As soon as my eyes blinked open, the first thing I did was check my pillow.
Soft and fluffy.
Then, I touched my hair.
Smooth and silky.
I brought my hands to my face in shock.
“What should I do? It wasn’t a dream…”
I sat up in bed at a complete loss. After staying motionless for a while, I heard a knock on the door.
“Lady Marie, are you awake?”
It was Mio’s voice.
“Yes, I am,” I replied.
“Excuse us,” Mio said, opening the door and walking in. There were two other women with her. They both seemed roughly five years older than me. They were dressed like maids, and their hair was styled elegantly. The three women stood side by side and all bowed to me at the same time.
“Good morning, Lady Marie,” they said in unison.
“G-good morning!” I yelped, falling to my knees and swiftly prostrating myself on the ground.
Mio pulled me up immediately. “What are you doing, Lady Marie?”
“Y-you bowed so politely I had to prostrate myself lower!”
“What even gave you this idea? Please, put yourself at ease. We came to greet you.”
“To greet…me?”
“Yes. You officially became our lord’s fiancée yesterday and are thus an important resident of this castle.”
H-his fiancée! I’d heard this word again and again recently, but for some reason, it made my heart race. I pressed my palm against my chest in an attempt to calm myself. I couldn’t tell if Mio had noticed my inner turmoil. Regardless, she was just as expressionless as always.
“Allow me to introduce myself again. I’m Mio, the grand chamberlain of this castle. And these two are Hanna and Ilsa.”
“N-nice to meet you. I’m Marie Chandelan.”
“From now on, the three of us will be in charge of caring for you, Lady Marie.”
I would have a waiting maid? And three of them at that?!
Waiting maids weren’t like housemaids. They weren’t in charge of taking care of the estate, but rather of specific individuals. House Chandelan also had a waiting maid—only one for a family of five people, though. She’d been too busy taking care of the clothes and hair of my parents and sister, along with looking after my younger brother, so she’d never done anything for me personally. If anything, I was the one who cooked for her.
To be perfectly honest, I didn’t need waiting maids. But if this was their job, I couldn’t refuse. If they didn’t work, they wouldn’t be paid. Besides, it was perfectly natural for a noble lady to have a waiting maid or two. I simply wasn’t used to it at all…
I tried to calm my nerves and showed them my best ladylike smile.
“I see. Mio, Hanna, Ilsa, I’ll be in your care,” I said.
“We may fall short at times, but we will do our utmost to serve you to the best of our ability,” Mio replied. She bowed low once more, but the other two only nodded lightly.
“I will be by your side most of the time, but these two will replace me during my time off or when other duties require my attention,” Mio explained. “They were born and raised in a knight’s house and have experience working in the royal palace. They are quite capable, so don’t hesitate to go to them with any trouble you may have.”
Whenever they weren’t in Mio’s field of vision, I got the feeling the other two were glaring at me…
Is that my imagination? Yes, I’m sure it is. This is our very first meeting, after all.
“A-all right. I will…”
“I shall get you ready,” Mio said. “In the meantime, the two of you can go fetch Lady Marie’s breakfast.”
Hanna and Ilsa turned on their heels immediately at Mio’s command.
“Please wash your face and rinse your mouth first, my lady. I brought you warm water.”
After I did as I was told, Mio combed my hair meticulously. Soon, the other two returned with a tea wagon covered with plates.
I stared at it, my eyes widening, and asked, “How many people is that for?”
“Why, it’s all for you, of course,” Mio replied immediately. “I didn’t know what you liked, so I had the kitchens prepare a bit of everything. First, for the appetizers. Here is an assortment of seven types of artisanal charcuterie, made by the castle’s head chef. We have ham and pork sausages. These are seasoned with a blend of spices, these with herbs…the terrine is pheasant, and there is duck pâté de campagne and venison.”
“That’s a lot of different animals…”
“Since this is your breakfast, I focused on refreshing dishes. This is Schweinebraten.”
