Portrait of Queen Berta

I accidentally got pregnant with His Majesty's child

Chapter 5: Employment Interviews

Johanna had not long since given birth to her second child when she went to the castle.
As one of the candidates for nanny, she was visiting the second queen, who was expecting.

(I have to be chosen as the nanny, no matter what! With our family's finances at this rate, my husband and children are going to starve...)

The Imperial Palace, the first time she stepped inside, was enveloped in a strange silence.
At the same time as the refined atmosphere, the traditional building, a remnant of its original construction, exudes a somehow chilling loneliness.

The palace, the residence of the second queen, stood out from the rest of the stately buildings in the palace.
The outer walls and the interior were perfectly polished, and every single piece of furnishings is first class.

The elegant and rich interiors, which were done without sparing costs, have a notable hint of gold.
It seemed to be a revival of the palace's golden age.

Many of the traditional aristocrats, including the faction of the First Queen, were already on the verge of diminishing their authority at this time.
The bloodline of the old nobility does not have its roots in this country, but rather many of them have their roots in neighboring countries.

There was a long period of time when the 'Gentile nobility' ruled this country effectively, but their authority was of course not eternal, and their ties to neighboring countries are not as solid as in the past.

In the years to come, this ties will surely be replaced by native millionaires, backed by economic power and the force of the population, since they are the majority of it.

She is the daughter of the Kasha family, the spearhead of this movement.
The Second Queen, Queen Kasha, has already created a storm even inside the royal court.

The momentum will no longer stop, Johanna's relatives are of the traditional aristocratic faction, but her family in particular is very poor and Johanna is decided to stay in the middle of this powerful forces' battle if that's needed for her family to survive.

"Viscountess Schulde. You're quite young, although I've heard this is the second time you've given birth."

Johanna, who hadn't expected to suddenly meet the Second Queen in person on her first interview, was taken to the back court, to the queen's private quarters, and she was very astonished.

Not long after Johanna was seated on an overstuffed couch, a slender woman appeared.

Johanna knew immediately who this woman was.
There was only one woman with a large belly in the royal palace actually.

Johanna hurriedly stood up and bowed down, respectfully giving her a vassal's bow.

(The second queen! Sh-- she the one --!)

The slender woman, the Second Queen Berta Kasha, took a good look at Johanna and gave her a friendly smile, but at the same time seemed to be concerned about the young age of the potential nanny.

"My age is eighteen. I married into the Schulde family three years ago, and I had a baby last year and this year in succession."

Age was one of the factors in Johanna's uncertainty whether she would be chosen as a nanny, so it was a conversation that had been anticipated in advance.

"She's younger than any of my maidservants"

(Unbelievable! The first time I met Princess Kasha, she looked so mature, but I had heard she was 20 only, was that right?)

Maybe it was because she was tall.
She was tall for a woman, and at the same time she was terribly thin.
That made the bulge in her abdomen stand out and seemed to suck all the nutrients out of her thin body.

Yet even at such a precarious stage, Lady Kasha looked even more powerful.

Her rich, lustrous black hair was loosely tied and wavy, somehow the picture resembled a Queen's royal cape.
Her porcelain-smooth skin brightened her complexion, and the bridge of her nose and shadowed eyelashes also added to the shape of her face.

(Her appearance too powerful! It doesn't fit into the traditional criteria for beauty)

The person who best embodies the requirements for beauty in this era is none other than the current king's wife, Her Royal Highness the Princess Margarita.
She has delicate, fragile look that inspire a desire for protection, lightly pigmented hair and skin, and a soft, curvy body.

In Johanna's criteria, it was clear that Princess Kasha wasn't comfortable in this royal palace.
However, she was surely a woman who was considered beautiful in the native culture she belonged to.

She had a grace that convince people that she was a gentle, trustworthy woman.
For Johanna, she was so beautiful that she could not help but gaze at her for a while.

The princess did not immediately turn Johanna away, despite her youthfulness, but invited her to sit on the couch again and treated her to sweets and tea, as she would have done to a close friend.

"In my family of origin, the nanny's children and the master's children are raised together. But I hear that nanny's children are not allowed to live with us here."

"No. We're baronets, our status is different. We cannot serve princes and princesses directly."

When you become a nanny, you usually serve the children of the main family all your life.
The child you bear is secondary to the one you feed?

"Then you will be lonely too, won't you? You will miss the child you just gave birth to, living apart from his is--"

"I'm ready, my Lady! My grandmother taught me the duties of a nanny, I'm aware of my role requirements!"

Johanna's grandmother had served as a royal nanny in the past, and of course, Princess Kasha was aware of this.
The reason Johanna was nominated at such a young age is because of her grandmother's achievements.

Princess Kasha made a painful, unhappy face and then lowered her voice slightly.

"Even if you can't live with him... I can send you home a few times a month."

"... No! It's not necessary, Your--"

Johanna stutters, unable to keep up with the rush of the conversation.
She didn't even know if she was going to be selected in the first place.

"Unofficially, of course! I heard there is a special tea in the land of Viscount Schulde. Yes, I'm so fond of that tea that I'll be selfish enough to send you to get more for me... Yes, twice a month, it'll serve!"

(I had questions and answers ready to answer if someone asked me about 'how to be a nanny' or 'how well my milk flowed'... But I wasn't expecting this kind of situation. I have no idea what the right answer... a nanny, what should she answer?... Oh, I see she doesn't know how the servants are handled in the Palace. Is she an unruly Queen, or no one explained to her the rules of the castle?)

"That won't... The nanny is a subject who serves her Master without a moment's separation! I am afraid to let your son starve while I'm away from him."

"Oh, don't worry. That's okay. I'll be feeding him myself. So your role is just to help me."

Johanna blinked several times, Queen Kasha was saying something even more outrageous than before. Upper class women don't do things like breastfeeding themselves, that's a servant's duty. Does she understand what she's hiring a nanny for?

Princess Kasha saw Johanna's expression of wonder and now she asked her in a good mood.

"I thought about looking for a Petranian nanny, but the person that will move around in this royal palace easier, would be a noblewoman of the traditional royal linage like you."

Originally, Johanna and her husband were decided to side by this Petranian queen, no matter what future awaits ... Of course, if she decides to hire her.

-- Johanna has to do only what she wants!
She obeyed her birth mother's wishes, be liked and served, but she can't do that anymore... For her children, she has to obtain a place on the palace as a servant.

"Lady Schulde? I want a nanny with as few political interests as possible. I want someone loving and affectionate who will stand by him, no matter what. So, you know, someone who is compassionate and cares about the family, that's ideal."

"Well, I'm very flattered to hear you say that, ah..."

(I knew it, she knows everything about me... Even so, I couldn't help but feel afraid of being in the middle of the conflicts between the Gentile queen and the Kasha's clan. But...)

"Yes. I'm glad to have found a good nanny."

(She already has the face of a loving mother trying to protect her unborn child.)

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