Chapter 37. The Principality Of Bertino, Part XVIII
Translator: Khan
Editor: Aelryinth
Holding a box of tea and a bag of shabby clothes, she climbed up the red-carpeted ivory stairs and saw a row of escort knights lined up on the second-floor corridor. They showed that this was the place where the Prince was, without anyone guiding her.
He was a Prince who always took a bath and ate when he arrived at his lodgings. The panic made Julietta urgent, as she had been delayed a lot on the ground floor.
She hurried into the room for fear of being scolded again, and saw the Prince and the Count, who were already dining under Albert’s care. Sometimes, he was attended by Albert if she was busy with other things, but the happening in the carriage weighed on her mind, and she thought her employer was very angry because she had not known her station and talked rubbish.
’Let’s give my pride to a dog.’
Julietta muttered about her lifestyle, which she had always reflected on, living as an illegitimate child without any background in a society with a class system, and once again vowed to beg for forgiveness.
She hung around for a moment if there was anything he would ask her to do, but she was devastated by the sight of the Prince, who didn’t even turn his eyes. After entering what appeared to be a bedroom and organizing the Prince’s luggage, Julietta returned to the living room and waited with her head down firmly while the Prince and the Count were eating.
When the servants in charge of the meal cleared the utensils, the Prince and the Count moved on to the terrace. Killian gave an order without even looking at her as Julietta, who was reading his face, prepared tea.
"I’ll set off to the jeweler’s after drinking tea, so have a meal in the meantime and come."
Killian was strangely in a bad mood from a while ago. He thought that it was because of the maid who had wagged her tongue about his private life to the Count.
Ignoring that the Count was a close friend who knew everything about him, he didn’t even consider that the time when he had felt bad was after he had been hinted she had a lover, when she had not. He purposely strictly managed and ignored her face to punish her, but the sight of her standing dead from then on was annoying.
He had to leave for the jeweler’s shop in a little while, but he was so anxious when he saw her standing there without taking a meal. Killian was angry at Albert and couldn’t bear it, and ordered his maid’s meal himself. Adam’s expression was distorted. At the image of his lord, who seemed to have fallen in love with an ugly maid, Adam had a headache and massaged his temples.
Killian didn’t care about Adam at all, and was worried about how to deal with the Prince’s upcoming scandal about his new lover. Whether his aide looked at him with a serious look or not, he was busy nodding at the maid, as she was to eat before leaving.
Albert, who was looking at him, finally couldn’t bear it and said, "Your Highness, I’ll take you out this time. Tell the maid to eat slowly and rest."
Unlike the villages where they had stayed so far, it was Beopash, the second-largest city in the Principality of Bertino. Albert felt some uneasiness, at both the strange phenomenon that the appearance of the maid caused seemed to be worse today, and at the sight of the Prince trying to take care of the ugly maid.
"Albert, it seems to me that you’re the one who needs to rest. Don’t say anything about your back pain and rest until we leave tomorrow. Julietta, you go ahead to eat, and come after."
When Killian, who blocked Albert trying to say something, urged her on, Julietta slowly headed toward the door. She was relieved to see the Prince let her eat.
Killian, who was looking at the back of the maid as she flew out of the room, leaned against the back of a chair and touched the cold teacup to his mouth.
Looking at the image as if it were disgusting, Adam looked back at Albert, who was tilting his head. Adam offered words of consolation to the old grand chamberlain inwardly, who was looking alternately at the door where the maid had left and Killian, for whatever reason.
’Sir Albert, I think it’s better for you to not know anything yet.’
Being cautious because of her words after she had wagged her tongue too much in the carriage, Julietta hurried so as to not hurt her employer’s feelings. When she returned to the room after a meal eaten so hastily that she did not know whether it went into her mouth or nose, the Prince stood up as if he had waited for her.
As the Count also rose and left the room, Julietta, who was following them calmly, again clamped down on herself, as everything was going easy and she was apparently relieved of blame. Adam laughed when he saw Julietta clenching her fist, determined in her heart that she would never do anything to get herself killed.
He was worried about his lord, who paid all attention to someone who didn’t fit in, but he thought it would be okay to have a little bit of entertainment. This emotional play would be a luxury once the political battle for the Crown Prince’s seat began in earnest.
Adam, who had been swamped in thought while looking at the Prince’s maid, hurriedly turned his head when suddenly he felt a prickly look. But a shrill voice attacked him, letting him know he was already late.
"The Count, do you think you can move after the sun has gone down? I don’t know if I can get to the jeweler’s by the end of the day."
With Killian expressing his anger with his twisted tone, Adam quickly moved on to his side. "I’m sorry, Your Highness. I’ve been thinking about something else for a while. Let’s go."
Looking coolly at Adam, who was smiling and pulling his arm with a bold face, Killian climbed into the waiting carriage. Julietta and Adam followed, and the unmarked black wagon, surrounded by escort knights, began to drive briskly.
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They arrived on a well-built road, a flashy, busy street.
The streets lined with shops showed off their grandeur and style, each dressed in a colorful array. Pictures of what was being sold hung in each store. The street was as beautiful as a painting.
In the middle of the colorful garden of sunny buildings, the wagon and its party stopped. Killian got off after the guards searched the perimeter, confirmed there was no problem, and opened the carriage door.
In the midst of the unusual atmosphere of guards, the two men’s brilliant appearance drew admiration from the mouths of the ladies who were walking back and forth down the streets.
The ladies, busy speculating about their status thanks to the unmarked carriage, burst out laughing when they saw the generous-sized maid get out of the carriage after a while. They paid keen attention because he seemed to be of no ordinary status, but they were relieved to think that he was a humble nobleman when they looked at the unmarked carriage and the maid.
The ladies and passers-by were pointing fingers and laughing, but Julietta was not bothered by their reaction.
As she walked into the tranquil gray building under everyone’s eyes, she looked around, wondering about the room without saying anything. He said he was visiting a jeweler’s shop, but there were only tables, sofas and chairs everywhere, without a single display case. It felt as if she had visited the reception room of a nobleman.
What she had bought for herself after living in the Austern Empire for decades was only a feather pen, and she looked outside, wondering, What the hell is this place? This inside is completely different from the grocery store that used to sell all kinds of items. Even the arched lattice windows facing the street had only purple curtains, and there was nothing to tell what this place was selling.
By the time she was at the height of her curiosity that it wasn’t a teahouse, the door inside the waiting room opened and a man in a red vest and a white shirt with colorful embroidery came out to greet them.
"I welcome you. What kind of merchandise are you looking for?"