Chapter 9.4

The Move (4)

The detached palace that was gifted to us was practically right next to the main palace. The main palace’s basic architecture was in the shape of a ‘T’, but with its countless corridors and hallways that connected itself to the detached palaces, the overall architecture was pretty complex. If you didn’t know it well, you would get lost. Since I had a good sense of direction that let me run around the forest without getting lost, I was okay, but Ariess got lost a couple of times and cried.

The detached palace itself, along with the inner palace that Their Majesties resided in, was a two-story building and wasn’t that big. It was a completely private space, so they were built with comfort and relaxation in mind. With that being said, it still had three dining rooms, eight salons, eight party rooms, two personal bedrooms and one couple bedroom, a closet room, a vanity room, a bathroom, a massage room, and office rooms. …Actually, I take that back — it’s not small at all. Since I had seen the gigantic main palace, my sense of size was skewed. For what it’s worth, the main palace already had a countless number of banquet halls alone.

The dresses were immediately stored away in the closet room. I was slightly worried that they wouldn’t all fit, but that was an unnecessary concern since they all fit with ample space left. There also was a lot of furniture, but with the power of numbers, they moved in everything in a snap of a finger, and were placed and decorated according to Cermiane and I’s requests. The attendants from the Caliente residence were very efficient, but the attendants from the imperial palace were also just as efficient. Everything was done so quickly and cleanly that it was extremely satisfying to watch them work. Incredible!

Still, we got to work in the morning, took a lunch break, and worked until sunset. It was tough. It was exhausting. After seeing Mother, whose face was filled with nothing but worry, and the Caliente attendants off, I almost fell asleep on the sofa. Estecia immediately scolds me.

“Princess, you mustn’t let your guard down.”

What do you mean I can’t relax in my very own home?! Is what I thought, but a normal princess spends the day participating in high-pressure environments inside and outside the palace, such as ceremonies and social events. Even just being able to take that outward facade off was already considered relaxing. My commoner-influenced definition of relaxing was simply out-of-question from a noble’s perspective. Apparently, once I internalize all the etiquette and manners, I’m able to relax without being unrefined. Is that really true?

By the way, at this point, I was still imperial prince Cermiane’s wife, a princess. When Cermiane becomes the Crown Prince, I would become the Crown Princess and will be addressed as “Your Highness.” Who cares? I didn’t.

Once Cermiane oversaw most of our move-in, he started going back to work at the Crown Prince’s Office. Since he was preparing to become the Crown Prince, the amount of knowledge he needed to know was incomparable to mine. Back when we were living at our home, it was to the extent that he studied late into the night everyday when he got back. He must’ve been so busy that he couldn’t even afford to take the day off for our move-in.

Other than Estecia and Ariess, there were three senior maids and fifteen junior maids at our detached palace. Senior maids came from high-ranking noble families and were responsible for taking care of me and my personal matters. Junior maids came from lower-ranking families and were responsible for everything else. Based on this, Ariess would have been a junior maid, but since she came with me, she got special treatment. In addition to the maids, there were butlers and servants who were serving Cermiane. Since I don’t really meet them, I didn’t even know how many of them there were. But, the head butler’s name was Haboc, and since I tended to have business with him, I met him often. He was a slim man in his fifties with a goatee and white hair. He apparently had been working at the palace for a long time and knew just about everything. He was always cool and collected, and rarely smiled.

The head maid of the detached palace was Countess Aurela Monbelm, and she was a bespectacled, beautiful lady in her late thirties who was the textbook definition of a calm, serious, and solemn woman. She always wore her black hair in a bun, wore her uniform impeccably, and has never been seen smiling. She looked like a really strict person, and I was honestly a bit intimidated when I first met her. But, I later learned that she actually was a pretty open-minded person. Estecia and Aurela were both countesses, so they were both a bit apprehensive towards each other on the first day. As one was a personal maid brought by me and the other was the head maid, they were both of the same rank. However, after having to deal with me time and time again, that tension went out the window and they became really close as comrades.

In the detached palace, there were also a number of commoners (but only those who were originally nobles. Those who weren’t able to receive a ring due to difficult financial situations or some other circumstance) working as servants, and around a dozen knights. So my point was that there were a lot of people in our home. No matter where I went and what I did, there were eyes. It kind of sucked. Since I was already used to Quemella forcing me to let her bathe me, I was okay with the maids assisting me, but I was really against them trying to help me with going to the restroom. What sort of embarrassing act is this?! But, it was true that it wasn’t possible for someone wearing an aristocratic dress to go to the restroom by themselves. I had no choice but to have them help me…

I had already mentally prepared myself, but with just one day of this completely new life, I ran out of what was supposed to be my ample stamina. After taking a bath, I changed into a slightly easier-to-move nightdress, climbed onto a humongous canopy bed with Cermiane, and when the maid said goodnight, closed the curtains, and I was finally alone with Cermiane. I finally let out a sigh of relief. I was exhausted.

Cermiane must have also been similarly exhausted, but I wanted to be comforted by him, so I hugged him. Haaa. This here was the only unchanging thing from before. Cermiane’s muscular body, his scent, also his kindness when he hugs me back as well as his gentleness when he caresses my head.

“Are you tired?”

And Cermiane’s gentle voice.

“… I’m sorry. I know you must also be tired.”

He kissed the top of my head. Ahhh. As always, my husband was really kind. And I was pitiful. Even though it was only the first day, I was already feeling pretty down about my princess life that was about to continue from now on.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. I know you can do it, Ral.”

Cermiane’s words of encouragement gently soaked my heart. …Even though Cermiane is the one who has it rougher than me, even though I should be the one encouraging and comforting Cermiane. I couldn’t just continue to be like this. I propped myself up. I was able to believe that I could work hard again starting from tomorrow.

Sigh. I was glad I married Cermiane, from the bottom of my heart. If Cermiane wasn’t here, I wouldn’t have been able to bear all of this by myself. With such thoughts running through my head, I kissed Cermiane’s chest. I became satisfied and quickly fell asleep. Interestingly enough, the thought that if Cermiane wasn’t here, I wouldn’t have had to deal with all of this never crossed my mind.

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