“Then, secretly bring me something from the Princess’s belongings. She has tons of jewels. Anyway, she’ll never notice if one little thing goes missing” she was told, and I was speechless.
Is she an idiot? Is she really an idiot?
I wanted to grab her shoulders and shake her, demanding to know if she hadn’t been taught that stealing is wrong. I managed to suppress the urge and started by explaining things carefully, as if to a five-year-old could understand.
I explained that stealing is a crime, that if truth came to be discovered, not only Ilse would just lose her job. But the Kallenberg Count family who were backing her, would also be held responsible.
(That was such an ordeal. Of all the places, she had to bring up such a foolish topic in the palace garden… I honestly felt like I couldn’t breathe…)
She was beside herself with worry that someone might overhear them and spread rumors that Ilse was involved in some ill-advised plot.
As Ilse recalled that memory, Count Kallenberg continued to endlessly complain and vent his frustrations about his daughter.
“Josea’s scandal is even starting to interfere with my work. Duke Lugart even made a passive-aggressive comment to me!”
Her half-brother held a seat in the Parliament as the successor to the Count title and was nominally active as a politician. Ilse used the word “nominally” because he was widely known as Duke Lugart’s lackey.
“So, here’s my plan! To restore my influence, I need to demonstrate my competence once again. That means I need to find a weakness in that eyesore, Prime Minister Schwarzen!”
“…A weakness in the Prime Minister?… I don’t think he has one.”
Ilse pictured the face of the Prime Minister, thirty years old man with dark brown hair and light brown eyes.
Diethardt Schwarzen. Highly intelligent and possessing a rational mind, he was the legitimate son of the prestigious Marquis Schwarzen family, and a young politician slated to lead the next generation, having been appointed to the Prime Minister’s post two years ago.
The elderly King, as part of his preparation to hand the throne over to the Crown Prince, first carried out a revitalization of the Prime Minister’s office.
It had been about 30 years since the invention of the coal-fired steam engine. New technology was being applied to various fields, and society was rapidly changing, thanks to its benefits.
This included the birth of new industries, changes in agriculture and logistics, and the rise of a new wealthy class.
The pace of change was increasing whether they liked it or not, and adhering to old ways would cause them to fall behind neighboring countries.
The King likely felt this sense of crisis.
Deigeln, where Ilse lived, was conservative compared to the countries aligned on the western side of the continent, with old feudal systems still holding considerable sway.
Soon after inheriting the throne, the King began working on reforming the old systems and gradually put a modern legal framework into place.
Diethardt, the new Prime Minister, shared the King’s vision and was reportedly implementing policies to further accelerate the reforms.
“You are going to find it! That smug little upstart. I will never approve of his reform proposal for the parliamentary system!”
Count Kallenberg’s eyes burned with anger.
Her brother was the typical authority and power-worshipper. He likely couldn’t stand the common-born people who were gaining power with the changing times, and he disliked Diethardt, who was trying to incorporate their momentum to push through reforms.
“I will take you to the next ball being hosted by the palace. You must use your feminine wiles to make that man fall for you. I’m sure he has a few shady secrets. Your job is to get close to him, find his weakness, and bring the evidence to me.”
“That’s impossible! The Prime Minister is famous for not succumbing to the advances of any woman!” Ilse couldn’t help but argue.
“Enough, be quiet. You’re a young woman. You should be able to make one or two men fall for you.”
“W-w-what…”
This was an outrageous request. The fact that he was thinking of her only in the broad category of “young woman” showed how flawed this entire plan was.
Besides, would Diethardt Schwarzen really fall for a woman’s seduction?
No, it was impossible. She could firmly state that because he was notoriously clean—with no rumors whatsoever.
In fact, there were even whispers of him being a secret homosexual.
“If I manage to bring down Prime Minister Schwarzen here, Duke Lugart won’t be able to say things about me like ‘all flattery and no action’ anymore.”
That line revealed Duke Lugart’s assessment of her brother, as the Duke was the primary figure resisting the policies Diethardt and others were pushing at the palace.
“And another thing! After he falls for you, you get the evidence of his weakness, and you hand it over to me—you dump him outright! If he comes crawling back, begging you not to leave him, you can kick him right in front of me! I’ll be there, laughing heartily at the sight!”
Ilse felt utterly dismayed facing the maliciously laughing Count Kallenberg.
She’d always thought this, but this man lacked basic sense. It made perfect sense that he was Josea’s father. That niece was definitely resembles her father.
She highly doubted Diethardt would fall for a honey trap. He would most likely just look down on her with ice-cold eyes and tell her to “get lost.”
That’s how little interest in women Prime Minister Schwarzen had. Furthermore, she couldn’t even imagine him begging her not to leave him that was an absolute impossible in reality.
His stress from the consequences of Josea’s mess and the cleanup was clearly making him unhinged.
She couldn’t possibly go along with this.
Ilse sighed and opened her mouth.
“I refus—”
“If you defy me, I’ll make you quit the palace immediately and get married right now.”
Count Kallenberg grinned slyly.
“Come to think of it, you’re at a marriageable age. I’ll sell you off as a second wife to some nobleman before your price drops. A wealthy nobleman, of course.”
“I can find my own partner.”
“I can’t risk you finding a match with a family that can’t trace its lineage back three generations! You may have common blood, but you’re half Kallenberg. If you, the daughter of the former Count Kallenberg, were to make a disparate marriage, it would damage my reputation.”
That statement revealed the true feelings of her half-brother.
In Deigeln, where Ilse was born, one became an adult at eighteen. Ilse, at nineteen and turning twenty in just three months, was a fully-fledged adult. She was not Count Kallenberg’s property.
However, as if to say she couldn’t escape the family she was born into, her half-brother continued to bind her down. Although he usually treated her like a nuisance. On occasions like this, he would imperiously demand that she obey him as a member of the Kallenberg family.
It would be easy to defy him.
However, much to her chagrin, the only reason Ilse was currently able to work as maid to Heidmarie was because of Count Kallenberg’s backing and his family name.
A girl named just Ilse would never have been hired for a maid position. After her father died, Ilse went from being a Count’s daughter to just being Ilse.
(It’s still too soon to escape…)
Despite all the talk of technological innovation, the unfortunate reality was that old values and customs, where women must defer to men, were still deeply entrenched in society.
Ilse had a dream.
She couldn’t let Count Kallenberg find out about her plan just yet.
(There’s no way the Prime Minister will fall for a honey trap anyway. I just need to stall for some time and play along.)
Having concluded this, Ilse steeled herself.
“I understood. I will whole heartedly employ my feminine wiles on His Excellency, Prime Minister Diethardt Schwarzen.”