Chapter 18
Yansen first guided her with a quiet patronage that is not crowded.
“The wedding will be held at the castle"s chapel because we have an order to make it quick and simple.”
“That"s what I want.”
When Rose agreed so readily, Yansen stopped.
“That"s a relief. I was afraid you"d be disappointed. The wedding in Solstern would be a big celebration. It"s also a once-in-lifetime, unforgettable day for the bride.”
“I"m not in that position right now. I don"t want to be tied down to formality or procedure. Of course, it shouldn"t be against Helabant etiquette.”
“Ah… yes. Then I will prepare it quickly with ease.”
“What"s more important to me than a wedding is getting used to this place quickly. I don"t want to be treated as a stranger as long as I"m here.”
Yansen stopped to look at Rose with an unexpected face. There was some awe on his face.
“What"s the matter?”
Rose fiddled and asked him if she had something on her face.
“Haha. Never mind. I"m just a little surprised.”
Yansen started to walk again with a big smile as if it were nothing.
“…What do you mean?”
“To be honest, I thought you would be someone similar to the former mistress. Both of you are from Solstern and have similar backgrounds.”
When the story of Olivia Lancert came out of Jansen"s mouth, Rose became curious.
Rose once heard about Olivia from her mother, Audrey.
Since Olivia, a social flower, left for the north, her story was no longer heard in Solstern.
Like a person who didn"t exist.
The people of Duke Marcus were also retired from the estates, leaving a distance from the Solstern imperial family and social circles.
For that reason, there were only wild rumors such as, “Olivia"s marriage must have been unhappy,” “She"s being abused by her husband in Helabant,” and “She was killed by a wolf.”
So it was scary and terrible for young Solstern ladies to go north.
Now I have a chance to see which of the rumors is true.
Rose wanted to know what Olivia"s life here was like now that she"s in her position.
That could be her own future.
“What… kind of person was she?”
Yansen"s expression became cautious at Rose"s question. It was definitely a pretty p.r.i.c.kly topic to talk about.
“Actually, I don"t know. I was young then and I wasn"t in this castle yet.”
“I see.”
“Now that I hear about it, it seems like the life at this place is not all happy.”
“I suppose so. I didn"t come here because I wanted to.”
“Yes, I heard that you missed Solstern a lot over time and built a wall blocking out people. You were very lonely.”
Rose nodded silently because she thought he knew how she felt.
“The north tends to reject strangers. The situation is very different from that of Solstern, where foreigners trade freely and frequently come and go. But I don"t think it was the only reason that kept her isolated.”
Rose raised her head.
“Does this mean there"s another reason?”
Yansen nodded with a meaningful look.
“The reason I wanted to see you today was because of the wedding preparations, but it"s going to get real from now on.”
Rose looked at Yansen with complex eyes with curiosity and anxiety. I waited for him to continue with a determined voice saying I was ready.
“Please speak.”
“I don"t know if you"ve already met, but there"s already someone here who plays the role of mistress.”
“That"s… what do you mean? What do you mean, a mistress?”
“Mrs. Katriana, wife of the Prime Minister, Pierre, and aunt of His Majesty.”
“I didn"t know there was someone like that.”
“The former queen must have been very mentally challenged by Mrs. Katriana. So that extreme… but what I"d like to say is, please take all authority from her.”
Rose realized the seriousness of the situation when she heard him.
I didn"t know much about the situation inside the castle, so I thought I only had to hold a wedding with Maxim.
I overlooked that such complex situations were unfolding here as well.
On the other hand, I was a little curious.
“Why do you give me such advice? Even to you, I"m just a stranger to an enemy.”
When Rose asked with a suspicious face, Yansen grinned.
“You saw Freddie"s hair, it was white. That"s because of the stress he had at the time. I don"t want to be like that.”
“What?”
Rose asked back in bewilderment whether his words were a joke or true.
“Haha, I"m kidding. I"m just trying to help you a bit. I"m always on your side. I"m happy when you"re happy. Well… sort of?”
“Don"t take this in a weird way. I"m just saying this because I want a real mistress to lead Helabant well.”
Yansen removed his playful smile and looked at Rose with serious eyes.
“That"s all I can do to help you with. After that, it"s up to the new queen.”
