Chapter 2.

A noble white horse pulled the carriage forward, making elegant hoof sounds.

Inside the carriage sat Crown Prince Frederick, who had just left Ruargo Castle. In front of Frederick, his attendant maintained a posture of punishment while watching for cues.

“For what reason did you……”

The attendant felt extremely anxious. What is he going to say?

Normally, the attendant rarely shared seating with the Crown Prince, so he was understandably tense.

“Count Bergen. How do you handle situations like this?”

Frederick asked the attendant with sharp eyes.

“I heard you have a daughter. If servants were to carry your daughter like a bundle or cover her mouth with their hands, what measures would you take?”

“What do you……”

“How would you punish such ill-mannered servants? Does your family have specific laws for such cases?”

The attendant twisted his head at the strange question before answering.

“No. We have no such family laws.”

“Why not?”

“Because such incidents…… do not occur.”

“Right? That’s normal, isn’t it?”

“Yes. Actually…… I find it rather strange that you even use the term ‘normal’ for this. No nobleman would contemplate such bizarre actions. Most wouldn’t even imagine it.”

“But what can I do? I witnessed such a bizarre incident today. During the idle time after the two chefs left to cook, I saw it.”

What did you see? The attendant’s lips twitched with curiosity.

“Servants physically restraining a ten-year-old Viscount’s daughter.”

“What?”

“You’ve acknowledged this is clearly abnormal, haven’t you? So why does such a thing happen at Ruargo? What exactly has been going on at Ruargo Castle?”

Having heard this much, the attendant crushed his lips together.

The problems that had occurred in the Ruargo family were matters that nobles were reluctant to discuss.

An adopted second son usurping the family? That was something one couldn’t even dream of without powerful backing.

According to secretly spreading rumors, the Prime Minister was involved.

In this country of Ferandi, the authority higher than even God was called the Prime Minister. No one wanted to become someone who crossed him.

The attendant deliberately brought up a different topic. He didn’t want Frederick to get involved in unnecessary trouble.

“Please don’t worry too much about it. There must have been some circumstances. By the way, how about meeting people at the court banquet in three days? The debutante ball is expected to attract many amusing young people.”

“Really?”

But Frederick wasn’t listening at all. He answered perfunctorily and continued to think deeply about Ruargo.

The attendant therefore began to ramble. He kept throwing out words to somehow divert Frederick’s attention elsewhere.

“Hmm. As someone who has served Your Highness for the past 22 years, I’m more than a little worried. You don’t keep many friends, and whenever there’s a banquet, you consistently stay in your study. If you made reliable connections before your ascension, you would receive much help later……”

Is he even listening? Frederick’s eyes were hazy with thoughts as he gazed into the distance. The attendant had no idea how to capture his interest and diminish his concern about Ruargo.

“Haha. I suppose I understand why Your Highness avoids appearing at banquets, since the hall stirs when you enter. How annoying it must be. To receive everyone’s attention. It’s one thing for ladies to make a fuss, but you even cause trouble for gentlemen. But what can be done? Compared to Your Highness’s appearance, even the most prominent young noblemen of Ferandi become like rotten cucumbers.”

“……”

“Moreover, Your Highness became a hero of Ferandi at the mere age of 19. When Espino’s army landed in northern Ferandi. At that critical moment when even the capital was in panic. If Your Highness hadn’t repelled Espino……”

“Ah! The debutante ball. Was that in three days?”

Frederick finally showed interest. The attendant felt pleased.

“Yes. This ball will be the most splendid banquet since Ferandi’s founding. To commemorate Ferandi’s boundless leap into becoming one of the continent’s three great powers, with victory in the long war and brilliant development in culture and arts……”

“Then…… will she come?”

“Pardon?”

“Ruargo. Lea de Ruargo.”

“Ruar……”

“Thank you for the good news. It’s been very helpful. I should ask when I meet her at the banquet. What happened at Ruargo Castle.”

Why is the conversation flowing in that direction again?

“However, Your Highness. Please withdraw your current statement. To focus on one family’s issues at a banquet attended by many families……”

“I wonder why?”

What now? The attendant, whose words had been cut off, closed his chattering mouth.

“Give me your hand.”

At Frederick’s unpredictable behavior, the attendant reluctantly extended his hand, and Frederick caressed it.

“This is how it should be. Rough, coarse, and sparse. Like…… a rotten cucumber.”

“Rotten……”

The attendant, his pride hurt, hurriedly rummaged through his inner pocket. After putting on gloves, he extended his hand to Frederick again.

