Chapter 8

When Eileen had finished dressing, all five maids were gathered in the parlor. One looked ready to burst into tears, another had the same determined and cool gaze as the late Queen Edna. Stella, who had escorted the princess, was anxious.

‘Isn’t everyone making it too obvious?’

Eileen had insisted the matter must not leave Ruby Palace. So Stella called the other maids to discuss this overwhelming issue. She hadn’t shared the details, only saying the princess had caused a major incident. Yet everyone was dressed more neatly than usual, and Stella felt a bit overwhelmed.

“Everyone’s here?”

Eileen sensed their unusual mood. She didn’t think Stella had revealed everything, but clearly something had been passed on. Still aching in her waist, Eileen walked slowly to the sofa and sat down.

“Ugh.”

Suppressing the sound that came out was difficult. Eileen had always been frail and avoided anything strenuous. So the ‘beastly act’ from the previous day had been a huge shock to her body.

As Eileen frowned, the maids shifted as if ready to rush to her, then sat back down.

“Ha, shall we have some tea first?”

“Today, the chef made sherbet with freshly harvested oranges from the southern region, Princess.”

“That sounds delicious.”

Staerfix was a southern country, bordered by the sea on two sides, with a mild climate. Though spring was just halfway through, fruits like oranges were already being grown in the south.

“……Why aren’t you all eating? What are you doing?”

Noticing she was the only one reaching for the sherbet, Eileen asked in confusion. She knew they wanted to talk about her, but at times like this, one must act boldly. After all, she hadn’t committed a crime.

“Princess.”

The oldest maid, Marianne, spoke.

“Stella told us. She said something serious happened.”

“Did she?”

“I don’t know the details, but we’re your hands and feet. If something changes with you, we must know.”

Marianne spoke elegantly, and Eileen glanced at Stella, who sat to her left, desperately shaking her head as if to say, ‘I didn’t tell them everything!’

“Hoo.”

Eileen set down her spoon and gripped her dress. Stella had dressed her in a high-necked lace dress, so her condition wasn’t obvious to others, but Marianne was right. If she kept Stella as her only attendant to hide what happened, the others would be suspicious. The fact that she’d spent a passionate first night couldn’t be kept secret from the six maids.

Eileen took a small, deep breath in and out.

“I had my first experience last night.”

“……!”

First experience. Though vague, all the maids understood her meaning.

“There’s nothing to worry about. It was my choice, and I made sure to take precautions. Right, Stella?”

“……Yes, that’s what you said.”

“That’s all. There’s no real problem.”

Eileen finished her words with a hint of pride, unable to leave the melting orange sherbet, and elegantly ate a spoonful. The sweet, tangy flavor lifted her mood, and she smiled.

“Staerfix is a free country. Isn’t it unfair if only I, the princess, live so restricted?”

“But Princess, we need to know more. Not because you did something wrong, but to protect you.”

“To protect me?”

“At least tell us who the man was. You’re about to be married. We’ll keep silent, but if someone sees a strange man coming in and out of Ruby Palace, it’ll be a problem.”

“Did you have a lover?”

Following Marianne’s words, Rose repeated the question Stella had asked that morning. A lover. Eileen thought it would be hard to call Leios, whom she’d met by chance last night, a lover. But the night with him was better than she’d imagined, and she thought they might continue their relationship.

Maybe he’ll visit again tonight.

“That’s not it.”

Eileen answered, thinking of Leios. He wasn’t exactly a lover. He was her first love as a child, but they hadn’t had any real contact before last night.

“But he’s neither suspicious nor someone you should worry about. I promise.”

“But Princess—”

“Shh, let’s stop here. I have my own privacy. Really, there’s nothing to worry about.”

At Eileen’s firm words, Marianne and the others fell silent. They didn’t take her words lightly, but as devoted maids, they couldn’t let go of their worries all at once.

“Understood. We’ll follow your wishes, Princess.”

Marianne finally spoke to break the heavy mood. But someone was listening to this secret conversation that they thought would never leak.

Bang. The parlor door, not fully closed, swung open.

“No, I need to know exactly who that man was. Princess.”

At the cold, indifferent voice of the man, the maids all rose from their seats in surprise. One by one, their heads bowed.

“B-brother.”

Eileen bit her lip, turning around in response to the unexpected situation. Behind the open door stood Adrian and his chief maid, Belverta.

“Everyone leave. From this moment, the princess and all of you will be confined to Ruby Palace for a month.”

At the king’s stern proclamation, even Marianne, the eldest, clutched her dress tightly. In less than a day, everything had become tangled like a complicated skein of thread.

* * *

Hair more brilliant than any gold in the world, and eyes the color of a clear sky without a single cloud. Adrian looked at Eileen, who resembled him so closely, and felt a darkness rise within him for the first time in his life.

He dismissed all the maids, leaving only the two of them in the parlor of Ruby Palace. His younger sister, just three years younger, was the person he cherished most.

“Adrian, this is your sister.”

When their mother, Queen Edna, spoke while holding the plump infant, Adrian was only three, but he could never forget that day. He considered it an imprint. So, at this moment, the emotion he felt was surely betrayal.

“Who is it?”

“Who? I don’t know what you mean.”

Eileen, unsure how much Adrian had overheard, chose to feign ignorance. She felt she’d done nothing wrong, but was also worried about the pressure Leios would face if Adrian learned everything.

Unfortunately, Adrian seemed to know it all.

