***
“Ah!”
Judith’s hand paused mid-stitch, the needle still in her grip.
The delicate flesh beneath her fingernail had been pricked, and a sharp sting shot through her finger, accompanied by a crimson drop of blood.
“Goodness, Your Highness!”
Marianne, who had been polishing an empty vase, rushed over in a panic when she saw Judith pressing her fingertip to her lips.
“I’m fine, Marianne.”
“Fine?
How can you say that!”
She offered a faint, helpless smile as Marianne’s voice rose in distress.
Judith’s breath escaped in a deep sigh as she watched the clean cloth stain with blood.
“I suppose I’ll have to throw this one away, too.”
“What are you saying?
How are you expected to embroider all those dozens of handkerchiefs by yourself!
Your Highness should be receiving the gifts, not the other way around!”
Marianne stomped her foot, looking in the direction of Queen Gilsis’ palace, as if the thought alone made her furious.
Meanwhile, Judith crumpled the soiled cloth and tossed it into a basket at her feet, wiping the blood from her fingertip with a quiet resignation.
It had been three days since Queen Gilsis had summoned her.
Since she had been summoned at random times before, she couldn’t guess the reason for this particular summons.
Standing before the queen, Judith tried to maintain a composed expression, even as Queen Gilsis’ disapproving gaze swept over her.
Then, with a sullen face, she issued a preposterous command.
“Since you are now the Princess Consort of Lotheir, it is only proper for you to make yourself known in Lotheir’s social circles.”
She briefly assumed the queen intended to hold a banquet, given that the wedding had been skipped.
However, she soon realized she had underestimated the queen’s malice.
The queen’s subsequent words left her dumbfounded.
Judith was to personally embroider handkerchiefs for all noble ladies of the capital, one by one.
In the capital of Lotheir, there were no fewer than several dozens of noble families.
Creating such gifts for the mistresses of these families would require more than a month of constant embroidering.
It was an absurd demand for someone who was only seventeen years old and a princess consort, but Judith didn’t utter a single word of protest.
Instead, she quietly agreed to follow the queen’s orders.
Her calm compliance must have irritated Queen Gilsis, who likely expected her to break down in tears and plead that the task was impossible.
In retaliation, she had Judith carry the chest of handkerchief materials back herself.
While Judith was being subjected to this humiliation, none of the queen’s maids or palace maids stepped forward to help her.
“Take a break.
You’ll strain your eyes at this rate.
Should I massage your shoulders?
Or perhaps I could take over the embroidery?”
“No, Marianne.
This is something I have to do.
I’ll handle it all myself.”
“Really, why are you being so stubborn!
It’s not like anyone’s watching you.”
“You think so?”
Marianne looked bewildered at Judith’s words, as if she didn’t understand what she meant.
“There’s nobody here, Your Highness.
Why would anyone be watching?”
“There are eyes everywhere in the Lotheir palace—even on the walls.
And it’s not just eyes; there are ears, too.
That’s why we must always be careful, no matter where we are.”
She remembered all the failures of her previous life.
Every time the queen’s torment became unbearable and she let herself cry or vent in private, word of it mysteriously reached the queen’s ears.
Naturally, this only led to harsher torment.
There were no maids formally assigned to the small annex where the princess consort resided, but given Queen Gilsis’ temperament, she would never leave Marianne and Judith completely unwatched.
That was why Judith didn’t ask Marianne to help with the embroidery, no matter how many times she pricked her fingers.
Whether it took a month, or even two, she intended to do it all by herself.
“But why doesn’t His Highness ever visit?” Marianne asked with a pout, as she neatly folded and arranged the handkerchiefs she had to embroider.
Lately, she had been complaining more often about Franz not visiting Judith.
She thought, ‘He’s her husband, after all.
How can he not even care about what his wife is going through?’
“He must be busy,” Judith replied nonchalantly, her focus fixed on the new cloth she was embroidering.
In truth, she was curious about what Franz was doing.
She had rarely spent time alone with him even before she died, so she had no insight into his daily life.
Although the prince’s palace where Franz resided wasn’t far from the annex where she stayed, there remained a deep emotional chasm between them, one that felt as insurmountable now as it had before.
Even so, if she really wanted to go see him, it wasn’t that difficult.
The previous Judith wouldn’t have had the courage to do so, but the person she was now was different.
But she had never gone to see Franz first.
She tried not to think about what he was doing.
“Wouldn’t you like to go visit him first?”
“Is there any need for that?”
“Still, you’re married…”
“Spending too much time with His Highness wouldn’t do him any good, either.”
“What?
What do you mean by that?”
Judith recalled the venomous gleam in Queen Gilsis’ eyes.
