Side Story 1: The Duchess Is On The Balcony (Part 1)

“Is it true that the Duchess was once a maid? How did she manage to marry the Duke?”

“If she was a maid, can she handle the duties that a Duchess should perform properly?”

It was a day when Lizbeth wanted to go for a walk and went to the market. She realized that people looked down on her because of where she came from.

It was no different from the time when she was a maid in the Duke’s house and was insulted by other maids.

They insulted her, saying that Lizbeth’s skills in bed might be extraordinary, or that she might have come from a tavern family.

Such words never dared to cross the walls of the Duke’s estate. So Lizbeth never knew.

“I will punish everyone for defamation of nobility.”

The knight who had come out to escort Lizbeth sternly said. But Lizbeth stretched out her hand toward the knight and stopped him.

Lizbeth was standing in the street wearing a robe, her face covered. The people did not realize that the veiled Lizbeth was the Duchess they were rumuring.

It was not done on purpose, nor was it done with great malice. Lizbeth took comfort in that and smiled weakly at the knight.

“It’s all right.”

“But, my lady….”

“I would like to return.”

The knight bowed his head in acknowledgment of Lizbeth’s request.

Lizbeth got into the carriage parked behind the alley. As the carriage headed back to the ducal estate, Lizbeth looked out the window at the scenery behind the curtain.

She caught a glimpse of someone else’s vibrant life and reflected on her own recent routine.

Lizbeth’s days were filled with caring for her son, Erik, falling asleep together, and spending time with Bieren after he returned from work.

‘Is it true that the Duchess was once a maid?’

Lizbeth couldn’t help but feel resentment towards those who speculated about her background. Apart from her origin, there was nothing worthy of praise about her being a Duchess.

As Lizbeth returned to the ducal estate, Bieren welcomed her with open arms. Even when Lizbeth was holding their child, he would scoop her up in his arms without hesitation.

“How was your outing?”

Bieren asked as he held Lizbeth in his arms and looked at her lovingly, a far cry from the time he took away her clothes and wouldn’t let her leave the bedroom.

If Lizbeth wanted to go out, Bieren would gladly allow it at any time. After waiting anxiously for her at the ducal residence, he was happy to see her back; he was just glad to have her safe and sound in his arms, for he was afraid he might lose her at any moment.

“It was nice with the bright weather. Would you like to go together next time?”

Lizbeth looked at her husband’s pleased face and forgot the words she heard in the street. She chirped, telling him how many quaint items she found in the market.

Bieren nodded with affection as he looked at Lizbeth’s face. 

Although they were all trivial stories, his wife’s words never failed to amuse him, and her laughter seemed so endearing.

“I apologize for interrupting your conversation. My Lord, a message has arrived from the upper echelons.”

At that moment, the butler interrupted the peaceful conversation between the couple. Bieren kissed Lizbeth’s cheek and stepped away.

Difficult words poured out of Bieren’s mouth as he talked with the butler. Taxes, trade, and so on. The conversation was filled with terms that were difficult to understand.

Lizbeth couldn’t help but feel a sinking sensation. She was saddened to realize that even as a maid, she had learned so little. There was nothing she could do to help Bieren if a problem arose. Ignorance prevented her from assisting others.

“Abubu.”

Lizbeth picked up Erik, who was being held by the nanny.

As Erik nestled into Lizbeth’s arms, he giggled and reached out his hands. Lizbeth lowered her head so Erik could touch her cheek with his little hand.

She couldn’t believe how happy she was to feel his tiny hand on her cheek. Lizbeth didn’t want to think about the time when she almost didn’t see her child again.

“Erik, did you have a good day today?”

Lizbeth turned to Erik and said hello. She wanted to keep talking to him, even if he didn’t understand. She kept saying “Mommy, mommy,” hoping that one day he would call her “Mommy.”

Next to Lizbeth, the nanny exclaimed that she had never seen a child as bright-eyed and intelligent as Erik.

