Like other aristocrats and nobles, Jule Valenti had a set of servants assigned to him. The maids followed him almost everywhere, taking turns to supervise him from afar per the new orders of the Duke. They tried their best to not make their presence known to him most of the time, Though they were slightly wary of him, they did not mind his presence, often rambling on with gossip in front of him. That was how he got to know of a few new things in this world not mentioned in the novel.
One was the various scandals and misconduct of the nobility. It just happened that one of the maids was from a lower aristocratic house, the youngest daughter of a wealthy baron. She would spend hours spreading the hidden news of high society to those without access, acting as a nosy messenger to the people around the Valenti duchy. The servants of the estate who were not assigned to Jule or Evelyn were often rough, busy laborers and seldom had time to spare for gossip talk. So when there was a chance to indulge themselves in baseless, scandalous rumors, they did.
"On my last outing, I met with my eldest sister by chance."
"Ah, the heir of your house? How is she? Still with that lousy fiance?"
"Of course not!" The maid laughed. "She chose someone much better."
"Again? How can one change partners like clothes, I wonder," Another shook her head. "Who is it this time?"
Jule's ears twitched. Love affairs…how interesting. After possessing Jule Valenti without time to indulge himself in a good romance novel for one week, his taste of choice regarding love stories seemed to deteriorate into scandalous affairs and he couldn't help but want to hear more.
"Guess! You wouldn't guess who?"
The other maid rolled her eyes. "What? The crown prince?"
"Hehe," The maid giggled shyly.
Jule desperately fought the urge to move a little closer and say "Do tell me more". But he had pride to keep, so he didn't.
"Actually?" The other maid grabbed her friend's hand. She brought her face close, excited. "Haley, dear, do tell me more!"
'Nice one!' Jule silently cheered.
"Shh!" Haley hushed. "What if someone hears! You know… Duke Valenti-"
"What are you worried for? There's only young master Jule here, he doesn't mind!"
Jule turned his head away in shame. Contrasting to the servant's thoughts, he very much wanted to hear the gossip, no matter how nonsensical it may be. Such was human nature, but he thought that it was fine as long as he kept it to himself and saw it as what it was: gossip.
The conversation went as such: Haley's sister was involved in an, quote on quote, "exclusive romantic relationship with Crown Prince Merriam Sapphirus ever since she met him at the ball a few months ago". Notorious for being a womanizing playboy- ahem, ladies' man, Merriam Sapphirus swapped his partners on a weekly basis, with the longest one so far lasting for only a month. However, it seemed that he especially favored Haley's sister, as it had been nearly three weeks since they met and he still managed to visit her on a consistent basis, showering her with loads of bountiful gifts and "totally honest" promises of marriage and children.
The other maid continued to propel the conversation in the direction Jule had wanted to ask. "Isn't the crown prince known to be one to
"Of course not, Bianca! He wrote to my sister in a gold foil letter: you may not officially be my woman yet, but you were always the queen of my heart." Haley insisted with a confident gaze in her eyes.
"That said, the crown prince isn't actually an acknowledged heir, right?" Bianca said, her face still holding a look of discontent. "It's been years since the current queen took reign, yet not once has the king ever recognized his son as crown prince. His Highness is only two years away from the age of 18, how much longer will his Majesty keep his position in that way?"
Ooh, politics. A series of thoughts and conclusions ran through Jule's mind and he silently urged the young girls to continue.
"Truthfully, I wonder why the King hasn't done anything, considering the state of our kingdom."
Apart from the main branch of the Qelia royal family, the Sapphiruses had no relatives or established line of succession other than the flimsy, reckless "crown prince". In the case of which the current king were to abdicate from the throne or succumb to an unfortunate accident, the royal family would be in shambles. Though calculating and powerful - with great influence over the entire structure of the high society of Qelia - it was no secret that the current queen enjoyed spending her time as a socialite rather than, ignoring royal duties like her beloved son.
Jule nodded to himself. Like mother like child. How unfortunate for Qelia.
"Anyways, we should return to our duties. I wouldn't want the head maid deducting my salary anytime now," Bianca made a face. "Ahh…do tell me more next time."
"Please, Bianca!" Haley said pitifully. "You're the only one who actually listens to me! One more, alright?"
What a-
One more?
Alright that didn't sound too bad.
Bianca sighed melodramatically. "But Haley… the young master wouldn't want us rambling for too long-"
"I give you permission to continue."
.
.
.
Jule raised his eyebrows and wrinkled his forehead, his hands covering his mouth as he gasped aloud.
Before he knew it, he had begun to partake in Haley and Bianca's scandalous rumors, fully enjoying debating on the aristocracy behind their backs.
In the span of an hour, the maids and him have already spoken about numerous, ahem, news, completely ignoring whatever "important" duties they had earlier.
"Young master, you mustn't tell anyone of this!" Haley scolded. She sighed again, tsking at him to Bianca's disbelief. "Hah, I wonder if I should be saying this all to a child like you,"
Jule huffed. "I won't…"
Unlike many other servants of the estate, Haley's family - though low-ranking in terms of nobility title - was one of the leading houses in Southern Qelia's aristocracy. So it didn't really matter how improper she acted - her doting family was there to defend it all. That was also the reason she did not hesitate to speak informally to Jule Valenti.
"Anyways…"
Jule put on a face. 'Why wonder what you should be saying when you'd do it anyways?!'
Haley continued. "The contents of most newspapers in Southern Qelia are controlled by the queen. Whatever information is put on there about her, no one knows if it's true or not."
