CH 42

The box the maid presented her with was smaller than the palm of her hand. The packaging was very pretty. The dark purple ribbon contrasted with the delicate pearl-colored box.

"What is this?"

"We don't know either. It looks like a gift... Hurry up and open it!"

"Pfft."

Coco snorted, and began moving her fingers. She also grumbled that Yulia might have bought snacks on the street somewhere after staying out overnight. As she said so, Coco's mouth watered, and her expression loosened.

She untied the beautifully knotted ribbon, and opened the lid of the small box. Then she picked up what was inside with her fingers, and took it out.

"Goodness!"

"My Lady, Goodness gracious... It's so pretty!"

It was a very pretty hairpin.

The long and thin pin was decorated with flowers resembling forget-me-nots, and pearls were embedded like dew between the petals, making it very splendid and beautiful.

The maids who were standing next to Coco looked at the hairpin in admiration.

Coco murmured in a small voice.

"How did she know?"

Besides her exclusive maids and Prince Lewicia, no one in the palace knew about Coco's birthday.

"Did you tell her?"

"No. It wasn't us."

"So, maybe Lewicia?"

"I... highly doubt it. As you know, he forgets every year. Has His Highness ever remembered your birthday?"

"No."

Lewicia was someone who couldn't even remember his own birthday. It was the same with Coco.

"Someone must have told her. Anyhow, this is a really pretty hairpin. Besides, it looks very expensive. How did Lady Yulia manage to buy such a precious thing? I heard that she was sponsored by nobles because she was poor, but..."

"Silence. Why are you so interested in other people's business?"

"Because I'm envious!"

The maids laughed cutely. After telling the maids that it was late and that they should go to bed, Coco was left alone in the bedroom.

Outside the window, the moonlight was bright. After closing the curtains, Coco sat in front of the mirror and took out the hairpin again.

"Yulia Arte."

How did she find out? Was it actually Prince Lewicia who told her? However, the Prince was so busy these days that he couldn't possibly afford to remember events such as Coco's birthday.

Looking at this hairpin reminded her of the tiara Yulia had forcibly given her while telling her to consider it compensation. Coco took it out of her jewelry box, and set the two accessories side by side on the dressing table.

Although it was a different kind, it was all pearls. Coco's favorite jewel.

Because of her fancy appearance, she was used to people gifting her amethysts, sapphires, or rubies. But Coco's favorite things in the world were elegant pearls.

"How did she know what I like?"

Yulia Arte. It was her first time meeting such a child. The girl whom Prince Lewicia met at the graduation ceremony of Brewe Academy, that he went to while dragging his feet and grumbling that it was annoying to death.

At first, she thought that Yulia was a bold commoner. A fearless, and reckless child. Then, after a few days passed, she realized that the girl she thought was just bold was also quite determined and smart.

The opportunity to get closer was also ridiculous.

Coco hated to see Yulia being persecuted for being a commoner. She was a maid of honor appointed by Prince Lewicia himself, but the fact that she was treated worse than a mere maid made the Prince lose face.

So she got angry in her stead. Because Coco was one of the most influential maids of honor in the royal palace.

Yulia accepted it as if it were natural. Actually, that was the strangest thing to Coco. She should either be awkward or uncomfortable, or be grateful and depend on her. Isn't that how it should be?

Yulia was neither. She put on a face as if she knew Coco would react that way, and naturally took care of things so that they wouldn't escalate.

Is that something a 21 year-old girl can do in front of nobles she met for the first time in the royal palace?

"Impossible."

Coco denied it.

"She might be a veteran maid of honor."

She was suspicious, but couldn't possibly suspect her at the same time. Yulia's past was so clear that nothing seemed disingenuous about it. Her antipathy towards the Marjoram family was completely understandable. She also thought that coming to Lewicia's palace was a very good choice.

Besides, she knows that Yulia has now become a very important person to Lewicia. As a maid of honor, as a teacher, and as a woman.

"Yulia Arte..."

'I guess I need to pay a little more attention.'

Coco liked Yulia. It was the first time in a while that she had met someone that she liked this much. So she hoped that this small sense of incongruity wouldn't turn into something negative.

