A Reunion Without Warmth
***
Judith had just finished dressing when the king’s grand chamberlain came to find her.
He was an elderly man with deep and shallow wrinkles all over his face.
He had served the king since the reign of the previous monarch.
The pride he once took in being the king’s grand chamberlain for so long had turned into base arrogance over the years, and that arrogance had soured into a vicious pride, making him a cantankerous old man.
While he would grovel before Illand without hesitation, he treated Judith, who shared the same royal blood as her brother, as if she were beneath him.
He did this knowing he could get away with it.
“How long will you keep His Majesty waiting?”
Marianne, who had opened the door for him, told him to wait just a moment.
But before she could even turn around, the grand chamberlain’s grating voice cut in.
Judith, who was adjusting her hair ornament, froze, her hand stilling at the sound of his harsh voice, which was exactly the same as she remembered.
“The princess is still getting ready.
You saw that, didn’t you?
She’ll be out shortly, so please wait a moment.”
Before Judith could say anything, Marianne snapped at him in a sharp tone.
The grand chamberlain’s wrinkled face flushed, trembling with anger, turning red and pale.
“How dare you, a lowly maid, look me in the eye!”
The grand chamberlain’s voice rose sharply with impatience.
Judith, who had been sitting quietly in front of the mirror, suddenly stood up and walked towards him.
He stared at her, momentarily frozen, his wrinkled lips parting in stunned surprise.
His reaction, as if he were having a strange dream, was perhaps understandable.
Although her makeup was light, Judith’s pale and gaunt complexion had vanished, making her appear like a completely different person.
That wasn’t all.
She had carefully arranged her hair, which she usually left half-tied, making her seem somehow dignified, despite her small stature.
But what truly unnerved the grand chamberlain wasn’t her face or her perfectly coiffed hair—it was her gaze, which was fixed squarely on him.
It was no longer the timid gaze of an insignificant princess who always looked down at the floor, trembling.
“If we compare your rank to Marianne’s, it’s obvious that her behavior towards you was wrong.
But keep in mind, Marianne is my maid, not yours.”
The grand chamberlain’s lips, which had parted in surprise, trembled with bewilderment.
He had never heard this kind of tone from Judith before.
This meek and frail princess, who had always been terrified of her brother, was now showing an unprecedented confidence.
Due to that fear, she was even afraid of the grand chamberlain who closely served Illand.
Judith had been the kind of person who would bite her tongue and hold back her words, even when the grand chamberlain treated her disrespectfully and scolded her to her face, her eyes welling up with tears.
But what was going on?
The grand chamberlain stared at Judith, who met his gaze directly, speaking slowly and clearly, his face full of bewilderment.
Then, he soon felt a growing sense of displeasure creeping over him.
“It is the princess’s duty to discipline her maid.
If His Majesty learns about this, he will surely reprimand you…”
“If it’s my fault that my maid was rude to you, then it’s my brother’s fault that you’re being rude to me, right?”
“…What?
What did you just say?”
“You dare to forget your place and disrespect me, a member of the royal family.
That proves that my brother must have neglected your training, doesn’t it?
Should I go see my brother now and tell him exactly what you said?”
The grand chamberlain’s already wrinkled forehead deepened with three or four more lines.
What on earth had happened overnight?
Or had she eaten something wrong for breakfast?
It was difficult for him to comprehend how this timid little chick who had never dared to push back and had only cried when mistreated, had suddenly transformed in such an unimaginable way.
“Why aren’t you answering?”
Judith’s gaze, fixed on the grand chamberlain, was now outright intimidating.
With such commotion in the palace, where this quiet little princess had never raised her voice, it began to draw the attention of passersby.
People whispered as they gathered, curious about what was going on.
The grand chamberlain, whose forehead had flushed crimson as if humiliated, found himself unable to snap back at Judith as he normally would.
Her expression alone seemed to promise disaster if he dared to speak back.
But more than that, he was beset by an anxious unease about the baffling change in the princess.
“I…
I apologize, Princess.
I… deeply a… apologize, if my behavior has offended you…”
“You don’t owe me an apology.
You should apologize to Marianne.”
“Pardon?”
“Marianne only stood up for her princess—me.
Surely you wouldn’t claim that calling her a worthless maid wasn’t a mistake.
Apologize to Marianne.
And Marianne, you apologize first.”
“I’m sorry.” Marianne muttered half-heartedly, pouting as she spoke.
The grand chamberlain’s face turned an even deeper shade of red.
He glared at Judith, his expression seething with suppressed anger, but eventually realized he had no choice.
