Baby Prisoner of the Winter Castle

Chapter 8

Clarisse wanted to protest that she wasn’t that frail, but she didn’t have the chance to.

“Change the sheets to the ones made of phoenix feathers.”

Sheets made of the feathers of a phoenix, a rare monster, were a valuable treasure that the king himself used in the winter. But Rosalie nodded without mentioning this.

“Yes, my lord.”

When Maximilian left, Rosalie took Clarisse’s hands and knelt before her.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Rosalie.”

“Hello, I’m Clarisse Lenon Grezekaiah.”

Her hands were held, but she still awkwardly tried to curtsy. Rosalie gave her a warm smile as though the attempt itself was adorable.

“Can I call you Miss Lenon?”

“I prefer Clarisse. Just Clarisse.”

“Clarisse,” Rosalie repeated her name slowly and nodded. “That’s a beautiful name.”

“Nobody has ever complimented my name before.”

“Is that so? I guess everyone was too busy complimenting the other things about you that they forgot about your name.”

That was not true. All her life, she had simply never been complimented before. But for some reason, Clarisse wanted to pretend she was a child who had received a lot of praise, so she simply smiled. Still, hearing this compliment for the first time made her very happy.

“Right, then. How about a bath? The room is quite warm now, so it will be all right to take off your clothes. Let me help you.”

Rosalie reached out toward Clarisse’s dress.

Clarisse quickly took a step back and grabbed one of her buttons. “I can do it myself.”

“You can undo such a small button all by yourself?”

“Yes.”

She moved her small fingers and unfastened it in an instant. Since she had always dressed herself in Grezekaiah, she didn’t think it was anything special. However, Rosalie poured another compliment on her immediately.

“Oh, my! You’re really good at it! You are quite skilled with your hands.”

Feeling a little excited, Clarisse quickly unfastened the other buttons as well.

“Oh, what a clever girl!”

Rosalie helped Clarisse into the warm bathtub.

“It’s so warm…”

“Isn’t it? That’s a relief. Tell me if it gets too hot or too cold.”

“This feels great.”

Clarisse scrubbed her face with her little palms. When she wiped the back of her ears as well, Rosalie complimented her again.

“You know how to wash your face quite well.”

“It was in a book! I read it yesterday…”

Clarisse had read the book the duchess had left in the other room for her. It was about how to prevent illnesses by brushing your teeth and bathing properly. Clarisse wanted to live a healthy life until she turned eighteen, so she read the book from cover to cover three times.

“My, my! You can read all by yourself too?”

“Yes, I am nine years old. And the book was so much fun. It had lovely drawings in it, too.”

“How nice! You will be a great person if you read a lot of books.”

Rosalie picked up a handful of foam and began massaging Clarisse’s pink hair. The fizzy bubbles next to her ears tickled her a little. Clarisse tried her best to hold back a giggle.

“Your hair is such an adorable shade of pink.”

“I was told it might turn blonde if I stay in the sun long enough.”

That was what the maids of Grezekaiah had told her. They said her pink hair didn’t suit the gravitas of the royal family and that it could turn into an elegant blonde if she kept it in the sun. But no matter how long she waited in the sunlight, the color didn’t change in the slightest.

“That would be unfortunate.”

“Unfortunate?”

“Yes, I’ve never seen such beautiful pink hair. It would be a waste to get rid of it.”

“But…”

Clarisse was about to say that the pink didn’t suit a child of the royal family but closed her mouth. Come to think of it, she was no longer a child of the royal family.

Seeing the troubled look on Clarisse’s face, Rosalie smiled and said, “You should show love and care to your beautiful hair every day.”

Feeling a little embarrassed for some reason, Clarisse fidgeted with the tips of her wrinkling fingers.

“Rosalie… You’re amazing at compliments.”

“Oh, thank you. I’m happy to hear that. You’re so sweet, Clarisse.”

Rosalie seemed genuinely happy as she began to hum while continuing to bathe the child. Clarisse felt sheepish and told herself to keep quiet. But she looked forward to receiving more compliments from Rosalie.

