Because Flowers Aren’t My Taste - Chapter 1

In the capital of the Solane Kingdom, there is a glass flower that no ordinary person could ever hope to touch. Kylie Edwina, born of the Ducal House of Rodian.

Her twenty-fifth spring was just as busy and peaceful as any other.

“Miss, it’s time to get up.”

The sound of curtains being pulled open was accompanied by sunlight pouring in above her head. Kylie groaned, burying her face into her pillow.

“I only just got back at dawn. Let me sleep a bit longer.”

“There’s a ball tonight at the royal palace. Surely, you aren’t planning to be late for an event His Majesty will attend, are you?”

The stern voice of her nanny pierced through her drowsy mind.

“…Was that today?”

“Yes, so get your head off that pillow immediately.”

The nanny, who had taken care of Kylie since birth, was like a second parent to her. Perhaps because of that, whining never worked with her.

Kylie stretched her body as she yawned. Getting out of bed, she staggered toward the bathroom.

As Kylie dozed off in a bath filled with dried jasmine petals, Lily washed her hair.

Afterwards, Lily sat Kylie down in a chair and began drying her hair with a towel. The nanny, who had been watching Kylie’s hair with the eyes of a hawk, frowned.

“The ends of your hair are dry again. Did you go to sleep without drying it properly? You should’ve woken me up.”

“You need your sleep too. Besides, you said it’s hard for you to fall back asleep once you wake up at night.”

With parties practically every night, Kylie’s schedule had completely turned upside down lately.

“Taking care of you is my job. If I’m not around, at least you should have done something, Lily.”

Lily, who had been cooling down a heated curling iron, drooped her shoulders in dismay. “I’m sorry. I just assumed Miss was going straight to bed…”

“Don’t scold Lily. It’s my fault for changing my mind.”

Kylie’s defense brought a small smile to Lily’s lips.

Lily used the curling iron to create small curls that cascaded down Kylie’s forehead. By the time Lily put the comb down, her own forehead was covered in sweat.

“Do you like it, Miss?”

“It’s perfect, Lily. Your hairstyling skills are the best in the kingdom.”

Her silver-white hair fell softly around her face, styled in the latest fashion.

“Of course! You won’t find a maid as skilled as me anywhere else.”

As Lily left to find a dress, the nanny helped Kylie into her corset.

“Stop being so hard on Lily. Why are you always strict with her?”

“Because you keep defending her, she can’t tell when it’s appropriate to speak up or stay silent. She even acts like a young lady in front of the other maids. Servants who don’t know their place will eventually bring harm to their masters.”

“But she’s still young…”

“She’s already twenty. There’s barely any difference in age between you two.”

“She came all the way here with no family… Fine, fine. I’ll warn her.”

The nanny clicked her tongue at Kylie’s indifferent response before changing the subject.

“How was the party last night?”

“Everyone was fighting to see who would accompany the King to the summer palace. I’m sure they’ll keep it up until the final list is announced. In the meantime, everyone kept disappearing to balconies as soon as they made eye contact—it was chaotic.”

Kylie sighed, recalling the previous night.

It was exhausting just to sit still like a picture throughout such a tumultuous party. But attending the parties of the nobles and, of course, the royal family, was precisely Kylie’s role.

Especially on nights when foreign ambassadors or honored guests were on the invitation list, her attendance was mandatory.

“It seems His Majesty no longer cares about your health,” the nanny said, her lips pursed in displeasure.

“I suppose he thinks I can endure this much.”

Kylie had been born with a weak heart. Although her condition had improved compared to the past, no one expected her to live a full lifespan.

A fragile body that could break at any moment—that was the reason Kylie came to be known as the “Glass Flower Lady.”

“Instead of sending doctors and medicine, shouldn’t he be summoning you to fewer parties?”

The nanny was clearly upset, but the King’s attitude wouldn’t change. If a ward’s value after pouring in so much money amounted to nothing more, then…

“At least because of that ‘usefulness,’ I haven’t been sent to a convent.”

