The principality of Bertino
–
There was a long line of mansions along the five-pointed roads, with the Imperial Castle in the middle.
In particular, the five closest mansions situated around the Imperial Castle were the homes of the five Peacocks, the highest aristocrats of Austern, of which the Duda and Kiellini families were adjacent along the road.
Recalling the map that interested her before, Juliet passed along Eldira Street, where she had never been before, and an emblem of a family she had often seen somewhere appeared in her eyes.
It was an emblem that remained in the memory of young Juliet.
The emblem was on Marquis Anais' carriage when he came to see Stella and Juliet, and his heart was beating strangely.
Juliet murmured, rubbing her beating heart, “Juliet, although he is a father who abandoned you, does your heart beat even when you see his mansion?”
In front of the iron gate with Anais' family emblem on it were knights on guard, beyond them was an endless garden.
After rubbing her chest once again thinking that the golden-haired marquis who looked like her might be outside, Juliet turned towards the large castle of golden light at the end of the road.
Realizing that the carriage's destination was there, she finally realized that her boss was the Prince of this great country, living in a beautiful castle that seemed to come from fairy tales.
Spellbound, looking around and admiring, the carriage passed through the small back door of the Imperial Castle.
The interior of the castle, brilliantly decorated with gold, was as colorful as the exterior.
The carriage stopped at the back of a castle a little away from the main castle, passing through a park-like garden decorated with all kinds of sculptures, flowers and trees along a smooth stretch of road.
Feeling nervous upon reaching her destination, Juliet carefully got out of the carriage.
Juliet looked at the smooth and calm pale purple castle, unlike the main gold castle, took in its appearance and laughed.
It was funny to think of herself as a country girl in an old drama who had just moved to a big city.
The driver told him to wait and got in.
Juliet decided not to look too shabby when someone came out to guide her, straightened the clothes that had wrinkled during the carriage ride and stood up, as she had learned.
Her back ached and her legs were asleep when a middle-aged woman dressed to the nines in a gray dress finally came out from inside.
“Is this Juliet of Harrods Street?”
With a dignified voice, Juliet bowed quickly.
“Yes.
I'm Juliet Salmon.
It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
When Juliet, an illegitimate daughter who had not been included in her family register, politely greeted her with her mother's surname, as she had learned from Johanna, the woman nodded in satisfaction.
“I am Countess Auguste, the head maid of His Highness Killian's Castle Asta.
I will say this briefly, because I don't have time, as His Highness will soon leave for the Principality of Bertino.
I don't expect anything from you because you're on a temporary job until I get another maid anyway.
I just hope you don't get fired until I find a suitable maid.
Do you understand?”
Juliet, who was once again instructed not to be fired here, replied politely with her eyes downcast: “I will do my best as I would like to return to Harrods Street.”
Countess Auguste, who nodded again at Juliet's response, opened her mouth as if something was unexpected.
“But you’re not as fat as I thought you’d be.
Have you lost a lot of weight?”
Juliet, who was stung by her conscience, nodded at his words.
“Yes.
I thought I would have to lose weight if I wanted to continue working as His Highness’s maid.”
When Juliet came to work at Bertino's mansion, it was winter, so she could wear a linen cloak with cotton, but it was too much to wear after the start of summer.
So she was forced to make a new sundress to disguise herself.
She took off her full cotton underwear around her waist and hips.Instead, the waist and hips of the maid's dress, which was three times bigger than her, were fixed in a circle with wires used by aristocratic women to inflate their skirts.
The fabric would be close to the body so that the curves of the waist and hips would not be revealed.
She also added cotton to the shoulder padding to make them bigger.
The Juliet of today was still an ugly maiden, with brick-red hair, as long as a broom, though not as heavy as before, for the full mass that had been rounded with cotton was gone.
“But you must have wanted to continue with your work, judging by your efforts.
Sir Albert said not to be surprised by her appearance, but it was a relief.
Come, follow me.”
Juliet breathed a sigh of relief for a moment, feeling as if she had safely crossed the first line and then followed Mrs.
Auguste to the splendid castle.
Upon arriving at Sir Albert's office under his guidance, Juliet had to be told repeatedly what to do on this trip.
“We can’t go there all at once.
We have been recovering since the Magic Square, linked to the Principality of Bertino, was destroyed during the war.
In the Territory of Baden, the destination of the Magic Square, we will spend one night and head to the neighboring town of Deuwabo, and cross the border.
From there we will travel in a carriage for many days and head to Ricaren, the capital of Bertino.
Because of the long travel time, His Highness will feel very unwell.
So be careful with everything, always.
Do you understand?”
"Yes sir."
“What you do on the move will be dictated by Jeff.
The most important among them is preparing tea.
His Highness won't want Jeff's tea, if possible.
So if he wants tea while traveling, prepare it immediately.”
At the butler's words, Juliet faltered.
Having never camped, she could not have set a tree branch on fire.
Of course, the highest-ranking prince's Bertino mansion was equipped with all kinds of convenient magical items, but she couldn't help but worry because they weren't big enough to carry.
“How do I prepare tea?
I never made a fire because I never traveled.”
Upon hearing Juliet's words, Sir Albert shook the bell that was on the table, as if he wasn't going to worry.
“Ian, bring me the glass bottle His Highness uses on his trip.”
The brown-haired servant with a good impression left at Albert's command and entered a moment later with something.
Albert took out a glass bottle a little bigger than his palm and held it out to Juliet.
“It's a magical glass bottle that can keep your tea at the same temperature all the time.”
The clear glass bottle had a colorful silver emblem, very beautiful and expensive to touch.
Albert stretched out his hand as if asking Juliet to return it after she looked at the glass bottle.
He opened the lid and poured water directly into the teacup on the table.
Definitely magical, as when she touched it, the bottle was cold, but steaming water came out of the bottle.
Albert said unexpectedly, after looking at Juliet’s impassive expression as she thought of it as just a modern thermos, “You’re not surprised.
Isn’t it magic?”
Juliet, who was watching without thinking about anything, only expressed her admiration, feeling that she had made a mistake.
“I was so surprised that I was expressionless.
But where should I boil the water to put in that glass bottle?”
“Holds enough for three cups of tea at a time.
You don’t need to boil the water separately, if you put cold water in it, it boils to heat inside the bottle and keeps at that temperature.”
This time, Juliet was genuinely surprised.
She understood that it was a thermos, but the water was boiling inside!
As expected, the magical items used by the royal family seemed to be of different levels.
“You'll have to keep him safe.
Don’t I need to tell you how expensive it is?”
Julieta had no idea how much it would cost, but agreed that it would be absurdly expensive and nodded.
“Now then, we will be leaving in an hour, and the rest will be explained by Mrs.
Auguste.”
Sa-chan
Sa-chan
Thanks for reading.
^-^