*

Maximilian hesitated for a moment in front of his wife’s bedroom. Their relationship was already awkward, and what had just happened only made things more uncomfortable between them. Who knew that the maid she brought from home was so… Maximilian had some idea of his wife’s nature, so he wondered if her handmaid might have been mistreating her as well all this time. I hope that woman wasn’t cruel to her. If she had told him about the maid, he would’ve helped her.

Well, I guess we’re not close enough to discuss such things. Even after three years of marriage, they were like strangers—no, they were less than strangers. At least strangers had the possibility of growing closer over time. But he and his wife were destined to grow farther apart, going their separate ways after a certain point.

“Your Grace?”

While he hesitated, he heard a clear voice from behind him. Startled, Maximilian quickly turned around. He had been so absorbed in his thoughts that he hadn’t heard his wife approach him.

“I heard from Rosalie. Thank you for helping the child.”

“I’m glad you already know.”

“And… I sincerely apologize, Your Grace.”

She placed a hand on her chest and bowed elegantly. There was a silent pause.

“I failed to do what you asked of me. I must take responsibility.”

She was right. Any faults of the servants were their master’s responsibility. When the servants of the estate had told Bessie not to bully the child, she had lied and claimed that the duchess was merely treating a criminal the way she should be treated. She had also ignored the duchess’s request to meet the child.

What was more, when they searched through the maid’s things after sending her to the dungeon, they found a report in her bag detailing every aspect of the duchess’s life. There was nothing scandalous in it, but leaking a household’s private affairs was unacceptable. And since Maximilian was a blood relative of the king, it also violated important laws regarding the kingdom’s security. That was how grave the matter was, but Maximilian didn’t believe it was entirely his wife’s fault.

“I… should have noticed,” he said.

“Bessie is my maid. You haven’t even seen her around very much, and you’ve hardly been at the estate as of late.”

She was right about that.

“And she’s the maid I brought with me when we married.”

That was also true. His wife was so good with words that Maximilian could not find anything to say against her. So in the end, all he could give was his usual response.

“Then, I will deal with the maid according to the law.”

“Yes.”

She immediately responded as if she had expected that response and straightened her posture.

“I will accept any punishment given to me as well. And… I know it’s shameless of me to ask, but…”

Maximilian watched her quietly as she hesitated.

“Could you keep this matter a secret from the House of Darington?”

Unfortunately, that was impossible. He had to notify them so they could help root out the problem from their end.

“Please, I beg you.”

However, when she looked up and their eyes met, Maximilian nodded before he could stop himself. But as that was a mistake, he quickly tried to correct himself.

“Oh, thank you! You’re such… a wonderful man!”

Seeing her eyes curl into a beautiful smile, he could only gaze at her blankly, unable to say a thing.

How pathetic of me, he thought.

*

Clarisse finally found herself alone in her room, but only after having her hair thoroughly dried and then being adorned in a pretty red dress. She took out the rocks from her pouch and kissed them.

“I’m sorry about what happened. But I’m so glad you’re still here with me.”

Without Squishy, she might’ve sobbed all throughout the night in the dark room earlier. Of course, the other rocks in the estate were kind to her as well, but she wasn’t as close to them as she was to Squishy. She couldn’t rely on them yet.

“I’ll be all right anywhere as long as I’m with you. And everyone here seems to like you, Squishy.”

The duke had even called Squishy his “guest” this morning. Clarisse had heard it as clear as day.

“His Grace really is a great man.”

No one in Grezekaiah had acknowledged Squishy as Clarisse’s friend. Everyone had mocked her for wandering around collecting rocks or had thrown Squishy far away so she would have to spend hours looking for it again.

“So I’m going to do my best to be of help to him. Will you help me do that?”

Clarisse leaned close to Squishy. The four separate stones were together, forming the shape of a small animal with arms and legs.

“Cooo. (I’ll think about it.)” the small golem the size of an adult’s palm responded halfheartedly.

Clarisse hugged the little golem. “Thank you. I’m sure there’s something we can do for His Grace! Whatever it is, we’ll do it!”