Peony: Dreaming of the Dangerous Grand Duke

Chapter 3

It wasn’t long before a young maid appeared, seemingly in her early twenties. I noticed a green band around her arm, which meant she was to work in the palace until her death. She was carrying an assortment of stitching tools, and it appeared she had come to tend the gown.

How dare she open the doors before I give permission? She didn’t even knock properly.

The maid set down her basket with a rude thud.

“Now stand still. You’ve lost so much weight, and now I have to fix your gown!”

She boldly gestured at me, her irritation distinct as she stuck her nose in the air. She hardly glanced my way, nor did she offer any greeting. Her demeanor was so preposterous that I almost scoffed.

But doesn’t she look quite accustomed to such behavior? I knew this meant the maid had been treating Princess Peony with the same attitude, even though it was her duty to serve the princess. I was to leave in four days, but that was not a reason enough to put up with her impertinence.

While she put the gown on me, I took a moment to ponder how to crush this little maid. First, I smiled.

“So did you take care of this gown instead of the sewing maid?” I asked.

“Yes. What about it?” the maid shot back.

“But what about the sewing maid?”

“Oh, come on,” the maid said irritably. “What’s wrong with you today? What makes you think you’ll be able to find a sewing maid who will bother herself to tailor the gown to fit your figure? It’s all my work, of course!”

“Oh, how unfortunate for you,” I replied.

“What’s so unfortunate about that?” The maid flinched with confusion and turned to me at last, the thread hanging from between her lips. As soon as our eyes met, she froze momentarily and stepped back.

I smiled brightly once more and took a bigger step forward, closing the distance between the haughty maid and myself. I squeezed her shoulder and whispered into her ear, “You know something? You’ll be dead in an hour or so.”

“W-what do you mean?” the maid stuttered.

“You replaced the Foyer pearls, a symbol of celebration for a bride’s new start. Didn’t you? That’s surely worth your life.”

Feigning innocence, I let slip the terrifying words and smiled sweetly again, as if I didn’t have a clue of what I had just said. If Peony’s brothers were to find out that she wasn’t an imbecile as they believed, they wouldn’t leave her alone.

The first emperor had established a law that preserves one’s claim to the throne even after marriage. Until I left the capital and entered the territory of the Forces of Night, maintaining my guise as a halfwit was my sole lifeline.

“Fake pearls? I know nothing of this, Your Highness!” the maid exclaimed.

“Is that so? But you see these pearls, they’re all fake. Foyer pearls are bigger and shinier than these. I know the difference.”

I twirled and swished the gown around me as the maid’s face grew ashen. She wouldn’t have thought the simple-minded princess would recognize the gleam of pearls.

“Princess, have you told anyone about what you’ve just said?”

“Well, maybe I should tell the head maid. Ah, I have a better idea. I should tell the chancellor about how the Foyer pearls have all disappeared like magic!”

I put my hand on my cheek and tilted my head. It had felt so awkward at first, but I was growing more accustomed to this pretense with time. All I needed to do was to mimic Princess Peony from my memories. This was trivial compared to the etiquette, diplomacy, and foreign languages I had to master as Gabriella.

“P-please don’t do that!” the maid shouted.

“Oh! But why not?”

“I didn’t do it! It wasn’t me.”

“Was it the head maid then? How awful!” I exaggerated my shock, widening my eyes and lifting my shoulders.

The maid was left utterly speechless. She wouldn’t dare claim that the head maid had done it all by herself, as they were more than likely accomplices. I knew the maid wouldn’t have been so daring to plot this on her own. This could only have happened because the head maid ignored such issues when she should have protected the princess.

It was common knowledge that people of the Forces of Day used pearls on a bride’s gown to bless her future. But only Foyer pearls from the Shulak Kingdom carried the blessing. The gown was lavishly adorned with pearls priced at one ferone, approximately four hundred dollars, a drop, it was only natural they were tempted.

They must have thought no one would notice if they replaced a handful with fake ones. The bride-to-be was a simpleton, and she was going to wear this gown only once. Even if the truth was discovered after she left for Eques, they had probably thought it wouldn’t matter. After all, the princess’s maids had likely been assigned to her due to some misfortune.

After her departure, they faced a grim fate—performing the most laborious tasks in the kitchen or the laundry. The maid might have resorted to theft to savor some momentary comfort, wishing for at least a brief escape from a life of hardship. But she had gone too far. What began with just one or two people meddling with the gown had quickly escalated, leaving the hem of the gown devoid of any authentic Foyer pearls. I couldn’t begin to fathom how many were involved in this crime.

