CH 105

‘Amazing! Irene, was it? Thanks to her, there’s nothing for me to do.’ Cecile was impressed. Before she had a chance to respond to Yuliana, Irene had stepped in on her behalf, and proceeded to administer a tongue-lashing to the princess with grace and composure. Her exacting dressing down of the princess had immediately placed her in Cecile’s good graces, and she had hurriedly asked an attendee nearby who was this lady that had come to her rescue. She had barely noticed the surprised expression of the attendee, as if questioning Cecile, ‘Do you really not know?’

Irene was the embodiment of nobility—her exquisite wielding of aristocratic speech to thrash her opponent with elegance was very much to Cecile’s taste. ‘I was just thinking that I’m in need of a handmaiden that could serve as an aristocratic role model.’ To think the perfect candidate would suddenly appear like this! Ecstatic at her luck, Cecile found herself gazing at Irene warmly, certain they would become good friends.

* * *

Estian entered the room attached to the office, and the men waiting inside quickly knelt and offered their greetings. “Enough. Arise and report. Explain what this is about the maids not being at the royal villa.”

“It is exactly as reported. The result of our investigation in the royal palace of Navitan was that no maids were ever assigned to the royal villa where Her Majesty once resided.”

“That’s impossible,” Estian muttered in disbelief. Whenever Cecile recounted her childhood, she never failed to mention the maids. Cecile had recounted to Estian many memories of the days she had spent together with her maids.

“On my tenth birthday, they made me a tower of fruits on a table, saying that they were left over from the main palace,” Cecile had grinned. The genuine emotions expressed on her face convinced him that these could not possibly be fabricated stories. Oddly enough, ever since Girgantia’s summoning, Cecile found herself unable to recall the names of those maids. However, it wasn’t like her memories of her past had disappeared.

‘She said there were three of them…’ After a brief moment of silence, the emperor asked something else. “What sort of place is that royal villa? Tell me everything of what you saw and heard without missing a single detail, from start to finish.”

“It was practically an abandoned house despite being called a villa…” The men who had been dispatched to investigate began to report what they saw at Estian’s command.

* * *

The supposed ‘royal villa’ they had investigated was no more than an old building that had fallen into disrepair. It was dubious to imagine this was where Her Majesty had once lived, but it was the only building named as a royal villa in the palace of Navitan. A remnant from the glory days when the Navitan Kingdom held great influence, the crumbling villa was now a deserted house located on the far edge of the royal forest.

‘Is this really the place where Her Majesty once lived? It’s obvious it’s been quite a long time since people have come by.’ Initially the men had approached with caution, but soon realized there was no one on guard. Skirting past the broken fence around the villa, they found no traces of human presence. Passing through the rickety doors, they moved from room to room, a cloud of dust kicked up with their every step. It wasn’t long before they discovered a room that had traces of a previous owner: a bed with shabby, but neatly folded blankets, carpets that were worn from use, and many, many books. All items that, presumably, had been used by the empress, and now lay accumulating a film of dust. However, the strangeness of the situation soon set in. There were no traces of the maids anywhere in the royal villa. ‘We were definitely told Her Majesty lived with her maids. Have they returned to the main palace?’

Having no luck at the villa, they decided to turn their search to the main palace. The empress had only departed for the empire a few months ago, it was unlikely the maids would have left the palace employment in the meantime. ‘I’m sure we’ll find them in no time.’ However, contrary to their expectations, they immediately hit a stumbling block in their search.

“What are you talking about? Where would you find servants working in that royal villa? It was abandoned long ago. I only recently heard that an illegitimate princess was living there too. Why in the world was she living somewhere like that?” The royal attendant remarked with skepticism. It was an attendant they had acquainted themselves with, and judging by his firm denial, there didn’t appear to be any falsities in his statement. It was all the more puzzling—then just who were these maids that were said to have looked after the empress?