“He will become a great scholar in the future and support the Duke of Etterland. No matter what he learns, he will excel in that field.”

“Really?”

Lizbeth smiled at the nanny’s praise for Erik. It made her heart swell with the prospect of his intelligence. Lizbeth looked at him and vowed to read him countless books before bed.

But as with all children, the moment Erik started talking, the onslaught of questions would begin.

“Mother, what’s this?”

Lizbeth didn’t have the confidence to answer Erik’s questions right away.

When she was young, Lizbeth had asked Bieren many questions while reading his books. Just as Bieren had answered young Lizbeth’s questions, Lizbeth wanted to become someone who could satisfy Erik’s curiosity.

Lizbeth felt she couldn’t just immerse herself in the sweet routine of daily life. She longed to become a better person for her husband and son.

***

“I want to study.”

Lizbeth turned to face Bieren and hesitantly opened her mouth. When she had lived in the orphanage and as a maid, she had always felt sad about her lack of education.

But now, she was a Duchess, and she had a husband who promised to support her in everything. Lizbeth was embarrassed to say that she wanted to fulfill her childhood’s unfulfilled education now that she was older.

“I want to introduce our child to a broader world.”

Still, she expressed her desire to broaden her knowledge for the sake of their child.

Bieren had learned from the knight who escorted Lizbeth about the disrespectful remarks she had heard in the street. Despite Lizbeth’s request to let it pass, it was clear that those words had left a mark on her. Bieren tried to comfort her.

“You are already a complete person as you are. Erik’s education can be entrusted to professional teachers.”

“I can only understand a fraction of what Bieren is saying.”

It wasn’t as if Lizbeth had any grandiose goals of doing her job as Duchess properly.

She just hoped to have enough knowledge to answer her curious child’s questions and simply wanted to understand what her husband did.

“I want to hear more about what you do, Bieren.”

Bieren looked quietly at Lizbeth who admitted that sometimes it was hard to understand him because there was so much she didn’t know.

He couldn’t fathom the love in her heart, that a commoner woman who had grown up in an uneducated environment would start studying because she wanted to understand her husband more, because she wanted to teach her child.

Bieren reached out and brushed Lizbeth’s hair.

“You have already taught me so much. You are already a remarkable person in my eyes.”

When Bieren didn’t know love, marriage was merely a means to success for him but after he found love through Lizbeth, he realized that marriage was an institution to be with the one you love.

Lizbeth had taught him so much. She had taught Bieren, a snooty aristocratic man, so her background or lack of scholarly knowledge didn’t matter to him.

“You simply lack scholarly knowledge but anyone who sees you will want to learn how you treat life.”

Bieren’s mood turned grim when he recalled attending to Lizbeth as she lay unconscious after giving birth. He locked her up in his bedroom, and he couldn’t understand how Lizbeth could stand by his side still.

Yet Lizbeth had persevered, not only protecting herself but also their child. No adversity could tarnish her upright character. She was a strong and wonderful person. To Bieren, who knew this, Lizbeth’s lack of scholarly knowledge was insignificant.

“I’m not trying to hinder your pursuit of knowledge or turn you into a means of satisfying my sexual desires.”

Bieren had no desire to discourage Lizbeth’s desire to learn. The lowly desire to tame the ignorant maid to his liking had long since passed.

Bieren would be happy with whatever she became now. He loved the Lizbeth who had misunderstood him and fled with their child just as much as he loved the one who stayed. 

“You just do what you want.”

“Bieren.”

“I’ll be your biggest supporter.”

Lizbeth looked at Bieren, who promised to support her and felt a surge of emotion.

During her time in confinement, she had been deemed useless except as an outlet for lust. When she expressed her desire to work as a maid, Bieren fiercely opposed it.

But he now promised to support Lizbeth in whatever she chose to do. Time passed and the relationship changed. Lizbeth wanted to change, too.