The thought that they hadn’t properly consummated their marriage kept circling through her mind. On the other hand, she couldn’t help but feel relieved. 

It hadn’t been sensual like what she’d seen in Lucille’s books, nor sacred like the teachings of Goddess Frieze—it had simply been terribly painful and unfamiliar. The thought that Wilfred might give her that cold stare during the act made her even more afraid.

‘He wasn’t a first-timer.’

There was no way someone inexperienced could touch her and join their bodies together so unhesitatingly. Edith didn’t care about that fact. 

Even in Aberdeen, there was a custom of providing ladies-in-waiting for educational purposes to princes who had completed their coming-of-age ceremonies. 

Her second brother, César, had once embarrassed everyone in Aberdeen Castle by satisfying his first lady-in-waiting far too thoroughly.

The Crown Prince was twenty-four and had remained unmarried all this time, so he must have been with one or several women.

‘What if I run into that woman? Should I speak to her?’

Edith’s mother, Jeremiah, had originally been Grand Duke Angelic’s mistress. 

Since she was of noble status, she naturally attended all official events at Aberdeen Castle, and by the time her relationship with the Grand Duke became an open secret, she had clashed with Nadia, the First Grand Duchess, several times. 

The Grand Duchess, the highest-ranking lady of Aberdeen, had lost her reason over it and, blinded by jealousy-fueled rage, eventually commissioned her rival’s murder and was divorced. 

Having witnessed all of this growing up, Lucille’s hatred toward her was understandable.

But Edith had also spent her childhood hearing whispers behind her back calling her a child born of adultery, the Grand Duke’s bastard. 

When Edith was born, Jeremiah was already separated from her husband, so it was fortunate that she wasn’t scorned by her ‘legal’ father, but…

Suddenly, Edith faced a certain suspicion.

“Your Highness, the Crown Princess…?”

Courtney asked. Edith realized she had stopped walking without noticing.

“Shall we head back inside? Should I have tea prepared?”

She and the Crown Princess’s new maid had been strolling through the garden according to the schedule Bernard had arranged. 

Garden in name only—the walls weren’t even visible, and it was more like a small park where you’d get lost if you went for a midnight walk. Edith shook her head and immersed herself in her thoughts again.

‘What if… the Crown Prince has a hidden child?’

That would explain why he wasn’t obsessed with consummating their marriage. 

Of course, children born to the legitimate wife ranked higher in the line of succession, so even if his (imaginary) bastard was older than any prince or princess (hypothetically) born to Edith, that (imaginary) bastard had little chance of ascending to the throne.

‘But what if Wilfred divorces me and takes that woman as his second queen?’

Then Edith’s (hypothetical) child would be in the same position as Lucille. A king or grand duke’s divorce happened on average once every three or four generations—not common, but not rare either.

Perhaps the Crown Prince had a hidden child he didn’t even know about. Back in Aberdeen, women coming to César saying “let me have a child to remind me of our memories together” was an annual event. 

César boasted that he never left loose ends, but there really might be a child he didn’t know about growing up somewhere on the Svelta Continent.

Lost in this flight of imagination, Edith failed to realize her feet had carried her as far as her thoughts had wandered.

“Princess Edith… no, Your Highness, the Crown Princess.”

An unfamiliar voice called to her. A guard? 

Courtney stepped in front of Edith. Not that it could completely block a sturdy man’s view.

A man with jet-black hair like Edith’s and black eyes that seemed familiar somehow smiled.

“Please step aside, Miss Pemblock. The Duke of Bodley is paying his respects to Her Highness, the Crown Princess.”

Duke of Bodley.

Edith had heard that name very recently. That’s why his eyes seemed familiar. Since Roxanne Bodley was the ‘Dowager Duchess,’ this young man must be the Duke who inherited the title—Roxanne’s son. She confirmed.

“…Is the Chief Lady your mother?”

The man who introduced himself as the Duke of Bodley answered without surprise.

“If you’re referring to Roxanne Bodley, she is indeed my mother.”

Then the Duke formally bowed to Edith.

“Eustace, Duke of Bodley, Lord of Bishop, greets Your Highness, the Crown Princess.”

Bishop.

The largest and most fertile territory in all of Fenwick. A place she had briefly passed through on the way from Wordsworth Harbor to Osborne. 

She’d heard an epidemic was spreading there now and the situation wasn’t good, but that didn’t make the territory disappear.

She examined the man carefully. Black hair and black eyes. She hadn’t known there were people with such features in Fenwick. The Duke looked a few years older than Wilfred. 

Still, he couldn’t be thirty yet. His face was as straight as a sculpture, brimming with masculine beauty.

However, Edith didn’t like his gaze at all.

When she remained silent, he asked, “Your Highness, what brings you all the way here with only a single maid and not even a guard knight?”

“This is inside Osborne Palace.”

“The royal palace is quite vast, Your Highness. His Highness the Crown Prince rarely comes this far.”

His tone suggested he knew Wilfred personally.

‘Is he from the Privy Council…?’

He seemed too young to hold a ducal title, but as Lord of Bishop, he was more than qualified to attend the Privy Council.

“Why?”

The Duke smirked.

“Because you might run into me.”

“Explain.”

The Duke’s smile wasn’t friendly at all. A smile that seemed to hide something. A smile that seemed to mock her. Moreover, the man gave an odd answer to her question.

“You won’t see any flowers in this garden.”

“Why?”

“Since Her Highness the Princess passed away, no one has properly tended to it. Perhaps Your Highness could change that.”

Her Highness the Princess…? Was this Princess Gwendolyn’s garden?

