kscans

Chapter 3 - Karen

Milene, the only one who would give the girl a warm embrace when her nursemaid wasn’t looking, was sent away. The gentle hours spent listening to countless fairy tales before bed were lost as well.

In her place, the girl’s time with Karen grew—Karen, who would use every moment the nursemaid was away to make snide remarks and play petty, cruel tricks.

"As expected of a princess, that silk dress is simply divine. The best I can manage is a cotton dress."

Looking down on the girl clad in an old-fashioned, somber black dress, Karen, herself wearing a vibrant, light pink cotton dress, curled her lip in a malicious smirk. Though her father had forbidden the comfortable silk dresses she once wore, the rising number of wealthy commoners meant that even cotton dresses now featured cutting-edge designs. And anything was leagues better than a dreary black mourning dress, silk or not.

Karen’s father, a wealthy merchant, had fallen from grace due to his close ties with the executed former king. But he was still extremely rich, and in a way, the girl and her nursemaid were being supported by him. Born a princess, yet she wore clothes shabbier than Karen’s. Compared to Karen, who had known fine things since childhood, the girl knew nothing and was far inferior in the accomplishments of a lady. Being forced to serve such a girl was irritating enough, but she also deeply resented her father for being cooped up in this backwater village. So, she took every opportunity to look down on the girl, assuaging her own frustrations with sharp barbs and mean-spirited pranks.

"These are Cranberry Baked Sweets, all the rage in the capital now. My father sent them for you, Your Highness. Oh, but… these are relatively inexpensive sweets, popular with the common folk. They would hardly be suitable for a princess, would they? I’m sure your nursemaid would scold you, so I shall dispose of them for you."

In the hidden village where sweets were nearly impossible to come by, she would make a show of displaying them only to take them away immediately. Karen knew the nursemaid’s temperament well and was an expert at preventing the girl from ever saying she wanted something. In front of the nursemaid, Karen feigned meek obedience, never failing to act with an expression of profound respect. Karen knew that for royalty, a nursemaid was far more than just someone who provided milk.

Though now a plain-looking middle-aged woman, the nursemaid had once been the star of high society. Many had admired the marquis’s daughter hailed for her beauty and intellect. Karen’s father was among them. The grace of her movements, her deep knowledge of arts and literature from all ages and lands, her skill in dance, her mastery of the harp—an essential instrument for women—she was first-class in all of them, and her skills remained sharp even with age. Karen knew that to steal those skills for herself would be an unparalleled weapon for a woman.

"It is truly regrettable that we cannot provide you with a satisfactory education in this remote place, but this nursemaid will personally and strictly instruct you in the etiquette and accomplishments required of a lady. Your Highness must one day welcome a noble husband. This is so that you will not be looked down upon by him. Do you understand?"

As the nursemaid gave the girl her elite education, Karen stood by her side, absorbing that knowledge more eagerly than anyone. While the girl, whose reluctance was plain to see, failed to meet the nursemaid’s expectations, Karen grew more refined by the day.

Blood means nothing. In fact, there is nothing in which she surpasses me. Except for one thing.

While looking down on the girl and reveling in her own superiority, Karen secretly harbored a dark flame of envy over the one area she could not surpass her.

The girl’s talent with the harp was a gift from the heavens, likely inherited from her mother’s side. The girl’s mother, a princess with royal blood from a neighboring country, was said to have been a prodigy of the harp. Hearing of her reputation, the former king had taken her as one of his consorts. In just a few years, the girl’s skill surpassed even that of her nursemaid, who was considered first-class. By the time she was eight, even the nursemaid praised her without reservation.

In education, deportment, and dance, the gap between them was so wide that the nursemaid would scold the girl by comparing her to Karen. But when it came to the harp, the girl had ascended to a height Karen couldn't even touch.

Ordinarily, the girl wore a perpetually difficult expression on her well-formed features and lacked even a shred of charm. But with a harp in her hands, she became a different person. The music that flowed from her fingertips was a melody from the heavens. Her posture was dignified, radiating an almost divine aura. The thought that this could be the power of noble blood made Karen’s commoner blood boil.

And so, in the spring when the girl turned twelve and Karen sixteen, Karen’s father arrived. He was overjoyed to find that the daughter he had left five years prior had learned to beautifully conceal her willfulness and arrogance, now carrying herself with the poise of a true lady.

"With this, she can hold her own against any noble lady."

And with that, Karen set off for the high society of the neighboring country.

Initially appearing in society with her identity concealed, Karen drew eyes with her lavish gowns, paid for with a fortune in gold. Blessed with fine features to begin with, her youthful bloom and confident demeanor allowed her to wear potentially gaudy outfits with stunning grace. She captured the hearts of the older generation with her quick-witted conversation and a display of deep learning that never crossed into ostentation.

Her target was never the young noblemen. The competition for promising young lords was fierce, and her commoner status put her at high risk of being attacked with baseless rumors and false accusations. Her ideal partner was someone with political power and influence, yet was otherwise an undesirable match. Thus, Karen became the new wife of a marquis who was the prime minister’s younger brother and already had grandchildren. Doted on by a husband captivated by his young, alluring wife, Karen basked in the glory of high society. As for the noble ladies who secretly scorned her as a commoner upstart, Karen simply laughed and ignored them. After all, none of them could hold a candle to her in any regard. Before long, her reputation reached the royal family, and it wasn't long before the womanizing crown prince took an interest.

And then, in the prince’s bed, Karen whispered.

"You recall the Harp Princess who was married into our country long ago, do you not? Did you know that her last surviving child is still alive?"

The crown prince was immediately intrigued. And that story soon reached the king.

"Ho, so you are saying your father is sheltering the legitimate heir of our neighboring kingdom?"

"Yes. Though my father is no nobleman, he takes pride in protecting the princess as a loyal subject. However, he is but a humble merchant and cannot provide her with the care she deserves. He is deeply concerned for the future of the princess, who is now coming of age. Your Majesty shares a blood tie with her. I implore you to look upon her with favor…"

Karen’s father was a merchant to the bone. He knew exactly where and how to sell the girl for the greatest profit.

At this time, the girl was fourteen. Her nursemaid had died from an epidemic the previous year.