“We don’t want more trouble, do we?”

“Oh, be careful Ellie.”

“It’s said that young and beautiful servants are forced to become mistresses.”

“……Yes, I’ll be careful.”

Ellie looked slightly pale.

Well, knowing my uncle, I’m sure he’ll definitely get his hands on Ellie when he finds her.

Although some might want her to become the duke’s mistress and live a wealthy life.

Ellie doesn’t seem to want that.

I went back to my room to think what I could do about it.