I felt like I could understand, at least a little, the suffering of Sestia and Baron Leman.
‘I should invite the two of them and meet them again.’
“Thank you for telling me.”
“It is nothing. If you ever have anything you are curious about, please come to me anytime.”
“Okay, I will.”
After meeting Jeff, I returned to the East Wing and went into the study to write letters.
They were letters to be sent to Erika and Sestia.
Licia asked with a curious look.
“What are you writing so diligently?”
“Invitation letters to send to Lady Erika and Lady Sestia.”
“Are they the friends you recently made?”
“Yes.”
After writing the invitations, I handed them to Licia.
“Send them.”
“Yes, my Lady.”
***
A few days later, just as I had invited them, the two arrived at the ducal estate.
I called them to the reception room on the second floor of the East Wing.
Licia prepared the refreshments.
“Welcome.”
“Thank you for inviting me, my Lady.”
Erika arrived first.
“Please come in.”
After her, Sestia also entered.
Seeing Sestia, Erika made a displeased expression.
It seemed she hadn’t known that I had invited Sestia as well.
“You invited Lady Sestia too.”
“Yes, I wanted to invite both of you.”
Erika shot Sestia a glare, who had accepted the invitation without reading the room.
“Come here and sit.”
I led the two of them to the tea table.
On the table were sweet tarts and cookies as refreshments.
“I prepared drinks instead of tea, especially. Since it is summer, I thought something cool would be better.”
“It is a peach drink.”
The peach drink filled with cold ice looked refreshing just by looking at it.
“What a wonderful reception room.”
At Erika’s pure admiration, I responded with a smile.
“Is that so?”
“Yes, it is really wonderful. This table, it is furniture made by Ranoma, right? I heard it is a limited edition, so there are not many.”
“It was arranged when I moved into the East Wing.”
At my indifferent answer, Erika seemed to feel envious.
Then suddenly, she attacked Sestia.
“Lady Sestia, you have not said a word since earlier. The Young Lady kindly invited us, and yet you are just eating, that is not proper etiquette.”
“Ah, yes…”
As Sestia didn’t know what to do, I added a word.
“It seems Lady Sestia is quite shy.”
Erika answered instead.
“She is a bit like that. So I have been taking good care of her by her side.”
“Since when have you two been close?”
“She came to our House when I was six, so it would be about two years ago.”
I wondered if these children were really eight years old.
I had felt the same way at the birthday party.
The children didn’t act like children, they were mature.
Like miniature versions of adults.
That must be why Valdes didn’t like places where many people gathered.
“She was shy when we first met, and even now that has not improved. What can I do? I have to take care of her from the side, right?”
“Ah, yes. I receive a lot of help…”
“Oh my, what should I do?”
Erika, pretending it was an accident, spilled her drink onto Sestia’s skirt.
“I am sorry, it slipped by mistake.”
“I-It is alright.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you. It must feel uncomfortable being wet, so at least cover it with this.”
What Erika handed over was the handkerchief she had used to wipe her hands.
“Th-Thank you.”
Sestia reluctantly accepted the handkerchief and placed it over her wet skirt.
I quietly watched the two of them.
It was a relationship of power and submission.
If Erika made a mistake, Sestia had no choice but to endure it.
Because she was bound by her debt.
I asked Erika.
“Lady Erika, why did you want to become friends with me?”
“It is only natural to want to be friends with such a noble Young Lady.”
“Is that so?”
“Of course, is it not? Lady Sestia?”
“Th-That is right.”
“Hmm, then Lady Erika, you wanted to be friends with me because of my high status.”
“Ah, please do not misunderstand. I only felt that you are noble because of your excellent character.”
I found Erika, who flattered without even a hint of sincerity, truly pathetic.
‘Should I call her vulgar?’
Even without reading her thoughts, it was obvious.
“Ah, I see. I misunderstood.”
“Oh, my Lady.”
Erika smiled shyly and said to me,
“My Lady, would you give me a chance to meet you alone next time?”
“Why?”
“Because I want to become closer with you.”
“But I want to meet both of you together.”
“To take such careful care of Lady Sestia, thank you.”
Sestia glanced at Erika and nodded.
“Th-Thank you.”
I decided to step away for a moment.
“Um, I will step away for a moment.”
“Yes, please go ahead.”
As I got up from my seat, I called Shiro.
‘Shiro, listen to what those two are talking about and tell me.’
[Understood.]
Shiro fluttered over and sat on the table where the two were sitting.
Leaving behind the two, between whom a strange atmosphere was flowing, I left the reception room.
***
“Do you have no sense at all?”
At Erika’s reproach, Sestia lowered her head.
“If the Young Lady sends you an invitation, how can you just accept it like that?”
“But I could not refuse.”
“You should have told me.”
Sestia bit her lip tightly.
It hurt her that her every word and action had to be according to Erika’s will.
“If you ran into me here, you should have known to excuse yourself appropriately. Do you not think so?”
“That…”
“From now on, even if the Young Lady sends you an invitation, do not accept it. Understood?”
“…Yes.”
“That answer was a bit slow.”
“I will be careful.”
“Good. Be more careful from now on. Eat. When else would you get to taste such precious desserts?”
Sestia forced herself to eat the dessert and smiled.
“It is delicious.”
“Right? Shall I ask the Young Lady to have some packed for you?”
Sestia’s eyes wavered.
Erika, enjoying that expression, drank her peach beverage in one go.
Then she got up from her seat and looked around the reception room.
“Even looking at it again, it is truly a wonderful reception room. Not just the furniture, but even the paintings and decorations on the walls—there is nothing that is not valuable. Though with your poor eye for art, Lady Sestia, you would not know.”
Originally, all of this could have been hers, so she felt resentful as if it had been taken by Ivelotte.
‘It was supposed to be my place…’
There was still a chance.
Her father had said so.
To become close with Ivelotte no matter what.
If she stayed by her side as a friend, she might be able to share in what Ivelotte enjoyed.
From what she could see, the Young Lady was an innocent person who didn’t understand how the world worked.
If she handled it well, it seemed she could use her.
Sestia knew very well Erika’s deep greed.
She was extremely cunning.
She used Sestia to create a divided situation, then stepped in to resolve it and gained the image of an angel.
Wearing the mask of an angel, she reigned over the children of the vassals.
But that only applied within the vassals’ families.
Sestia knew very well that Erika wasn’t someone who would be satisfied with that.
That even her attempt to get close to the Young Lady was to satisfy even greater greed.
***
“Did you wait long?”
After saying she would step away, Ivelotte returned about 30 minutes later.
“No, my Lady. I was looking around the reception room and lost track of time.”
“Oh my, really?”
“The reception room is already this wonderful, so how much more wonderful must the other places be?”
“There are many places even more wonderful than this.”
Erika was very interested in the ducal estate.
“To live in a place like this, you must be so happy, right? Do you not think so, Lady Sestia?”
“Huh? Yes.”
“My Lady, next time, could you show us other places as well?”
“Is there somewhere you want to see?”
“Actually, my Lady, I am really curious about your bedroom.”
“My bedroom?”
“Yes, it must be much more wonderful than the reception room, right?”
As if imagining something, Erika made an enraptured expression.
“Do you want to see it?”
“Really, is that alright?”
“There is no reason it would not be. Let us go.”
Ivelotte showed the two of them her bedroom.
