Chapter 3: A New Beginning at the Imperial Palace

Dorothy spoke quietly.

“Until I go to the imperial palace, I would like to organize my room, so please do not say anything to Lady Daisy or the servants. Please tell them only after I am gone. If Sir Silas says anything, Lady Daisy will certainly come to me. Lady Daisy has never been scolded even once, so I cannot imagine what would happen if her brother were to reprimand her… For example, it would be far too improper for me to appear before the Empress with a swollen cheek, wouldn’t it?”

Silas could only fall silent at Dorothy’s words.
Daisy would never do such a thing.
He almost said it reflexively, but now that he knew everything he had heard from Daisy and the servants until now had been lies, Silas could no longer tell what kind of actions Daisy might take.
What mattered now was sending Dorothy safely to the imperial palace.
If there were even the slightest suspicious incident, the palace would take notice.
If that happened, there was even a possibility that the Miller Count House would be finished.
That was a situation that had to be avoided.

Dorothy and Silas made one promise.
They would set up a meeting to talk after six months.
When Silas asked if that meant they could not meet until then, Dorothy tilted her head and asked in return whether there was any need to meet.
Silas was left speechless.
There was no need to meet.
He could hardly remember speaking about anything personal over the past year.
Daisy had always been there.
Whenever he tried to talk to Dorothy, Daisy would interrupt, and Dorothy would simply remain quiet.
Before he knew it, she would be gone, and he would not even know where she had gone.
That had been their life ever since marriage.
In what way could this be called newlyweds?
If it was like that even at home, there was nothing to talk about with Dorothy once she went out to work.

“I will surely be too busy learning things to have anything to talk about even if I meet you, Sir Silas.”

Those words were spoken out of pity toward Silas.
They were words that allowed him to place all the blame on Dorothy.
He could say to his friends that his wife was slow to learn.
Realizing that, Silas felt sick at his own selfishness.
Words meant to belittle a wife so capable that the Marquess of Feremelen had recommended her to the Empress.
Silas’s friends would surely agree and immediately start criticizing her.
They would say how pitiful he was to have such a wife.
Pretending to comfort him, they would look down on Silas for having such a wife and satisfy their own sense of superiority.
Silas himself had been one of those people.
It made him feel nauseous.

Suppressing the urge to vomit, Silas decided that at least until Dorothy left, he would act as if nothing were wrong.

And then, seven days later, as promised.
Frederica came to fetch Dorothy right on schedule.
As Dorothy departed, Silas gave her a small smile.

“…Take care…”

With words that would never be followed by “welcome back,” Silas saw Dorothy off.

After Dorothy began working at the imperial palace, she was issued a deep green, easy-to-move-in dress as a lady-in-waiting to the Empress.
This dress was proof of being a direct attendant to the Empress, and at present only Dorothy and a woman named Leticia wore it.

“Dorothy, could you return this book to the library for me?”
“Yes.”

Leticia had been serving the Empress longer than Dorothy and had a gentle manner, carefully teaching Dorothy many things.
Having only recently begun service at the palace, Dorothy had not yet memorized the locations of the rooms, so she was learning the layout of each department by running simple errands like this.

“Dorothy, while you’re returning that, could you look for some new books as well?”

The woman sitting gracefully on the sofa was Empress Aurelia.
She was the Emperor’s beloved and deeply cherished Empress.

“What kind of books would you like?”
“Recently, Eugene has taken an interest in myths. When I told him stories from the myths of my homeland, he found them quite interesting. He knows about geography, military strength, and specialties of various countries, but he doesn’t know much about myths, so he finds them fascinating as stories. But my country doesn’t really have that many myths, so I would like you to find something interesting from any country. Folktales or legends are fine. Oh, but since I tell them at night, nothing too frightening.”

Thinking of that Emperor listening to his wife’s stories night after night somehow felt heartwarming.

