Chapter 14. The Burden of the Ducal House
2023.09.14.
"Madam, Baroness Sionel has arrived."
It was one of the maids of the ducal household who attended to Blair.
Blair tilted her head. The maids of the ducal house disliked her as much as they adored their master, Herdin, so relaying messages to her had always been Lina's duty.
Hurriedly wrapping up her tea time with Agnes, Blair left the greenhouse and returned to the mansion.
Baroness Sionel, who had been waiting in her bedroom, greeted Blair with her characteristically high-pitched voice.
"My! You've grown even more beautiful since your marriage, Your Highness. Oh my, I suppose I should address you as the Duchess now."
"I wanted to convey my gratitude regarding the wedding dress, but circumstances kept me from reaching out afterward."
"Since the Empire's greatest beauty wore it, the gratitude should be mine. I am also honored that you granted me the privilege of making your first dress after your wedding."
Listening to Baroness Sionel's sycophantic words, Blair scanned the room. Lina was nowhere to be seen here, either.
"I have carefully selected and prepared lightweight, warm fabrics, just as His Grace previously requested. He must have been worried you might catch a chill."
Baroness Sionel's glib chatter vanished without even lingering in Blair's mind.
All that mattered to her was that Lina was absent from this room right now.
Lina didn't show her face even as Blair examined the dresses Baroness Sionel had brought and decided on the designs for the new ones.
After Baroness Sionel left, Blair asked a nearby maid about what had been bothering her.
"Where did Lina go?"
The maid hesitated, briefly avoiding Blair's gaze before answering.
"W-Well. I'm not entirely sure... Shall I go look for her?"
"No, leave it."
Blair stood up and put the fur robe she had taken off back on.
"Are you going for a walk?"
"Yes."
The maid prepared to follow behind Blair. Blair dissuaded her.
"I'm going alone."
"Ah, yes."
Blair left the room, leaving the maid behind. The maids waiting outside the door bowed their heads to her.
Blair walked past them and went down to the first floor, then quietly made her way back up. Through the slightly ajar door, the murmuring voices of the maids filtered out.
"Where did that girl Lina go? Don't tell me she's off crying somewhere just because she had some dirty water thrown on her?"
"Crying, my foot. She went off to wash without even flinching. No fun at all."
"She's tough, I'll give her that. Takes after her master. Still, she's going to have a hard time getting that stench out."
"But she wouldn't actually go tattle to Her Ladyship about this, would she?"
"If she were going to do that, there would have been an uproar long ago. She knows her place. No matter how noble a princess her master is, she's nothing but a burden in this ducal house."
Listening to their conversation, Blair tightly clenched the hem of her dress. Her bright crimson lips trembled faintly.
Her premonition had been right.
She might be hated, but she was still the Emperor's only sister. Unable to lay a finger on Blair herself, the maids had been tormenting her maid, Lina, instead.
However, a question arose in her mind.
Given Lina's usual temperament, she never would have just taken it. So why had she endured it?
Only then did Blair realize the truth.
Lina had been enduring it to prevent the already tarnished reputation of her master—the unwanted duckling of the ducal house—from getting any worse.
'It must have been the same in my past life. I was simply too consumed by my own circumstances to notice...'
Coming to that realization, Blair bit down hard on her lower lip.
"My Lady?"
Startled by the voice coming from behind, she turned around to find Lina standing there. She was wearing a fresh, clean maid uniform, but her still-damp hair was proof that she had just washed up.
Blair grabbed the hand of Lina, who still hadn't grasped the situation, and stepped into the room.
The maids, who had been gathered in gossip, recoiled in shock and quickly bowed their heads at Blair's unexpectedly swift return.
Blair approached the maids and spoke.
"Apologize."
A frosty chill lingered in Blair's eyes. The maids who met her gaze flinched under her commanding aura.
To them, Blair was a master they needed to be careful around, but not one they found particularly intimidating. She was a woman who never lost her temper, simply existing in silence with an ever-placid expression, like a doll or a painting.
However, upon meeting her eyes, which brimmed with a cold fury, they were so alarmed that they couldn't utter a single word.
Blair reiterated gently but firmly to the maids, who were frozen in the unexpected situation.
"I told you to apologize to Lina."
"I-I'm not sure what you mean all of a sudden, My Lady. Have we done something wrong..."
Slap!
Before anyone could even think to intervene, Blair slapped the maid across the cheek. The struck maid, as well as the onlooking maids and even Lina, gasped in shock.
Blair looked down at the maid who had fallen from the blow. The palm that struck the maid throbbed as if she were the one who had been hit.
She felt as though she had become Katrina. It was a foul, terrifying feeling. Her heart pounded in her chest, and her stomach churned as if she might vomit at any moment.
However, if she wanted to protect Lina, she couldn't back down now.
Blair tightly clenched her trembling hand.
