Night had deepened, and after finishing my bath.
"Your Grace, a moment."
Bill, who had helped me into my robe, began meticulously adjusting my attire.
"Selma."
"Yes, Your Grace."
I called out to Selma, the head maid who stood silently waiting a step back.
"How was attending to Madam?"
She was Bill's wife, had served the Schmaikel family since my mother's time, and had even been my wet nurse. In other words, she had attended not only my mother but every madam who had ever come to this castle.
"When I first guided her to the room, she seemed a little surprised."
"Did she not like the room?"
"No. Quite the opposite. She was extremely satisfied."
The seven previous madams who had passed through this castle were certainly no ordinary women.
'They know who I am, so this is the treatment I'm getting?'
'Make me wear a dress like this? Take it back right now!'
Countless nitpicks and petty demands. From the start, their reason for entering this castle had been something else entirely, so none of them could have been proper ladies.
The damned blood relatives schemed ceaselessly for my life while shoving their women into the family one after another.
If I died in some 'tragic accident'? The family assets would revert entirely to the kingdom.
But if a lone lady of the house survived? The situation changed. All the assets would belong to her. And by marrying that lady, they could swallow the family whole without any messy inheritance disputes.
Selma had no reason to treat kindly the women who entered the castle with such sinister motives.
'Is the water a bit cold? You'll have to get used to it. These are the rules of Schmaikel Castle.'
'The dress is a bit plain, isn't it? This is all we have prepared, so there's nothing to be done.'
Selma had naturally mastered ways to give them a hard time. She never flinched, no matter how much abuse the madams hurled at her.
But I could not tolerate her pulling any such stunts on the current Rose.
Flick.
As I raised an eyebrow, Selma shook her head at once.
"No. I didn't do anything Your Grace would need to worry about."
"Not treating her like the previous madams?"
"Yes. As Your Grace instructed earlier, I attended her with polite and courteous manners."
Good thing I'd called Selma aside in advance and given her a stern warning. Otherwise, Rose would have ended up facing the same developments as in the original story.
'Maids who don't know how to serve their master in this castle? Does Your Grace know about this?'
After her regression, Rose had subdued the rude maids with just a few words. Having already experienced it in her previous life, she had come prepared with countermeasures.
'It was one of the most refreshingly satisfying scenes in the novel.'
There was no need for the current Rose to endure any such unpleasantness. Schmaikel Castle had more than enough to do just showing her a proper welcome.
"Well done, Selma."
"It's nothing. To continue, she brought only one bag, and even the dresses inside were excessively worn. I had no choice but to ask her permission and have her change into the prepared dress."
Selma continued her explanation in a calm tone.
"But the prepared dress was a bit big for Madam. The waist was so loose I had to cinch it tight. It looks like we'll need to order new dresses."
"Ask Madam's preference and proceed."
"Yes. And the girl who attended her bath reported that Madam's physical condition doesn't seem great."
"Is Madam small compared to her peers?"
"Very much so. Extremely petite."
Selma let out a regretful sigh.
"She was easy to serve. So docile it was almost disconcerting."
She already seemed to have pieced together much of Rose's situation.
Having served the previous seven madams up close, she had realized this one was decidedly different from them.
"I'd heard the rumors about Madam too... But she didn't seem like the person they described."
"I see."
I nodded and glanced at Bill.
"Ahem, ahem."
He cleared his throat awkwardly.
"From now on, you two will cooperate closely. No discrepancies between you."
Keep your husband in check properly.
"...Yes, Your Grace."
"Of course."
They bowed in unison, but Bill and Selma's expressions were in stark contrast. Judging by Selma's demeanor, there would be no issues on Bill's end from now on.
"To the bedroom now."
I rose from my chair and stepped out of the room. Bill, Selma, and the other servants waiting outside followed in a cluster.
"Your Grace, then for tonight..."
Bill, who had been leading the way to guide me,
"Shall we head to the marital bedroom?"
