CH 38

‘Hmm…’

Nell chewed on the cookie and hid the secret she kept in his heart. Of these, only Nell knew the truth. She said that the reason the princess became like everyone else was not because she was happy because of her marriage, but because she lost her memories.

‘At first I was really scared…’

The princess lost her memory due to the aftereffects of her fasting. When she woke up again, she didn’t even remember who she was. After she came to her senses, she behaved somewhat similar to before, but there were times when she acted completely differently. 

She also displayed erratic behavior, such as laughing softly instead of getting angry, and walking around with her bare hands and not wearing her gloves, which she thought were part of her body. However, after losing her memory, she became strangely kind. She always smiled at her ladies-in-waiting and gave them delicious snacks or small gifts. Even when her ladies-in-waiting made mistakes, she didn’t get angry.

Thanks to her changes, her relationship with the Grand Duke improved rapidly. 

While Nell was thinking about that, the other lady-in-waiting next to her spoke in a voice full of interest.

“Doesn’t His Highness seem to have gotten along well with the Princess? Look at those huge flowers and luxurious jewels.”

Ten days ago, the princess met the Grand Duke at the temple, gave him a bouquet of flowers she made herself, and had a conversation. And he was there as her partner at the Duke’s ball. After that, he sent a luxurious and splendid gift to the princess’s palace.

They said that there were so many flowers to cover an entire circle, and hundreds of boxes filled with jewels. Hundreds of thousands of flowers filling the garden were so spectacular that other palaces came to see them. How gorgeous the jewelry was, Nell looked at it for a while while organizing it.

It was the first time His Highness the Grand Duke had sent a gift to the Princess, but she did not expect to send a gift of this magnitude. It was said that these days, stories about the princess and the Grand Duke were spreading all over the palace. After that day, even in the imperial palace, the ladies-in-waiting were talking about it every day.

Looking back, she thought it was a good thing that the princess lost her memory. But Nell felt guilty every time he thought about it.

‘The princess is sick right now, so should she like her?’

However, the princess who lost her memory was really kind and friendly, so she really liked her. As she was, she never regained her memories, she did, and she made her wish deep down.

“I used to want to go to another palace, but these days, the princess is so good to me that I’m afraid of being kicked out of here.”

“But the princess will get married soon, so she will eventually go to another palace.”

The maids gathered at the table sighed.

Nell took another cookie from there and stood up from her seat. She treasured the balm and walked towards the stairs to go upstairs again. A brown-haired maid of her age came out of the door opposite her. She was Lana, who worked at the princess’s palace together.

“Lana, hello.”

She passed Lana and she was just when she reached the front of the stairs. Something caught on her right foot and her body leaned forward. Nell lost her balance in an instant and fell in front of her steps.

“Ah!”

She wasn’t seriously hurt as she fell, her hands on the floor, but a dull pain came from her knee. The sweet scent of her flowers stung her nostrils. As she fell, one corner of the ointment bottle hit the stairs and was broken. The fragrant oil that flowed from it soaked the front of the stairs. A nasty voice came from behind.

“Oh, couldn’t you be more careful? You broke the princess’ perfume bottle.”

When she turned around, Lana was letting out a hateful laugh. 

Hearing Nell’s screams, some of her other maids came out.

“Nell? Are you okay?”

“Are you hurt?”

The ladies-in-waiting surrounded the two with worried faces. A few tried to get Nell up.

“Nell fell alone like an idiot and broke the balm.”

Hearing Lana’s nasty voice, Nell brushed off her skirt and stood up, and she argued with Lana.

“You tripped when you passed by!”

It was clear that she hadn’t fallen alone just a moment ago. The moment she greeted her and passed by, Lana next to her stepped on her foot and caused her to fall. Lana exclaimed as if she was being ridiculous.

“What are you talking about? Do you have any evidence? Don’t accuse an innocent person just because the princess is a little good to you.”

