After I Proposed to My Childhood Friend After Regression
Chapter 16
To put it simply, Beatrice had managed to join the party of Clyde and Crown Prince Crowell.
The only difference was that, unlike her expectation that she would join as a normal member of the party with the Empress’s moderate persuasion...
"Lady Beatrice! You’ve arrived! Over here."
"Ah, yes. Hello, Kaya."
"I’m glad to see you so often these days. Thank you for participating in the training again today. Now, shall we begin? Today, I will teach you how to manage teacups and tableware, as well as how to identify poisons and medicines."
"Ah, right."
She had joined as one of the maidservants assigned to assist the Crown Prince. And in secret, at that.
‘...I suppose something in my story must have tickled the Empress’s playful side.’
Of course, when the Empress first made this suggestion, Beatrice had tried to dissuade her.
Her reasoning was that if the truth were revealed, she could get caught up in an unnecessary scandal.
‘It’s truly ridiculous, but thanks to Valois Crawford, I already have a history of being caught up in pointless rumors with Crowell!’
The Empress, who understood the mechanics of high society better than anyone, smiled leisurely and quickly found a solution.
First, she would use her authority to grant Beatrice the status of a "special envoy" and request cooperation from the Crown Prince’s aides.
Then, by limiting her duties to office assistance and external tasks, ta-da!
‘A special secret investigator disguised as a maid, Beatrice Hartwell, is born.’
Honestly, Beatrice still couldn’t believe that the Crown Prince’s aides had agreed to help hide her.
They had drawn a line, claiming that it might give the impression that the Crown Prince was not yet independent from the Empress, but really?
‘To my eyes, they all looked excited, as if they were wondering when they’d get another chance to secretly deceive their superior.’
How should she put it? It felt like legal workplace mischief?
Anyway, that was how Beatrice officially received a mission—or rather, a non-mission—from the Empress.
She was to investigate the Marquisate as much as possible and, if she found any clues related to the "unknown illness," she was to record them and report back.
While Beatrice was recalling what the Empress had told her, the training continued.
"...Then, next is the types of seasonal tea leaves appropriate for this time of year, how to serve them, and food combinations to avoid. Please memorize these right now."
"Ah, yes. Um... yes? All of this? Right now?"
"Yes. Of course, Lady Beatrice, you won’t need to manage the Prince’s daily life, and Nao, the head maid of the Crown Prince’s palace, will always be with you, but you never know what the situation might be while you are undercover."
Beatrice didn’t argue and began to memorize the contents the head maid had organized on the spot.
‘Actually, I’m used to this now!’
While the punishments for Grand Duke Alec and Valois Crawford were being made public and the Knights were preparing for their dispatch, Beatrice had been receiving constant training from the head maid.
Not just the training a maid should receive, but also magic training that would be useful to have.
The excuse that her major was alchemy like Jedaric’s and she didn’t know magic wouldn’t work for her.
"There. I believe I’ve done everything I can to help you. Thank you for all your hard work, Lady Beatrice!"
"Wow!"
"You’re leaving tomorrow, right? Have you packed everything?"
"Just about! I didn’t forget to pack the glasses, clothes, cosmetics, and hair dye that Her Majesty sent. But will this really work?"
Seeing Beatrice’s subtle expression, as if she were unsure, the head maid smiled slightly and opened her mouth.
"Hehe, do you think your husband will notice?"
"Hmm, maybe a little? Clyde is quite observant, and we’ve done a lot of disguises together since we were kids..."
"Hmm... First of all, those disguise items are all things Her Majesty uses herself. She goes out often, and her disguise has never been revealed once."
"...Oh, really?"
The items she had received were that precious?
Seeing the wavering in Beatrice’s eyes, the head maid smiled brightly as if to tell her not to worry and continued.
"I meant that to say the quality is reliable. You shouldn’t be found out under normal circumstances."
"Aha."
"But even so, if Sir Clyde recognizes you..."
That would surely be because of love.
* * *
‘Love, huh...’
