I Married a Sick Husband - Chapter 42

Chapter 9. Heart

 

A few days later, the Duchess of Schwartz was exiled to the island of Elta, very far from the capital.

 

“Catarina, avenge this mother. revenge…!”

 

“Don’t worry, mother. I will definitely avenge my mother!”

 

“I will only believe in you and endure. My daughter, be sure to punish that ugly villain!”

 

Of course, very loudly.

 

Anyway, the news quickly spread throughout the empire.

 

“Her Majesty the Empress was so kind hearted too….”

 

“I know, right. If it were me, I would never have forgiven the Duchess of Schwartz.”

 

“Absolutely. Even if a childhood memory may seem trivial, they linger for far long.”

 

Everyone praised the good Meredith and cursed the evil Duchess of Schwartz.

 

The reputation of the Schwartz family, one of the most prestigious families in the empire, was rapidly sinking to the bottom.

 

“By the way, Princess Schwartz doesn’t show up at social gatherings these days, right?”

 

“She probably won’t come out.”

 

Someone blew the whistle.*

(T/n: To tell people publicly about something bad that someone is doing.)

 

“How can she get out? The family looks awful right now.”

 

“And it would be embarrassing. To be honest, even Princess Schwartz must have known that Her Majesty the Empress had been abused.”

 

“Looking at her attitude in the courtroom, it seemed that way.”

 

“She probably won’t be able to go to social events for a while. I think so too.”

 

When everyone got together, they were busy talking about Meredith and the Schwartz family.

 

Of course, there was no way he was unaware of this situation as the Schwartz family.

 

‘That’s not a very good sign.’

 

Duke Schwartz seriously thought about the situation.

 

He wasn’t worried about the situation itself going up and down as gossip.

 

To that extent, he was concerned that the family’s status had fallen to the ground.

 

‘I must come up with a countermeasure.’

 

Honor once lost is not easy to regain.

 

Something was needed to turn this around before it was too late.

 

‘What should I do? How to…..’

 

Duke Schwarz, who had been thinking about it for several days, soon came up with a good solution.

 

‘Okay, that’ll work!’

 

Having made up his mind, he went to Catarina’s room to inform his daughter of his decision.

 

And before he could even open the door, he heard a deafening roar.

 

“What’s this! When did I say I wanted corn soup or something! Don’t you know that corn makes you fat?”

 

“I’m sorry, miss!”

 

“I’m sorry, everything? Just make sure…!”

 

“Catarina.”

 

Before things got any worse, Duke Schwartz opened the door and went inside.

 

The little maid, shivering and shrunken, saw Catarina about to slap her.

 

“…. father?”

 

Catarina stopped her raised hand and then she looked back at the Duke of Schwartz.

 

“What are you doing here?”

 

Duke Schwartz let out a deep sigh at the sharp voice.

 

Catarina’s hysteria had increased since the Duchess of Schwartz was exiled to the island of Elta.

 

As a result, complaints from servants were also increasing.

 

The Duke of Schwartz ordered the maid.

 

“You go out.”

 

“Father!”

 

Catarina protested with her bewildered expression.

 

“What are you doing? I mean, I was teaching!”

 

“Do you know how many complaints the employees have now because of your behaviour?”

 

“Ha, do I have to pay attention to such things? Cut them all off!”

 

“Then this mansion won’t work! It is very difficult to manage the mansion without your mother.”

 

The Duke’s words were true, and Catarina couldn’t argue further.

 

“You can’t put my mind at ease in place of your mother’s work! Are you just going to give me trouble?”

 

“…..”

 

“Have you already forgotten how your mother left for the distant island of Elta?”

 

At her father’s prompting, Catarina involuntarily bit her lip.

 

“…. Of course I know.”

 

After a while, Catarina gritted her teeth and opened her mouth.

 

“It’s because of the dissolute illegitimate girl who sits as the empress.”

 

Once her words were spoken, her forgotten anger flared up again.