“It sounds like One Thousand and One Nights.”
“One Thousand and One Nights? What is that?”
“I am not very familiar with it myself, but I heard it is a story where a queen tells her king a story every night in a desert country. I only heard about it long ago from someone who came to study from a distant land, so I don’t know the details. I did try looking for it in bookstores, but it wasn’t sold anywhere, and even the shopkeepers said they didn’t know it.”
“Oh my, heehee, that makes me feel a sense of kinship. So there are others in the world doing the same thing as me.”

In Aurelia’s case, she told stories while lying in bed, held in Eugene’s arms.
No matter how busy he was, Eugene always listened to Aurelia talk about her day before sleeping.
And when he had time, he would ask her for a story.

“I would love to read that One Thousand and One Nights if it exists, but if it doesn’t, that’s fine. Bring me a book you would recommend, Dorothy.”
“Yes.”

After asking Leticia for the location of the library, Dorothy left the room carrying the book.
The library was located in the northern annex.
Though connected by corridors, the north wing housed the library, various document rooms, and storage rooms for rarely used tools, making it a place with little foot traffic.
Leticia had once warned her to be careful, saying that sometimes men and women used empty rooms there for secret meetings.
Dorothy had no intention of opening doors unrelated to her destination, but if luck was bad, one could run into something.
Just like now.

In the not-so-wide corridor, a woman was pressing herself onto a man.
They were positioned in just such a way that Dorothy could not slip past, so she had no choice but to wait for it to end.

“…I already told you I can’t return your feelings, didn’t I?”

The man, with slightly drooping eyes and a teardrop mole that gave him an alluring look, was rejecting the young woman.

“Could you not consider it even a little? If necessary, I can have my father make a formal request.”
“It’s impossible. No matter what your father says, I have no intention of being involved with you.”

Even after being rejected so clearly, the woman showed no sign of giving up.
Dorothy was thinking how impressive it was to have such strong feelings when the man’s eyes met hers.

“That outfit… Are you someone who serves the Empress?”
“Yes. I have business in the library and am waiting for the path to clear.”
“My apologies. Miss, this is a place of work. If you continue to cause trouble, I will have no choice but to ask your father to admonish you.”

At the mention of her father being reprimanded, the woman hurriedly left.
As she passed Dorothy, she glared at her as if Dorothy were in the way, which seemed unreasonable for a first meeting.
More importantly, causing a scene in such a place was the real problem.

The man with drooping eyes smiled at Dorothy.

“I’m sorry about that. I also have business in the library, so let us go together. I am Noah Feremelen, assistant to the Chancellor.”
“Feremelen? Might you know Frederica?”
“Frederica is my younger sister.”
“Oh my. My name is Dorothy Miller. Frederica has always taken good care of me.”

The man with drooping eyes was Frederica’s older brother.
Indeed, Frederica also had slightly drooping eyes.
Yet whether or not one had a teardrop mole made quite a difference in impression.

“So you are Countess Dorothy Miller. I hear that most of the embroidered items in my sister’s room are your handiwork. I was worried she might be forcing unreasonable requests on you.”
“They were formally commissioned by Frederica as work, so there was nothing unreasonable.”
“I see. In fact, I also use items embroidered by you. Every time my sister showed them to me, I was impressed. Our mother even told Frederica to become capable of even a tenth of your skill.”

Perhaps thinking of his family, Noah chuckled, and somehow his allure deepened.
If even Dorothy thought that, then surely many women would fall for him.
Thinking that, it seemed risky to go to the library with him.
Noah himself was not at fault, but it could invite misunderstandings.
At the same time, Dorothy felt that even if more strange rumors spread about her, it would not really matter.
She had hardly participated in social circles, and people had said whatever they wanted about her anyway.
If anything, Noah would be the one to suffer from being linked to her.
This time, the young lady who had been pursuing him would likely hate any rumor of him being involved with another woman and would probably work hard to extinguish it.

