The Witch Didn't Raise the Tyrant That Way - Chapter 5: The Problem Grew Worse (4)

‘Should I ask if she’s okay?’

I gripped Yvette’s arm firmly, steadying her after the shove, while quietly debating whether to say something. I was used to hearing such remarks directed at me, but Yvette was a noblewoman of such high standing that this must have been deeply unpleasant for her.

Was she silent because the offenders were daughters of another duke’s household? Or was it because of her naturally calm disposition that she didn’t want to escalate the matter?

Either way, the situation left a sour taste in my mouth.

“Don’t worry about it,” Yvette said suddenly, her tone composed as though she had already brushed the incident off.

I blinked in surprise. Right… who am I to pity Yvette?

“His Majesty is such a striking and outstanding man. There isn’t a single young lady in society who doesn’t admire him, so it’s no wonder things like this happen.”

“Ah…”

So that’s what it was—Yvette was trying to console me.

‘Pretentious maid,’ ‘guard dog,’ ‘cheap food’…’

The truth was, their insults had been aimed squarely at me. And not just me, but me as someone involved with Kyle. Their words weren’t exactly inaccurate, but I had grown so accustomed to hearing such jabs that I didn’t feel particularly hurt. Still, it wasn’t as though I was entirely unaffected.

‘In the end, it’s Kyle they’re looking down on.’

Kyle always claimed that he didn’t need to concern himself with what others thought of him. But when he wasn’t around, people would insult him with such crude language. Even if those women weren’t officials or vassals with ties to the palace, their words revealed the prevailing sentiment among the nobles.

Now that my relationship with Kyle had been exposed, continuing as we were could only put him at a disadvantage.

“It’s fine. I can understand why they’d say such things,” I finally replied to Yvette, managing a weak smile before following her lead as she resumed climbing the stairs.

“By the way… is it possible for others to use this stairwell?”

“We’ll need to investigate how they managed to slip in. While you’re meeting with His Majesty, I’ll speak to the head steward about it. Don’t worry.”

“All right.”

Slip in? The absurd thought crossed my mind that those noblewomen might have been loiteLyng here solely to confirm my presence.

…Actually, could that be it?

Even before I arrived, there had been a great deal of pressure from the nobility for Kyle to enter into a political marriage. If rumors of him keeping a woman close had started to spread…

‘I don’t know much about those families, but if they’re aiming for the position of queen, I must be quite the thorn in their side…’

Lost in thought, I reached the top of the stairs. As usual, Yvette grabbed the doorknob to the stairwell door, as if to push it open right away—but then she paused. She hesitated, her lips parting slightly as though considering something. Finally, she exhaled deeply and spoke in a single breath.

“Eventually, you’ll find out, but I’m the adopted daughter of His Grace, the Duke of Edelsbach. I’m originally from a cadet branch of the family.”

“…What? Oh, I see.”

I was startled by her calm and measured tone but managed to mask my surprise.

“That’s why they acted so rudely. It wasn’t out of disrespect for His Majesty, so please don’t let it trouble you.”

I see… Yvette’s words, as though she had read my mind, brought me a small sense of relief and gratitude. Of course, that didn’t mean all of my worries were suddenly resolved.

Still…

‘So Yvette isn’t the duke’s biological daughter. Is that why the age difference between them seemed so significant?’

It had been over two months since I began living in the palace. Yvette had always treated me kindly, even though I was beneath a commoner in status, but we were never close enough to be considered truly familiar with one another. Yet hearing her share something that resembled a personal secret gave me the fleeting, mistaken feeling that maybe the connection I felt wasn’t entirely one-sided.

…Why was that?

And should she even be telling me something like that?

Then again, if even those two noblewomen earlier knew about it, it wasn’t exactly a secret. Perhaps she thought it was fine.