“Thank you for letting me know.”
Rose nodded.
Then Yansen looked at her with a glimmer of faith.
In this strange place where everyone is hostile, I feel like I have someone on my side.
Rose was a little encouraged by that.
“Oh my G.o.d? Who"s that?”
Tulio, who was at the drill hall, squinted his eyes and looked up.
Rishar, who had been practicing fencing with him, stopped attacking and looked back.
A young man and a woman were strolling affectionately along the quiet trail in the drill hall.
Tulio quickly approached Maxim as if it was a waste to watch alone.
“Your Grace, look over there. Isn"t that him over there?”
Maxim, who was tending to his sword after training, looked to where Tulio"s hand was gesturing.
Yansen and Rose Etoile were seen walking side by side on the trail.
“Aye. As expected, you need to know one of Yansen administrator"s affinity. When did those two get so close?”
Tulio secretly glanced at Maxim.
“He went to discuss the wedding.”
Rishar answered on behalf of Yansen.
Maxim did not respond much when he saw the two walking while affectionately talking.
He just kept polishing his sword.
“ Hey! Hey! What are you doing?! No, you can"t do that!”
When Tulio spat excitedly, Maxim looked at the two again.
As the wolves roamed in front of them, Rose was frightened and hardened like ice in place.
When Jansen took Rose"s arm and put her behind him to protect her and whistled, the wolves ran somewhere else.
Rose smiled broadly at Yansen as if she was amazed at the way he looked.
She even tried to imitate Yansen with her pretty lips. Yansen laughed at the sight.
Maxim watched Rose smiling innocently like a child in front of Yansen.
What he was thinking, with his golden eyes like a turbulent sea.
I never knew.
She was a woman who could laugh like that.
I"ve never seen it before.
The image of the surrounding background disappearing as the wind blows around only one person.
The lovely spring-like smile that incapacitates everyone around her did not only impress Maxim.
Tulio, who gets grumpy when looking at Rose, also stood there with a broad face and watched the scene.
“I didn"t know when I first saw her. The new mistress is quite a beauty.”
Rishar"s remark broke the silence of the air, and Maxim and Tulio came to their senses.
Maxim turned his head back to his sword in an insensitive manner.
Perhaps he felt embarra.s.sed to be looking at her with his mouth open, and Tulio was talking nonsense.
“Ah. That kind of beauty also is common in the north. Honestly, judging by her beauty, the late Queen Olivia is really…”
When Tulio"s uselessness began again, Rishar gave a murderous look saying, “Shut up, you punk!”
Tulio, who realized the unspoken rule that he should not bring up His Majesty"s mother"s story in front of Maxim, slapped his mouth with his hand.
The stroll with Yansen was quite enjoyable, but Rose became disturbed when she returned to her room.
She thought Ca.s.siax was her only enemy.
There were many problems to overcome in Helabant in the future.
What Yansen said today may be just the tip of the iceberg.
"Mrs. Katriana…"
Rose could feel it intuitively.
It is not natural for a woman married to the prime minister to go around as the hostess.
The fact that the prime minister, the uncle of Maxim, and his wife are forgetting the subject and raging out means that something is going wrong in this castle.
"If the hierarchy is misplaced, it collapses from the bottom. If it left as it is, it"ll definitely be a stumbling block for Maxim Lancert."
That means it"ll also be her stumbling block.
“Where have you been, miss?”
The flushed Natalie rushed into the room.
She must have been running around the castle looking for Rose.
“I just got a short castle tour. You were worried about me?”
Rose said to Natalie with an apologetic face.
“I was so worried. You didn"t say anything and just disappeared! This is a bad castle, so never walk around alone. What if someone does something bad behind your back?”
“What does that mean?”
“I overheard something as I was pa.s.sing by. That white-haired butler and maid like devil were talking.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, I wouldn"t say something like that, but someone fell out the window and this room brings bad luck.”
“What?”
“I"m not sure, but something must have happened before. Why do they say such things as soon as you get here? That"s unlucky.”
As soon as she heard Natalie"s story, Rose remembered what Yansen said earlier like lightning.
"I think the former queen must have had a hard time because of Mrs. Katriana. So that extreme…"
He definitely blurted out the end of Olivia Lancert"s story.