Elisabeth chamber
Clash clash clash
The sound of plates hitting the ground or the wall rang through the room.
"you are all useless pieces of trash," Elisabeth scolded the maid who came to report. After Anastasia refused to eat the snacks she brought to class, Elisabeth instructed her maid to visit the kitchen.
Although her plans to make Miss Maria hate her have failed, she still wants Anastasia to suffer. Moreover, with Anastasia's good etiquette, all the news she (Elisabeth} had spread would become baseless rumours. Furthermore, Elisabeth could never let Anastasia shine. She could act as she pleased in the Duke's residence, but once they were out, they had to be good sisters.
Elizabeth did not want to share her stage, so she instructed that an extra herb be added to Anastasia's food. 'Who would have thought those fools in the kitchen would have difficulty accomplishing such a simple task?' Elisabeth thought.
"Forgive me, my lady, but that Maid threatened to hit the gong. If such news spread within Bex, the Duke household would be in trouble," the maid was scared, but she still explained the situation to Elisabeth.
"Fool," Elisabeth becomes more furious and hits her maid. "can't you tie up the foolish maid? If she does not leave the residence, how will she have the chance to hit the gong,"
"My lady..." the maid lowered her head. She felt wronged, but she was worried that she would get beaten up if she said another word.
"My lady," an old nanny standing by the side called out. She felt that Elisabeth was acting too rashly.
"What?" Elisabeth snapped at her nanny.
"you should calm down; anger is not good for the body. Moreover, you are a lady. Remember to keep your emotions in check at all times," the nanny said. She was hired by the Duchess to carefully guide Elisabeth so that she could become the most proper lady in Bex Royal Capital.
"No one is here," Elisabeth frowned. She felt she understood her lessons and would never resolve to her fist when she was in public. A lady should use her words, not her fist. It was unladylike to hit someone in public.
Of course, nobody would care if she punished her maid, but hitting the maid herself was a sign of a lack of self-control. The proper thing to do was to ask another maid to hit her.
"Especially when you are alone, my lady," the Nanny said. When she was younger, a young lady's reputation was ruined because she had beaten up her maid. That lady thought she was alone, she did not know there were other eyes watching. Moreover one could easily form a bad habit.
When Elizabeth heard this response, she froze, but upon careful consideration, she realised it was true. If she hit her maid herself anytime she was furious, just because they were alone, she could form such a habit and one day, she might unconsciously show this in public.
"leave," the Nanny instructed the maid, who was still shaking.
"with your permission, my lady," the maid bowed and hurried out of the room.
"The kitchen staff was not wrong; although the maid had threatened to hit the gong, she did not have to step out of the residence to do that," The Nanny said.
Elisabeth frowned, unconvinced. "have you ever wondered why that girl is alive despite how much of an eyesore she is to your mother?" the nanny asked.
"many times, but is it not better to have an extra maid?" Elisabeth answered.
"you are young",The nanny shook her head. "The empire has rules. If that girl died shortly after her mother's death, even if your mother has nothing to do with it, people would gossip," The Nanny said.
Elisabeth looked at her, urging her to explain things clearly. To her, it doesn't matter if the whole world gossiped
In one or two days, something else would happen, and people would have something new to gossip about.
"Your mother's reputation would suffer from that gossip. You are her daughter. If a mother is vicious, no Noble home would be willing to marry her daughter," the Nanny explained.
Elizabeth looked at the Nanny, "Are you trying to scare me?" she found her words hard to believe. Sometimes Elisabeth feels that her nanny likes to exaggerate to appear knowledgeable.
"In the third year of Emperor Nathan's Reign, he passed a law. All noblemen could only marry one wife. Emperor Nathan was said to have Journeyed around the world as a prince. He had found a new religion, one different from our ancestors. The worship of Christ. In their holy scripture, it was written that a man who can be a Bishop should be a man with one wife. In that religion, a Bishop was a respected leader. Those words enlightened Emperor Nathan. He thought about the fight and struggle in the royal family.
The schemes of the different wives, each wanting to be the emperor's favorite, and their children being the chosen ones. The noble family was also covered in schemes—Brother against brothers. Only one could inherit the throne, as only one could become the head of each noble household. Emperor Nathan felt all this would end if a nobleman married just one wife. No mother would encourage her children to fight against each other," The nanny paused and looked at Elizabeth.
"Many noblemen hated this law, but the women were happy to embrace it. Some women took this great privilege for granted and disobeyed their husbands. The men never fully agreed to this law; they looked for a way to change it, but an emperor was bound to his words. He could not change it no matter what they did. After the death of Emperor Nathan, his son was not a disciplined man. He did not like his empress much but could not disrespect his late father by abolishing the law. One he had benefited from. So, he made another law: 'A man had his needs, and sometimes one woman could not satisfy them. It was an abomination for a man to go unto his wife when she had her monthly visitor(menstruation). So I permit every nobleman to keep one Mistress within his household. The mistress' son could not inherit the family's head, but he would be treated like the legitimate son. Unless the legitimate wife bears no children, she could adopt one of the mistress' children to be hers,' the Nanny paused again and looked at Elisabeth.
Elisabeth looked at the Nanny, finally enlightened. If a mistress son was supposed to be like a legitimate son, then killing the daughter of a mistress meant that her mother did not know kindness and tolerance. A daughter would eventually be married out of the family.
A married daughter is slip water; if she (the Duchess) could not even stand a daughter, then what kind of 'good daughter' could she raise?
Elisabeth was worried when she heard this; although she knew that her mother picking on Anastasia could not go out, she had never thought the consequences was so dare if the news went out. "But mother makes her serve during family parties?" Elisabeth asked, becoming worried that people already called her vicious behind her back.
"That could be covered up with the fact that there was not enough server. As one of the 'hosts,' it was only natural that she stepped up and ensured the guests were properly served. Perfect excuse," The Nanny answered.
Elisabeth took a deep breath and calmed down, " I will be more cautious, " she said. She realised that everyone knew that her mother was oppressing the mistress' daughter but pretended to be ignorant.
Many nobles tend to mind their businesses, but if rumours go out that the mistress daughter was poisoned, with or without evidence, her mother will become a vicious woman. Not only would her mother's reputation be ruined, but she would also have a problem getting married.