Even the illusion of freedom was better than nothing.

Until the day she could leave the court, this situation was the best she could hope for.

“…Have you heard? The Marquis of Shrewsbury has announced his engagement.”

So that was why she looked so upset.

Seeing no reaction from Kylie, the nanny’s eyes narrowed.

“Aren’t you curious who his fiancée is?”

Kylie lazily stretched as she replied, “Why should I be? He probably chose a suitable woman.”

“Aren’t you even angry? He sent you flowers every day! How could his feelings change so suddenly?”

The nanny was furious.

“Marriage is a different matter.”

Kylie had a disqualifying flaw that everyone knew about.

The nanny knew it too—this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened.

But today, the nanny’s sigh was deeper than usual. Kylie’s eyes narrowed.

“…Don’t tell me you liked the Marquis?”

“Who could like such a shameless man!”

“Then why are you so mad?”

It was ridiculous.

“Why do you think? Because it’s frustrating! Frustrating! What on earth is lacking in you that they treat you this way?”

“You know why…”

Kylie tried to calm the nanny, but she wouldn’t listen.

“Don’t worry. If you show even a little interest, you’ll find someone a hundred times better than the Marquis of Shrewsbury.”

“What are you talking about? I have no intention of getting married,” Kylie spoke firmly.

The men of the social circle were all pigeon-brained with feather-light morals.

To marry one of them?

And above all, to bear the child of a man she didn’t love? It was unthinkable.

Kylie preferred staying single.

Anyway, arranged marriages between nobles never worked out in favor of women. That wouldn’t change even if Kylie were royalty.

The nanny, about to argue further, closed her mouth when she saw Lily returning. Marriage wasn’t something to argue about in front of a young maid.

It was only after finishing the final knot on Kylie’s corset that the nanny spoke again.

“Oh, I heard the Duke of Decarre is coming to the ball tonight.”

Duke of Decarre?

Kylie tilted her head.

She had never heard the name before.

A duke she didn’t know in the social circle?

“Does such a person exist?”

“Of course. At least remember the names of the major nobles.”

“Why should I worry when you’re around?”

The nanny shook her head in exasperation at Kylie’s casual response.

She had once served as the nanny to Princess Alexandra and knew the genealogy of noble families so well she could recite it in her sleep. It was the result of many years in the royal court.

“The Ducal House of Decarre is a prominent family in the south. Unlike the House of Rodian, which settled near the capital, they have always had their roots in the south.”

The south was at the far end of the kingdom, almost a month’s journey by carriage. To Kylie, who had barely traveled beyond the vicinity of the capital, it might as well have been the other side of the moon.

“Isn’t that the region where monsters still appeared until recently?”

“Yes. Not long ago, but now I hear they’re completely extinct.”

“Really? I wish I’d gone while they were still around.”

A relic of the past, now completely gone.

Somehow, she felt a pang of melancholy.

“Don’t say such foolish things! Do you think monsters are like cats? Do you want to see me faint from shock?”

Seeing the nanny aghast, Kylie waved her hand dismissively. “I’m not going. I knew you’d react like that, which is why I never brought it up.”

As long as this overprotective nanny was around, there was no way she could even dream about it.

The nanny, still unconvinced, began helping Kylie into her dress.

“But why hasn’t someone of his rank ever come to court before?”

Unless they were rural nobility content to remain isolated, nobles would visit the court to make their presence known to the King.

The higher the title, the more pronounced this tendency was.

It was a world where survival depended on catching the King’s eye.

That was the reality of their time.

“Perhaps he has no interest in power. Besides, with monsters roaming his territory constantly, how could he spare the effort?”

“True.”

“In any case, the Ducal House of Decarre is an ancient family with a history longer than the current royal family. Make sure not to give them any reason to find fault.”

The nanny scrunched her nose as she inspected Kylie from head to toe.

Kylie scoffed at her concerns. “You worry too much. How could someone from the south find fault with my etiquette?”

Seventeen years living at court.

Kylie knew the tedious rules of court society like the back of her hand.