章節 4: 4. Three Persons
After a few weeks passed, Ellie learned to adapt to her new world. She had made up her mind to remain silent and observe the current situation.
She called Lyra and Sera, her two personal maids, to inquire about any news or rumors circulating in society.
Lyra and Sera looked down and glanced at each other. They pondered whether they should share the information they had obtained with their Lady.
"..."
Ellie knew what was on their minds. She suspected that news about Lucas and Ava must have spread widely.
"Just say it," she said, nonchalantly.
"I heard a rumor that Crown Prince Lucas brought a woman to his private mansion, My Lady. The servants who usually interact with me hear the gossip from the noble households they serve," Sera spoke with a trembling voice.
Eleanor would always get angry and throw tantrums when she heard things she disliked about Lucas. For example, if a noblewoman approached Lucas or when Lucas had relations with other women.
She didn't care about the rumors outside claiming that her face was ugly or that she was a girl who couldn't be seen in public. All that occupied her mind was Crown Prince Lucas.
Therefore, her maids were afraid to convey this information.
However, contrary to their expectations, Eleanor remained calm and didn't show any anger. Her face was expressionless as if the man being rumored about had no connection to her whatsoever.
"Is that all you've heard?"
Seeing Eleanor's calm reaction, Sera dared to shared more.
"And they said that the woman is very beautiful, My Lady. They also mentioned... that it's only fitting for the Crown Prince to have another woman if he has a fiancée like My Lady. But they don't know the origin of the girl or which noble family she comes from."
"Sera! No matter how beautiful a woman is, she can't surpass Lady Ellie's beauty!" Lyra retorted angrily.
"I know that too. I'm just telling you what I heard," Sera replied with a pouting face.
Eleanor's maids were infuriated by the rumors circulating outside. They had tried several times to clarify that their Lady was not a woman devoid of beauty but a woman with unmatched beauty.
However, the servants from other noble families they usually conversed with didn't believe them and said,
"Hah, you just want to praise your Miss. If she's so beautiful, then why does she always cover her face when attending any party?"
"Yes, indeed. Lady Ashford should be grateful that she was born into the upper-class nobility and that the Emperor arranged her engagement with the Crown Prince, even though she's unpleasant to look at.
"If she were born into an ordinary noble family, her family would have to support her for a lifetime because no one would marry her."
"If I were Lady Ashford, I would keep quiet and shut my ears, pretend not to hear the gossip about me. Instead of instructing my servants to spread lies."
Lyra and Sera were filled with anger upon hearing those remarks, to the point where the veins on their faces were visibly pulsating.
"My Lady never instructed us to spread lies! She is truly beautiful!"
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever makes you happy."
Sera and Lyra fell silent, their brows furrowing every time they remembered the mockery from the noble servants outside.
But unlike Sera and Lyra, Ellie didn't care about rumors concerning her appearance. She knew that it wasn't true.
All she thought about was how to live peacefully without getting involved in Lucas and Ava's story.
At first, she thought of finding a way back to her original world. For several days, she searched for books in the family library, particularly those with titles like 'Transmigration' or anything related to extraordinary occurrences. However, all she found were fairy tales and theories.
At some point, she wondered if she even knew whether her body in her original world was still alive or already dead.
So she gave up and tried to adapt to her new world. Besides, her previous life had been monotonous, and she didn't have family or friends who would miss her there. But here, she had a father who loved her, even if he wasn't her biological father.
Ellie closed her eyes, lost in thought, and slowly opened them.
"Alright, if there's any news about Crown Prince Lucas that I need to know, inform me. You don't need to worry too much about my feelings."
Sera and Lyra looked at each other, their eyes filled with astonishment.
"Very well, My Lady."
And Ellie asked them both to leave so she could note down everything happening in the novel.
In the novel, after Lucas married Ava, Eleanor begged and pleaded to become Lucas's concubine and marry him. Little did Eleanor know, her dream coming true would become her own personal hell.
