Disguised as a Male Servant in the Duke's House - Chapter 31
While Roselia was taken aback and held her breath, Klaus’s expression became strange.
“I heard Antonio was in Closet’s room, so why are you coming out of here?”
Roselia froze, at a loss for words.
It would be correct to say that her mind froze due to the sudden situation.
“I didn’t see a carriage enter the mansion. When did you come into the estate?”
Roselia’s palms began to sweat at Klaus’s suspicious words.
“Well, I……”
Even Roselia, who would normally have blurted out a blunt response, was flustered this time with no room for excuses.
As Roselia swallowed dryly, a savior’s voice was heard from behind.
“I called Roselia. How much debt must she have to walk here without even a carriage?”
At Closet’s curt words, Klaus asked in a slightly softened voice.
“You did?”
“Yes, Her Highness the Crown Princess invited her to the tea party again.”
Although he couldn’t guess why the Crown Princess was showing interest in Roselia, Klaus reluctantly acquiesced since there was no reason for Closet to make up a story.
“Where’s Antonio?”
As Klaus spoke calmly and looked behind Closet, Closet and Roselia’s eyes met for a moment.
Not having thought of an excuse for Antonio, a troubled look flashed across Closet’s face.
Roselia quickly opened her mouth with a sudden thought.
“Elder brother went to our house for a moment.”
“Antonio did?”
As Klaus frowned one eyebrow questioningly at the mention of leaving without notice, Roselia hurriedly added:
“Um… the roof was caving in, so he said he would repair it. I asked him since I thought it would be good to repair it in advance before the rainy season.”
Recalling the crumbling house he had seen while escorting Roselia, Klaus nodded without further comment, seemingly convinced.
“I see. I was worried about that collapsing house, so that’s fortunate.”
Well, they were planning to repair Nadia’s house with sponsorship funds soon anyway, so it wasn’t a complete fabrication.
As Roselia smiled back awkwardly, Klaus, who had been looking back and forth between Closet and Roselia, casually threw out words.
“If you’re planning to go to the palace at the Crown Princess’s invitation, let’s go together. I have business at the palace anyway.”
Roselia’s expression hardened at Klaus’s suggestion.
It would inevitably be uncomfortable to be in a confined space with Klaus while in an uneasy state between Antonio and Roselia.
Closet, seemingly noticing Roselia’s unease, responded curtly with a displeased face.
“Since when did we ever ride in the same carriage? Forget it. I’ll ride cozily with Roselia.”
“When did you two become so close?”
Klaus asked curiously, knowing Closet and Antonio were close but that Roselia wouldn’t have had time to become friendly.
Closet replied nonchalantly, like a snake slipping over a wall.
“Well, we became acquainted thanks to Antonio, and I saw her at my debutante, and we’ve had many occasions to be together like the Crown Princess’s invitation dinner, etc.”
Come to think of it, the young woman in the green dress who was with Closet at the debutante was also Roselia.
Thinking about it that way, it seemed to add up somewhat, so Klaus nodded and let it go.
Roselia looked at Closet while inwardly breathing a sigh of relief.
Closet was looking at Roselia triumphantly with a bright face as if saying, ‘I did well, didn’t I?’
[This is the timeline separator]“I’m sorry about yesterday. I didn’t know it would turn out to be that kind of occasion……”
As the Crown Princess gave an awkward smile, Closet hurriedly waved both hands.
“No! How could that be something for Your Highness to apologize for? It’s Klaus’s fault for only thinking about work even while eating.”
Ivellionne smiled at Closet’s blunt words as if finding her cute.
“The Prince or I were the ones who brought up work talk first.”
“Your Highness just casually mentioned it, but Klaus got excited and went on about it.”
“Haha, the Young Lady is still the same. Anyway, since today is a tea party just for ladies, I hope we can enjoy it comfortably.”
Roselia and Closet bowed their heads politely at the Crown Princess’s kind words.
Then Ikelia, sitting next to the Crown Princess, carefully opened her mouth.
“Antonio’s younger sister? It’s nice to meet you. Roselia, was it?”
“It’s an honor to meet you, Lady Ikelia de Herden.”
She was the younger sister of Ivellionne, whom she had met before as Closet’s il domestico, and the young lady of the Herden marquis family.
She felt glad to see the person who had acted as a stepping stone to allow her to meet Ivellionne.
“Um… Is Antonio doing well?”
At Ikelia’s question, asked with a blushing face, Roselia gave an awkward smile and reluctantly answered.
“Yes… Elder brother is keeping busy and doing well.”
“But Lady Closet, why didn’t you bring Antonio as your il domestico today?”
At Ikelia’s disappointed words, Roselia and Closet momentarily stiffened and gave awkward smiles.
“Today… is a day for ladies to enjoy tea time together. I didn’t particularly want to bring Antonio along.”
Roselia inwardly marveled at Closet’s nonchalant handling, which belied her young age.
Ikelia, not finding Closet’s answer strange, quickly changed the subject.
“By the way, I heard the delegation from the Laperios Empire will arrive soon, and that the imperial marquis coming as the delegation’s representative is very young and handsome?”
The Crown Princess spoke in a stern voice, as if cautioning the clearly excited Ikelia.
