Chapter 56: A Gypsy in the Palace Part 2 Episode 9. Valeria

TL/N: The POV shifts to a new character: Valeria

“Ashtar herbal tea. With peppermint.”

At the servant’s words, the youngest maid raised her body. The maid, with her freckles covering half of her face, and a rather shabby look, crossed the hustle and bustle of the maids preparing the meal and ran over to the next warehouse.

Soon after, the tea set prepared by the maid was the finest herbal tea supplied to the imperial family, which was especially enjoyed by Princess Vivianne in the Imperial Palace. The tin box adorned with a golden label was luxurious enough to make you feel full just by looking at it.

“Here.”

The maid tried to hand over the tea set to the servant. However, the young male servant only stared silently at the young maid’s face with his hands behind his back.

“Well, is there anything else you need?”

As the maid lowered her body with an unfamiliar face, the servant turned his head and began exploring the bustling kitchen. After the servant’s eyes scanned the spacious kitchen once, his and Valeria’s eyes met. The servant gestured towards Valeria.

“You are fine. Take that and follow me.”

Valeria placed the garlic she was chopping aside and abruptly picked up the tea set. The servant, who was staring at her, frowned and said something.

“Do you know who you’re going in front of? Stupid. Straighten up.”

“I was flustered. I apologize.”

That was how she got on people’s nerves. While Valeria was diligently wiping her hands and correcting her mannerisms, the servant standing at a distance clicked his tongue.

“Flustered? Is this an excuse a maid of the Imperial Palace would give? This place is not merciful to the ignorant. If your thinking is shallow, be careful with your mouth.”

The servant, who was staring coldly, soon turned his back. Valeria followed the servant with the tea set in both hands. The passageway for employees was divided into three major branches on the first floor, and the steps of the servants headed east. Throughout her walk, Valeria felt her heart burst with tension.

‘Oh, my goodness. To the east is His Highness Wilhelm’s place.’

The Imperial castle of the Grenferg Empire boasted an unrivalled size on the continent, and its appearance was also extraordinary. The castle walls covered in ivory and shining white in the sun were the beauty and pride of the imperial family that the Grenferg Empire was proud of, and at the same time, it was the pinnacle of luxury.

The imperial Palace was now divided into three powers, either knowingly or unknowingly. Valeria, a maid, only heard the rumors inside the castle, and had no chance to encounter the reality. It was natural. No matter how much the employees belonged to the Imperial castle, their status still belonged to the ground. This was because for Valeria, a maid to a nobleman, she had very few chances of meeting the imperial family. Of course, it was not entirely impossible. When there was a hole in the ledger or an employee playing with a nobleman, there was often a spontaneous spectacle.

“It’s frustrating. Don’t slow down and move faster.”

“Oh, yes!”

Quickly facing straight ahead was the head of the garden’s huge marble fountain, located beyond the window.

‘Prince Wilhelm….Will there ever come a time when I will be able to see him too?’

Perhaps, she felt her heart pounding even harder in anticipation of it and they arrived at the place very soon.

The place where they arrived was the innermost drawing room on the third floor, and according to the back story she had heard, it was a space where Prince Wilhelm frequently visited with his aides. Stopping at the door, Valeria gulped down her dry saliva.

‘You stupid Valeria. You should have paid more attention!’

Wouldn’t her hair look stupid? Could it be that there was a garlic clove stuck on the tip of her fingernail?

Anxiety that she had never felt before came flooding in. Valeria lowered her head and bit her lip hard. Since there was no lipstick, she had to make use of her blood in this way and make her lips look reddish.

Then the door opened. From the window frame to the carpet under her feet, the room that appeared was stunning. At least in the eyes of the maid. Her steps were twisted with the sense of reality that she came to meet a really influential person. Valeria laid the tea set down on the table, barely calming her trembling legs.

‘Ah.’

But soon a great disappointment came to her. Prince Wilhelm was not there. In the seat where she expected the prince to be waiting, there was a woman who seemed to be of noble birth at a glance. White and clear skin like white porcelain. A slender neck, relaxed expression, and long eyelashes fluttering like butterflies on her lively cheeks. It was the typical aristocratic style she knew, so the tension went away.

‘I guess I’m really stupid.’

She had a delusion that she would be able to make eye contact with His Highness Wilhelm. Even without understanding the reason, she seemed to have been excited about the fact that the servant appointed her. It was all the more so because she had been noticed by young nobles a few times because of her smooth-looking face.

‘Even if I am good looking, a maid is still a maid. Even I would want this noble lady who is white and pretty even more.’

She put down the tea set and stepped back, then glanced at the woman. She was a woman with a striking appearance, but… well, that was all for this woman.

Although her beautiful red hair and clear green eyes made her white skin stand out, Valeria had seen many beauties like that. The woman reading the book beckoned lightly, and the servant pushed Valeria. She wondered if it meant to make herbal tea. Making tea as ordered, Valeria concluded by looking at the impression of the woman.