Selma subtly cut him off. The moment Bill startled and turned to her, I answered.
"Yes."
"Madam is already in the bedroom. This way, please."
"Understood."
With that, our procession headed to the marital bedroom. I asked Bill, who still looked utterly bewildered.
"The guards?"
"...Ah, yes. I assumed Your Grace would use your private bedroom as usual. The deployment around here is a bit lax."
Bill fumbled for excuses in a fluster.
"I'll rearrange the shift rotations right away. Double the guards around the marital bedroom, just like Your Grace's-"
"No, leave it as is."
"Pardon? But..."
"I don't want our time with Madam interrupted."
Gape—
Bill's mouth fell open.
Snap.
Selma shut it with an audible click and bowed her head.
"Understood, Your Grace. We'll take our leave."
"Your Grace, but—"
"Dear."
At Selma's single word, Bill froze in place. I couldn't see her face as she turned toward him, but
"—!"
Bill's face drained of color, giving me a pretty good idea of her expression.
"Have a pleasant evening."
Selma then swept Bill and the servants away like a gust of wind.
'As expected of Selma.'
Her perceptiveness was on another level. From the looks of it, she was about to begin Bill's reeducation.
'Good luck, Bill.'
I silently wished him well, then spoke to the servant guarding the marital bedroom door.
"Open it quietly."
"Yes, Your Grace."
Just in case Rose might be asleep.
'Though unlikely.'
With that thought, I entered the room quietly. The door closed soundlessly behind me.
As expected, Rose wasn't sleeping.
"Mm."
She stood in front of the wine cabinet, intently examining the bottles. With utmost seriousness.
The marital bedroom.
Originally my parents' room, it hadn't been used even once since I inherited the castle.
It was excessively clean and spacious. Furnished only with the bare essentials for a bedroom, it lacked any trace of human warmth.
Perhaps a few tears shed by the previous seven madams, left alone through the nights, still lingered somewhere.
And in the midst of such a bedroom.
Clink.
Rose, poring over the wines in the cabinet, looked somewhat out of place.
"This one?"
She peered closely at a wine bottle by the faint candlelight. Her gaze was far too sharp for mere wine tasting.
"No, this one? Ah, I don't know. There are too many wines..."
I swallowed a laugh as I watched Rose groan to herself.
'Looking for the poisoned wine?'
Rose desperately wanted to know the path through which I had been poisoned. She had spent her final moments in prison trying to deduce it.
She had her suspicions, but no time to verify them. She was murdered before she could.
Thus, in her first life, Rose never uncovered the poisoning route.
'Her second life was different.'
Using clues from her first life, she finally pinpointed it. And she prevented my poisoning.
Her scrutiny of the wines now was the first step in that process.
Suspect everything Dane Schmaikel might consume. Verify it thoroughly.
She was seriously contemplating even the remotest possibilities.
"..."
I watched Rose quietly, hoping she would notice my presence.
But she was so absorbed in the wines that she seemed oblivious to someone having entered—or even to being observed.
No helping it.
"Ahem."
I let out a small cough, and
"Kyaa!"
Rose jumped in fright and shot to her feet. In her startle, the wine bottle slipped from her hand and crashed to the floor.
Crash!
The bottle shattered with a deafening noise. And seeing which one it was, I couldn't stay silent.
"That's an expensive one."
"Y-Your Grace!"
Even in the dim candlelight, Rose's face was starkly pale.
She clutched her chest, gasping for breath.
"Wh-when did you...? No, why are you here...?"
"Why? We're married now, so the marital bedroom."
Even after my reply, Rose's complexion remained ashen.
Her eyes darted back and forth between the floor and me several times. She seemed at a loss, unsure whether to explain or make excuses first.
After several shaky breaths, Rose forced her trembling body upright.
"Your Grace, this is... well..."
"Stop."
At my curt word, Rose froze in place. My gaze was fixed solely on the floor at her feet.