In the Astoria Empire, only the royal family could marry their concubines. When a member of the royal family ascended the throne, their concubine also became a Consort, the highest-ranking woman below the Empress.
This was done to ensure that a child born from the womb of a royal concubine wouldn't be labeled as illegitimate and could still compete for the throne.
On the other hand, mistresses of ordinary nobles couldn't marry their patrons. Their position was merely seen as that of a mistress or a secret lover for the nobility. And a child born from the womb of a noble mistress was considered illegitimate and had no chance to inherit their father's title.
Thus, Eleanor's position as a concubine didn't require Lucas to have an heir with her, even though when she was pregnant her child could still compete with the empress's child.
Lucas never even touched Eleanor out of disgust, and the tasks that were supposed to be carried out by the Crown Princess, Ava, were thrown onto Eleanor.
Morning after morning, Eleanor tirelessly performed Ava's tasks, even though she was tired, hoping that Lucas would praise her for doing her duties well.
But to her disappointment, Lucas only gave her cold shoulders every time she reported that her tasks were completed.
From charity and social activities to researching state issues, diplomatic meetings, hosting delegations—you name it. Everything that should have been Ava's tasks, Eleanor did them.
Eleanor's task was to compile reports based on those things, but Ava appeared in public as if it were her own work.
For the general public, be it nobles or commoners, Ava appeared as the dependable Crown Princess because of her excellent performance. Eleanor was merely a tool for the royal family.
"Actually, what's so special about Lucas that Eleanor was willing to be treated like a puppet like this!" she said angrily while scribbling Lucas's name on the note.
The Emperor used Duke Ashford's troops, Eleanor's father, for his own purposes, and his son also used Eleanor for his own interests.
As Ellie remembers, Duke Ashford ended up as a traitor who conspired with Grandduke Cassius Caspian, the Emperor's nephew and also an antagonist in the novel, to stage a coup.
As a result, all the inhabitants of Ashford Duchy received hanging punishments, and all of Ashford Duchy's troops and assets were seized by the royal family. Eleanor, as Lucas's concubine, didn't receive a death sentence but was sentenced to imprisonment.
"Her noble title was stripped away, and she was demoted to the lowest rank in the hierarchy: a slave."
Crack!
Without realizing it, the pen she was holding broke in two as her grip tightened.
Even dogs and cats have higher status than slaves because slaves are usually those who have committed serious crimes against the empire. One can imagine what Eleanor's life must have been like.
"I know Eleanor is a foolish woman. Yet, for some reason, my blood boils when I see her being treated like that."
Having read up to that point, Ellie closed her book. There was one thing bothering her: how could Duke Ashford be involved with Grandduke Cassius?
Ellie has memories of Eleanor from her childhood when she could speak, up until the day she jumped into the pond and fell ill.
But there was not a single memory of Grand Duke Cassius, who was also an antagonist in the novel 'Persona.'
Ellie's understanding of Cassius was only based on what she read in the novel, that Cassius was the Emperor's nephew, a man with a strikingly beautiful appearance—long black hair as dark as the night sky, eyes the color of golden shimmering yellow, sharp and strong jawline, broad chest, and red lips.
When she read that part, she wondered if the author had described it incorrectly. It seemed as if Cassius was the main character in the novel, not Lucas.
In the novel, Cassius was depicted as someone cold on the surface also cunning and deceitful underneath. He was obsessed with becoming the Emperor, and his golden yellow eyes were a distinctive feature of the royal family, symbolizing their strong royal lineage.
He was better known as the God of War rather than the Grandduke of Caspian.
That made Emperor Julian, Lucas' father, worried and anxious furthermore, Lucas did not inherit the royal family's golden eyes but rather inherited his mother's light brown eyes. It caused the nobles to be divided into two factions: those supporting the Crown Prince and those supporting Cassius.
After briefly considering what steps she should take, she decided that there were three persons in the Astoria Empire whom she must avoid at all costs.
"Lucas Lancaster, Ava Sinclaire, and Cassius Caspian."
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