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THE DOOR TO HER ROOM BURST OPEN, verena and odessa came rushing in while kalliste reprimanded them for being unladylike. "your imperial highness, duchess, did you hear?! there's shocking news!"
"verena! odessa! i told you not to run in front of her imperial highness,"
"there is no time for manners, duchess!"
"there is always time."
"this is urgent! how could this be a time for manners?"
odessa and verena rushed over to astrid and collapsed by her side to catch their breaths. they were both healthy women and must have run here from a distance. duchess kalliste was too overwhelmed with curiosity to nag them, instead choosing to sit next to them. odessa took in a deep breath as everyone crowded around her. "it's about duchess tuania." verena began
"odessa, if you're talking about lord marius or duke ergi, you're a step behind."
"that's not the story, duchess." odessa looked affronted, as both of those stories had already been widely circulated. to be precise, one was an old scandal that had been revived, and the other was when duke ergi was slapped on the cheek.
"well?"
"duke tuania told the duchess he would divorce her."
"what?"
the ladies covered their mouths in astonishment. astrid was also shocked, and she set her book aside. why duke tuania? "is it because of rumors about lord marius?" at the duchess's question, odessa nodded.
"yes. i heard him yelling, 'is he my brother's son?' and that he couldn't help but be suspicious."
"but he never said it before, so why is he mentioning it now?"
one of the ladies-in-waiting feigned a smile, while duchess kalliste clicked her tongue. "shortly after lord marius went into the church, duchess tuania visited the temple at the request of the former duke. before that, they had a close relationship. from the standpoint of the current duke tuania, he would be suspicious if he heard these kinds of rumors. keep talking, odessa,"
odessa looked alternately between the two, then continued. "and he didn't like that the duchess got into a fight with another woman. he wasn't sure if it was because there was something between duke ergi and her."
"oh, that's too much."
"the duke must be frustrated that paternity tests are not allowed by the church."
"there used to be talk from some time ago. someone said to the former duke, 'is it possible that the baby may be lord marius's?' he replied, 'is he not still my grandchild anyway?'"
the ladies-in-waiting tsked collectively. paternity tests had once been considered infallible, until the rumpel case thirty-five years ago. a woman went to the church to found out who her child's father was, but the father had an identical twin brother. as the priest examined the results, he concluded that both men were the baby's fathers, revealing a loophole in the paternity tests. however, even if there was a flaw, those particular circumstances were so rare...
"it's kind of quite strange, actually. duke tuania said they conceived the baby before they were married, but since they were wedded, the duchess hasn't gotten pregnant since."
"maybe duke tuania is too proud to admit he's infertile."
the supposed affair of lord marius and duchess tuania happened when astrid was still young enough that she had no idea of the commotion at the time. why was it dredged up now after it had been buried for ten years?
"does this have something to do with rashta?"
the ladies-in-waiting stopped chattering and turned towards her. they were unsure why rashta's name was brought up all of a sudden, and in all fairness, astrid had no proof. "what did duchess tuania say, odessa?" astrid asked, shaking her head
"she said she would never divorce. it may even go to trial." the ladies-in-waiting began to talk about the possibility of the duchess winning the trial.
── astrid found the timing of this situation unusual, so she asked the ladies-in-waiting to find out why duke tuania suddenly brought up the problem. she suspected rashta must have fanned the duke's anxious mind, but that alone was not cause for punishment, not unless she actively manipulated information. but it wouldn't hurt to know.
if rashta caused this, she could not simply be treated as a naive slave-turned-concubine. she had the ability to influence society and manipulate public opinion, and one had to be wary of such enemies.
however, four days after hearing the news of duke tuania's intention to divorce, something more shocking happened. "your imperial highness! rashta was stabbed by viscount landre!"
viscount landre was a young man besotted with duchess tuania. when he was selected as the duchess' dance partner at the new year's ball, he beamed as if he had the world in his hands. That same young man stabbed rashta...
"he must have thought it was rashta who started the rumor about the duchess tuania." the lady-in-waiting who delivered the news looked surprised.
"how do you know?"
"tell me the details."
"everything started out fine at first. it was rashta who let him in her room. i don't know why."
rashta must have allowed him in because she knew he was a lovesick young man. she had watched the men who gathered around the duchess at the new year's celebrations.
"I don't know if I can say this, but..."
the maid started muttering in an apologetic way, but then she waved her hands as if to ignore it and started talking again. "duke ergi came in and kicked down the door, saying he smelled blood, and fortunately he hit—no, he stopped viscount landre. the viscount was seized on the spot."
"duke ergi? he's returned?" astrid asked, a dangerous tone to her voice.
"yes, but that's not the important part, your majesty. when viscount landre was caught, he kept shouting that rashta that ruined duchess tuania..."
the lady-in-waiting glanced at her., "that's why i was surprised when you mentioned duchess tuania all of a sudden, your majesty. is there really something there?"
although they both approached this from different situations, they coincidentally came around to the same subject. astrid frowned and dismissed the lady-in-waiting, she was too tired to deal with this.
