Click, click, click.
Just as everyone sat down at the dinner table, somewhat irregular footsteps of a woman echoed throughout the room.
The sound of shoes brushing against the smooth marble floor became more distinct as Edith forced strength into her feet, trying not to show any signs of weakness.
“You look beautiful today, Edith.”
The Duchess rose from her seat to welcome Edith as if she had always invited the illegitimate child to dinner.
Her intention was partly to cover Edith’s disturbing footsteps with her own heavy voice, and partly to inform the Prince that the product she was offering had been raised preciously and was valuable.
A girl who had much money invested in her would require a high price.
In stark contrast to the Duke and Duchess brightening their faces to welcome Edith, Neil momentarily frowned.
Edith was dressed in an alluring outfit that revealed her chest generously. It was the most revealing dress the Duchess had selected for her to wear.
“This is my husband’s child whom I cherish like my own daughter.”
The Duchess naturally spoke while introducing Edith to the Prince.
The Prince briefly glanced at Edith’s cleavage before slightly sneering at the Duchess’s words.
“Yes, like your own daughter.”
The Prince looked at Edith and gave her a slight smile. His eyes naturally held an extremely cold light, but when he smiled, there seemed to be a flash of childlike mischief.
‘Does he like me? I hope so.’
Edith smiled as she sat in the chair right next to the Prince, following the Duchess’s guidance.
If she became the Prince’s mistress as the Duchess suggested, her situation would be miserable beyond words, but it would be the same if she became the Marquis’s wife.
He already had four sons, they said. The one who would benefit from marrying him was the Duke, not herself.
The Marquis was said to lose interest in women once they passed thirty, so there was a high probability he would abandon her without giving her any money once she aged.
Perhaps if she became the Prince’s mistress and could leave with him tomorrow, she could escape this hellish house even a day sooner.
Edith gazed at the man with the most elegant smile she could manage.
Though she was frightened by her brother glaring at her from across the table, she knew this might be her only chance.
“Is this veal?”
The Prince looked at the Duchess as he cut into his steak.
“Yes, since we have such an esteemed guest, we wanted to offer the most tender, premium meat. How is it? Does it please you?”
The Duchess tried her best to flatter the Prince while lowering herself.
The Prince was arrogant, but he possessed a firm body and a face that was both sensual and aristocratic. His crimson lips spoke words that seemed displeased.
“Well, I don’t have a taste for consuming things that haven’t fully matured yet.”
The Prince answered while shifting his gaze from the Duchess to Edith.
Though Edith wasn’t yet an adult, she was approaching her birthday soon, making her essentially a fully bloomed flower.
But feeling that the Prince’s words were directed at her, Edith’s cheeks momentarily flushed.
“Then shall I have them bring a steak from a fully grown cow, Your Highness? We have committed a discourtesy by failing to consider your deeper thoughts.”
The Duchess spoke with an embarrassed expression. Watching the flustered woman, the Prince shook his head.
“It’s fine.”
After finishing his words, the Prince cut his steak and brought it to his mouth. Edith barely ate, worried that her lowly habits might show in her knife skills.
Besides, she had heard that noblemen preferred women who ate sparingly.
“You eat very little.”
The Prince commented while looking at Edith’s nearly untouched plate.
“A pr*stitute’s daughter can’t swallow food well in uncomfortable situations.”
Before Edith could answer, a somewhat irritable male voice cut through the air from across the table.
It was Neil, his face deeply frowning.
“A pr*stitute’s daughter. I heard rumors that the Duke was compassionate enough to bring in an illegitimate child born from a pr*stitute—is this that child?”
At the Prince’s question, the startled Duchess couldn’t answer immediately as she struggled to choose her words. As the atmosphere stiffened considerably, the Prince let out a hollow laugh and continued.
“It’s difficult to see her as a woman qualified to dine at the same table as the imperial family.”
The Prince spoke coldly as he raised his wine glass. The atmosphere instantly froze at his words.
And Edith…
Clang! The fork that had been trembling slightly in Edith’s fingers fell to the floor with a crisp sound.
“I don’t like repeating the same conversation twice. And I despise those who can’t read the room even more.”
The Prince turned to Edith and spoke sharply. With tears welling up in her eyes as if about to burst, Edith quickly rose from her seat.
“I’m sorry. I’m not feeling well…”
“But with half the Duke’s blood mixed in, she can be considered somewhat different. Look at this light pink hair. It’s something precious that only the Koeller ducal family, symbolizing the red light, could possess. And isn’t a woman’s beauty like a medal that elevates her status? Just look, Your Highness, at how beautiful this child is.”
The Duchess firmly gripped Edith’s wrist as she tried to stand. The Duchess continued.
“And she’s officially registered in the family. With the ducal family backing her, her humble bloodline can easily be overlooked.”
The Duchess forced Edith back into her chair. It was an implicit message that Edith couldn’t leave this dining room without the Duchess’s permission.
The family registration for Edith was being processed to sell her to the Marquis’s family. They hadn’t expected to use it for the Prince.
“Making a commoner into a noble—the ducal family is overflowing with generosity. In the noble world where bloodlines are valued more than one’s life, accepting something that taints it so casually… I wish such a spirit of generosity had been applied to supporting the military expedition.”
At the Prince’s rebuke, the Duke and Duchess could only close their mouths. After Crown Prince Joachim led the imperial army to battle, the Prince was forced to deploy under the Emperor’s orders.
At that time, with his minimal number of private soldiers, he had requested the Koeller family to provide troops, but the ducal household had offered no support whatsoever.
