51 Uninvited visitors (1/2)

Kai's prediction turned out to be right on the money.

”What's going on, Red Rose?

I was having a late breakfast after staying up late last night, and the storm came in while I was having a late breakfast.

”My Master!　Don't you think it's rude to wait for me?

”Shut up and mind your own business!　Stand back!

”Stand down, Highness.

It's a good thing I was already enjoying my after-meal tea, but if you had attacked me when I was just starting to eat, I would have thrown you out without question.

Putting the teacup back in the saucer, Deanna sat back in her chair and quietly looked at the head maid.

Your job is to supervise the maids and ladies, not to rule them. That is the domain of His Majesty and the rest of the royal family. It's up to you to behave yourself.

”......, so you're pretending to be a queen. You can't even win His Majesty's favor.

I never wanted it in the first place. --And?　And what do you want with me, interrupting my breakfast?

Don't be so coy!　You promised me something different!

I'm not sure what to make of that.

I'm going to take your word for it that you've come to talk to me directly.

”Promise?　What are you talking about?

That as long as I am obedient, no charges will be brought!

What's the matter with you?

Are you still trying to play games with me?

The chief of staff seemed to have forgotten himself so much that he left his fear of the Red Rose somewhere in the air. She opened her eyes and shouted.

”Your Majesty just now!　Your Majesty is searching the treasury with the Kingsguard!

Her shout was not exaggerated or deliberate, but a very natural surprise.

”Is that true?

”......, you know.

You know that I know the movements of the outer court?　How could I know? You don't even know the inner workings of the Inner Palace.

No, ......!　That's not possible. There's no way this is not your decision!

You're wrong. I didn't do anything. I didn't do anything. ...... And,

He tilted his head lightly and looked up at the standing matriarch. It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

I don't even know what your problem is in the first place. What's wrong with His Majesty and the Kingsguard investigating the treasury?

It was such an imposing speech that it was hard to imagine a more brilliant flip-flop.

Rita, who had been watching the whole thing from Deanna's side, sighed secretly, and the palace maids, who happened to be all gathered at breakfast at a very inopportune time, all muttered the same words inwardly.

--We mustn't offend this one person.

I've been in the service for so long that I know when the Lord is in a good or bad mood. Now Deanna is a hundred times more frightening than the chief maidservant, who is very calm on the surface but rages and shouts all the time. Her name in social circles is the ”Rose of Ice and Fire” - a beautiful flower with sharp thorns, clad in flames of absolute zero.

Even the royal court maids in the Red Rose Room, who have a reputation for faithfulness to their duties, thought about such things as if they were escaping reality. The shock of the headmistress receiving a direct hit was probably nothing compared to theirs. The fact that she staggered is the best evidence of it.

”Hey, hey, .......

”Go home, then. You don't have time to be selling oil here, do you?

Not at all, my dear Red Rose!　...... Yes, if I'm caught, you won't be safe for the crime of not telling me!

Don't worry. Don't worry. I'm just a lady's maid. I have no authority to judge a lady. I only urged her to change her mind as the one who gave her the Red Rose Room. No matter how it turns out, I will not be harmed.

She smiled with an unusually innocent smile, but frankly, there's nothing more untrustworthy than a smile from the Cresta family that seems to have no hidden agenda.

Knowing that Diana with this face is the most frightening, Rita secretly clasped her hands together in her mind towards the headmistress.

I'm sure you're not the only one who has a problem with this.　I don't know how bad you've been, but I feel sorry for you, Liliane, that you're being suspected just because you were friends with her.

Please don't do this!　I don't know about you, but I feel sorry for Liliane that she is suspected just because she was friends with you. In the event that you have any questions regarding where and how to use the internet, you can call us at the web site.

I'm not sure what to say, but I'm sure you'll be able to do it.

”Don't be so cynical. You make me sound like an evil, calculating woman.

In this case, the head mistress is right. The hearts of all the maids, including Rita, were once again united.

Deanna was certainly not lying about anything. This was because she had completed her cooperation with the outer court through her family before that night when she had made the deal with the matriarch. The Cresters handed over the evidence they had gathered unofficially to the Outer Palace Office, and made it look like 'the Outer Palace Office, which looks over various documents every day, noticed the unnatural flow of money in the Inner Palace and investigated it. Since Mia's brother, who worked in the Outer Palace, had noticed it before the Crester family did, the whole thing was not necessarily a ruse.

こうして外宮側から女官長の悪事が明るみに出るよう準備した後に、『言うことを聞けばお前の悪事を『私自身が』暴くことはしない』と持ち掛けたのだから、ディアナは約束をきっちり守っているのだ. 女官長と取引してからは、彼女のしてきたことについて、ディアナはちゃんと沈黙している.

――とまぁ、詭弁、屁理屈、卑怯のオンパレードを駆使した計画であったが、上手く転んで何よりである. 外宮室が提出した『報告書』に陛下が食いついてくれるかどうかだけが不安であったが、園遊会を越えて、彼も意識が変わってきたようだ.

「わたくしにこのような振る舞いをして……このままでは済ませませんよ. わたくしは今でこそ伯爵夫人ですが、実家は侯爵位にあるのです」

「だから何？　勘違いしているようだから教えてあげる. ――『貴族』という身分はね、そこに付随する義務を誠実に果たして、初めて貴いものになるのよ. 貴族である意味をはき違えている者の爵位など、麦粒ほどの値打ちもないわ」

クレスター家は、身分で人を測らない. 行いが則ち、その者の価値だ. だからディアナには、女官長――サーラ・マリスを、貴ぶ理由はない.

「貴女は、改心しなかった. だからこうなった. ただ、それだけのことよ」

「全てを仕組んでおきながら……！　こんなものは濡れ衣だ、誰もわたくしを捕らえることなどできぬ！」

「――随分な自信ですね」

突如響いた第三者の、しかも明らかに男性の声に、全員が弾かれるように扉の方を向いた. メインルームの、半分だけ開いた扉の陰に、文官服を着た眼鏡の青年が佇んでいる.

侍女たちが血相を変えて駆け寄る前に、青年は無表情のまま言った.

「失礼しました. 『紅薔薇の間』へお伺いするのに取り次ぎを待たないことが無礼であることが重々承知ですが、何度扉を叩いても返答がなかったもので」