Chapter 30
***
Even if I had broken off my engagent to the Crown Prince, there was no way I would have married them.
They were completely ignorant. There were people everywhere who liked to talk behind their backs, just like they were now. Even if I set an example and punish them, they would never disappear completely. Rather, it would only give people more excuses to speak ill of .
Compared to what Roxana had been through, this was nothing.
If I can’t calm my emotions and manage my facial expressions after sothing like this, it will be difficult to adapt to the social world in the future.
Being criticized or gossiped about by people was of course sothing to bear if I decided to play a villain.
But that thought didn’t make the discomfort go away.
With a bitter heart, I forced myself to walk away.
Just then, my eyes caught sight of soone standing under a tree so distance away. Black hair, white face, it was that man I saw last ti. He definitely made eye contact with , but as I was struggling how to approach him, he silently walked away.
If I wasn’t mistaken, the way he was looking at was sowhat pathetic.
I never thought I’d run into him when I was looking so shabby, of all tis….
I felt miserable for so reason.
Would he have thought that I pretended to be strong in the front but had no pride in the back?
It wasn’t surprising if he thought that way about since I looked good in the eyes of the world by standing beside the Crown Prince obediently, even after what happened last ti. It was true. I thought I was pathetic too.
Thinking about it made uncomfortable, and I frowned. It was a particularly lonely feeling, as it had been ever since I fell into this world.
I was on my way back to the banquet hall again.
I saw soone standing on the terrace in front of in the distance.
It was the second Prince, with his mysterious silver hair and neat uniform. Not long after I saw him, the door to the terrace where he stood opened.
Soone ca in. I looked at her face and saw that she was the very sa Young Lady who danced with him earlier.
“Are the two having a secret eting?”
The two of them exchanged a few words and then the Young Lady ran out, looking like she was about to cry.
The second Prince, who was left alone, swept his hair with a tired face.
As soon as I was about to take off my gaze and walk, thinking I should go back, I made eye contact with the second Prince who was leaning on the terrace railing.
” !”
He looked at and frowned uncomfortably.
He then turned around and quickly exited the terrace.
From the 2nd prince’s reaction, it seed that he had misunderstood thinking I was deliberately trying to eavesdrop. After arriving at the banquet hall, I looked around, but the Crown Prince was nowhere to be seen.
I was frustrated.
“He told he’ll co back soon…”
I went to the place where I was with the Crown Prince earlier, took a seat and had so drink.
Unlike what I expected, he did not return for a while, and after another hour, the servant sent by the Crown Prince said that he was sorry and he wouldn’t be able to co.
There was no need for to stay here any longer since I had already completed what I had planned and had secured the promise of an unexpected gift from the Emperor.
I decided to return to the Duke’s residence, thinking that it had worked out in my favor.
Fortunately, the Crown Prince inford the servant in advance, so I was able to rest in the sa spacious and luxurious carriage as I ca in.
Roxana always kept her seat until the banquet was over, unless there was sothing special going on, and the servants looked at strangely when I left early.
But I was exhausted and didn’t feel the need to explain anything to them, so I went straight back to my room and lied down.
Then Annie brought a change of clothes.
After washing my face and changing my clothes, I went to bed imdiately.
The second Prince’s victory banquet ended like that.
*TL: seriously, she t the black hair man who helped her before but there was no expression from her or even the re thought that she would run after him to say thank you? She wasn’t even surprised? Didn’t she look for him desperately to say thank you?
***
The next day, I woke up in the late afternoon.
Even though it had been a day, I still felt very sick from the previous day.
I washed my face briefly with a tub of water brought by the servants, and then pulled the string beside my bed. Then the door opened and the nanny ca in with a tray of food.
“Lady, did you sleep well?”
She greeted with a smiling face and placed a tray of food on the table. This was originally supposed to be Annie’s job, but seeing that the nanny ca in person, not anyone else, the situation seed to be very urgent.
Perhaps her son, whom she loved so much, was still in prison.
In the anti, her eyes were fixed on , and with an air of displeasure that seed to know no separation, I sent her away after finishing my al roughly.
The nanny looked sowhat annoyed and reluctantly stepped out of the room. After a late breakfast, I was leisurely drinking tea brought by the maids when soone knocked on my room door.
“Miss, it’s Stephen.”
“Co in.”
When my permission was granted, the door opened without hesitation.
I could see Stephen standing just in front of the door of my room.
I cast a glance behind him.
He wasn’t alone.
There were servants standing behind him with an uncomfortable faces.
Stephen walked in alone, leaving her at the door.
As soon as he closed the door, he began to speak.
“There’s sothing I’d like to discuss with Lady….”
Stephen slurred his words and glanced behind .
My maids were standing behind .