Although she had brought her in as the princess consort, she would undoubtedly disapprove of Judith and Franz being close.
If a child were born between them—especially a son who could become a prince—it would mean one more headache for the queen to deal with.
It was obvious that a new threat would be directed at Franz and Judith, and their worries would only increase.
So, for the time being, it was better not to get too close to him.
She had to find a way to get Franz out of the empire somehow.
Until then, spreading rumors that the relationship between the princess consort and her husband was not smooth would be beneficial, even if it was just to avoid unnecessary interference.
“Oh, Your Highness.
Speaking of which, remember what you said the other day?
About… that letter you wanted me to deliver to Marquis Evelta.”
Judith, who had been focused on her needlework, suddenly lifted her head.
Marianne’s unusually round eyes were sparkling brightly.
“Did you deliver it?”
“Yes.
Goodness, there were so many nobles… I almost got confused, but thankfully, I managed to deliver it properly.”
“Did you do it discreetly, without anyone noticing?”
“Of course!
Who do you think I am?
I secretly followed him and told him it was a letter from Her Highness the Princess Consort.
He said he would give me an answer within a few days, but it’s strange that I haven’t heard anything yet.
What exactly did you write in the letter?”
Marianne, carefully observing Judith’s somewhat excited expression, asked with a tilt of her head.
Judith’s fingers, tightly gripping the needle, trembled slightly.
Marquis Evelta was the only person who had helped Judith after Duke Berzi.
After Franz started showing signs of madness, he had sent his precious only daughter to be Judith’s maid, saying he felt sorry for the princess consort who had been left alone.
In her previous life, that was how she met Cheraan.
This time, however, sent a letter to Marquis Evelta first, asking him to send Cheraan so she could meet her.
Given the marquis’s character, he wouldn’t have coldly dismissed the letter, even if it was from a lowly and insignificant princess consort.
‘This time, I will never lose Cheraan.
Not a second time.
No matter what happens, I must protect Cheraan.
With my own hands.’
And it wasn’t just Cheraan.
She wouldn’t lose anyone, no matter who they were, in the same way again.
Never again.
“I asked him to let me meet his daughter.
That’s all.”
“What?
Marquis Evelta’s daughter?
You don’t know her.”
Judith chuckled bitterly, “Yes, I don’t know her.
But I heard a few things about his daughter from the queen’s palace.
I wanted to meet her.”
Marianne tilted her head to the side and stared intently at Judith.
“Why are you doing that?”
“Your Highness, are you really a different person?”
“What are you talking about, all of a sudden?”
“You used to hate meeting strangers more than anything in the world.
But now, you want to meet someone first?
I can’t get used to it at all.”
“You’ll have to get used to it gradually,” Judith said playfully.
Just as Marianne grinned like a mischievous child, a loud crashing sound came from somewhere outside.
“What was that?”
“I’ll go see.”
Marianne jumped up and ran outside.
Judith set down everything she was holding, trying to calm the sudden pounding of her heart.
The sound hadn’t come from nearby.
It wasn’t inside this annex, and that made her even more anxious.
There was only one place where such a sound could reach her.
The Astel Palace, where Franz was.
What had happened?
Was there an accident?
Or had Franz done something?
Whatever it was, it was definitely something serious, considering the sound had reached the annex… Unless several windows had been completely shattered…
Judith suddenly felt a surge of fear, one that she had been trying to forget.
Whenever Franz couldn’t control his madness, he would have seizures and throw things around the palace, breaking windows, pottery, sculptures, and so on.
He would also shout that someone was watching him from outside when nobody was there, or he would panic and throw away pottery or sculptures, claiming that they had human eyes.
At that time, she couldn’t soothe Franz’s fear at all.
She couldn’t even move, her whole-body trembling at the sound of his outbursts.
She would hide in a corner of her bedroom, holding her breath, afraid that someone would come for her, asking her to calm Franz down.
Thinking about it now, she realized that was all the wrong choice.
Trembling, Judith clenched her hands in her lap and got up.
“Your Highness!”
Marianne, who had gone outside to find out what was going on, ran back in.
Her hair, once neatly pinned up on both sides of her head, was now slightly disheveled, and her cheeks were flushed with panic.
“Did you find out what happened?”
“Yes, well… His Highness… I think he… ”
“Something happened to him?”
“W-well, I don’t know if something happened, but… His Highness, he… I think he threw something and broke a window.
He seemed very angry, but I’m not sure why.”
‘It was His Highness, after all,’ she thought.
Before Marianne could finish, she grabbed her dress and quickly ran outside.
“Your Highness, where are you going?
It’s better if you don’t go now!”
Marianne’s worried voice echoed down the hallway, but she didn’t look back.
She ran straight toward the Astel Palace.