Chapter 207: Knowing One’s Place
Chapter 206: Knowing When to Speak
Lyria’s POV
Sally blinked at me as though she had not quite understood the question.
Or perhaps she simply wished to pretend she had not.
"What?" she repeated.
I looked at her calmly.
"Do not pretend y-you have developed a hearing ailment all of a sudden," I said mildly. "You heard me perfectly well."
The room grew still.
I folded my hands neatly atop my lap.
"I merely wished to know whether y-you are now acting as Duke Thorncrest’s spokesperson."
Sally laughed nervously at once.
It was not convincing.
Her eyes darted immediately toward Diana and Theresa as though searching for rescue.
Diana stepped forward first, exactly as I expected she would.
"Your Highness misunderstands," she said carefully. "Sally merely spoke upon what is already common knowledge."
I tilted my head slightly.
"Is that so?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
"How fascinating."
Diana hesitated.
I shifted my gaze toward her fully then.
"And when you say ’c-common knowledge,’" I asked softly, "d-does that include Duke Thorncrest h-himself?"
My question was met with silence.
Diana’s composure faltered very slightly.
I continued before she could answer.
"The Duke personally informed the three of y-you of his feelings regarding me? He sat amongst maids below his station and discussed how little he wished to spend time with me?"
"That is not what I meant, Your Highness," Diana said quickly.
"Really?"
I tilted my head a little further.
"Because that is r-rather how it sounded."
The room became uncomfortably quiet.
I watched the three of them carefully.
It was almost amusing how quickly confidence disappeared once one began asking precise questions.
Sally shifted awkwardly.
Theresa crossed her arms.
Diana attempted to recover herself.
"Your Highness is simply being unreasonable," she said.
A small laugh escaped me at the words. Quite bold for someone whose position as a maid depended on whether she did a good job as a spy for the Queen.
The other two standing next to her nodded in agreement with her words.
I was getting quite tired of this, so it would be better to put an end to it now and perhaps we could continue another day.
Then I stood up.
The chair scraped softly against the floor. The sound was not loud, but it was sharp—sharp enough that all three of them went still.
I had done that on purpose, something I learnt from Jacinta when she was about to exert her authority.
I smoothed one hand lightly over the front of my dress before looking at them properly.
For several moments, nobody spoke.
Then I smiled slightly.
"It seems," I said softly, "that you three have misunderstood several th-things."
No one spoke.
"The only reason y-you stand in this chamber as my maids," I continued, "is because Her Majesty desired it so."
My voice remained perfectly calm.
"You were assigned a duty."
I took a small step forward.
"And yet instead of focusing upon that duty, y-you seem remarkably interested in matters far above your standing."
I paused.
"I am very certain y-your duties do not require you to speculate. N-nor to interpret the wishes of suitor c-candidates. Nor to inform m-me of what ’everyone’ thinks."
I paused.
"P-perhaps the last part c-could be changed depending on the c-circumstances," I added.
Diana’s face had gone pale.
I looked between them slowly.
"The r-royal family m-may dislike me," I said gently, "but one thing they dislike considerably m-more than me is servants who f-forget their place."
That landed exactly as intended.
All three straightened slightly.
I continued before they could speak.
"So tell me," I said, "what exactly do y-you imagine Her Majesty would say if she discovered that the m-maids she personally assigned to me were openly c-conversing about noblemen as though they possessed insight into their p-private thoughts?"
I doubted the Queen would do anything rather than encourage them, but seeing the expressions on their faces, they did not think the same thing.
"How w-would that reflect upon her judgment?"
The silence deepened.
"And then," I continued softly, "t-there is the matter of a-appearances."
"What happens," I asked quietly, "when m-members of the court begin noticing that the maids assigned b-by the Queen herself cannot p-properly conceal their disdain?"
Theresa’s eyes widened slightly.
"Members of the court?" she repeated.
I did not answer.
I simply looked at her, fighting the urge to roll my eyes.
"We meant no disrespect to Her Majesty," Diana said quickly.
I could not care less.
"Is that so?" I asked her instead of saying what I actually felt. "B-because if someone were particularly c-cruel, they might interpret your behaviour as i-incompetence, thereby also insulting t-the royal family."
"It would appear," I continued thoughtfully, "t-that the Queen entrusted three servants with a simple r-responsibility and those servants proved incapable of performing it c-convincingly."
Theresa frowned.
"We have done nothing wrong."
"Have you n-not?"
I tilted my head again.
"You o-openly mock me within palace c-corridors where guests o-of the royal family c-currently reside. You speak c-carelessly about nobles far a-above your station. And y-you believe none of that qualifies as w-wrongdoing?"
To be quite honest, given that they were sent by the Queen to monitor me, nothing they did was exactly wrong, but they were scared of disappointing the Queen herself.
And if others were to pick up on their behaviour, who knew what could happen?
Sally looked alarmed now.
"If you w-wish to keep your positions," I said at last, "then I would advise you to learn w-when to speak and w-when to remain silent."
Sally nodded quickly.
Diana and Theresa said nothing. They just stared at me.
I continued.
"You c-came here today to m-mock me, did you not? To make me a spectacle?"
No one denied it.
"But for that to be effective, you ought not to talk so much in my p-presence and let i-information slip through. Y-you may think it mocking, but what if it is not? You ought to let me go to t-the date. Let me d-disgrace myself. And then, when I h-have returned to this chamber, you m-may laugh to your hearts’ content."
I paused.
"Surely," I said, "you do n-not require me to teach you s-such things. How to make a m-mockery of o-others?"
