Chapter 4

Chapter 4: My Life as a Wife Begins!

Man, top quality nightwear really gave me a top quality sleep. The wide bed was great for sleeping on too, and the wrinkleless bright white sheets, fresh and clean, felt perfect on my skin. Mm, servants to a Duke’s house really do good work! I would most definitely want them to teach me their techniques.

While I manage to crawl out of bed, I realize something. I have no idea what I should do with regards to changing clothes. If I were home, I would first begin by dressing myself, but I can’t do that – this is a Duke’s house. Is it alright for me to go ahead and do things by myself? Wait a second, I don’t even know where the clothing is stored. I need to have someone explain to me today or it’ll be rather inconvenient for me. As I look around, still in my nightwear with my hands on my hips, I hear a knocking sound.

After three brisk knocks, I hear a man’s voice.

“Mistress, have you awoken?”

As he’s a man, is he a butler perhaps? Thinking that it was probably a bad idea for him to see me in my nightwear, in a fluster, I put on a gown on top of my nightwear before responding.

“Yes, I’m awake.”

“Excuse me,” he says as a trim middle-aged man who’s probably a butler and two women enter the room.

The women are the maids that served me yesterday. One is slightly older and one is younger – they both keep their hair neat and wear navy blue one-piece dresses as their livery.

The three stand in a neat row once they enter the room.

“Good morning, mistress!” they cry at once.

They bow down quickly. They’re bowing at a forty-five degree angle. How well trained!

Wait, that doesn’t matter right now. I almost bowed to them as well, but by thinking no, no, I’m this house’s mistress, I stopped myself.

“Good morning,” I simply greeted.

“I am Lotus, a butler. I have brought along those who will serve you from now on, Mistress. This is the head maid, Dahlia, and the head of your personal maids, Mimosa.”

The butler looks content on seeing me nod acceptingly. He introduces the older maid as Dahlia and the younger one as Mimosa.

But honestly it’s really extravagant for me to have two maids just for myself. Back home, since maids were considered luxury goods, everyone did everyone by themselves! Though we did help each other with putting on corsets. I can dress myself. And I can technically put on makeup… technically. The important thing is that you can make out that it’s me. That I don’t look like a monster.

But this is a Duke’s house. It’s normal to have a maid or two, or three. Nobles – aka celebrities – don’t do anything by themselves. This is common sense.

“Dahlia and Mimosa, I see. I’m counting on you,” I say, facing them and smiling.

“While there will be some things I will be unable to do, I will do my best.”

“Please do not hesitate to use me for anything.”

The two of them say, all smiles.

At first glance, Dahlia looked like a governess who would be harsh to a girl from the Alps. I was put on guard for a moment in case her personality was like that, but it seems that my fears were groundless. Mimosa seems to be a young, cute person just as she seems.

The butler who been quietly listening to our amicable self-introductions speaks.

“I am in charge of everything with regards to this mansion, so if there is anything that troubles you, please feel free to tell me,” he says, pressing his hand to his chest and bowing.

“I understand,” I say, nodding.

“Very well then, Mistress. As breakfast has been prepared, feel free to come to the dining room once you have gotten ready. Now then, I shall take my leave for now,” he says, bowing again before leaving the room.

“I need to change clothes first…” I say, but I’m cut off before I can finish my sentence.

“Yes, right over here. Please, pick any that you would like,” says Dahlia, smoothly opening a door different from the entranceway.

To be honest, I assumed that door led to another room, but it seems I was wrong. The door led to a closet – no, a dressing room. There was everything from underwear to shoes. The sight of the dresses, sorted by colour and shade to create a gradation, was overwhelming. But I don’t think I’ll wear this much – or rather, I don’t think I can wear this much? I’m fine with just frequently rotating through a few dresses.

“…”

Dahlia rubs my back as I stand there, my shock rendering me unable to move.

“If you would like, I may select an outfit that suits you, Mistress.”

“… Please do so.”

I felt dizzy at this lifestyle that was so completely different from what I was used to.

Dahlia selects a light blue dress. She and Mimosa then help me get ready.

“Oh yes, where does my husband take his meals?” I ask in front of the mirror.

“The Duke lives completely separately with his companion,” Dahlia says coldly in a single breath.

Wait one sec, Dahlia’s expression, which had been gentle all this time, immediately went expressionless. Her eyes look crazed. And it’s not just my imagination that I saw a blizzard is blowing behind me, is it. I feel something similar from Mimosa.

H – how scary! Wait, who the hell is his “companion”!?

“U-um, who is this ‘companion’? Did a friend or someone like that stay over last night?” I ask, despite my fear of the aura emanating from them.

“She is favoured by the Duke and lives in the detached building.”

So you won’t call her his lover or his girlfriend, huh!? Dahlia’s voice is low and scary. Mimosa, standing next to her, narrows her eyes. It feels like a blizzard is blowing in the room.

“You mean his girlfriend, right?”

“You may call her that.”

Co-o-o-old! Her response is so cold!

“And her name is…?”

“She calls herself Calendula, I believe?”

Why is that phrased as a question? Was she trying to make it sound like it didn’t matter?

“D – Dahlia? Mimosa?”

The two of them realized that I was frightened.

“M – my, I apologize profusely, Mistress!”

“You do not need to worry over it, Mistress, aha ha ha…”

The gentle atmosphere from before returns and in a fluster, they go back to getting me ready.

Hm? Could the servants dislike my husband and his girlfriend?

T/N:

Flowers, flowers, flowers… more characters and yet more flowers.

A lotus is a type of aquatic flower. A dahlia is a flower with a lot of petals. Mimosa is a genus of herbs and shrubs, though the author likely is referring to the kind of fluffy flowers that you can see in the Wikipedia image. Calendula is a genus of plants which includes marigolds.

“A governess who would be harsh to a girl from the Alps,” is likely a reference to  Miss Rottenmeier from Heidi, Girl of the Alps, a “strict, no-nonsense governess”.