Chapter 273
The banquet had ended.
Carynne collapsed onto the bed. The jewelry she wore weighed nearly half as much as she did, making it exhausting just to stay standing. She tried to take them off, but the intricate designs made it difficult to remove without assistance.
She needed a maid to help, but there was no one around her. It wasn’t normal. Even in a noble’s mansion—or her own house, for that matter—at least one maid would always be assigned to assist a guest, if only to help with changing clothes.
In the royal palace, there should have been even more attendants at her side. Yet, silence was all that filled the room. Maids typically hovered around even without explicit orders from their masters. Carynne sighed.
“His Highness Gueuze really isn’t very popular.”
Though uncomfortable, she had no desire to request a maid from Gueuze, so she tried to manage on her own. After a futile attempt, she gave up and sprawled across the bed. She thought about removing her makeup but felt too drained to go find someone. Imagine being the crown prince’s mistress and having to ask palace maids for a basin of water.
‘Well, I can understand why they wouldn’t want to come here.’
The room she was staying in had once belonged to the deceased crown princess. Even if she was a mistress, giving her such a room was not a wise choice. It was deliberate—a way to provoke discomfort for the king and Lewis, a declaration that she wasn’t just a simple concubine.
Of course, other nobles and commoners would condemn Carynne for brazenly using the crown princess’s chambers, calling her a witch. If she was going to be criticized anyway, she might as well indulge in luxury to the fullest. Grumbling to herself, Carynne closed her eyes.
If she were truly a tyrant’s mistress, she’d throw fits and demand extravagance, but she wasn’t even a real mistress. Everything was fake. The jewels piled on her weren’t true indulgence, especially since she didn’t have anyone to help her wear or remove them. Without servants, it wasn’t even luxury.
“I hate being alone…”