It Really Feels Like a Princess’s Room…
At that moment, Anette’s body trembled slightly.
“Why is that?”
“…I think I felt a cold breeze somewhere.”
She had definitely felt a chill somewhere in her body just a moment ago.
Cardin jumped up at Anette’s reply.
“Our princess must not catch a cold! Let’s go inside quickly.”
“…”
Although she had never once caught a cold in her healthy life, Anette nodded.
“Milady, this way, this way please. Be careful, the stairs are steep.”
Anette looked at Larisa, who chattered to her nonstop like a little songbird.
Among all the people Anette had met, this maid was the most cheerful and sociable.
Even Empress Charlotte, who was quite pleasant, carried a calm and graceful air in every move, so Anette never felt truly at ease immediately.
But Larisa disarmed her with a frank and pure-hearted boldness, instantly breaking any tension.
It was so unusual that Anette wondered if all girls her age were this lively, but she quickly shook her head.
She had never seen such a side from Bridget, who was the same age as Larisa.
“No, on the contrary, Bridget was always sensitive and picky.”
Larisa seemed to have a unique trait that made people smile just by watching her and brightened the atmosphere around her.
“Why? Is there something on my face, milady? No, that can’t be. I woke up early today, cleaned myself well, and wore new clothes just because you’re coming!”
After staring blankly for a moment, Larisa fussed, touching her face and dress repeatedly.
Until Anette said, “There’s nothing on you,” Larisa stomped her feet anxiously and finally sighed in relief, then suddenly asked,
“Then, is it because you’re a little disappointed that I’m the one showing you around the castle, and not your master?”
“…Huh?”
Caught off guard by the unexpected question, Anette flinched.
“N-no, that’s not it.”
She hurriedly denied it, but Larisa was already giggling, covering her mouth with both hands.
They say a great maid can read her master’s mind even without words. Had Larisa figured out what Anette was really thinking in less than an hour?
Anette’s face flushed, and while fanning herself with her hand, she glanced toward Cardin’s office where he was waiting.
It was Anette who had insisted on being shown around the castle instead of going straight to her room as Cardin had wanted, fearing she might catch a cold.
The mysterious chill had disappeared as soon as she met Cardin’s worried eyes.
In the end, Cardin, excited at the prospect of showing the castle, was pulled away by the retainers waiting inside.
Or rather, Anette pushed him toward them.
There was no other choice. The retainers had dark circles under their eyes from overwork, and though they were strangers, their desperate eyes seemed to silently beg her to persuade His Highness.
Anette couldn’t resist that earnestness.
She felt a bit proud as she watched Cardin go, and the secretary Samuel and retainers gratefully looking at her…
But honestly, she felt a bit empty.
Maybe Larisa was right—Anette had hoped Cardin would show her the castle.
Trying to hide her embarrassment and disappointment, she focused again on exploring the castle interior.
Although the Grand Duke’s castle looked dark from outside, inside it was clean and splendid with white marble.
The luxurious carpet in the lobby led straight up to the wide staircase. The stairs rose about half a flight before splitting in a graceful curve to both sides, showing off a majestic posture.
The expensive tapestries and paintings hanging along the corridors, as well as the golden candlesticks placed between them, revealed the Harzent Grand Duke family’s wealth—said to be the richest in the Alcan Empire after the royal family.
Maybe that was why Anette felt that the Grand Duke’s castle looked more like a palace than the Heyworth Kingdom’s palace, which had nothing to boast about even ten years ago.
The interior was vast enough that if you didn’t memorize the layout properly, you might easily get lost.
Just imagining that was funny—losing your way in your own home as the future Grand Duchess.
Of course, now that she had a personal maid, that wouldn’t happen, but since you never know, Anette remembered Larisa’s words carefully to avoid such an embarrassing situation.
As they passed the second floor where Cardin’s office was, they climbed up to the third floor.
Unlike the light explanations given from the middle of the stairs, Larisa turned left into a corridor on the third floor.
