A Mad Lady’s Confession - Chapter 45

“Um, madam….”

At the voice calling her, Eleanor pulled her gaze away from the book and turned her head. Two familiar young maids stood before her, hands folded neatly.

“What is it?”

They looked shy, as if about to speak and then hesitating. After a moment, one stepped forward, bent her knees, and spoke.

“Thank you for the gift.”

“Me too, madam.”

“Ah….”

At the words of thanks, Eleanor’s face flushed even more than the one who had spoken.

What am I supposed to do at times like this? She had never seen someone bestow things on those below them, so she didn’t even know what expression to imitate. Her father was like that, and her brother and sister were rather stingy as well.

After a moment’s thought, Eleanor decided to answer in her own way.

“I’m glad you liked it.”

“Yes, very much!”

“The soap smells wonderful! It’s the handmade soap sold on Fifth Street, right, madam?”

“And the handkerchief has lace, it’s so pretty. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s not something you can even buy….”

Once they started talking, the two chattered on, busy sharing their thoughts. Watching them, Eleanor felt pleased.

Ah, so this is why people give gifts. Because it makes you feel like this.

“What are your names?”

“Ah, my name is Lise.”

“Please call me Marien.”

Lise and Marien. Eleanor carefully fixed their names in her mind.

“Um, madam….”

As if they still had something to say, Lise and Marien lingered instead of leaving.

“We will truly serve you with all our sincerity from now on.”

When Eleanor looked at them with wide eyes, Lise hurriedly continued, “That’s not because you gave us gifts, absolutely not! It’s just… from now on, as our madam, we will serve you well, and also….”

She had given them gifts, and the master of the house, Matthias, had also granted money saying he was happy about the marriage.

But that alone wasn’t enough reason to say they would serve the madam well when they had only been doing so out of duty until now. They could have simply continued working as they always had.

Lise and Marien were among those in the estate who held favorable thoughts toward the new madam. The new madam was kind, not authoritarian, and incomparably beautiful.

Among the maids who disliked the new duchess, there were those who belittled her, saying she lacked dignity and even that her pretty face was frivolous, but Lise and Marien didn’t think so.

Until now, they had been careful of the other maids and couldn’t show their goodwill openly, but the atmosphere within the estate was gradually changing. One remark, ‘Try saying that after returning the soap and handkerchief the madam gave you,’ was enough to silence the gossiping mouths.

In any case, Lise and Marien had made their decision. They would faithfully serve the new madam.

Hearing their resolve, Eleanor’s large eyes widened. Her light green eyes soon curved softly, and she smiled with genuine warmth.

“I’m the one who’s grateful, truly.”

She meant it.

Seeing that face, Lise and Marien felt their hearts melt. The two eagerly moved closer, fussing as they offered to brush her hair or massage her hands.

“But madam, the summer social season has begun. Have you decided which invitations you’ll attend?”

Lise spoke while admiring the smooth texture of Eleanor’s hair.

“Invitations? Hmm, I’m not sure… I did receive some invitations, but….”

As the wife of Nielsen, it was only natural that formal invitations would arrive. However, Eleanor didn’t know which ones she should attend.

If she were to encounter Young Lady Düsseldorf again like last time, what should she do? She didn’t want anyone to be hurt because of her attendance.

“Shall we sort through the invitations for you?”

“Hm?”

Marien, who had been massaging her hands, brought over the silver tray the butler had delivered in the morning. Several invitations of different sizes were stacked on top.

Among the maids, there existed their own network of information. They shared news about what was happening in other households, what parties were like, the hostess’s preferences, and what kind of person the master of that house was.

“This one is an invitation from Madam Horton. Um… I’ve heard it’s quite boring.”

“And this one is from the Dolcensia baron family. I heard they’re having a tea party in the garden, but it’s supposed to be terribly hot.”

The problem was that Lise and Marien’s information wasn’t very extensive or particularly accurate.

“Ah! This one would be good!”

Marien picked up a card.

“I heard this place is famous for being very, very fun. And since it’s at night, you won’t feel the heat either.”

Eleanor’s curious eyes landed on the violet card in Marien’s hand.

***

Lucrezia de Verignon.

Is there anyone in Römern’s social circles who doesn’t know her?

At seventeen, she had come from a distant foreign land and married an older count in Römern. It was only much later that Lucrezia’s infamy spread, so it seemed that up to a certain point, she had behaved as a proper noble lady.