A pearl ornament and a flower that resembles a forget-me-not.

Coco put on a small smile, and picked up the hairpin. Then, she put it on top of the jewelry box on the dressing table.

*****

The next day, Coco, who woke up a little earlier than usual, came down to the first floor, and asked Yulia.

"Tell me honestly. How did you know that today was my birthday?"

Yulia was making flower decorations with the maids in order to decorate the palace. All the ones made by the maids were pretty, but the ones made by Yulia looked bizarre. Her poor skills made the maids twitch their lips as they tried to hold back their laughter.

"Coco, you woke up early today."

"Don't change the subject. How did you find out about my birthday?"

"I didn’t know."

Yulia smiled naturally. Then, she asked Coco.

"Is today your birthday? Happy birthday, Coco."

Coco raised one eyebrow. Then, with a questioning gaze, she examined Yulia's face closely, and asked.

"You really didn’t know?"

"How would I know your birthday? About the gift from yesterday... I was walking around outside, and something very pretty caught my eye. It reminded me of you and I thought it would suit you, so I bought it on a whim. I wanted to thank you for helping me adapt to the palace, and..."

"Isn't that a lie? It's unlike you to be this talkative."

Coco lifted her chin, and smiled. Yulia neither agreed nor disagreed with her words.

"Hey, I am the kind of person who can't live being indebted to others. I feel relaxed only when I give back twice or thrice the amount. Yulia Arte. If yesterday's hairpin wasn't a birthday present, then is it a bribe? What the hell do you want from me?"

"I have a small request."

Yulia said coldly. Coco, who thought that she would deny it until the end, looked at Yulia with a slightly embarrassed face.

"What? What do you want?"

"Let's talk alone."

Yulia put down the flower decoration, and approached Coco. Then, she led her to her room.

Yulia's room, where she was still doing everything by herself in the absence of an exclusive maid, looked desolate. It was spacious and clean, but there were only basic decorations, and not a single doll or vase was visible.

"Why are you acting like that?"

"It's difficult to talk in the presence of maids."

"That's why I am asking what you needed to talk about so secretly. In the eyes of others, they will think I have become your nanny..."

"There is a spy."

"What?"

Coco suddenly got annoyed, twisted her lips and clicked her tongue.

"Are you not mistaken? I know there are many spies in the royal palace, but it's not the case here. No one is wary of Prince Lewicia enough to send in a spy unless it's a pervert like the Marquis of Marjoram."

"Was her name Trudy...? The new maid is suspicious."

"Hey, no matter how dog-like the guys from the Department of the Royal Household are, they wouldn't be this reckle..."

"I was attacked on the street the other day as soon as I went out. It was a hyena, and it looked like he was prepared to commit suicide. You would have been checking on my corpse today if I hadn't been lucky enough to run into the person I was meeting on the road."

"What? ...Hey."

"It was early, and only three people saw me going out. The new maid, the guard at the entrance, and the coachman of the carriage I rode."

"Why do you think it's not the coachman or the guard?"

"Because I chose a random carriage, and the guard said that Coco was a trustworthy person the other day."

"These bastards*."

Coco muttered an insult. There was a grimace on her white face.

Yulia moved closer to Coco, and whispered in her ear.

"I have a favor to ask."

"Shut up. Go out right now, and bring that new girl. I will make her confess even if I have to squeeze her soul out of her body, and turn the Department of the Royal Household upside down."

"That's too wasteful. The more we do that, the more subtle and covertly they will act. Because the Marquis of Marjoram will want his eyes and ears to reach every corner of Ortega Palace."

"Then, what are you going to do? If you say that you will spill the information that he wants..."

Coco suddenly stopped, opened her eyes wide, and said.

"You, don't tell me that..."

"Coco, I have a favor."

"Hey, you really."

"Please, assign the new maid as my exclusive maid."

"You reckless girl."

Coco murmured. Yulia teased Coco by saying that she was used to hearing that kind of compliment.

- Pearl's notes:

* She is talking about the people working at the Department of the Royal Household. It's a long title so I avoided using it again.