WPVMVA Chapter 41

“Wait.”

“Yes?”
“Send a letter to the Temple. Tell them to sell all their highest-grade recovery potions to our duchy for the time being, as soon as they’re made. We’ll pay as much as they want.”
So that Adrian would stop using Daniella’s health as an excuse to pull nonsense like this again.

Not long after her conversation with Ashid, Mela and the maids came into the parlor and gently urged Daniella to return to her bedroom.

Following their suggestion, Daniella returned to her room without protest. After taking her recovery potion and antidote, she sat propped up against the headboard. Though “sat” wasn’t quite right—it was more like she was lying down.

As she read the novel Mela had brought for her in that state, someone knocked on the bedroom door.

“Madam, it’s the butler. May I come in for a moment?”
“Come in.”

Daniella straightened her back and replied. A moment later, the butler entered carrying a massive box, followed by an attendant with a large flower basket. Daniella’s eyes widened in surprise at the sight of them.

The basket, so large it filled the arms of the sturdy attendant, was bursting with thousands of blooms.

Mostly made up of white, apricot, and pink stock flowers—like tiny butterflies with layered wings clinging to tall stems—it was trimmed with dainty light-purple and navy rosemary flowers. It was so beautiful that it drew admiration at a glance.

Mela let out a gasp and asked the butler,
“My goodness, what is all this? Who sent it?”

The butler replied proudly,
“The master sent it for Madam.”
“Really?”
“Yes. He ordered the stock and rosemary himself, saying they’d help with Madam’s recovery.”
“Oh, how thoughtful!”

“And this,” the butler continued, opening the box in his arms, “is the highest-grade recovery potion the master ordered from the Temple for Madam’s health.”

Inside were dozens of potion bottles, each about the size of a palm and radiating a mysterious iridescent glow.

Daniella stared in awe at the sacred, otherworldly light.

Meanwhile, Mela had already snatched the flower basket from the attendant and set it carefully on the side table by the bed so Daniella could admire it better.

“Look, Madam. Isn’t it beautiful?”
“…Yes. It’s beautiful.”

Daniella answered with her eyes still fixed on the flowers. Not only were they beautiful, but their sweet, delicate fragrance made her feel instantly at ease.

‘So… was that why he asked if I liked flowers?’

Pouting slightly, Daniella thought back to Ashid earlier.

A wave of warmth and embarrassment rushed through her. This was the first time she’d ever received such a gorgeous and extravagant flower arrangement.

Without realizing it, her cheeks flushed pink as she gently stroked one of the blossoms. The petals were as soft as the finest silk.

Watching her, Mela smiled secretly and asked,
“What shall we do, Madam? Should we leave it here so you can admire it for a while?”

Instead of replying, Daniella simply nodded, her face adorned with a soft smile.

She had no idea then that from that day on, fresh flower baskets and boxes of recovery potions would be delivered every morning to her bedroom and parlor.

After the scandal involving the new fiancée of Crown Prince Adrian—who was exposed for attempting to poison the Grand Duchess, his former fiancée—the matter concluded with Emily Linburton’s exile and the downfall of House Linburton.

The nobles and royals of the Ashillad Empire, as if nothing had happened, were soon back to enjoying the dazzling, bustling social season.

Parties were still in full swing, and nobles with debutante daughters were eagerly working to ensure their success on the social stage.

And what had recently become the talk of the town among them?
Undoubtedly, it was Princess Elizabeta’s hairpin.

Its unique design and intricate craftsmanship made it stand out, but it was the fact that the princess had worn it and bragged about it to the nobles that really boosted its fame.

What added to the excitement was that the hairpin had been a gift from none other than the victim of the poisoning incident, Grand Duchess Daniella Albrecht.

Ladies desperate to obtain the same hairpin rushed to the merchant group behind it—Baroness Jane Purple’s Trading Company, acting under the Grand Duchess’s orders.

Orders flooded in, and the craftsmen had to work day and night to keep up.

The true, hidden head of the trading company—Daniella herself—sat in the drawing room of the main estate, reviewing the report brought by Gray with satisfaction.

“I expected it would sell well, but this is even more than I imagined. Amazing.”
“It’s all thanks to the Grand Duchess. You designed the piece and gave it to Her Highness, which made it such a sensation… The only thing we didn’t foresee was Emily Linburton’s attempt on your life.”

Gray spoke with a chilly glint in his eyes, despite the smile on his lips.

He had always known Emily was a shallow fool—but hadn’t realized she could be so cruel.

He stiffened as he imagined her now, exiled, wandering alone across the border.
“Too lenient a punishment for what she did,” he thought.

It couldn’t just be to preserve the Crown Prince’s dignity.
Whose guilt were they really trying to cover up?

As Gray pondered, Daniella smiled, encouraged by the unexpectedly large profits.
“With this kind of money, we could fund both the opera troupe and the charity work. Right?”
“Yes—provided the opera doesn’t flop and drain our finances.”
“No need to worry. It’ll be a hit.”

“If the plot follows the original novel, that is.” Daniella kept that last thought to herself.

Gray chuckled lightly.
“Very confident, aren’t you? Though you’ve only just chosen the play. You haven’t even picked a bard or actors yet.”
“Well, actually… I’ve already decided on the bard.”

Her confident reply widened Gray’s composed eyes.
“Who is it?”
“The one who’ll receive this letter.”
“…!”
“So Gray, would you deliver this for me?”

Daniella held out a sealed envelope she had prepared in advance.

The front read:
To: Lysander Wills, Director of the Fortinb Opera Troupe, Castle Pellion, Ashillad Empire.

Lysander Wills, director of the Fortinb Opera Troupe, gulped as he stared up at the massive Albrecht duchy estate.

His long, unruly brown hair was tied back, and he wore a cheap cotton shirt and worn brown trousers. He held out the letter with trembling hands to the suspicious gatekeeper.

“I… I’ve come to see the Grand Duchess.”

The guard snorted, snatching the letter from him. But the moment he read it, his face turned pale, and he promptly led Lysander deep into the estate.

Through a vast garden and up to the grand front doors of the manor, the gatekeeper knocked politely.

“Come in.”

A graceful voice rang out, and the door opened.

Inside the splendid drawing room, decorated in elegant cream and deep green, sat a stunning noblewoman.

With her long, thick red hair pinned up with a sapphire ornament, wearing a rich teal-blue dress and gazing at him with eyes as blue as a summer sky, Daniella Albrecht took his breath away.

“L-Lysander W-Wills… g-greets the Grand Duchess!”

Flustered, he bowed deeply. The Grand Duchess smiled warmly and gestured toward the seat across from her.

As he hesitantly sat down, she got straight to the point.
“I hear you’ve been living in Castle Pellion and creating operas there.”
“…Yes. I’ve tried to make… entertaining pieces, even if they’re a bit rough.”

Daniella gave him a sharp, knowing look.
“Really? That’s not quite what I heard.”
“Pardon?”

“I heard the high priestess of the Ashillia Temple overseeing Castle Pellion censored your plays for being ‘too profane and vulgar’—and made you rewrite them three times.”
“H-How do you know that…!”

“I read it in the original novel, of course.” Daniella smirked internally, hiding the thought behind a composed smile.