They never dreamed things would turn out this way.
“That was because we were unworthy… and failed to understand Your Highness’s great intentions,”
The Duke finally bowed his head. Though Ludwig hadn’t yet become Crown Prince, so there was no need to submit so completely, but the Duke was that kind of person.
One who easily became intimidated by those with stronger personalities. That’s why he occasionally sought out lowly prostitutes—to hold his head high and relieve the stress that had accumulated.
“Well, I understand. I’m merely a guest, so I can’t freely comment on the ducal family’s circumstances.”
Perhaps mollified by the Duke’s submissive attitude, the Prince raised his glass with a relaxed expression. However, throughout the meal, the Prince showed no further interest in Edith.
**
“He doesn’t even treat you as a noble, which works out well. Since things have turned out this way, go attend to His Highness’s bath instead of a maid, and then serve him at night.”
Edith had already learned from a maid how to serve a man at night. This was because she was originally scheduled to be sold to the Marquis’s family on the morning of her 20th birthday.
The Duchess commanded Edith in a stern voice.
“Whether you undress or work some magic, you must capture His Highness’s heart. They say no man rejects a woman who strips and throws herself at him. Even your filthy mother wasn’t rejected by nobles when she stripped and threw herself at them, so you should be more than capable. You know what happens if you fail, don’t you?”
The Duchess gestured with her eyes toward Edith’s back. Behind Edith stood the intimidating Marie. Marie was a maid who freely laid hands on Edith with the Duchess’s permission.
As long as she didn’t leave marks that would damage Edith’s value as merchandise, Marie could treat her roughly anytime.
Edith had always been afraid of Marie.
“I understand.”
The Prince had been uncomfortable even sitting at the same table with someone of her lowly blood—would he really spend the night with her?
Edith was worried, but following the Duchess’s orders, she knocked on the Prince’s door carrying soap and towels.
“What is it?”
“I’ve come to help with your bath.”
A low laugh came from inside in response to Edith’s answer.
‘Does he hate having someone lowly like me attend to him?’
She had heard that members of the imperial family received service only from nobles. Edith thought the Prince was laughing because he found it amusing that someone as unworthy as her was waiting outside his door.
“Are there no maids suitable to attend to baths here? Or are you actually a maid of this place?”
A voice came from inside. Edith bit her lip briefly before deciding to speak honestly. She remembered the Prince’s penetrating gaze.
He wasn’t a man who would be fooled by lies.
“I’m not a maid, but the Duchess ordered me to come because she thought I was more suitable than them. I’m simply following orders.”
Fling!
The Prince opened the door, perhaps pleased with Edith’s answer. He was already half-undressed on top, as if he had truly been waiting to bathe.
“Come in, I needed soap anyway.”
The Prince opened the door, allowing Edith to enter. Tense, Edith took a deep breath and stepped inside.
“You’re alone. Did you really come to attend to my bath?”
The Prince, sitting loosely in a chair beside the bed, slowly asked as he looked at Edith standing tensely.
The man’s languid voice seemed to slowly wrap around Edith’s body like a stretched skein of thread, as if to prevent her from moving at all.
“I have another purpose as well.”
“Hahaha.”
When Edith gave an honest answer, the Prince laughed while holding his stomach. His expression said he had expected as much.
“I heard you haven’t passed your birthday yet and aren’t an adult. Since when have you been selling your body?”
“My birthday is approaching soon, and I’ve never sold my body before. If you don’t believe me, it wouldn’t be bad to check for yourself.”
Edith swallowed her tension with a breath and spoke directly to the man.
Neil had shown such an angry expression that if she returned now, he would surely not leave her alone.
She could pretend she had attended to the Prince, but Neil might force himself on her tonight. No, he definitely would.
Edith began to spill out the words the Duchess had instructed her to say.
“What an impudent pr*stitute’s daughter. Well, I don’t particularly want to embrace you. If you wish, my guard outside the door has been hungry for a woman for a long time—how about having him check?”
The Prince not only rejected Edith but treated her like a pr*stitute purchased with money. He was no different from the people at the ducal residence.
But Edith had endured too many difficult years to crumble at such words. She continued to smile as she retorted to the Prince.
“If I could be embraced by just one knight, that wouldn’t be bad. I wouldn’t mind becoming his mistress. But only if you take me away from here tomorrow.”
Edith spoke to the Prince with a dignified attitude. She could withstand contemptuous gazes anyway. The most unbearable thing was having to spend another night in this house.
“You’re an amusing girl. You come to warm my bed, yet you say any knight would do? How do you expect me to treat such a cheap pr*stitute?”
“As a noble member of the imperial family, you would at least keep your promises, wouldn’t you?”
Edith answered while looking directly at the man.
“No, promises are words that apply only between those of equal status. Everything I say to you is not a promise but an order.”
At Ludwig’s words, Edith let out a slight sigh. Nobles and royalty were no different at all.
“Then…”
“A knife?”
Suddenly, Edith pulled out a very small dagger from her bosom and tried to slash her wrist.
As the Prince quickly rushed forward to take the dagger from her hand, the blade pricked the tip of his finger, causing drops of blood to fall onto the back of Edith’s hand.
Edith clutched it in her palm as if it were a precious treasure.
“What are you doing?”
“As long as I have proof that Your Highness was the one I gave my purity to, I won’t die at the Duchess’s hands. Were you afraid I would take my own life, Your Highness?”
Edith answered slowly.