At the same time, her breathing seemed to grow a bit heavier, and Anette sensed a sniffle.
Larisa’s tense expression made Anette stiffen as well.
“This is the room where you’ll be staying for the time being, milady!”
Larisa loudly announced as they stopped in front of a door.
The door was decorated with a bright wreath made of fresh flowers and greenery.
Anette only half-listened to Larisa’s proud voice telling her the wreath was made of real flowers and plants preserved with magic, and tilted her head in curiosity.
She recalled Larisa had said the Grand Duke and Duchess’s bedrooms were on the fourth floor.
“Then this must be a guest room?”
Seeing the many doors lined along both sides of the corridor, she thought that was likely.
She couldn’t imagine that all these rooms had been prepared by Cardin for his future children, so Anette cautiously reached for the doorknob.
For some reason, Larisa held her hands together tightly, watching Anette expectantly as if she was hoping Anette would open the door herself.
Unable to resist that eager gaze, Anette finally opened the door.
Anette stood speechless for a moment.
The warm cream and soft pink hues filled her entire vision, making her heart flutter.
“A real princess’s room…”
A bed with a flowing canopy, a desk and chair with rounded edges, a fluffy-looking rug and sofa on the floor, a chandelier hanging from the high ceiling, and adorable little decorations placed here and there.
It was a perfect room like one she might have dreamed of in her childhood—though she barely remembered.
Standing with her mouth agape, unable to enter, Larisa gently asked,
“M-milady, do you like it?”
Like it? Was that even a question?
Snapping back to her senses, Anette nodded enthusiastically.
Larisa sighed with relief and said, moved,
“That’s such a relief, milady! Actually, I decorated this entire room myself. From the overall concept to the dolls, cushions, and every little ornament—I chose them all!”
Though she was the youngest maid at the Grand Duke’s castle when she decorated this room, Larisa had thought she might never see its owner.
But a dreamlike thing had happened.
“To think milady would use this room! And that I’d be your personal maid!”
She was sure she was truly lucky.
In fact, winning the tournament was thanks to Larisa’s skill, honed for the future young master and lady, so this result was truly a case of “heaven helps those who help themselves.”
Hearing Larisa’s words, Anette finally understood why she had been so nervous and expectant while introducing the room, and she smiled.
Of course, it was strange to have a well-prepared guest room for a young girl in the Grand Duke’s castle.
But since Anette had no idea how noble families usually decorated their homes, she simply thought the Grand Duke’s family was wealthy enough to have such a nice guest room.
And she sincerely thanked Larisa for making such a lovely room.
“Larisa, the room is really beautiful. Thank you.”
“Oh, i-it’s nothing!”
The once talkative maid blushed red and didn’t know what to do after receiving Anette’s praise.
She quickly guided her to the adjoining bathroom and dressing room.
Like the room, both were spacious, clean, and looked luxurious.
Larisa’s eyes went wide as she noticed the clothes already filled in the dressing room—likely the same ones loaded on the carriage.
“Oh my, I hurriedly ordered clothes from the estate’s tailor shop, but the capital is really different. The dresses are incomparably beautiful!”
Hearing that, Anette naturally straightened her shoulders.
Of course, no dresses in the estate or even in the capital could compare to the dresses made by the Empress Dowager.
“Now you are my daughter… Thank you for coming as my daughter.”
That phrase she heard before leaving the capital came back, tugging at her heart until her nose prickled.
“Oh, milady, would you like to eat dinner first, or take a bath?”
Larisa, who had been admiring the dresses, quickly asked.
It was already late afternoon when they arrived at the Grand Duke’s castle, and by the time she finished touring the room, the sun had begun to set.
With her eyes full of enthusiasm that seemed to say, I’ll serve you perfectly whether it’s dinner or a bath!, Larisa looked at Anette.
Anette hesitated for a moment before answering, “Then I’ll take a bath first…”
Though she wanted to wash off the dirt after nearly two days of carriage travel, her real reason was to time it well so Cardin would be done with his work by dinner.