That old raccoon-like head maid always gossiped about the duchess with Mrs. Deshiri and still kept keys that should have been handed over to the duchess long ago, making excuses that she hadn’t heard anything from the duke.
When the duchess said she would host her first tea party, the head maid had sneered that someone raised in the countryside who had never even seen a proper tea party couldn’t possibly prepare one. But when the duchess prepared a surprisingly nice tea party, the head maid must have done this to sabotage her.
Marie wanted to tell her mistress and suggest giving the head maid a good scolding to prevent such mischief in the future.
“What is it, Marie? Do you have something else to say?”
But when she saw the duchess’s kind face asking, Marie couldn’t bring herself to speak.
The duchess’s face, which had been full of vitality when they first met, was now dimmed with fatigue and worry. It didn’t seem like a good idea to tell her such things now when she was already troubled and depressed because of the indifferent duke.
Yes, later. As the duchess said, once they consummated the marriage, everyone would clearly know who the real lady of Elmano Castle was. So I just need to work harder to help her consummate the marriage as soon as possible.
Having made up her mind, Marie quickly shook her head.
“No, madam. I just wanted to wish you good luck with the tea party. I’ll go order the new vase right away.”
Marie bowed her head and hurried down the long corridor with quick steps.
Lariella watched Marie’s retreating figure before turning to walk back toward the reception room.
Her slow pace wasn’t just because of her flowing dress hem. Already sleep-deprived and tired, the thought of enduring several more hours with seven chatterboxes made her steps as heavy and slow as if lead weights were attached to her shoe heels.
When she trudged to the reception room door, bursts of laughter flowed out, suggesting they were sharing amusing stories.
Lariella pulled back the hand that was about to grab the reception room door handle. It was hard enough to concentrate on conversations she didn’t understand, but the most difficult part was having to force herself to smile when she wasn’t in the mood to laugh.
Maybe I’ll rest a little longer since I’m already out. At least until that laughter dies down. It doesn’t seem to matter whether I’m there or not anyway.
Lariella walked right past the reception room and opened the door to the small lounge attached to it. Thanks to the beautiful day and all the windows being wide open, this room was also filled with the fragrance of wisteria.
She trudged over to a chair placed in front of the window and plopped down heavily, resting her arms on the windowsill. She leaned her head sideways against them and closed her eyes. The sweet breeze carrying the flower fragrance seemed to soothe her frayed nerves somewhat.
But the comfortable feeling didn’t last long. Along with the wisteria scent hanging from the railings, the voices of the ladies in the adjacent reception room also drifted in.
“……so the duchess wants to, but simply can’t.”
“Since the duke is…… won’t it be permanently ruined?”
“……her face looks rough. Being newlyweds but unable to do it must be causing her tremendous emotional distress.”
What are they saying?
Lariella’s brow furrowed terribly.
Though parts were inaudible, it was definitely about her. After all, there couldn’t be another “newlywed” “duchess” in the Bayaroman Empire who “wants to but can’t.”
Lariella straightened her head and perked up her ears.
“Goodness, don’t even mention it. I hear the duchess is absolutely desperate to do it. She bathes for hours, applies perfumed oils, lights scented candles, changes the bedding, tries different nightgowns—she’s in such a frenzy every day that the maids are exhausted.”
The particularly thin voice seemed to belong to the Marchioness of Devers. She was thoroughly excited, pouring out words without pause to breathe.
“She pours a whole jar of those expensive alistro flower petals—which most households can hardly even see—into every bath, making the room so fragrant you can barely breathe. But that won’t make it possible. I almost want to tell her to give up and just find a lover.”
Those ladies, supposedly the most talkative—no, most influential—in society, apparently already knew everything from Lariella’s unconsummated marriage to her nightly efforts to consummate it.
No wonder they had been looking at her so strangely throughout the tea party. She knew those gazes weren’t friendly, but she hadn’t realized they contained such blatant mockery.
She knew that gatherings of noble ladies typically involved dressing elegantly, using refined vocabulary, and spending time gossiping about others, but she hadn’t realized they could be this quick with their ears and mouths.
For Lariella, it was quite shocking to learn that her intimate bedroom situation was circulating throughout society. She was also curious why those women spoke so confidently that “the duchess wants to but can’t.”
Lariella stood from her chair, pressed her wildly beating heart, and moved close beside the window.