Or maybe… she thought it didn’t matter because I was someone who would eventually leave. No matter how kind she was, or how accommodating the atmosphere of this palace might sometimes seem, my presence here—wearing a robe in the summer, hood pulled low to obscure my face—was undeniably out of place. Like a single misplaced stain in this otherwise pristine palace.

“Even if I get better, even if I stay broken, no matter what happens… I just want you to stay here.”

I wonder. Is that even possible? Even if I were to remain here in some form, that wouldn’t change how people see me—as nothing more than a pretentious maid or cheap food.

My fingertips throbbed faintly.

* * *

After that day, whenever I went to the main building, I kept my ears perked, trying to catch snippets of conversation. I was curious if rumors about me were spreading—how widespread they might be and whether they could put Kyle in a difficult position.

However, it seemed the encounter with the noblewomen in the stairwell had been an unfortunate coincidence. There were no signs of people nearby when I passed through the main building, making it hard to gather any information. I even considered brewing a potion to temporarily enhance my hearing, but it didn’t turn out the way I wanted, leaving me disappointed.

In the end, I decided to break the rules for the first time since coming to the palace. I resolved to sneak into the main building—a place I wasn’t allowed to go. My reasoning was simple: being confined to the inner palace left me completely in the dark, and I was desperate for information.

Once I made up my mind, everything fell into place.

It had been two and a half months since I started living here. By now, I had a rough sense of Kyle’s daily routine: when he went to his office for state affairs, when he returned, and when he usually called for me. I also knew when the maids left me alone, where the servants worked, and at what times. Understanding the movements of those who came and went in the inner palace made planning my venture straightforward.

The day of my grand “mission”:

“Haa…”

Just like any other morning, Kyle waited for me to wake before pushing himself inside me, releasing the fluids he’d built up overnight. He exhaled as he pulled out, his still-swollen tip grazing my sensitive entrance and making my lower body twitch slightly.

“You keep spilling it.”

Kyle lifted my hips so my opening faced upward, scooping up the cloudy liquid that had leaked out and pushing it back inside with his fingers. He deliberately pressed his thumb against the tender edges of my entrance, reigniting a faint, stinging sensation of climax.

“Ahh…!”

“Ha… damn.”

Kyle let out a sigh, almost as if he were groaning in frustration, while looking down at my trembling opening with an expression of affection. Resting his forehead against my hip, he glanced toward the window. Judging by the strong sunlight streaming in, it was close to noon.

He seemed to want to go again but restrained himself. After closing his eyes tightly and taking several deep breaths, he finally lifted his head with a refreshed expression. His long bangs swayed lightly as he moved.

“I’m heading out.”

“Mm.”

“Rest up.”

He left a small kiss on my soft hip before lowering my legs and leaving the room. Once the door closed and the light from the hallway disappeared, I was left alone.

“Alright…”

I pulled my body up, fighting the urge to sink back into the bed. Usually, after Kyle left, I’d pass out cold, sleeping like the dead for an hour or two. During that time, the maids wouldn’t approach me—they stayed in the drawing room on the other side of the second floor, sipping tea and waiting for me to call for them.

And the housemaids? Around this time, they’d be busy cleaning other floors.

If I was going to move, this was my chance.

I changed into a maid’s uniform I’d secretly taken from the laundry room a few days ago. Then I went to the lab to alter my appearance, using one of the potions I’d created to change my eye color and another that temporarily transformed hair color for about an hour. After tying my hair tightly and tucking it into a headscarf, I was ready.

Walking toward the main building without my hood felt strange, but I didn’t have time to hesitate. If I waited too long, the maids might worry and come looking for me, thinking I’d fallen ill.

I walked quickly, letting my feet guide me. Thanks to all the times I’d traveled the same route with my vision obscured, I recognized my surroundings well enough. Before I knew it, I had reached one of the side entrances to the main building.

WandeLyng around, listening for signs of people, I soon found myself in a large, bustling hall where court officials and visiting nobles were gathered.

“Wow…”

The hall had three massive doorways along one wall, offering a full view of the grand garden beyond. This must be the main hall on the first floor of the main building.