“How is this?”

“It’s a bit better, but why?”

“Because these are silk gloves. They come from the golden land called Eldorado. Silkworms that traveled the long journey of 8,000 miles, hiding tightly in monks’ bamboo staffs, arduously made their way to our continent. These are fantastical high-gloss fabrics meticulously woven from silk threads spun one by one by those creatures.”

“Is that so? But why?”

“Perhaps you’re admiring their neat appearance? These silk gloves are the work of a Métier d’Art (Living National Treasure). They were made with a miraculous technique that precisely molds the hand shape while ensuring the silk threads used to join the fabric don’t show from either front or back. They can truly be called a masterpiece among masterpieces.”

Frederick tossed aside the attendant’s silk-gloved hand and asked again.

“Is that how they naturally are? Can neither high-gloss fabric nor Métier d’Art possibly compare?”

“What do you mean?”

“Women, I mean.”

Women?

“Are women’s hands naturally all…… like that……”

Like that?

“So soft?”

The attendant finally let out a deep sigh. Despite his efforts, Frederick’s interests would absolutely never change.

I’m the one who wants to ask. What exactly is this conversation without context or organization? Why are all Your Highness’s words directed toward Ruargo?

The attendant recalled the silver coin that had gone to Lea.

Could it be because of the silver coin? Because of the late Queen Her Majesty’s message?

***

The shabby annex where our family lived was made entirely of wood.

Wooden walls, wooden roof, wooden bed, even a wooden dining table.

I sat at that wooden table waiting for dinner.

The competition had ended, the Crown Prince had left, and the sun had set, but my consciousness remained in a daze.

“Who could it be? The gentleman who has captivated the mind of such a charming lady?”

My father waved his hand in front of my dazed eyes and smiled kindly.

“You finally found a man more handsome than your father. How was he? Is his character as excellent as your father’s?”

Following my father’s gently folded eyes, a smile naturally came to me as well. My father in this new life was someone who adored his daughter.

According to the body’s haphazardly remaining memories, it had been a happy life.

Being held by grandfather, carried on grandmother’s back, or riding on father’s shoulders. That’s how the body’s original owner spent her childhood. Thanks to this, she lived the life of a noble lady—slightly haughty but dignified.

“Did something happen? Did the big-headed woman bully you again?”

My mother asked as she set a wooden bowl in front of me.

Mother always worried terribly whenever I was summoned by the Countess.

“No. Nothing special happened. It’s just the difference is too great.”

“What is?”

“Between Eloise’s table and ours. Eloise’s table was overflowing with lobster and chunks of meat, but ours is just……”

I scanned the wooden table. Cold oat bread and dried-up cheese. Underripe tomatoes and green vegetables with a raw smell—that was the entire meal.

Since coming here, I seemed to have lost my sense of taste. Even if not lobster and meat chunks, I had been eating spicy tteokbokki like taking medicine.

“Still, our plates must be more splendid than theirs. The comparison itself is meaningless.”

My father, with a proud expression, picked up a plate and caressed it with his palm. The wooden plate, carved around the edges into the shape of gorgeous flowers, shone like a work of art.

‘Wow. It’s like a masterpiece, and father made it himself.’

It was truly strange, but father had suddenly acquired dexterity. This skill appeared after he woke from his comatose state, though it hadn’t existed before.

The crafting technique of freely carving wood and metal to recreate shapes. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that a craftsman’s soul had entered my father’s body.

But no one mentioned father’s change out loud.

My becoming good at cooking and Lou starting to talk strangely happened around the same time. Everyone just accepted reality as if it were natural.

“Look at this. When you tap the plate, doesn’t it sound like playing a musical instrument? That’s because I hollowed out the inside of the wood. It creates a resonance chamber inside, so the sound resonates.”

“Lea, stop dawdling and bring the youngest for dinner.”

My mother expressed irritation at my father’s proud explanation. After all, it’s not like we could eat the plates, and praise was unlikely to emerge in front of a poor table.

“Everyone seems to disregard my wooden bowls. But as I’ve said repeatedly, our tenacious vitality is thanks to these bowls. Storing wine or spices in crystal glass bottles like that Count’s family is never a good practice. Since they’re made of lead glass……”

Just then, the dining room door opened and Lou entered. The sharp-eyed child walked toward the table, continuously grumbling.

“Is it oat bread and weeds again today? I want cooked food, Mother.”