This was, perhaps, one of the most unusual nights of my life.
Curled up in an uncomfortable position, I slept half-sitting, with only my head on the bed. Since my bed was occupied by the commoner I had saved — there was no other choice.
The floor was too hard, and I couldn't take another room. To avoid suspicion, I tried to behave as usual and not give away that there was someone else in my room besides me.
Since the Duke would surely be furious, I decided to delay the moment of "confession" as long as possible. At least, when we were discovered, the girl would have time to more or less recover and leave here.
All the previous night, I didn't sleep a wink and watched over her, because who knows what could happen. But the commoner slept peacefully and gave no cause for concern. It seemed the legendary frost mushroom had indeed worked.
In the morning, I woke up feeling a slight ache in my body. It wasn't easy spending the whole night in such an uncomfortable position. It seemed my limbs had gone numb.
I yawned tiredly and stretched.
It was still early morning. Just in case, checking the commoner's pulse and making sure she was alright, I was about to go to the kitchen and inquire about what was for breakfast today.
I had spent all of yesterday evening caring for the wounded girl and even forgot to have dinner. So now I was terribly hungry.
To my surprise, when I woke up, Elisha wasn't there. Usually, my personal maid was always nearby and came to wake me around the same time. Had something happened?
A little confused, I noticed a few more oddities. Considering that the Duke didn't like any noise and always adhered to strict discipline in his own house, the atmosphere in the estate was always gloomy and cold. But today, surprisingly, it was quite lively here.
The maids were excitedly whispering among themselves, discussing some hot news. The girls were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't immediately notice me standing right in front of them.
"M-my Lady, good morning!" they greeted, finally realizing.
"Ha-ha, good morning."
Do I really look like a ghost? Even these maids didn't see me point-blank, only noticing me at the last moment.
I guess I shouldn't worry about seeming suspicious. No one here cares about me anyway. Whether I'm here or not — basically, nothing in this world will change. The bitter fate of an insignificant heroine both pleased and saddened me at the same time.
However, not everything was so simple.
As I walked down the corridor, a maid with a stack of fresh linen was coming towards me. I immediately sensed danger.
"My Lady, your linen was delivered from the laundry today," she informed me, "I was just about to take it to you."
I was embarrassed, mentally wondering where Elisha had disappeared to at such a crucial moment.
"Oh, no need! I can do it myself."
"But..."
"It's alright! I have nothing to do anyway."
I took the basket of linen from her, at which the maid stared in surprise.
"Then... As you wish, miss."
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Surprised by my behavior, the maid hesitated for a moment. After which I made sure she turned down the other side of the corridor.
I exhaled with relief. Just at that moment, the one I had mentally mentioned earlier appeared.
"My Lady, please forgive me...!" Elisha stopped next to me, out of breath, "I was a little late today..."
Well, I had already noticed.
"Did something happen?" I asked with genuine interest.
Given Elisha's punctuality, this was the first time she had come to work so late. I was genuinely curious about what could have delayed her.
"Well... Nothing special," the maid stammered guiltily, "The girls and I just got chatting in the kitchen."
"And about what?" I decided to tease her, "Gossiping about handsome knights, I bet?"
"My Lady, what are you saying...!" she instantly became embarrassed, "Of course not!"
"Then what's the matter? You were gone quite a while. I was even about to go looking for you."
Suddenly, Elisha's eyes lit up, just like the girls I had encountered earlier in the corridor.
"My Lady, you don't know yet, but today this news is on all the front pages of the newspapers! Even His Grace was agitated and was going to go to the palace."
"Huh?"
I was surprised that something like this could have happened in the empire in just one day.
Instead of answering, the maid handed me a slightly crumpled copy of the fresh correspondence for my perusal. The state newspaper of the empire, which I had never even touched before. Usually it printed boring news about politics and finance, which could only be interesting to someone like my father.
But... This time, my attention was drawn to a bright headline.
When I read just one line, I caught my breath, and it seemed to me that the most joyful event of my life had occurred today.
Of course, I wasn't at all surprised by what was written. But seeing it in person was doubly thrilling. Today was the day when the novel I had ended up in came to an end.
The news reported that the previous evening, the Crown Princess had attempted a coup d'état, as a result of which she was killed. The heroine who had preceded the onset of chaos in the country was the Second Princess.
Jerica Lant de Ronan, who bravely entered the battle with the villainess, emerged victorious.
Immediately after her death, it became known that the Crown Princess had been stripped of all her regalia and henceforth had no relation to the imperial family. "The criminal who tried to sow unrest in the country has no place in our history!" — that was the first official comment from the imperial court.
The people warmly supported the initiative of the ministers and the Emperor to permanently deprive Kaena de Ronan of her title and any merits. Since the princess's body was badly mutilated, a public funeral would not take place. Instead, the girl would be buried in an unmarked grave without any honors.
The coronation of the new heiress to the throne will take place exactly one month from now, when all necessary preparations are completed. After all, there would be no mourning for the deceased Kaena whatsoever.
Reading this news, which was like honey to my ears, I experienced genuine satisfaction. It seemed that my mission to survive in this world had been successfully completed.
I folded the newspaper and gave it back to Elisha. She watched with amazement as the smile on my face grew wider and wider.
"My Lady, what are you so happy about? Has something good happened?" she asked naively.
"I'm just in a wonderful mood today!" I didn't go into unnecessary details, "Let's have breakfast quickly!"
Although the sudden death of Kaena de Ronan shocked the entire empire, I was going to celebrate this event with a fragrant steak for breakfast. The chefs must have tried hard this time, because it was so tender that it melted as soon as I put it in my mouth. And it was so juicy! I was completely delighted by the delicious meat.
"Once I've eaten, I need to think about my further plans..."
Now that my safety was no longer threatened, I could fully realize my ambitions. After all, I still had to decide what I would live on in the future. Considering recent events, I had begun to seriously doubt that my father and brother would support me for the rest of my life.
And in general, the thought of some kind of business still didn't leave me.
While I was peacefully having breakfast in my room, I even forgot for a while about the presence of another person here. I was distracted from the endless stream of thoughts by a weak cough.
I immediately reacted, noticing that the commoner had regained consciousness. I was surprised that this had happened so quickly. Not even a full day had passed!
I quickly wiped my hands with a napkin and went to check on her. The commoner wasn't moving and had just opened her eyes.
"You're awake?"
Her golden eyes instantly turned to me. Gradually, the wary expression on her face after waking changed to a surprised one.
For some reason, at that moment, I couldn't take my eyes off her face. I hadn't paid much attention to it before, since the commoner was unconscious, but... I couldn't believe that such beautiful people could exist even in a novel. Is this even allowed by nature?!
"Are... Are you feeling alright? Does anything hurt?" when I came to my senses, the first thing I did was inquire about her well-being.
The commoner looked at me with wide eyes.
"I... I don't remember anything."