The Ugly Wife of the Shady Duke - Chapter 107
‘What’s going on?’
Grace looked around in bewilderment, but her friend circle wasn’t around to explain the situation.
She quickly turned her gaze to where people were gathered. If Aria was in the hall, she would naturally be where the crowd was.
“…!”
Grace finally spotted Aria’s dress, stained with a peculiar red color, looking messy as if someone had spilled a drink on her.
‘A drink…’
Grace could only laugh bitterly. She glanced at the cup Benjamin was holding. Coincidentally, the content of the cup she had asked the knight to bring was the exact same color.
At that moment, a woman’s sharp voice rang out. It was so loud and piercing that everyone in the banquet hall couldn’t miss it.
“I saw it! I saw the knight from the Felton Duchy carrying a cup with a drink of that color!”
The voice was targeting Grace. Normally, accusing a duchess, especially with her husband present, in such a manner would be unthinkable. However, Grace found a disturbing logic to it.
This event closely resembled one from the original story.
Grace had thwarted the original event, so it happened to her instead. At least, thinking this way was more comforting to Grace.
Even so, she couldn’t understand the actions of the young lady who accused her.
‘Hah…’
Grace felt that she was the type of person who, even if she fell backward, would end up breaking her nose and smashing her forehead.
‘The world is conspiring against me even though I haven’t harmed Aria.’
“…”
Without looking, Grace could feel the suppressed anger emanating from Benjamin beside her. The only reason he was striving to maintain his composure was because this event was an Imperial celebration of the purification of the Western region.
If Benjamin were to make a scene, it would embarrass the Imperial family.
However, as the murmurs in the hall continued, it seemed he couldn’t hold back any longer. There was a cracking sound from the cup he was holding.
‘…crack?’
Grace glanced at the cup in Benjamin’s hand. It was cracked.
‘Terrifying…’
“I am pleased to see so many people here showing qualities of such loyal subjects.”
Benjamin said in a gentle voice.
“Without such loyalty, one wouldn’t be able to speak their mind so boldly, would they?”
Historically, loyal subjects were those who would not bend their principles even with a sword to their throat.
In other words, Benjamin was subtly implying to Grace, ‘They must be ready to die, blabbering like this, right.’
“Haha… Let me try talking to them first.”
If Benjamin’s reason for maintaining calm was for the peace of the empire, then his reason for suppressing his anger was because of Grace. Grace disliked using power to oppress others.
Aria was anxiously trying to convince everyone that it wasn’t Grace’s doing, but it seemed no one was listening.
The reason was that no one had seen the perpetrator’s face clearly.
It happened to be on the way back from the lounge to the banquet hall, and Aria had been lost in thought for a moment, so she hadn’t seen the person’s face either.
‘Trying to avoid the original plot has led me to run straight into it.’
In times like this, Grace felt how powerless the status of a Saintess truly was. No one was paying close attention to Aria’s opinion.
‘If only Boris were here, he might have listened.’
Though he was endlessly annoying to Grace, he still cared for Aria.
“Are you trying to claim that the knight from the Felton Duchy, who received my orders, soiled the Saintess’s attire with the drink?”
“T-That’s what the circumstances suggest!”
The young lady, who had been the loudest about Aria’s dress, blushed as she spoke, clearly flustered by my sudden appearance.
“…But I have no reason to do so, do I?”
“The dress My Lady is wearing today matches the design of the Saintess’s dress, and everyone has been mocking My Lady for it! That’s more than enough reason!”
Grace fell silent for a moment at those words. It was absurd how everyone stirred over that one statement. She felt suffocated and needed a moment to collect her thoughts to avoid a verbal slip.
When she turned around, she saw Benjamin standing there. He was always ready to step in whenever Grace needed him.
Seeing Benjamin like that made her feel a bit relieved.
‘It’s okay.’
He, a kind person, who always suppressed his anger in the guise of his gentle demeanor, ready to support her whenever she lacked the strength to be angry, was standing right behind her.
“In that case, I dare not guess how many people in this hall deserve to be showered with drinks.”
