3. The Grand Duchess’s Secret Secret?

Knock knock.

Hailey politely knocked on the door and cleared her throat before speaking.

“I’ve brought the mail that arrived for Her Grace, the Grand Duchess.”

“Bring it in.”

With permission from Lady Darmang, the head maid and a baroness, Hailey quickly stepped inside.

On days without any appointments, the Grand Duchess would spend her time in the sunroom, where the sunlight streamed in warmly. Knowing this, Hailey had volunteered to run the errand herself.

‘I need to make an impression somehow.’

Unaware of Hailey’s ulterior motive, the head maid took the mail from her personally.

“These are quite heavy. You must’ve had a hard time carrying them.”

Then, glancing at Hailey’s face as if something had just occurred to her, she added,

“Come to think of it, you’re the girl who was recently assigned to the palace, aren’t you?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Good timing then. Since you’re here, go ahead and pay your respects to Her Grace.”

‘Hehe, just as I hoped.’

Smiling inwardly at the head maid’s kind suggestion, Hailey was pleased.

The Grand Duchess Eleonora was sitting by the sunlit window, knitting. Or rather, she had knitting on her lap while she gazed out the window.

‘She really is beautiful…’

Even among the many beauties of the imperial palace, Grand Duchess Eleonora stood out with her unmatched beauty. Silvery hair that glowed like moonlight, delicate features, a slender figure, and an elegant aura.

‘Maybe… the most beautiful woman in this entire world isn’t the heroine, but Grand Duchess Eleonora.’

Thinking that, Hailey carefully approached the armchair.

“I am honored to meet Your Grace, the noble Grand Duchess.”

She held her skirt and bowed respectfully, but there was no response.

‘Did I do something wrong? No, this can’t be happening!’

As Hailey anxiously raised her head, she saw the Duchess’s head drooping weakly over the back of the chair. The brilliant silver hair cascaded over her pale face, causing the head maid to gasp and shout.

“Your Grace, are you all right?”

“Your Grace!”

“Lady Eleonora!”

The handmaidens of the palace, who had been enjoying a quiet afternoon, jumped to their feet in panic.

Especially Baroness Darmang, the head maid, who threw aside the mail she was holding and rushed over.

“Your Grace, please wake up!”

The head maid shoved Hailey aside and cradled the Grand Duchess’s frail body in her arms.

‘Could it be… poisoning?’

Hailey was flustered.

On the table nearby were a teacup and some tea snacks that appeared to have been used by the Grand Duchess.

‘Or could it be some sort of sudden illness?’

Rumors of the Grand Duchess’s poor health had long been widespread throughout the palace.

‘No—this can’t happen! She’s my only chance at survival!’

Panicked, Hailey stared at the Grand Duchess’s face nestled in the head maid’s arms. Her complexion was so pale that it was practically white, with no trace of color left.

“Lady Eleonora!”

At the head maid’s desperate cry, the Grand Duchess’s eyelids began to flutter. Her long lashes blinked a few times before finally revealing her soft, lavender-colored eyes.

“Your Grace, are you awake?”

Prompted by the worried voice, the Grand Duchess slowly lifted her head.

“Ah… I must’ve dozed off.”

Her voice was still drowsy. To make matters worse, the Grand Duchess then covered her mouth and let out a small yawn.

“I stayed up late reading last night, so I didn’t get enough sleep…”

In her elegant voice, reminiscent of a bird chirping, there was an oddly embarrassed feeling. The head maid’s expression twisted at this.

“I told you so! You shouldn’t read all night! And of all things, some scandalous romantic novel…”

Having said this much, the head maid hurriedly covered her mouth.

Scandalous romantic novel?

Oh ho…! So that’s what she’s into.

Hailey perked up her ears, intrigued, while the head maid quickly tried to compose her expression like nothing had happened.

‘Let’s sum this up. Her Grace the Grand Duchess stayed up all night reading a scandalous romantic novel, and that’s why she nodded off just now?’

And that’s what caused all this chaos?

Looking around, Hailey noticed the other maids were already shaking their heads with resigned expressions. The Grand Duchess, slightly embarrassed, adjusted the folds of her disheveled clothes.

“Baroness Darmang, please let it slide just this once. As you know, I don’t really have any hobbies besides that.”

Soothed by the soft plea, the head maid let out a small sigh.

“Ha… As long as you don’t harm your health, I wouldn’t dare to say anything.”

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind from now on.”

With a gentle smile, the Grand Duchess now turned toward Hailey and looked at her directly. The head maid cleared her throat and introduced her.

“Your Grace, this is the new apprentice maid assigned to the palace. She’s come to pay her respects.”

“Ah, you must be the one who’s good at needlework.”

The Grand Duchess began to speak, then frowned slightly and murmured,

“Now, what was your name again…?”

“My name is Hailey Brooke, Your Grace. It’s an honor to be in your service.”

Realizing the Grand Duchess had likely forgotten her name, Hailey wisely offered it first.

“Yes, that’s right—Hailey. You’re from the Dakhan region, aren’t you? It’s impressive that you’ve come all this way at such a young age.”

