The young lady raised her head at Countess Jive’s call.
With dark blue hair and a teardrop beauty mark underneath her right eye, she was an attractive beauty.
“Isn’t that so, Young Lady Pauline of the Blair County?”
There was a simmering rage deep within her dark blue eyes.
“Come to think of it, Young Lady Blair had quite a close relationship with the Duke.”
“If it weren’t for the alliance, the position beside the Duke would have been occupied by Young Lady Blair. How unfortunate.”
“Well, it’s just that we used to be childhood friends. In the first place, it’s impossible for us to marry.”
Though they were right in front of the concerned party, the ladies covered their mouths with their fans and were preoccupied with whispering amongst themselves.
None amongst them were unaware that Pauline had smashed all the vases in her house upon receiving news of the Duke’s wedding.
“…There’s no reason for me to feel miserable. As the Duke’s longtime friend of 15 years, I congratulated him on his marriage.”
Pauline ignored the ladies’ sarcastic remarks and tried to smile.
“In any case, thank you for your concern, Countess Jive.”
“It’s nothing. It’s my job to worry about the comfort of the duchy’s women.”
Leoni laughed quietly like she found her reaction amusing.
“Right, will the Young Lady also be participating in the outing?”
“If Mother were here, she would have attended, but I…”
“In that case, the Young Lady should attend in the stead of her mother.”
“…Me?”
Pauline’s mother, Countess Blair, had passed away due to an illness a few months ago.
As such, Count Blair’s household was solely undertaken by his daughter, Pauline.
“Shouldn’t it be up to the daughters to fill in when the original mistress of the family is absent?”
Leoni gave an elegant smile.
“And as a member of a family that’s been loyal to the Esbaden family for a long time, I’m sure Young Lady Blair would have a lot of ‘advice’ for the new Duchess.”
Instead of answering, Pauline just stared at her glass quietly.
“In my opinion, Young Lady Blair is fully deserving.”
Leoni’s final sentence drew out the anger that was deeply hidden within her eyes.
When Leoni saw her pretty hands tremble, she slowly rose from her seat.
“Then, I’ve understood it as the Young Lady will also be attending the outing.”
Her eyes were gleaming, as if she was watching something interesting.
* * *
“It’s nice to meet you like this.”
Dooha continued with an even more brilliant smile.
“I’m Dooha von Esbaden.”
After introducing herself, she looked around carefully.
There were eight women, including Dooha, seated around a large round table in the back garden.
They were all the wives of the vassals that served the Duke of Esbaden.
It’s fortunate that the first outing Dooha hosted as the duchess seemed to have successfully attracted more attention than she’d expected.
That’s because she achieved the splendid feat of getting a full attendance.
Although the gazes of those gathered weren’t very friendly.
“As you ladies might be aware, I’m not from this place, and so my greetings had been delayed as I was familiarising myself with the culture and etiquette of the Empire. I hope that everyone will be understanding with an open heart.”
The ladies’ eyes narrowed at Dooha’s polite apology.
From the moment Dooha made her appearance, they were grading everything, from her appearance, her tone, actions, and dressing.
They were desperate for something that they could hold against her, but regrettably, they couldn’t find any factors that would result in a deduction on Dooha.
That’s because there wasn’t anything on the new duchess that they’ve spotted that could be called a flaw.
Her beautiful appearance was enough to arouse jealousy within the ladies, and the imperial language skills that she’d honed even before coming to the ducal castle were now flawless and impeccable.
In addition, her movements that had completely absorbed the Empire’s etiquette, combined with the untouchable atmosphere of those that were born and raised as a princess of Bashal.
The ladies that had disregarded her as someone born from barbarians couldn’t open their mouths.
“Of course we understand. It’s an honour for the Duchess to not forget to extend an invitation to us.”
The first amongst them to open her mouth was Countess Leoni Jive.
“My name is Leoni, and I’m the wife of Count Jive. It’s an honour to meet the Duchess.”
She rose from her seat and bowed gracefully, before taking her seat again.
As such, the ladies, who didn’t budge from their seats after seeing Dooha, got up one by one and gave their greetings.
“I’m the wife of Baron Danver…”
“I’m Viscount Karl’s wife…”
“I’m Viscount Churline’s…”
The self-introduction by the vassals’ wives proceeded smoothly.
Finally, the woman seated at the very end got up.
Dooha’s eyes narrowed when she met her eyes.
She was a woman that’s filled with hostility towards her from the beginning.
Even Dooha, who’s a Bashalin, found her a beautiful woman to look at, but her expression was cold, as if she was wearing layers of icy masks.
Perhaps the duke would have such an air if he was born as a woman.
“It’s an honour to meet the Duchess. I’m Pauline Blair, the eldest daughter of Count Blair.”
“It’s nice to meet you too, Pauline.”
When the duchess called her by her first name and not her last name, Pauline’s brow distorted, but it had only lasted momentarily.