Bianca perked up. "That said, the last time someone wrote about the late queen, they were executed under the guise of…"
"False information."
"Why was that?" Jule tilted his head.
"It concerned the minor disputes between the late queen and the current queen during the time when Her Majesty was still a consort." Haley hummed. "The queen probably didn't want anyone to know about her previous…controversies."
After processing the information for a few seconds, Jule realized he had forgotten something important.
The late queen?
COAIS?
Aha!
The late queen was barely mentioned in the novel. However, she had enough scenes for the readers to know that: one, she passed away in the palace by stabbing herself with a dagger; two, was the twin sister of the current king; and three, had been removed from the royal registry once, ran away from the capital to the barren Northern Qelia and conceived a child. After the late queen was brought back, she committed suicide out of shame.
As if she was reading his thoughts, Bianca added on. "Young master might not have heard much of the late queen since he never left Northern Qelia, but most in Southern Qelia don't even know her name,"
Jule's mind went back to the smudged ink name. "I see…were her records purposely erased?"
Haley exhaled again. "It seems so. Her Majesty used a very…sad excuse to justify her actions,"
Before Ayla Sapphirus was the queen, she was Ayla Edmond, female successor to the County of Edmond. Unfortunately, she fell in love with the current king who was crown prince at that time and constantly persisted with him with love letters and whimsical proposals. So, the heir position was passed onto her cousin - the current Count Edmond - aka Borealis' self-proclaimed distant relative. Nevertheless, because her "dearly beloved" had no interest in any sort of romantic relationship, her family's influence could only give her an unofficial engagement to him. Hilariously, after he was crowned king, he appointed his twin sister as queen, insisting that they rule the kingdoms together as siblings while making Ayla a, once again, "unofficial" consort.
It was only after her sister-in-law was removed from the royal family registry that she was back in the limelight, taking the position of Her Majesty the Queen of Qelia.
But then the late queen returned after three years with a child and her name was added back to the registry…Ayla must have felt threatened at their sudden appearance. Though her son was legitimate and older than the late queen's child, it was obvious that the king favored the other more and was preparing to grant him a special title…
"Was it the title of 'crown prince'?"
However, that night, the late queen committed suicide and the child too, disappeared without a trace.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, the head maid burst into the room. Jule squeaked as Haley and Bianca sceambled for the mop and bucket instantly, acting as if they had been focusing on one task for the past hour.
The head maid frowned.
"Young master."
Jule almost jumped. "Yes ma'am? I mean, what is it."
"Haley and Bianca…"
"Are good company," Jule smiled.
"I hope you're not defending them, young master," The head maid shook her head, her gaze filled with contempt and disappointment. "Haley is not the most hard working girl here…"
Bianca raised her hand. "But I am."
Haley dropped her mop on the floor as she continued to scoff, offended.
"Sure, sure," The head maid seemed to roll her eyes. She turned back to Jule. "Young master, His Grace has requested your presence in his office,"
Haley snapped out of her daze the instant she heard the two words "His Grace". "Huh? His Grace? Why?"
Her voice was laced with worry, as if being called to Duke Valenti's office was truly something to be worried about…
Jule's uneasiness only grew when she saw Bianca's concerned expression.
"You nosy child, that is between young master and the duke." The head maid scolded. "Young master, you should get going now."
It seemed that almost everyone in the mansion was informed of this. They looked at him with pity and contempt, their gaze full of trouble.
"The young master…"
"The duke requested his presence in…"
"It must be something serious."
"Young master Jule is certainly in trouble, once again."
Jule thought carefully about what he had done the past week to incur the wrath of Duke Valenti.
"..."
There must be something!
But aside from lazing around in his room all day and unintentionally possessing the body Jule Valenti, there was no fault in his actions these days.
Or perhaps Kastel had told the Duke his suspicions regarding "Jule Valenti".
Jule dismissed the thoughts quickly.
No…
The chamberlain shouldn't be the type to assume something without provened evidence. Even if he suspected Jule Valenti, surely the Duke wouldn't, right? They haven't even interacted that much!
Or did he happen to overhear his gossip exchange with the two maids?
Perhaps the wall did have ears…no, now was not the time to be paranoid.
As he gazed up to look in the distance, he saw a young girl with bright red hair and sparkling blue eyes. She smiled upon noticing his presence, before running towards him with great speed.
"Brother! Brother! Where are you going?" Evelyn giggled.
Unlike some other people around Jule, the young girl had no suspicions whatsoever regarding him. Her naiveness only made it easier to open up to her.
Jule suddenly thought of something.
"Evelyn," He picked the girl up. "I'm visiting the duke's office, how about you come with me?"
Evelyn made a disgusted face. "That messy, dark place? Brother, I don't think-"
"Evelyn, Evelyn…family does not discriminate." He laughed.
Jule arrived at the Duke office with a pouty, scowling Evelyn, no servants or accompanying maid beside him. He rang a small silver chime next to the door once. There was no reply. He rang the bell again a little harder this time. The room opposite across the door remained silent.
Then, a slight rustle, and a gentle voice chided:
"Al, wake up,"
Jule blinked.
The voice was so soft it sounded nothing like the usual Kastel, yet there was no doubt it was. The chamberlain must be in the office too, but was the duke napping?
Alexander seemed to grumble, the sound of papers and tossing apparent even between the door.
"…Come in."
Evelyn made a face. She hit his arm lightly as a form of protest. "I don't want to-"
"Only Jule."
Juke wheezed. He stumbled away from the office, barely balancing on his feet as prayers of words went through his mind. No. No. No no no no-