Beatrice stuffed a coat into her bag and recalled the head maid’s words.
It was a romantic and sentimental thing to say that might work for a newlywed couple, but unfortunately, it was a wrong prediction this time.
‘Because Clyde and I didn’t get married out of love.’
Even if Clyde were to recognize her, it wouldn’t be because of love, but surely...
—Knock, knock, knock!
The sound of knocking at the door interrupted Beatrice’s thoughts.
Beatrice hurriedly shoved the luggage she was packing under the bed and, clutching a nearby notebook, sprawled out on the sofa.
Then, she caught her breath and raised her voice.
"Come in!"
With the sound of the door creaking open, the visitor appeared.
Beatrice, who had only lazily lifted her head while lying down, widened her eyes slightly.
She had expected her older brother or her father, but Clyde was standing in front of the door.
Beatrice, wondering if she had seen wrong, rubbed her eyes and sat up with a confused noise.
"Clyde? What are you doing here at this hour?"
"What do you mean, what am I doing? You’ve been so busy that you’ve put your husband on the back burner, so I came to find you."
"Huh? What, all of a sudden?"
Suddenly, what husband? Wasn't the showy act enough when they were outside?
Watching Clyde enter the room naturally, Beatrice blinked as if she had heard something ridiculous.
Clyde, as if he were used to such reactions, approached nonchalantly and tapped her forehead lightly with the back of his hand.
"We only held the wedding, and we aren’t even living together yet. My husband is leaving for a long time, so what do you think would happen if a married couple didn’t spend the night before together?"
"Ah, is that so?"
She had been so preoccupied with her plan to sneak along that she hadn’t thought of that.
"I told my family that you were sulking because I hesitated to tell you, so keep that in mind."
"What! What about my image!"
"That’s why, who told you not to show your face? Every time I went to look for you, you weren’t there."
"That’s because...!"
Beatrice, who barely swallowed the complaint rising to her throat, shook her head as if it were useless.
It was already done; talking more would only make her mouth hurt.
Meanwhile, Clyde familiarly cleared the items off the sofa and sat down next to Beatrice.
Seeing him in a posture that looked even more comfortable than in his own home, Beatrice kicked his calf and spoke up.
"So, are you going to sleep here?"
"Yeah."
"Can’t you just be the husband who leaves without soothing his sulking wife?"
"No."
"Ugh..."
Clyde’s sudden visit complicated Beatrice’s mind.
It was because of the packing she still had left to do, and it was obvious that her schedule for tomorrow morning would be messed up.
‘First, let’s see Clyde off in front of the Imperial Palace tomorrow morning as a happy couple. And then, I’ll quickly change my clothes at a nearby palace.’
Just as Beatrice was imagining tomorrow morning in her head, Clyde called her name calmly.
"By the way, Bia."
"Why?"
"Where are you going?"
Crazy.
Swallowing the heart that felt like it was about to pop out, Beatrice rolled her eyes quickly.
"Why do you ask that all of a sudden?"
"Because there’s a luggage bag sticking out from under the bed."
"..."
"Besides, when I said you seemed sulky earlier, the family’s reaction was as if they were convinced."
*Sigh*... None of them are any help.
Beatrice recalled the expressions her parents had made when she first told them she was going on a trip with her friends.
Letting out a soft groan, she sighed and spoke to Clyde as if it were nothing.
"I told my family I was going on a trip with friends, that’s why."
"You told them that? Then, in reality?"
"In reality, it’s research with Her Majesty. That’s why I’ve been busy lately. Someone kept provoking me, saying it wasn’t easy to receive a title."
"Research with Her Majesty, huh..."
Why does this guy keep repeating the end of my sentences today?
Watching Clyde’s somewhat serious profile, Beatrice eventually stood up and approached him.
She felt like her heart would burst if she just waited for this to pass.
Judging by her experience living with her brother, the best thing to do in these situations was to do something that would catch the other person off guard.
After cycling through the few options in her blank mind, what Beatrice chose was to grab his face with both hands and force him to make eye contact.
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