Edith looked around. Where she had entered was a garden within a garden, an area where green trees and shrubs surrounded a small courtyard like a fence. 

A place where a white marble gazebo and fountain harmonized appropriately. 

But the Duke was right. It was late spring when flowers should be blooming, yet there wasn’t a single rose bush.

Osborne Palace was extremely vast, and with the outer walls forming a square shape surrounding the inner castle, she couldn’t tell where she was. When she looked at her maid, Courtney also shook her head with a troubled expression.

“Clarify the connection.”

Edith commanded. The Duke was about to speak when—

“Your Highness, the Crown Princess!”

This time it was a familiar voice. A tall blond knight appeared from somewhere.

“Knight Waverley.”

Knight Waverley appeared to look deeply touched.

“You remember my name, Your Highness? It’s dangerous to come this far from the main palace.”

The Duke of Bodley interjected.

“I’m embarrassed to hear such words to my face, Sir Jude. Do I seem like someone who couldn’t protect Her Highness from danger? And what could happen in Osborne Palace of all places? With excellent knights like yourself swarming everywhere.”

His tone was clearly sarcastic. Knight Waverley instantly abandoned the courteous attitude he’d shown Edith. Like a beast baring its teeth and growling, the guard knight answered with a wary, rigid attitude.

“Lord Bishop. This area is off-limits to outsiders.”

“I apologize for that. I came to visit my grieving mother and got lost.”

Then the Duke looked at Edith.

“I heard that the Dowager Duchess of Bodley recently upset Your Highness. Please forgive her with your generous heart.”

To describe it as merely ‘upsetting’ was an understatement—both the mistake the Dowager Duchess had made and its aftermath were far from small. 

Half the Crown Princess’s maids had been replaced and the Chief Court Lady’s autonomy had been drastically reduced.

Still, when someone asked for forgiveness, she couldn’t refuse. As Edith chose her words, Knight Waverley whispered in her ear.

“Say ‘Be more careful from now on,’ Your Highness.”

“Be more careful from now on.”

The gazes of the Duke of Bodley and Knight Waverley clashed. Even though his opponent was a Duke ruling an entire territory, the guard knight didn’t avert his eyes. 

If this weren’t inside the royal palace and Knight Waverley weren’t a guard, he might have already drawn his sword.

By now, even Edith could sense that the relationship between the Duke and Knight Waverley—no, between the Duke and Wilfred—was far from amicable.

The Duke was the one who broke the tension. Acting like he’d never glared at Knight Waverley, the Duke smiled at Edith again.

“Your Highness, the Crown Princess, you are quite an interesting person.”

* * *

The encounter with Duke Eustace of Bodley in the flowerless garden left an unpleasant aftertaste, but its effects didn’t last long.

First, because Edith became genuinely busy after the three-day wedding banquet ended.

Second, because something happened to lift her spirits.

“What is this?”

Two weeks into her marriage, Edith asked as soon as she entered the side room attached to her quarters. The newly appointed chambermaid, Viscountess Audrey Raleigh, answered.

“These are congratulatory gifts from Fenwick’s nobility to Your Highness, the Crown Princess.”

Viscountess Raleigh was the only daughter of Fenwick’s naval commander and wife of a military officer—an extremely upright and disciplined woman who had inherited her military father’s character. 

Because of that rigid personality, Roxanne Bodley hadn’t been particularly fond of the Viscountess. 

The Viscountessalso lacked eloquence and spoke concisely, which Edith actually found comfortable.

“They should have arrived before the wedding ceremony…”

Even the blunt Viscountess Raleigh couldn’t say ‘the nobles weren’t pleased that Your Highness is from a foreign country, so they delayed.’ 

But Edith, unaware of the circumstances, assumed the inspection of the gifts had taken a long time and let it pass.

The gifts filled half the side room. From jewelry boxes to furniture, all sorts of items were piled from floor to ceiling—it would take quite a while just to check who sent what.

Among them, what brightened Edith’s face was—

“A miniature lion!”

“It’s a ‘cat,’ Your Highness.”

Courtney, who was viewing the gifts with her, corrected.

‘So they call it a cat.’

Edith lifted the kitten that had just woken up from its basket. It was an adorable animal with pure white paws and tea-colored patches here and there on its body. The color reminded her of Wilfred’s honey-colored hair. The cat didn’t cry but stared at her with clear golden eyes.

“Utterly adorable.”

Edith loved any furry animal. She looked at her two maids seeking agreement, but they seemed somewhat reluctant.

“Courtney. Do you not prefer cats?”

“It’s not that, but… cats can see ghosts—”

“Miss Pemblock.”

Viscountess Raleigh’s tone overflowed with authority. Courtney closed her mouth.

‘They can see ghosts…?’

Edith looked at the cute animal wriggling in her hands.

Aberdeen was a country where much of its territory was mountainous. Perhaps because of that influence, belief in ghosts and spirits ran as deep as faith in gods and goddesses. 

Edith had also grown up hearing ghost stories as a child. She’d never actually seen one, and even if they existed, she’d never heard of them directly harming people, so she wasn’t afraid of ghosts.

And if the cat could really see them, wouldn’t that be a good thing? If ghosts were harmful, it could warn its owner.

Viscountess Raleigh asked, “Your Highness, the Crown Princess, will you keep this cat in your quarters?”

“I’d like to.”

Surely this didn’t require the Crown Prince’s or Chief Lady’s approval. Edith held the cat in her arms.

Viscountess Raleigh nodded.

“Then I’ll inform the maids and knights of the East Wing. …Oh, and tomorrow a Fenwickian language tutor will visit.”