She took her seat while pretending that nothing had happened, and stared at Dooha coldly.
* * *
Contrary to Dooha’s expectations, the tea party was surprisingly boring and peaceful.
From the dress designs that were popular in the Empire, the scandals of the Empire’s famous figures, to hearsay that circulated around the streets.
Just as Dooha’s tension was about to loosen up due to such trivial chatter.
“Did the Duchess encounter any difficulties living in the Empire?”
The Countess of Jive, Leoni, spoke to her.
“As the Duchess has mentioned, the Empire is quite different from Bashal. It must have been difficult for someone that ran freely in the fields to completely grasp the Empire’s sophisticated culture.”
‘Right, I was wondering why such words weren’t turning up.’
Dooha smiled nonchalantly.
“Naturally, there are many differences, but how much difference can a place people live in make?”
“Really? Well, you wouldn’t know just how surprised I was when I heard about the duchess’ heroics from my husband.”
So far, all of the duchess’s eccentricities have been famous amongst the vassals.
The incidents in the stable and the kitchen, as well as the incident with the Fourth Prince.
Of course, to those that didn’t know and didn’t want to know about the reasons behind Dooha’s actions, they were all ‘eccentricities’.
“The Duchess’s remarkably novel worldly wisdom must be something that’s learned in Bashal over a long period of time.”
Leoni spoke with a refined noblewoman’s elegant smile.
“But this is the place where the Empire’s most prestigious aristocrats are gathered.”
“So?”
“Although you are said to have mastered the Imperial language and etiquette, it’s worrying that the Duchess seems to have yet to bear this point in mind.”
As Leoni looked at the duchess, who’s seated next to her, both of her eyebrows sloped downwards out of genuine concern.
“Why don’t you focus on the Ducal castle’s housekeeping for the time being, until you’ve familiarised yourself with the Empire’s sentiment? In actual fact, just the Ducal castle’s housekeeping would be strenuous enough for the Duchess.”
In short, what she meant was to put aside the idea of dictating and interfering with them, and remain focused only on managing the ducal castle.
‘Well, while it wasn’t an unexpected response…’
They were women born and raised as Imperial aristocrats.
In other words, they didn’t want to hear the orders of the Duchess, who’s viewed as someone born from the barbaric Bashal.
However, Dooha hadn’t the slightest intention of running away from this dispute.
As the Duke has mentioned, the owner of this place was her, Dooha.
“I’ve understood the Countess’ words.”
Dooha looked at the ladies sitting around with an endlessly gentle smile.
“You’re so concerned about me, who’s inexperienced as a Duchess, and I’m flattered for that.”
“As someone that’s in the service of the Esbaden family, this is but a matter of course……”
“However, even if I’m inexperienced, since I’ve already become the Duchess, I don’t intend to do the things that I should be doing carelessly.”
Dooha spoke clearly towards the ladies that were each looking at her with different expressions.
“Before I’m the Duchess of Esbaden, I’m the Princess of Bashal, who came for the alliance between the Krone Empire and the Kingdom of Bashal.”
The ladies’ faces hardened at the words ‘alliance’ and ‘princess’.
Although Dooha didn’t want to mention her status as a princess, such words are far more effective against those that valued status.
“Wouldn’t it be a shame if I didn’t fulfil my duty as the alliance’s bridge?”
Dooha smiled at Leoni, who looked at her with a disapproving gaze.
“You said that my novel worldly wisdom didn’t match the Empire’s sentiment.”
“……”
“But I also know that there’s a line that I should keep. That’s because at the very beginning, the Duke had accepted all of my conduct.”
Of course, the duke had been troubled several times because of Dooha’s behaviour, but no matter what, it was his own choice.
Other than being grateful, Dooha has never asked him for help before.
“As such, you ladies should also stick to your line.”
She picked up the golden cup and leaned it towards Leoni like she was toasting to her.
“From the looks of the Empire’s sentiment, mutiny is the most dangerous thing. Isn’t that so, Countess Jive?”
“…Yes, you’re right.”
Leoni bit on her lip tightly like her pride had been hurt.
Everyone was aware that her husband, Count Jive, was keeping the duke in check with Lord Nate.
The duchess could have been persistent and cornered her by saying that she was rebelling against her superiors, but it’s clear that while that uncivilised duchess isn’t very knowledgeable about this side, she had definitely received the duke’s word.
To beware of Count and Countess Jive.
“Despite his young age, the Duke is a very sly fox. As such, don’t ever do anything that’ll turn into a weakness that others can capitalise on, wife.”
Leoni recalled her husband’s words and gritted her teeth internally.
It seemed that the duke didn’t just give her the key to the repository for ceremonial purposes.
“Duchess Esbaden.”
Just then, a person, who seemed to have been waiting for this moment, spoke.
“I have prepared a present for the Duchess, can I pass it to you now?”
It was Young Lady Pauline Blair, who hadn’t spoken a word since she took her seat.
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