Hailey, ever prudent, did not correct the Grand Duchess—despite the fact that the apprentice maid from Dakhan was actually Annie, not herself.

‘Well done.’

When she glanced up, she saw the head maid giving her an approving nod.

“The sachet you made last time—I’ve been using it. It’s lovely. Thank you.”

This time, it was a genuine compliment. When Hailey cautiously looked up, the Grand Duchess was smiling warmly at her, her face full of kindness.

“A skilled handmaiden is the pride of the palace. I’ll be counting on you.”

Her gentle voice was like a warm spring breeze—it filled the listener with a comforting sense of ease.

“Thank you, Your Grace.”

Just hearing that voice made Hailey feel an almost inexplicable urge to pledge absolute loyalty. She bowed deeply.

***

“She’s quirkier than I expected. And mentally tougher too.”

After finally having the long-awaited private audience with the Grand Duchess, Hailey murmured to herself as she walked down the corridor.

A deposed crown princess from a foreign land. Her husband passed away young, and her position in the imperial palace was incredibly precarious.

‘So I naturally assumed she’d be steeped in grief…’

But the Grand Duchess Hailey had just met was gentle, kind, and surprisingly whimsical.

‘If she’d had just a bit more presence in the original novel, she would’ve been a super popular character. Possibly the only healer figure in the whole story.’

Hailey felt reassured. The Grand Duchess wasn’t eccentric or temperamental. If she had been as temperamental as the Emperor’s other concubines, life in the palace could’ve turned into a nightmare.

“I really have to find a way to win Her Grace’s favor now…”

Only by becoming one of the Grand Duchess’s close aides could Hailey hope to survive the chaos that was bound to come.

“She said she likes novels… maybe I could go into town on a day off and pick up a book or two?”

But how was she supposed to find scandalous romantic novels…?

***

“Hey, you!”

Just as Hailey was lost in thought while walking, an irritated voice cut through her musings. She stopped and turned around.

Marching up to her with an angry scowl was Olga, her fellow apprentice maid, practically steaming with rage.

“You took the Grand Duchess’s mail to her, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, I did. Why?”

“I’m the one in charge of Her Grace’s mail. Someone like you had no business touching it!”

Olga snapped sharply, and Hailey just shrugged.

‘Ahhh, so that’s it. She’s mad because I stole her chance to get on the Grand Duchess’s good side.’

Olga, who came from a noble family, made a point of flaunting her background and often looked down on her fellow trainees.

“Lady Maria told me to do it. The mail had piled up so much that the box was overflowing.”

“So you’re saying you took the liberty of handling the mail?”

“Well, you looked busy, so I thought I’d help out.”

“That’s unnecessary meddling. If you overstep your bounds like that again, I’ll report you to the head maid.”

“Got it.”

Hailey replied calmly. After all, the mail had only been an excuse to get a private audience with the Grand Duchess. Now that she had achieved that, there was no need to take on anyone else’s work.

“If you’re a commoner, act like one and stick to menial chores. Speaking of which, Linda’s in the laundry room washing the sheets—why don’t you go help her?”

“I believe you and Judith were assigned to laundry today.”

“We were raised with elegance—we don’t do that sort of grunt work. Today, we’ll be arranging the flower vases for the drawing room. You commoners can handle the laundry.”

With that haughty declaration, Olga strutted off down the corridor without even looking back.

‘Menial chores like that are actually really important during the apprenticeship period…’

The two-year training period was meant to teach the basics of being a maid from the ground up—to cultivate truly competent personnel.

Even so, Olga and her group insisted on sticking to the easy, comfortable tasks like flower arranging or managing mail.

‘We’re nobles, so we don’t do manual labor.’

Whenever they were assigned harder tasks, they’d make excuses and dodge responsibility. As a result, senior maids didn’t hold them in very high regard—something the girls themselves seemed oblivious to.

‘Not like it’s worth pointing out to them anyway.’

There’s one golden rule that all underdogs in this world should live by:

“Never mess with someone who’s got connections.”

Shaking her head, Hailey started walking toward the laundry room, where Linda was probably waiting.

***

“When do you think we’ll finally stop having to do all these little chores?”

Linda let out a light sigh as she hung the washed sheets to dry.

“These kinds of tasks are for the lower maids—we’re training to be proper attendants.”

“Well, yeah… but the discipline matron did say we need to learn everything from the basics. Sheet management is one of the fundamentals.”

“Still, hanging laundry could be left to the lower maids, couldn’t it?”

Flap, flap.

Water droplets fell as Linda and Hailey gave the laundry a firm shake together. Then, they carefully hung the damp sheets on the long drying racks one by one.

“And honestly, this uniform color is just awful. I mean, look at this tacky green. We look like frogs.”

“It’s dull, yeah, but at least it’s durable. And easy to spot, too.”

Hailey replied while stretching out a cushion cover and hanging it neatly on the line.

“You’re way too optimistic. Do you even know what people in the palace say when they see us apprentice maids?”