‘An insignificant noble lady. That would be the perfect explanation.’

Valeria was confident that she could see through the other person’s reality well, but the woman in front of her seemed particularly easy to judge. The posture of sitting as if lying down, the appearance of picking up snacks with bare hands even when there were dishes, the wide open mouth without elegance, and the yawn that seems to have no intention to be hidden.

It was obvious. She must have been chasing after her biological father to get something from Prince Wilhelm, whose engagement was broken. But how could he deal with a woman who seemed so deficient?

‘It’s ridiculous. It’s like disrespecting our Prince, His Highness.’

All the women of noble status that Prince Wilhelm had as close aides had bright eyes. They were well-behaved, wise and intelligent. However, the woman in front of her seemed to be debauched and lacking, let alone bright, so His Highness Wilhelm could not be bothered with her. The woman who lifted the tea cup and smelled the incense slowly shook her head.

“Get out.”

She tried to step back slowly, but the servant pushed Valeria’s back once again. With a wink, he ordered her to stand still and left the drawing room. Valeria had doubts about the situation of being left alone in front of this woman, but she was not afraid. This was because it was obvious what the woman would want from her.

‘She’ll ask me about his Highness Wilhelm. They all avoid her, and now she is reaching out to me, since I am a maid. But there’s not much I can answer.’

The woman who folded the book said to Valeria with a bright smile.

“What’s your name?”

Her voice was much softer than Valeria had imagined.

“My name is Valeria Malta.”

“You have a family, don’t you?”

“The Count of Woodbell is my paternal uncle.”

“Yet you are serving as a maid in the imperial palace?”

“I’m just grateful that I got accepted.”

A generous aristocrat treated his distant relatives like family, but usually that was not the case. Valeria tried to trust Woodbell after her father’s gambling broke her home, but she was kicked out after a day. When she recalled that time, she was lucky to come to the Imperial Palace and could not be dissatisfied with her life as a maid. It was a dark time that a beautiful, well-lived lady would never understand.

The woman inquired about Valeria, and she said it as it was, because she had no intention of hiding it. The woman who was listening to her comforted Valeria.

“Oh, that’s a very sad story. I’m sorry to bring back bad memories.”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Do you know my name?”

Valeria bowed her head carefully at the question. She didn’t know everyone because there were not only one or two nobles living in the Imperial Palace.

“I’m sorry, lady. I’m a maid, so I don’t know much about nobles.”

This was a polite way to deal with it. But why did the woman burst into laughter after hearing Valeria’s answer as she left the parlor?

“Noble? Hahaha! Do I look like an aristocrat? It’s an honor. I’m from a gypsy[1] who used to wander near the islands.”

Courtesy or whatever, Valeria, who had been so surprised, raised her head. You’re a gypsy! No matter how stupid it sounded, wasn’t she a woman who exuded elegance that couldn’t be felt by such a wanderer? The woman continued the story by twirling the cup.

“I happened to catch the eye of His Highness Wilhelm and came here. Of course, I’m not a friend to sleep with… Should I say that we comforted each other during the time when we were both mentally exhausted? I’m now being treated like an abandoned doll. People of noble blood usually act like this. They get interested in strange things easily, and people who look interesting. Then they will end up like me.”

Listening to the prolonged words, she could understand that the woman was a gypsy. The words used were acrimonious and vulgar.

“Actually, I called you for a reason.”

As Valeria listened to her, the thought she had for a moment became more firm. She would have intended to regain the favor of his Majesty Wilhelm. Valeria vowed never to act frivolously. The woman said with a broad smile.

“Well, it’s not a big deal, so don’t look forward to it. How long have I been here… Is it a week now? I’m starting to get bored. Everyone treats me like I’m not here. I just need a friend to talk to.”

Valeria gulped down her saliva. Strangely enough, tension rose.

“So recently, I’ve started to think that I should at least take a maid. If I’m going to take her with me, it’s better to take a pretty girl with me, right? It would be of great help to my face as well. So I asked the servant to bring me the most intimate maid.”

“That means…”

The woman smiled with her eyes wide open.. It was only one smile, but somehow Valeria felt like she was stealing someone else’s jewellery.

‘Why?’

On hindsight, it wasn’t strange. Wasn’t that the woman Prince Wilhelm was eyeing? It could be rightly true that there was something that drew people’s attention to this gypsy’s voice, attitude and expression. It seemed that her eyes, which had been trapped in prejudice, had been opened a little. The woman gave off a special vitality. She was not like a bright sun, but like a poisonous flower blooming from the mud. She smelled like an unknown breeze coming from the outside world, invisible to the nobles who drank gold and put chocolate on their skin. Was it because of that? She would have even listened to a few light words. The woman said to Valeria.

“Do you want to be my friend?”

***

[1] a member of a people originating in South Asia and traditionally having an itinerant way of life, living widely dispersed across Europe and North and South America and speaking a language (Romani) that is related to Hindi; a Romani person.