“I need to speak with Stephen alone for a while, everyone please leave.”
At my command, the maids ca out with anxious faces and looked at Stephen in turn, but soon they left without complaining.
As they left and the door closed behind them, Stephen imdiately spoke seriously.
“Do you rember the last ti you asked to investigate the nanny and Annie?”
“Yes.”
“As a result of the investigation, Annie is innocent. She was just doing her job. The question is rather……”
“You an the nanny did it?”
I said, cutting Stephen off mid-sentence.
As expected that was what happened.
“Who ca with you?”
I asked, rembering the servants Stephen had placed outside the door.
“Witnesses.”
“Tell them to co in.”
When I said that, Stephen brought them into the room. They walked in quickly, fidgeting as they looked at .
They stood in front of with awkward faces as if they were about to be punished.
What happened next was obvious.
When Stephen asked, they each told what they had seen.
Then Stephen finally opened his mouth.
He put in front of a list of items that had disappeared from my room and how they had been disposed of.
All the missing items were sold at auction, and the person who received the money from the sale of the items was the nanny.
With these, the whole situation beca clear. However, my mood remained rather somber.
Annie, who kept her mouth shut when she was frad by the nanny, certainly seed to have given up. Just now, the servants seed to rely on Stephen, looking at . I felt complicated when I personally felt that I was not trusted by them.
“Everyone leaves, except for Stephen.”
The servants took note of my expression and quickly stepped out of the room.
“What should I do?”
Stephen hesitated for a mont, and then answered in a clear voice.
“If you know the truth, you should let her go.”
Stephen gave a clear answer. In my head I knew it was the right thing to do.
Unlike the maids, the nanny had been taking care of Roxana since she was a baby, but I was still hesitant.
Roxana truly cared for her nanny and thought of her as family.
By the way, is it okay for , who is not a real princess, to treat soone important to Roxana like that while pretending to be her?
Ifit was Roxana, how would she have handled this situation now?
“Baroness Willis has already ssed with her master’s things on several occasions, framing innocent people for her cris. A few days ago, she almost caused one innocent maid to be beaten and thrown out of the house.”
“…”
After hesitating for a while, Stephen’s sharp words awakened . Obviously, I slept enough and felt very tired even though I just woke up.
“All right, now leave. Good job.”
As he left, the maids ca inside carefully, looking at . I went into the bedroom to collect my thoughts and pondered for a while. After a while, I finally ca to a decision. Actually, I knew the answer from the beginning.
I just needed ti to collect my thoughts.
When I opened the door and ca out, the maids looked nervous.
I gave them my instructions with a nonchalant expression.
“Bring the nanny.”
***
Around the ti when the maids cleared the table and made so new tea, the nanny ca in. As soon as she ca in, she sensed an unusual air current and signaled the maidservants with her eyes.
“What’s going on?”
“Co here and sit down.”
The nanny sat down across from and took a sip of the tea that was placed in front of her, as if she was thirsty. I stared at her. Only a few days passed, but the nanny’s complexion was getting worse. Although she was barely able to keep a smile on her face, there was a hint of irritation on her face, and she seed to have more gray hair.
I sighed and took out what I prepared beforehand.
“Take it.”
The nanny looked at with suspicion.
“Miss, what is this?”
“That would be enough to pay off the debt that the nanny owed even after paying your son’s bail.”
The nanny’s complexion lit up instantly.
When I pushed the pouch in front of her, the nanny quickly took it and opened it. For a mont, her brown eyes, which had been black and dead, took on a different color. From the looks of it, she liked the gold coin in the pouch very much.
“Thank you, but why all of a sudden……….”
The nanny later asked curiously.
The look on her face showed that she was suspicious of my sudden fickleness. But she couldn’t seem to refuse, and held the pouch in her hand tightly and didn’t let go.
“You don’t have to say no. That’s your severance pay. Thank you for all your hard work.”
“…!”
My words froze in a flash. The nanny had a dazed look in her eyes.
The servants also looked at us in surprise.
“I would like to speak with the nanny alone, everyone please leave.”
“Why are you telling this, young lady? I don’t know what’s wrong with you all of a sudden. I just can’t understand it.”
“You really don’t understand?”
The nanny flinched.
She imdiately stood up from her seat with her face twisted in frustration. The chair she was sitting on fell back with a thump.
The maids were on their way out when they heard a loud voice and looked at in surprise.
“Yes! I really don’t know.”
The nanny said with an attitude of not the slightest hesitation.
I forced the maid to leave because I didn’t want anyone else to hear what I had to say.
Her face would fall to the ground if people found out that she had ssed with her master’s things and covered her sins with others.
This was the least I could do for my nanny. However, since she was digging her own grave before the servants could leave the table, I had no reason to consider her situation any further.
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