“…!”
“Quite a few people are wearing nearly identical outfits because it’s a fashionable design. So, are all their clothes about to be ruined?”
Grace glanced around at the people who had been nodding at the young lady’s words moments ago. Now, they were blushing slightly and looking away.
“And although the designs are similar, if you look closely at my dress, you’ll see it’s quite different… What a pity.”
Grace pointed to her dress.
“You all know about the unfortunate incident that happened recently. As a major noble of the empire, I couldn’t remain silent about the disgraceful actions of the fabric workshop. I succeeded in negotiating a fabric trade agreement with the Kingdom of Arsia, and this dress is made from the fabric they gifted me as a symbol of that agreement.”
The dress Grace wore clearly showcased the unique qualities of the fabric crafted by the Pescian people. The material shimmered like mother-of-pearl.
“I used their fabric to create a traditional dress that symbolizes the empire’s history. This dress represents the enduring strength of our empire and the deep friendship with Arsia. Do I even have any reason to feel ashamed just because the design overlaps with the Saintess’s?”
There was no such reason.
Grace had simply chosen a design she thought wouldn’t clash, but it had unfortunately overlapped, and the situation had escalated… Now, she was improvising a rationale on the spot.
If examined closely, there could have been points to argue against, but to diffuse the situation, Grace played a card she didn’t particularly like.
“Is the Felton Duchy really that laughable and insignificant?”
A chilly silence followed.
As everyone remembered the fact they had overlooked as Grace had been such a good source of gossip, their faces turned pale.
She was the Duchess of Felton.
Since there were no women in the Imperial family, she, alongside the Saintess, was the most noble woman in the empire. If Grace had been of a more vindictive nature, she could have made everyone kneel right then and there.
‘D-Did it work?’
However, the person saying all this was trembling inside. She felt as if one wrong breath might make her heart leap out.
There was silence, but Grace didn’t feel much hostility directed at her, which reassured her slightly. She continued speaking.
“And this drink…”
“R-Right! The servant said that the only person who took that drink was the Duchess!”
“Young lady, my wife is speaking right now. Show some respect.”
Benjamin, who had remained silent until now, spoke to the young lady who had interrupted Grace. His tone was gentle but carried a firm warning.
Grace looked at him and smiled, feeling reassured by his support.
‘It’s really comforting to know he’s on my side.’
She turned her head back to the servant standing in the corner and gestured to him.
“Could you tell us the composition of the platters prepared for the Imperial banquet?”
“Ah, yes, please wait a moment.”
After a short while, the servant listed the types of drinks prepared: lemonade, various wines, all kinds of fruit juices, and so on… But nothing particularly unusual.
‘…Hmm.’
Grace pondered for a moment and then came up with an idea.
“Tea leaves.”
“Excuse me?”
“Can we check the list of everyone who used the lounge and the types of tea they drank during that time? Or perhaps a list of teapots or tea sets arranged according to the number of people?”
While preparing for the tea bag business with Cleta, there was a product they considered for viability but gave up on since it wasn’t available at that tea farm.
The servant, after contemplating, hurriedly got approval from the supervisor and presented the list.
‘Though it’s obvious, but in the list, the lounges near the Hall of Mirror are specified empty.”
However, since the culprit wouldn’t be there, Grace quickly glanced through other areas and pointed to just one room.
“Here it is.”
Blue Mellow. It was a tea that turned red due to a chemical reaction when lemon was added.
‘It’s not widely known in this country yet, but those who know, know.’
“Just in time, let’s find out who used this lounge… where is the family member of Viscount Anglaise?”
When Grace recited the name of the representative written on the list, the young lady who had been raising her voice until a moment ago turned pale.
‘It’s you…’
Grace looked at her with a slightly pitiful expression.
‘You look young… why did you do it…’
Oh maybe, because she’s young, such things can happen. When one is young, sometimes they make mistakes. But the scale of this mistake was a bit different.
She had the misfortune of venting her unknown anger on the Saintess Aria and framed Grace for it.