“A princess, soon to be wed, consorting with a strange man in the night. The prince will arrive in a month! How could you…!”

Adrian’s face twisted in anguish, his eyes trembling in a way that was unlike him. No matter how high-necked her lace dress was, it was impossible to hide her skin completely in this weather.

Seeing the red marks, Adrian clenched his fist tightly.

“Who is the man?”

“Must I report every private meeting I have to you, Your Majesty?”

“Tell me!”

“No.”

Eileen, though she understood everyone’s concern for her, felt her mood sink. People called her the treasure of Ruby Palace, but wasn’t she just a good marriage prospect for the royal family?

“Tell me nicely. Now!”

“I won’t say it, not even if I die. Just looking at your attitude, Your Majesty, I can see what you’d do to him.”

“So you think I can overlook a man who dared touch a princess? You’re about to be married!”

Adrian’s shout echoed through the parlor, and Eileen didn’t bother to hide her frightened expression. It was the first time her brother had seen this face.

Her tired look and cold, lowered eyes were just like Queen Edna’s when she was angry. Adrian, remembering that expression, couldn’t hide his shock.

“It was just one night. Besides, by the laws of the Kingdom, a princess can have a consort or even a second husband, so what’s the problem?”

“So, you’re saying you did well to hide the man and what you did last night? Did he whisper that he’d become your second husband?”

Eileen thought of Leios, who had gazed at her with longing. He was a Duke of the Kingdom, with a duty to marry a noble lady and continue the Duchy of Dreikan.

He would never want to be the princess’s second husband. Eileen bit her lip, keeping silent.

“…….”

“See? Men are easily swayed by base desires. You must know better than anyone if it was right to give your purity to such a man.”

Adrian’s insides burned at his sister’s shameless and stubborn attitude. How could she talk about consorts and husbands so casually?

Eileen, turning her head away to avoid Adrian’s gaze, took a deep breath. Adrian’s words were partly true.

She and Leios had never had a special relationship, and he was not someone of low enough status to want marriage with her. Many noble ladies would line up to become a duchess; he wouldn’t want the role of the princess’s second man.

Still.

“……Even so, I don’t regret it. Even if I could turn back time, I wouldn’t spend my first night with the prince, living like a hothouse flower.”

“Eileen!”

“He’s a stranger to me. And I hear in the Empire, he’s notorious for seducing countless women. Why should only I keep my chastity, Brother?”

Eileen’s clear, resolute words were nothing like the little sister Adrian remembered.

He felt his feelings for his sister crumbling, his lips trembling.

“Men of high status always have such rumors. The prince is trying to be excluded from the imperial succession. Those rumors will protect him.”

“So you want me to wait, accepting every unpleasant rumor about a stranger I’ll marry? Is the prince going to call off the marriage if I’m not a v*rgin?”

“Ha, Eileen. That’s not what I mean. The prince will arrive in a month. The marriage is set. If it’s discovered you met another man, only you’ll be hurt!”

Adrian tried to remain calm, wanting her to grasp the seriousness of the situation. He had chosen the prince after careful thought.

The Third Prince was the legitimate son of the Empress, and Eileen’s power would be strengthened by this match.

But Eileen’s thoughts were different.

“I never wanted this match.”

“What?”

“You arranged this marriage, Brother. Not once did you ask for my opinion.”

At Eileen’s cold tone, only Adrian’s heavy breathing filled the parlor.

“I was prepared to marry whoever you chose. That’s the only way I can atone to you.”

“……Atone?”

“In the end, this marriage is for the child I’ll bear, isn’t it?”

Child. Adrian clenched his fist at those words.

“You decided my child would be the heir, considering the Empire’s backing. I respect that.”

“Eileen, that’s not it. You have nothing to atone for.”

“It’s an unerasable wound that you became infertile because of me. Now you’re king, and it’s even harder for you.”

It happened when she was very young. In the struggle for succession, there was an attempt to poison the Queen.

The poison was harmless to women but crippled men. Eileen, knowing nothing, took the cookie from the Queen and gave it to her beloved brother.

‘……It’s alright. I have you. There’s no law that says only the king’s child can be heir.’

‘B-brother, sob, sob……’

‘It’s better that you didn’t eat it, Eileen.’

From then on, it was decided that Eileen’s child would be the successor of Staerfix. This was why Adrian delayed taking a queen. Eileen never considered refusing the match he arranged.

With the Empire’s protection for the future heir, Staerfix would be safer.

“So the marriage will proceed as planned. But I’ll choose who I give my heart to, Brother.”

“……Eileen.”

“You can’t stop that.”

Adrian couldn’t respond, only scanning her from head to toe with a grave expression. Though her body seemed battered, her posture was upright, graceful as a swan, and her golden hair and blue eyes made her look like a sculpture.

“I understand. I won’t ask about the man anymore.”

“……!”

“But this is the last time. Keep yourself pure until the prince arrives in the capital. Not even a single male ant will be allowed in this palace.”

With those words, Adrian rose from his seat. His determination to confine her to Ruby Palace for a month was clear. The orchid-carved golden brooch on his chest shone.

The symbol of the Staerfix royal family.

Ironically, Eileen recalled that the same brooch hung on Leios’s knight uniform as she watched Adrian leave.

‘……Leios.’

‘When will we meet again? Was last night truly our last?’

Eileen murmured, her heart reaching out to Leios. After her unexpected encounter with her first love, her heart was fluttering with the energy of spring.