When she turned thirty, her husband died of illness, and after observing exactly three years of mourning, Lucrezia de Verignon began to reveal the self she had long kept tightly hidden.

What began as the conduct of an idle society lady grew, with countless scandals of every kind and unrestrained deviations, into something that finally established her as the most debauched woman in Römern’s social circles.

In particular, the summer garden she hosted drew both the scorn and curiosity of Römern’s nobles.

Those who were not invited naturally couldn’t attend, and even those who were invited did not know each other’s identities. Beyond the high walls, deep within the garden, only the invited knew what took place.

Because the invitation was sent as a violet card, Lucrezia de Verignon, also known as Madam Carnival, had her summer garden called the Violet Summer after the color of the card.

Matthias looked down at the card in his hand. A faint musk scent rose from the violet card marked with a black butterfly.

“Blatant.”

Narrowing his brows slightly, Matthias gave a short remark.

It wasn’t the first time he’d received Madam Carnival’s invitation. To be exact, ever since Matthias inherited the title and became the Duke of Nielsen, violet invitations had been sent to him every year without fail.

It wasn’t difficult to see the intention behind it. Madam Carnival, known for causing scandals regardless of age, would never leave alone the most desirable man in Römern.

Whether it worked or not, the invitation clearly revealed the intention to at least attempt to seduce him.

And now, holding an invitation he had never once accepted, he found himself heading toward that place known as the ‘lewd’ garden. One could say Lucrezia’s long-cherished wish, sending those cards every year, had finally come true.

Matthias picked up the paper he had placed beside him in the carriage once more.

At the end of the article, a period was placed as if foreshadowing what kind of violet commotion this summer would bring.

Not only past gossip, but gossip that was still ongoing. An article that hinted at what would come next. A summer night’s garden game that one would never know unless one attended.

Perhaps, somewhere within that garden, he might be able to seize the main body of The Paper.

Isn’t that reason enough to attend? Thinking so, he let his gaze drift beyond the carriage.

At an hour nearing midnight, even within the pitch-black curtain of night, the approach road leading to Madam Carnival’s estate was brightly lit with gas lamps, as if guiding the way so one would not lose it.

“…How very considerate, a road leading into the devil’s mouth.”

As he muttered lowly, the carriage slowly came to a stop before the large gates. Soon, a man wearing a black eagle mask approached the window of the pitch-black carriage that bore no family crest.

Matthias slightly lifted the curtain and showed the invitation, and at once, the unnecessarily grand gates opened.

And how long did they travel after that? At last, the sound of the carriage’s hooves came to a halt. Outside, lit by torches, flickering light seeped faintly even through the dim interior behind the curtains.

Matthias opened the box on the seat across from him. As he put on a jaguar-shaped mask made of jet-black satin, half of his face was concealed.

Click, as if it had been waiting, the carriage door opened, and he stepped out. A somewhat suggestive scent of a summer night brushed past the tip of his nose.

He followed the man who had been waiting for him and stepped inside. As he walked along the long arched corridor, music and loud voices could be heard.

At the end of the tunnel-like corridor, an outdoor courtyard illuminated on all sides unfolded before him.

When he appeared, the chatter seemed to quiet for a moment, then the eyes of the masked men and women clung to him. More precisely, to his chest, shoulders, and the space between his thighs.

Rather than the scent of flowers and grass from the green garden, it felt as though a damp pheromone-like smell hung more thickly in the air.

‘Are they burning aphrodisiacs?’

Matthias slowly descended the stone steps. Ignoring the blatant gazes brushing against his back and hips, he picked up a glass of rum carried by a half-naked footman.

Holding the strong liquor in his mouth as it burned down his throat, he surveyed his surroundings.

A mixed group of men and women, roughly twenty in number. About five muscular footmen wearing nothing but black trousers and suspenders. Among them, there could be the ‘body’ of The Paper.

Even before the main game began, whether because of the aphrodisiac scent or the setting, the gestures were already subtly explicit. There was a woman pinching the nipple of a footman exposing his chest, and a hairy hand kneading a man’s buttocks.

A place where anything could be done, and whatever was done remained a secret.

Madam Carnival’s summer garden was often spoken of that way among people. Everyone criticized it, yet it was also said to be a place one wished to be invited to at least once.

‘Disgusting.’

Thinking so as he raised his glass, someone entered his field of vision. A gaze that was clearly fixed on him.