I tutted inwardly but gave a cheerful clap, grabbing the maid’s attention. “Oh! That’s right! I should go and ask my brother, Ludwig, if I look pretty today. I am sure he’ll tell me that I’ll be a pretty bride even without the Foyer pearls!” I lifted my gown, as if to rush out of the chamber immediately.

The maid began sweating earnestly, trying to stop me. “P-princess, wait!”

Immediately, I wiped the cheerfulness from my face. “Stand aside. Do you dare stop a princess?”

“I’ll reverse everything! We still have time. I can change the fake ones with the real Foyer pearls in no time.”

“But how?” I asked innocently. “Everyone would have sold them as soon as they could.”

“Well, that is— What I mean to say is—” Her cunning eyes darted around frantically in their sockets. She hadn’t even noticed the shift in my tone. I could see that her ability to respond to situations and make judgments was somewhat lacking.

Such a girl has her uses, I thought. I needed a maid to accompany me on the journey to the port and while on the ship. I couldn’t trust anyone until I was safely in Eques. I decided that having someone I could manipulate by my side would be wiser.

“I can find them. If you could just grant me a permission slip for an outing, I shall go and fetch them myself.”

Oh, no. I can’t let you run away like that. I deciphered the calculations whirling in her mind, smiled mischievously, and cocked my head to one side.

“But I couldn’t do that,” I said simply.

“You couldn’t?”

“That’s right. I don’t want you to fix this gown. This gown is now as far from new as it could be. Would you want to get married wearing an old gown?”

“O-of course not, Your Highness.”

The maid hung her head under my glare. But that wasn’t enough for me.

“Kneel,” I said, feeling generous enough to give her thorough instructions. “Shouldn’t you be begging for my mercy? Or maybe you don’t need my mercy.”

The maid’s eyes widened. She clearly hadn’t imagined I would react this way, yet she still hesitated, unwilling to kneel before an imbecile.

With a look of pure, ruthless intent, I murmured sweetly, “I suppose I’ll have to tell Ludwig that I don’t need Foyer pearls. I’ll tell him that I saw the maids take them but didn’t stop them. Perhaps he will tell me that I am a good girl!”

“N-no! Please, Princess. Have mercy! Please!”

I watched the maid with a sweet smile as she crouched at my feet awkwardly.

“Your head is still too high,” I pointed out.

“I… apologize, Your Highness. I was blinded by money for a moment. Please, have mercy on me!”

The maid put her head down on the ground with a thud, finally taking the stance of a greedy sinner. I crouched down before her and put my head on my hands, just like Princess Peony used to. I watched her in silence. The maid lifted her head an inch to look at me, but quickly thumped it again on the floor.

After she had repeated this three times, I finally said, “Well, it’s not nice to steal people’s things. I’ll keep this a secret, but you need to know that I will not hesitate to reveal you if there is a second time.”

“Thank you! Thank you, Princess!”

Poverty was indeed tedious, but not all poor people stole. Without telling her she could straighten up, I reached out my hand and patted her curly head.

“But you will follow me to Eques,” I said.

“I beg your pardon?”

“I quite like you. If you choose to run, I’ll ask my second brother to catch you! Surely, he’ll grant his sister’s wish on her wedding day.”

The maid, who had been sneaking glances, scheming for an escape, froze in place, realizing that this was no joke.

“Don’t worry. The rest of the thieves will go to prison. If you prefer, I can let you join them. I’ll just have to take someone else to Eques. So?”

Make your choice. You can vow loyalty to me or rot in jail for insulting a princess. Judging by the situation, it seemed we were on the brink of an escalation in the fight for the crown. The battle forming was between the first prince, Ludwig, and the second prince, Wilhelm. Ludwig was treacherous and a schemer despite his reputation for being astute and composed. Wilhelm was infamous for his brutality and ruthlessness.

Bringing attention to this scandal would lead to the maid facing a harsher punishment as a warning to others, especially during such turbulent times.

“I-I…” stuttered the maid.

“Yes?” I prompted.

“I shall be honored to serve you, Princess!”

“What’s your name?”

“Sonya, Your Highness.”

I was pleased with her more cautious tone.

“Yes, Sonya.”

I’ll keep you busy for every little thing you stole from Peony, and all the other maids will be given punishments befitting their greed. This was a bouquet called vengeance—a sign of my gratitude to Peony for unintentionally taking over her body.

＊ ＊ ＊

I melted down on the sofa after sending Sonya on an errand. Convincing her to join my side hadn’t been particularly difficult. There was nothing remarkable about disciplining a young maid, so it was hardly an accomplishment. I felt somewhat inadequate because Gabriella Nasirette had always been seen as a charmingly sinister villainess, so I couldn’t help but wonder if acting the naïve fool should be so effortless for me.

Is it right for me to be this natural at this?