 

“Thanks to someone, she is enjoying a good meal! Don’t overrate yourself!”

 

“Stop. There’s no point in mulling over it now.”

 

Duke Schwartz calmly analysed the situation.

 

“We have to do what we can now. Isn’t it?”

 

“…… Yes.”

 

“You are well aware that the status of our family has fallen, right?”

 

“… I know.”

 

“Yes, we have to turn this situation around.”

 

“But how?”

 

“There are ways.”

 

Duke Schwartz offered a solution, raising the corners of his mouth.

 

“Enter the palace as Her Highness’ lady-in-waiting, Catarina.”

 

“Her Highness’s lady-in-waiting? Me?”

 

“Yes. For now, that is the only way.”

 

The Empress or Empress Dowager’s lady-in-waiting could not be anyone.

 

Only aristocratic women who were trusted by them and were close to each other were able to wait close by.

 

It was different from the maid who did chores.

 

Therefore, becoming a lady-in-waiting was a very honourable thing.

 

In particular, unmarried aristocratic women eagerly desired it.

 

It was because there was no surefire way to find a good marriage like becoming a lady-in-waiting.

 

“It was something I had been thinking about. It seems the time has come.”

 

In his opinion, there has never been a better time than now.

 

“We should also promote a relationship with Her Highness, Empress Dowager. Looking at the way this matter was handled, I feel very uneasy now.”

 

“Are you saying you don’t trust Her Highness?”

 

“Anyway, we are tied for political gain from the beginning. If Empress Dowager puts her mind to it, she can change partners at any time.”

 

“Nonsense! Then, what about my position as empress?”

 

“It will fly away.”

 

“Never!”

 

Catarina groaned as if nothing more terrible could happen.

 

“I will do my best to stop that from happening, Father!”

 

“What you have to do is to receive the favour of Her Highness, the Empress Dowager, rather than Meredith.”

 

At her daughter’s positive attitude, the Duke of Schwartz smiled for the first time.

 

“The relationship between the two is not serious. With no political base, Meredith won’t be able to harm us right away, but….”

 

“We have to make sure the ball is in our court. It’s because we couldn’t do that, so we were struck badly!”

 

Catarina’s voice grew louder and louder as she spoke.

 

“Don’t worry, father. Because I will enter the palace as Her Highness’ lady-in-waiting, receive her love, and completely kill Meredith.”

 

“But don’t do anything stupid.”

 

“Don’t worry. I have plans too.”

 

Catarina said with a confident face, and the Duke of Schwartz, who looked at her, became uneasy for some reason.

 

‘…… Will it be all right?’

 

But in that situation, he couldn’t help it.

 

***

 

Duke Schwartz immediately put his plan into action.

 

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen both of you.”

 

Blair greeted Duke Schwartz and Catarina with her signature smile.

 

“So, why did you two come all the way here?”

 

“It’s been a while since our whole family visited Her Highness, Empress Dowager.”

 

Duke Schwartz also opened his mouth with a friendly smile.

 

“Even though my wife is not here due to an unfortunate incident, I brought my daughter to greet you.”

 

“It’s been a while since I greeted you like this, Your Highness Empress Dowager.”

 

Catarina quickly interjected, compliments sputtering from her lips.

 

“You have become more beautiful than the last time I saw you.”

 

“Oh my, beautiful. There are only one days left before I get wrinkles.”

 

“It can’t be. If someone I don’t know sees you, you’re young and pretty enough, to believe that you’re my older sister.”

 

“Princess Schwartz speaks very well, hoho.”

 

Blair was most fond of compliments on her appearance.

 

Thanks to that, the atmosphere softened in an instant.

 

“Does tea taste good to you, Princess Schwartz?”

 

“The Empress Dowager’s tea has always been great. It’s delicious, Your Highness.”

 

“That’s fortunate.”

 

At that time, Blair brought up a rather sticky topic.