“Ikelia. They are honored guests visiting for a treaty. Please refrain from personal remarks.”
“Ah, yes… I’m sorry, Your Highness.”
Come to think of it, around this time in the original work, a delegation from the empire was described as coming for a treaty between empires.
The man who came as the representative fell for the Crown Princess and became a sub-male character, if I remember correctly…
What was his name again…?
As Roselia was thinking this, the Crown Princess, seemingly uncomfortable seeing the dejected Ikelia, opened her mouth in a more relaxed voice.
“Well… If the Laperios delegation arrives, we’ll have a welcome banquet… Since it’s come up, shall we have a few Laperios-style dresses made?”
Everyone’s gaze turned questioningly to the Crown Princess at her calm words.
“Right now?”
When Closet asked with wide eyes, the Crown Princess nodded with a meaningful smile.
[This is the timeline separator]“Lady Roselia, are you ready?”
“Yes, yes! I’ll be right out!”
At Ikelia’s excited voice, Roselia awkwardly looked in the mirror, freed from the hands of the maids.
Having entered the salon located inside the Crown Princess’s palace before she knew it, Roselia was the first to change into a Laperios-style dress.
Unlike the Lugbelzette dresses that were closer to mid-19th century European clothing styles, the Laperios dresses had a diverse feel, combining late 19th century European styles with clothing styles from various countries.
The mermaid line dress accentuating a woman’s graceful curves with one side slit up to the thigh was reminiscent of a cheongsam, and also evoked images of a Greek goddess.
Perhaps because it was an unfamiliar clothing style in conservative Lugbelzette, Roselia hesitated to step out of the mirror due to the unfamiliar feeling.
“Roselia~ The maids said you’re all ready, what are you doing not coming out?”
At Closet’s urging voice, Roselia finally reluctantly stepped out of the dressing room.
The women who had been looking at Roselia curiously froze with their mouths open.
“Is, is it really that strange…?”
As Roselia awkwardly smiled while covering the slit dress line out of embarrassment, the Crown Princess was the first to answer with a bright smile.
“My goodness, Roselia. You look so beautiful.”
With the Crown Princess’s compliment, Closet’s fuss began, and for some reason, even Ikelia was blushing.
“Oh my! The Laperios-style dress is so pretty! I want to try on the one Roselia is wearing too!”
“There are plenty of dresses, so calm down, Closet. I never thought Laperios-style dresses could be this beautiful, but seeing Roselia has changed my mind.”
“You, you’re so beautiful… If a goddess were to descend, would she be wearing a dress like that…?”
Is, is it really that much…?
Feeling embarrassed, Roselia smiled sheepishly and replied.
“Thank you. It feels a bit awkward since it’s an unfamiliar clothing style. Then, may I change now?”
“What are you saying? It would be a shame to change right away after dressing up so prettily. How about we enjoy the tea party wearing Laperios-style dresses today?”
Unlike Roselia who was troubled by Ikelia’s suggestion, Closet was excited.
“Sounds good! I agree! Then I’ll go change next!”
Watching Closet disappear lightly into the dressing room following the maids, Roselia smiled slightly despite herself and carefully spoke to the Crown Princess.
“Your Highness, I’ll go wash my hands.”
“Ah, alright.”
With the Crown Princess’s permission, Roselia immediately turned and headed towards the powder room on the opposite side of the salon.
Since Closet was busy using the powder room attached to the dressing room, she was heading to a spare powder room a bit farther away.
But at that moment, someone roughly grabbed her wrist and pushed her against the wall.
Startled and about to scream, she looked wide-eyed at the familiar figure before her.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince?”
“Damn it, Antonio. No, Roselia… What did you make of my warning? Your scent is filling the entire palace right now.”
What on earth is this nonsense all of a sudden?
Roselia frowned unpleasantly at the Crown Prince who had suddenly appeared and was spouting incomprehensible words.
“Let go of this. What on earth are you saying, like before?”
“Ha… Of course your scent is strong when you’re exposing so much bare skin. I let it slide before because I wasn’t sure, but I can’t anymore. You need to understand the seriousness…”
Roselia strongly pulled her wrist away from the Crown Prince who was uttering incomprehensible words, lest the Crown Princess see.
“Let go of this!”
“Damn it, just listen!”
Finally, Roselia somewhat rudely pushed away the Crown Prince with his forceful grip and fled the scene.
Fortunately, the Crown Prince behind her could only glance at the retreating Roselia while receiving greetings from a suddenly appeared servant, unable to chase after her rashly.
Roselia ran out of the palace in shock and headed for the garden.
He wasn’t this much of a lunatic in the original work, was he…? Is this also an effect of the original story changing?
As she was having such serious thoughts, she found herself wandering in the middle of the garden when she came to her senses.
“Oh no……”
Realizing she needed to return to where the Crown Princess and Closet were, Roselia hurriedly turned around.
But as she turned, she froze at the sight of a familiar figure staring blankly at her.
At that moment, the wind blew from behind Roselia with her back to the sun, and flower petals fluttered in the garden.
Klaus de Balthazar…
He was standing a short distance away, frozen like a statue, staring at her.
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
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