“Sch… Schwei…Schwhat?”
“It’s roast pork, my lady.”
“Ah, roast pork! I understand now.”
“It has been slowly simmered with vegetables in northern beer and bouillon, so it should be sweet and tender. Please enjoy it with these Knödels and this sauce.”
Mio had only showed me one fifth of the dishes—all appetizers.
I knew that the people of the Dilts Kingdom were known to eat more than others for breakfast, but this seemed a little excessive. I stopped Mio before we even go to the main dishes.
“It embarrasses me to admit it, but neither my taste buds nor my stomach are used to such luxury. I’ve never eaten this much, and I don’t think I can.”
“Please feel free to only choose the dishes that appeal to you, my lady. You may also sample a bite of each of them if you’d like.”
“But what of the leftovers?”
“Well, they’ll be disposed of, of course.”
“What a waste!” I shouted, way louder than I’d planned to.
Mio lowered her head. “These are our lord’s commands, so there isn’t anything I can do about it. I hope you can understand.”
“Where is Lord Kyros?” I asked after hesitating for a few seconds.
“He had his breakfast earlier and went out for work. I’m afraid there are only servants at the castle at this moment.”
“Then, Mio, won’t you share the food with me?”
“A servant couldn’t possibly eat with their master,” she replied sternly.
Ah… What should I do…? If I keep being so selfish, Mio will surely scold me… “I see… I’m sorry for asking for the impossible. I’ll do my best, then.”
I started eating alone. It was delicious…but there truly was a lot of food. Still, someone had gone through the trouble of making it, and the meat and vegetables in these plates used to be living beings. They’d been killed so we humans could eat—I couldn’t waste anything.
I kept eating, and my stomach began to hurt. But I—
“Lady Marie, please don’t push yourself.”
“I’m okay. I can still fit more into my stomach…probably.”
“Please, don’t attempt to eat more than you can handle.”
“But someone took the trouble of cooking this, so I—”
“You look pale, my lady. It’s time to stop.” Mio’s tone left no room for argument as she grabbed the plates, taking them away from me. “I’ll show you around the castle after you take the time to rest a little. I’ll introduce you to the head chef and the other servants.”
“A-all right… I’ll do that.”
“You’ll find clothes to change into here,” Mio said, opening the door of the gigantic walk-in closet. There had to have been at least fifty dresses inside. I stared at them, my eyes widening in surprise.
“How many people are they for?”
“Why, they’re all for you, of course.”
“I only have one body.”
“I’m aware. These were made for your daily use, and they are made of the most comfortable fabrics. We’ll have you properly fitted and have new dresses made from scratch for when you need to go out. We’ll also rotate them based on the season, so I expect we’ll need at least a hundred dresses to start with.”
I buried my head in my arms and slumped back into my chair.
“My head is spinning,” I moaned.
“You must have eaten too much.”
I had a feeling that wasn’t the reason…
Mio first led me to the castle gate. Then, we walked along the same path as the previous day while she gave me a brief overview of the Granado family and history. According to her, Granado Castle was the general name used for an estate made up of two separate buildings. The first one was a sturdy stone castle.
“Two hundred years ago, these grounds marked the edge of the kingdom’s territory and served as a fortress to guard the border,” Mio said, her voice mixing with the sound of our steps against the stone flooring. “The founding father of House Granado was the margrave who ruled over this fortress. At the time, military men stood at the top of the hierarchy, and at the very top of the army was the royal family. Being a margrave tasked with the defense of the frontline was a crucial position that involved shouldering the advance or retreat of the kingdom’s army. As you may imagine, this position couldn’t simply be given to anyone, and the man who held it was the youngest brother of the king. In those days, his words carried the same weight as a royal edict.”
“So…House Granado is a branch of the royal family?”
“Exactly. Still, this was a very long time ago, and a branch family could never compare to the main branch. After this era of warring ended, the margrave was given the rank of duke and control of a territory. From those days henceforth, House Granado has had nothing to do with the royal government.”