Of course there was no evidence. Because they were alone in her hallway. Ever since the princess singled out Nell herself and started taking her as her attendant lady-in-waiting, there were a few people who looked at her with a childlike gaze that was oddly jealous. Lana was the worst case among them. It was unfair to her, but she was also forced to because she was suddenly in the spotlight.

“What, what’s going on?”

“Nell is hurt.”

The ladies-in-waiting who came to the hallway belatedly were gathering here and there.

“If you want to talk nonsense, go somewhere else and say it. I am going to work.”

When her other ladies-in-waiting came out into the hallway and all eyes focused on her, Lana tried to run away. Then a cold voice came from the top of the stairs.

“I did see it.”

Everyone’s eyes quickly turned to her.

The princess, Eve, was standing on the stairs.

“Princess.”

Nell quickly came to her senses and bowed her head to the princess. Even the ladies-in-waiting who had gathered in groups of threes and fives all bowed to her and bowed to the princess.

* * *

She went down the stairs and the ladies-in-waiting who had gathered hurriedly moved away from her.

“Nell, are you okay?”

“Yes, Princess. I’m fine.”

Nell looked at her with moved eyes, as if she was her savior. Eve turned her attention from Nell to the brown-haired maid next to her. She was the handmaid who knocked over Nell a little while ago. Did she say her name was Lana?

“You tripped your feet when Nell passed. I saw it clearly.”

“Wow, Princess. That is…”

Lana went pale and stuttered.

“Did you see it too?”

She turned her head and asked the dark-haired lady-in-waiting who had followed her. It was Chloe, the maid Terrence had sent.

Chloe replied in a calm voice as usual.

“Yes, Princess. I saw it too.”

All eyes turned to Lana. Lana stood there, stunned and pale.

She blatantly clicked her tongue for all to hear.

“I was curious about what was downstairs, so I was glad I came here. After witnessing my lady-in-waiting act like this.”

‘It’s definitely worth pursuing here.’

Of course, she didn’t just come downstairs out of curiosity. She came down to find where these stairs were. After finding this place, she waited for Nell to pass by. She saw Nell fall down the stairs this morning with a bottle of perfume.

‘I was worried that she might get seriously injured, but I’m glad she didn’t have that serious injury.’

It wasn’t a problem if she fell, but there were stairs in front of Nell, and there was a glass bottle in her hand. It was possible to fall and injure your head or get hurt by a piece of a bottle. So she went there because she was worried. First of all, she had to find out where the stairs she saw in her vision were, so she called Chloe and asked.

Downstairs here was the space for ladies-in-waiting, so it was unfamiliar to her, so she couldn’t help it. Fortunately, they arrived on time.

After reaching the stairs with Chloe’s guidance, the incident happened shortly after. Lana got down on her knees and started begging.

“Princess, I was wrong. I was wrong.”

“Apologize to the person concerned.”

Lana then bowed her head to Nell while on her knees.

“I’m sorry, Nell. It’s my fault.”

Nell looked at Lana resentfully for a moment, then she let out her sigh and nodded her head.

“Where is the head-maid here?”

“It’s upstairs, Her Highness the Princess. Shall I call her?”

One of her ladies-in-waiting, who looked older, quickly stepped forward. She glanced at Lana and gave orders.

“Take her to the head-maid, tell her what happened here and punish her according to the rules.”

“All right.”

Lana rose from her seat with her whitened face. Well, since there was a quarrel between the ladies-in-waiting, the punishment would be a pay cut or a penalty. Still, punishment was punishment, so she would probably have to do dirty work that other ladies-in-waiting avoid for a while. Like wiping dirty things or tidying up a messy warehouse or library.

She sent Lana away and Chloe brought her cloth to wipe the balm on her steps.

“Thank you.”

With Chloe’s help, Nell picked up the balm and wiped the spilled ointment off the floor.

“I’ll be up first, so come up when it’s tidied up.”

“Yes, Princess. I’ll go right up.”

Nell nodded her head happily.

She left them both and went upstairs to her living quarters. Today was the day she went out to meet the Grand Duke. Looking at the time, it seemed that it was time to prepare. After a while, Nell and Chloe entered the room together.