I Don't Need the Grand Duke's Regret - Chapter 94
“The Grand Duke… cares for me.”
“Then go and tell the Grand Duke that yourself. Ask him to make you his Grand Duchess.”
Mirabel said curtly, moving toward the door. She opened it and issued an order for Bianca to leave.
“If you insist, I’ll mention your proposal to the Grand Duke. I’ll be sure to detail every word you spoke to the princess, showing how you don’t know your place.”
“Pri, Princess!”
Bianca hurriedly crawled on her knees, grabbing Mirabel’s hem. She even started to cry, trying to elicit sympathy.
“In truth, I was working for Count Adalberto. Princess knows him, don’t you? Count Durante Adalberto, who monopolizes the lily trade in the empire.”
Bianca gritted her teeth before continuing.
“But he abandoned me. He promised me a large sum if I seduced the Grand Duke and found his weakness, but now everyone in the Empire knows what it is.”
Mirabel, who had been half-listening to Bianca’s tearful words, tilted her head.
Could Ricardo really have a weakness?
Was she referring to his poor condition or the reason for his madness being revealed?
“The Grand Duke’s weakness?”
Seeing the princess’s interest was piqued, and Bianca slowly released her grip on the skirt. She responded in a sharp tone, her tears abruptly gone.
“Armilla Vittore, the late Grand Duchess. That woman is his weakness.”
Mirabel inhaled sharply at Bianca’s answer. She bit her lip and glared at Bianca.
Mirabel turned away from Bianca and coldly retorted.
“You have quite a skill with words, but it won’t work on me.”
“It’s not a lie. Everyone in the empire knows. The Grand Duke lost his mind after the Grand Duchess disappeared. She bewitched him completely.”
Bianca winced, recalling Armilla.
Mirabel looked down at Bianca with a calm face. Silence filled the room as she contemplated how to quickly dismiss her.
“So?”
“So, I know Count Adalberto’s schemes. That information could greatly help you, Princess.”
“If I make you the Grand Duchess, I’ll learn Count Adalberto’s secrets, and Segolinde won’t have to worry about Renato anymore. Is that what you’re saying?”
“Yes, exactly!”
Bianca replied with a bright smile. Mirabel glanced down the hallway where Sophie was approaching and continued.
“That’s too bad. I have no intention of making a deal with you.”
“Why not?”
Bianca looked up at Mirabel in shock. When their eyes met, Bianca’s face twisted with horror.
“Wait, you…!”
“Does the Grand Duke still seek you morning and night, Bianca? Are you the new bed warmer?”
“Armilla…?”
Bianca turned ghostly pale, staring at Mirabel as if she had seen a ghost.
“This can’t be!”
“Sophie, you’re here.”
Mirabel ignored the trembling Bianca and greeted Sophie. Sophie, holding a hot water bottle, tilted her head at the sight of Bianca shivering.
“What’s wrong with this maid?”
“Listen carefully, Bianca.”
“Hick!”
Bianca shuddered and fell to the floor when Mirabel called her name. Mirabel looked at her calmly and said.
“I’ll tell the Grand Duke about you as you wished. Now, go back.”
“Ho, how…?”
“Wait a moment. Did this maid just try to solicit something from you, Princess?”
Sophie, who had been watching the sobbing Bianca, interjected. She glared at Bianca before turning to Mirabel.
“This is beyond insolent. As the princess’s maid, I can’t tolerate such behavior. I must speak to the chief maid.”
“Leave it. She seems out of her mind.”
Mirabel glanced at Bianca, who was clutching her head in confusion.
Bianca saw Armilla in Princess Mirabel’s eyes.
Princess Mirabel spoke like Armilla.
But the princess couldn’t be Armilla. That was impossible.
For one, their hair and eye colors were different. Besides, Princess Mirabel was royalty from birth, while Armilla was lowborn.
Yet, the princess felt like Armilla.
She resembled Armilla, with eerily identical creepy eyes.
She said things only Armilla would say, yet she wasn’t Armilla.
“How can this be? How?”
Bianca mumbled in a panic. Sophie, glaring at her, frowned and spoke up.
“She does seem crazy. How is someone like her still employed at the Grand Duke’s residence?”
Sophie clicked her tongue in disapproval and forced Bianca to her feet. She then called out to a maid walking down the hallway and asked her to fetch the chief maid.
Not long after the maid left, Missus Catarina appeared. With a troubled expression, she deeply bowed to the princess.
“It seems this girl has caused trouble again. I apologize on her behalf, Princess.”
“A simple apology won’t suffice. This madwoman came to the princess with a proposition. How can you keep someone like her employed here?”
Sophie spoke to Missus Catarina in a very angry voice.
Though she accompanied the princess as her maid, Sophie was the daughter of Count Leontine. She was accustomed to managing servants and knew well how to handle such situations.
“Dismiss this maid immediately. Without a letter of recommendation, she won’t be hired by any other household. If you do this, we’ll overlook this incident as a gesture of goodwill from Renato.”
“That’s…”