With a half-hearted bow, he inclined his head slightly toward Marianne.
“…My words and actions were inappropriate.
I apologize, Marianne.”
As the grand chamberlain truly lowered his head before the maid, the murmuring around them grew louder.
His face twisted with frustration as he abruptly turned his head away, letting out a groan and unclenching the fists he had been gripping tightly in his rage.
“Let’s go, Marianne.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Judith strode past the grand chamberlain, who was still trembling.
She could feel the wide-eyed stares from those around her, but unlike before, she didn’t feel the slightest bit intimidated.
“What’s going on?”
“Is that really Your Highness the princess?
She’s like a completely different person.”
“She couldn’t even lift her head properly if there were three or four people around…”
The maids and servants who had gathered and gossiped, scattered quickly as the grand chamberlain stormed past them, waving his arms in frustration and muttering under his breath.
That day, rumors swept through Tien Palace that Princess Judith had undergone a drastic transformation overnight.
* * *
Illand was sprawled out on the gleaming throne, waiting for Judith.
A pile of documents lay untouched on the table before him—papers he was supposed to review but almost certainly wouldn’t bother with.
He was never fit to be king.
He was lazy, dissolute, and self-centered.
Despite all this, his greed ran deep, and he constantly grumbled about Tien’s small territory and its exhausted mines.
Watching him from afar, Judith sighed, her brother appearing just as pathetic as she remembered him to be.
Their mother was a wise woman, but unfortunately, Illand hadn’t inherited even a shred of her intelligence.
He inherited only their father’s foolishness, recklessness, and indulgent nature.
After their mother’s death, Judith lost the only one she could rely on, becoming increasingly withdrawn and melancholic.
Illand disliked her for this, and he didn’t hesitate to bully and torment her at every opportunity.
Fear weighed so heavily on Judith that she could barely even breathe in his presence.
She even started to stammer.
But that was in the past.
Judith, blinking once as if to clear away old memories, walked up to Illand before the grand chamberlain had a chance to announce her arrival.
“Illand, you called for me, didn’t you?”
Illand, engrossed in idly rolling a gold coin between his fingers, was oblivious to anyone approaching until her voice reached him.
His head snapped up in surprise, and he started looking around like a madman for the source of the sound.
“Did you just speak?”
“Who else dares to call you Illand except me?”
“Huh?”
His eyes flickered with malicious interest.
Her sudden transformation was surprising to him as well.
“Did you eat something wrong?”
“…No.
I just came because you had something urgent to tell me.”
“You little brat, suddenly getting so bold and rolling your eyes.
Is your brother worth less than a stray dog?
Do you not realize where you are?”
She realized that he wasn’t worth talking to anymore.
She watched Illand, who was quickly growing more irritable, and thought.
“Your Majesty.”
His eyes widened at the sudden words coming from her mouth.
It was the first time she had ever called him that.
“I know that the Lotheir envoy has already visited.”
“What?
Who told you that?”
“I have ears too.
It’s impossible to hide what’s being said as people come and go.”
Illand was flustered.
Judith’s attitude was definitely irritating, but he, like the grand chamberlain, didn’t know the exact reason why, and that left him unsettled.
It was also unexpected that she had brought up Lotheir first.
His original plan had been to present the promissory note from Lotheir and inform her that she would be marrying Prince Franz, or whatever his name was.
She would cry, throw a fit—but so what?
If he could sell off his useless sister to cover his losses, he would welcome it with open arms.
Having thought all of this, Illand couldn’t understand Judith’s calm attitude at all.
“You’ve heard about it, so there’s no need to say much more.
You know very well that Tien’s situation has become dire after the recent war.”
“….”
“For seventeen years, you’ve lived in luxury as a princess.
Whose doing was that?
Wasn’t it all thanks to the taxes of the people?
So it’s the duty of the royal family to repay that debt.”
Judith quietly clenched her teeth, thinking that if she had a knife in her hand, she would have stabbed Illand right then and there.
Hearing such nonsense coming from her brother’s mouth, of all people, made her stomach churn.
“Queen Gilsis of Lotheir has graciously offered to save Tien from the burden of reparations.
In return, she wants you to marry Prince Franz.
It’s just…
to be honest, I’m so embarrassed.”
“You’re embarrassed, Illand?”
Illand snorted, “Of course I am.
How could I not feel embarrassed sending someone as worthless as you to be a prince’s wife.”
He continued, “If you had eyes, you’d know how you look.
You’re neither charming, nor quick-witted…
you don’t even have any sex appeal.”