It was my first time seeing so many people in one place. Having lived in the forest and rarely ventured to the market, the sight overwhelmed me.

And not just any people—they were all nobles.

I felt myself shrink instinctively but reminded myself there was no time for that. Steadying my nerves, I tried to blend in, standing as still as a statue among the crowd. It would’ve been better if I had cleaning supplies or something to carry, but since I didn’t, I simply moved quietly, pretending to inspect the artwork and frames as if I were maintaining them.

That’s when I overheard a familiar name.

“Lord Dorisson is here again today for an audience. I assume it’s about the young lady…”

Dorisson. One of the noblewomen I’d encountered in the stairwell bore that name.

“His Majesty needs to take a queen soon for the palace to settle down.”

“It won’t be long now.”

The conversation that followed sounded suspicious. Connecting Lady Dorisson to the absence of a queen… they must have been discussing Kyle’s political marriage.

‘I figured Lady Dorisson saw me as a threat because she was a potential candidate, but…’

“It won’t be long now,” huh?

So was that why Kyle had been returning so late every night? Political marriage pressures had intensified since I arrived. He’d mentioned being busy with petitions from the vassals about a political marriage when I first came to the palace…

Having stumbled upon some unexpected information, I began sneaking into the main building every three or four days, loiteLyng around where people gathered. At first, I was motivated by a desire to learn how rumors about me were spreading. But before I knew it, I had become obsessed with finding out anything I could about Kyle’s potential political marriage.

Not that knowing would change anything.

Still, my efforts weren’t entirely fruitless.

“Did Marquis Allman fail again?”

“They say Lady Allman is famous as the flower of high society, but there’s just too much gossip about her romantic affairs.”

“I heard the Margrave of Schnifelt is coming to the capital soon.”

“Ah, right. Lady Schnifelt is about to turn twenty, isn’t she?”

On some days, I overheard the names of prominent noble families desperately trying to forge a marriage alliance with the royal family.

“Could it be that His Majesty really doesn’t intend to marry?”

“Oh, come on. Maybe he’s just not thinking about it right now.”

“True. With how much they say he’s indulging in women these days, marriage is probably the last thing on his mind.”

On other days, people would speculate that the reason a royal wedding hadn’t yet taken place was because of me.

“Who would’ve guessed a witch could make her way into the royal palace?”

“Well, what can you do? If he’d grown up entirely in the palace, he wouldn’t know about such wicked things. But with the deposed queen… it’s complicated.”

And some days, I overheard people insulting Kyle indirectly, using my presence as a pretext—just like Lady Dorisson’s group had done.

“Are you certain? Is the wedding happening soon?”

“Looks like it. I hear the council is secretly hiring craftsmen for curtains, wallpapers, and other furnishings.”

Then, one day, I heard something shocking.

‘Preparing a bridal chamber?’

The fact that Kyle was being pressured to marry wasn’t new to me. It wasn’t surprising, nor was it the first time I’d heard people criticize Kyle for refusing to marry, using my existence as an excuse. That part stung, of course, but it wasn’t exactly shocking.

What was shocking, however, was the mention of a bridal chamber.

Currently, Kyle was the only member of the royal family living in the palace, and all authority over its management rested solely with him. No one could prepare a bridal chamber without his approval, which meant Kyle himself must have been behind it.

Kyle was preparing a bridal chamber. That meant he had already decided to marry.

‘…But where?’

The royal family’s living quarters consisted entirely of the inner palace. The only bedroom currently in use there was Kyle’s, where I was kept half-confined. There had been no signs of renovations or redecorations anywhere in the inner palace.

The annex? That had been demolished…

‘Ah.’

“I thought about leaving it as it was, but I wanted to build something new here, so I had it torn down.”

“Something new?”

“Yeah, I have plans.”

Was the building he mentioned—the one he wanted to construct—meant to be a new palace for his married life?

“Is he… really getting married?”