“It’s her own fault. Stuck in some rural backwater, never showing her face in society, yet boldly accepting a proposal from the Elmano family without any suspicion. If she ends up living as a virgin widow for life, who can she blame?”
“Exactly. The proud and arrogant Duke Elmano rejected countless ladies in society only to choose such a country bumpkin. If not for those circumstances, how could the Polar baronial family ever dare to form a marital connection with the Elmano family?”
This time it was the Countess of Tabanel and the Countess of Caster.
Their gossiping voices were thickly coated with spite.
Though a small rural family, the Polar baronial household had long maintained the pride of a scholarly lineage. They were respected by their territory’s people, and her great-grandfather had been recognized for his outstanding knowledge and had educated imperial princes.
It was extremely unpleasant that her family, which had never harmed anyone and had governed their territory frugally and moderately, was being casually discussed and treated poorly simply because she had married Duke Elmano.
While Lariella chewed on her lower lip with a rigid face, the ladies’ voices continued without pause, overlapping endlessly. Their voices grew even louder with excitement, making it unnecessary to strain to hear them.
“When those rumors were circulating, I couldn’t believe it, but this marriage confirms it.”
“I know. It’s been 8 years since Kais Elmano inherited his title at the age of seventeen. For a young man in his prime, especially a high nobleman who could have any woman he wanted, to not touch any woman for such a long time was nonsensical from the beginning.”
“I was so confused that I wondered if the former Duke Elmano might be homosexual.”
“Still, I believed until the end that Duke Elmano was preserving his chastity because he was disgusted by the former duke.”
“A wealthy young duke preserving his chastity? Such a thing couldn’t possibly exist. So now Duke Elmano has ended up preserving his chastity even with his only wife? For his entire life?”
Instead of the artificial laughter of covering their mouths with their hands, genuine laughter erupted as if they truly found it hilarious.
They were talking so much that she could no longer tell who was who. But what confused her more was the content of their conversation.
The duke had been preserving his chastity all this time? Without touching any woman? But why?
She didn’t need to wonder long. The answer came quickly—in the most absurd form she had ever heard.
“Well, I know for sure now. Men who don’t sleep with women are either eunuchs or homosexuals.”
“Of course. Men absolutely cannot control their s*xual desires. Even when they’re old and limp, men are desperate to stick it in somewhere. Look at Marquis Markiz. He’s so old it probably doesn’t even get hard anymore, but he still took that young and beautiful Lady Ramona as his second wife.”
“Still, Duke Elmano is such a waste. He’s exceptionally handsome. With that height, that face, that body—yet he’s a eunuch. My goodness, what a shame.”
Wait, what…… What are these women saying? Eunuch? EUNUCH?
So the reason Duke Elmano doesn’t sleep with women is…… because he’s a “eunuch”?
Lariella had to consider whether her ears were mistaken or if she misunderstood the meaning of “eunuch.”
Meanwhile, the ladies’ conversation grew increasingly unrestrained. She doubted whether these vulgar chatterers were the same refined noble ladies from earlier.
“You know that bedroom slave the Countess of Bator keeps? I heard one of his t*sticles was ruptured when his previous owner beat him. But his s*xual appetite is so vigorous that the countess gets exhausted and collapses first. If he can perform well with one testicle missing, does that mean the duke has both missing and that’s why he can’t perform?”
“Maybe his pole is completely gone too. Even without t*sticles, if the pole is properly attached, he could at least pretend. But the fact that no one has ever been with him suggests his pole isn’t intact either, doesn’t it?”
“That could really be the case. Tsk, tsk, how did he end up like that? He’s so passionate about hunting—could it have been an accident?”
“I’ve heard he was kicked by a horse’s hind leg while mounting, and also that a wolf bit it off during a hunt.”
“From what I heard, someone with a grudge against the former duke hired a witch to secretly cut it off.”
“Oh my, how dreadful. The former duke was a notorious womanizer who couldn’t resist any woman, but his son is a eunuch who can’t even properly embrace his wife. What a strange world we live in.”
Having sliced off one of Duke Elmano’s t*sticles with the blade of their tongues, then removed the other, and finally carved away his pole as well, the women apparently had their fill of talking about the Elmano ducal family and began dragging in another noble’s name to chew on.
Suddenly transformed from a “duchess” to a “eunuch’s wife,” Lariella slumped down to the floor, letting the women’s chattering voices drift past her ears.