"You know exactly what I am talking about."
"Y-Your Highness. I am truly fine. Really."
Belatedly snapping out of her daze, Lina grabbed Blair's arm. Given that the people of the ducal household already viewed Blair unfavorably, escalating the situation would do no good.
Besides, if Herdin were to see this...
"...I am not fine."
Blair added, her face contorted as if she might burst into tears at any moment, yet her eyes burned with fury.
"That you are suffering such things because of me—I am not fine with that at all."
"What is the matter here?"
Herdin appeared through the open doorway. Dressed for outings and holding leather gloves, it seemed he had heard the commotion on his way out.
"Y-Your Grace."
At his sudden appearance, the maids and Lina paled and bowed their heads deeply.
Slipping on the gloves he carried, Herdin swiftly assessed the situation inside the room.
A maid clutching her reddened cheek, and Blair, whose hands were trembling ever so slightly.
It didn't take him long to grasp what had happened.
While everyone else remained silent, the maid who had been struck by Blair stood up and stepped forward before Herdin.
"This girl failed to properly carry out the task assigned to her and acted insolently, so I administered a slight punishment. I suppose Her Ladyship must have misunderstood—"
"I did not ask you."
It was a calm yet absolute rebuke. The maid clamped her mouth shut and lowered her head.
Herdin's gaze shifted to Blair. He was waiting for her words. The maids also looked at Blair.
They intended to wrap up the situation by pinning the blame on Lina.
Even though they knew Herdin disliked Blair, they wanted to avoid making an enemy out of the woman who was both the Duchess and a Princess.
Furthermore, believing that Blair wouldn't want to escalate the matter either, they assumed she would simply play along with their narrative.
However, Blair completely defied their expectations.
"I was punishing these girls for isolating and bullying the girl I brought with me."
The maids were surprised by Blair's response, but they weren't too worried. After all, Herdin would never take the side of Blair, the daughter of his enemy.
Blair hadn't expected Herdin to believe her, either. Yet, even if that were the case, she didn't want to end this by letting Lina take the fall for everything.
But then...
"It is my neglect for failing to properly discipline the staff. I will have these girls dealt with immediately."
He believed Blair's words without asking any further questions.
The faces of the maids drained of all color at his words. Blair also stared at him with wide, astonished eyes.
Lina, who had been watching the situation unfold, spoke up in a panic.
"Y-Your Grace. I am truly fine. They were just playing a few pranks; it's all part of the process of getting along, really."
Of course, she didn't view the maids who had bullied her favorably. But being in a similar position as them, she knew better than anyone the hardship they would face if they were dismissed.
Recognizing Lina's discomfort, Blair acquiesced to her wishes.
"Herdin. That is... too severe a punishment. A sincere apology and a deduction of half this month's wages should be sufficient."
The frantic maids immediately fell to their knees.
"We are sorry, Your Grace! Out of our own foolishness, we committed such insolent acts. Please forgive us just this once."
"You should be apologizing to my wife and this maid, not to me."
Herdin replied coldly, then turned to Mason, who had arrived a step late after hearing the commotion, and gave an order.
"Mason, deduct two months' wages from these girls."
"Herdin."
"I believe this is an appropriate punishment."
Blair had called out his name to argue against the penalty, but Herdin cut her off as if he already knew what she was going to say without needing to hear it.
"Your Grace."
Ruth, checking his wristwatch, called out to Herdin. It meant it was time.
"I will be off now."
Herdin gently pulled Blair by the shoulder and pressed a kiss to her noble forehead.
Startled by his uncharacteristic action, Blair only grasped his intention when she caught sight of the maids standing nearby.
It was a warning. That this woman was his wife. That there better not be a repeat of today's incident.
Blair stared blankly at his retreating back as he left the bedroom.
He had believed her.
But why did she feel a greater sense of emptiness rather than gratitude?
The fact that the issue which would have tormented Lina for three years in her past life was resolved with just a few words from him.
* * *
That night, Lina headed to Blair's bedroom carrying a silver tray with cold water and a towel.
'Her Highness... if left like this, that delicate hand of hers will definitely bruise.'
Striking another person was something only someone tough could do.
Those fragile, beautiful hands had never so much as struck a person, nor ever done a single piece of rough labor; they surely wouldn't be able to withstand the immense shock from today.
'I'm sorry, Lina. I'm so sorry I didn't realize sooner...'
Their princess, possessing such a tender heart that she apologized even after saving her. Thinking of the hard cheek of the maid that those delicate hands had struck filled Lina with absolute indignation.
"My Lady, it's me. I'm coming in for a moment."
Using her elbow instead of her hands, which were occupied holding the silver tray, Lina pushed open the door and stepped into Blair's room. The moment she did, she dropped the tray she had so carefully carried.
"Y-Your Highness?!"