“I heard you began serving the Empress on Frederica’s recommendation.”
“Yes. Fortunately, I had free time, so there was no difficulty in beginning my service. I enjoyed embroidering at home, but serving the Empress is also fulfilling and enjoyable. I am grateful to Frederica.”
“Ha ha, I’m glad my sister could be of help.”
“Frederica is a dear friend. I have been too busy learning my duties to embroider lately, but once things settle down, I would like to resume. If you ever need anything, please tell Frederica.”
“…Please call me Noah. We both work at the palace, so we may meet again. If possible, I would like you to use my given name. Feremelen is the same as my father and sister.”

Refusing that was difficult.
Despite his gentle, alluring appearance, Noah had a somewhat forceful nature that brooked no refusal.
Judging by experience, openly opposing this type would only make them push harder.

“Then, Noah. Please call me Dorothy as well. If you know about the Miller family, you must know that my husband and I are not on good terms. Being called Countess Miller feels like someone else’s name.”
“…I have heard about Silas Miller. If that name displeases you, then I shall call you Lady Dorothy.”
“Yes, thank you.”

When called Countess Miller, Dorothy did not feel that the name referred to her, and she often failed to respond instinctively.
Thus, her colleagues and the Empress called her by name.
While the title of countess was sometimes useful on paper when serving the Empress, it had never been useful in real life.

“Noah, may I ask what kind of stories you have heard about my husband? It would help me deal with things going forward if I know the rumors.”
“I hear he blindly trusts his sister. His fellow nobles know this well and egg him on for amusement. I cannot understand how the word trust applies to those who ruin a marriage, but I hear the Count believes his sister and friends would never betray him. That is why he neglects his wife.”

It was remarkable how accurate the rumor was.
Often such stories were exaggerated or entirely unfounded, but this one contained nothing but plain truth.

“So it is true. I assumed it was just gossip, but I heard the same from my sister, and judging from your reaction, it seems to be true.”
“Was my expression that obvious? I was quite surprised that such an accurate rumor could exist without embellishment.”

She could not deny it at all.

“You seem surprised, but are you not resentful?”
“It is also true that I failed to build a relationship close enough to feel resentment toward Sir Silas. If his happiness lies in being surrounded by his sister and friends, then all I can do is avoid destroying that happiness.”

If Dorothy forced herself into it and shattered Silas’s happiness, it would be better for her not to be involved.
Whenever her existence was unnecessary to someone’s happiness, Dorothy had always tried to keep her distance.
Even her blood relatives had not needed her.
Claiming it was for Dorothy’s sake, they married her off for their own family’s happiness.
Dorothy had never belonged to the category of a happy family.

“I see. Personally speaking, since you are husband and wife, you should have discussed how both of you could be happy. A marriage where only one side is happy is strange. Either you are happy together or unhappy together. Once bound by the chain of marriage, everything should be linked.”
“Linked, you say. If so, then the current situation seems quite good. Sir Silas is surrounded by his family and friends, and I am working at the palace. Though we did not discuss it, we are both happy.”
“I suppose we will leave it at that.”

It seemed Dorothy had not heard the newer rumors about Silas.
That the Countess Miller had finally left the house and begun working at the palace, and that the delusional Silas had at last been abandoned.
Such whispers were now circulating.
There were also rumors that Silas himself was acting strangely.
To Dorothy, who said she was happy now that they were apart, Silas’s true feelings would never reach her.
He had had countless chances before.
If Silas had not believed such foolish stories, Dorothy would not have reached this conclusion.
Silas was not solely to blame, but by trusting his sister and friends without ever believing or investigating his wife, there had been no chance from the start that things would go well.

“…Then that’s fine…”

If Silas did not want her, then Noah wanted Dorothy.
It was love at first sight.

“What do you plan to do about Silas?”
“…I believe we will divorce eventually. Until then, I want to secure a way to live on my own.”

That was why she became a lady-in-waiting to the Empress.

“I see. Then do you intend to continue working at the palace from now on?”
“Yes. I would like to do so for as long as I can.”

Dorothy smiled, a smile she had never shown when speaking of Silas.
It was gentle and calm, and it succeeded in stirring Noah’s heart even further.