The Shut-In Lady’s Façade Gets Exposed
Episode 4
The next day. As I prepared to attend the imperial ball, my maid Michelle watched me with anxious eyes.
“My lady, are you really going to hide a book there?”
“Yeah. What do you think? You can’t tell at all, right?”
“It’s true—you can’t tell at all. But isn’t the fact that you can’t tell the problem?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Ah… never mind. It’s fine if you didn’t understand.”
Michelle looked like she wanted to say more, but stopped herself with a frustrated expression. What’s with her? It’s perfectly fine. I checked my reflection in the mirror, peering at the novel I had rolled up and tucked inside my bodice.
“See? You can’t tell.”
“You’re wearing the shawl, right?”
“Yeah. And pin a brooch in the middle. If Shasha sees it, he’ll make a fuss again.”
“If you’re that worried, wouldn’t it be easier to just not do it?”
“Huh?”
“Never mind, my lady. I’ll bring the brooch.”
She wasn’t like this when I was younger. These days Michelle seemed to have given up on me. The number of times she started to say something only to swallow her words had definitely increased.
Once she pinned on the gold brooch, my appearance was flawless. If the shawl came off, the book wedged between my chest would be obvious—but so what? In other words, as long as the shawl stayed on, there was no problem.
I’d hide the book as soon as we arrived. As long as Shasha didn’t catch me, everything would be fine.
“My lady, the carriage is ready.”
“Okay! I’m coming down!”
At the butler’s words, I answered quickly and carefully descended the stairs.
My parents looked almost teary-eyed at the sight of me walking so modestly, but in reality I was only being cautious in case the book I had secured shifted out of place.
The moment I got into the carriage, the coachman set off.
Inside, Shasha stared at me strangely. That look made me flinch, and for no reason at all, I felt a pang of guilt.
“Why are you staring at me like that?”
“They say clothes make the person, and it’s true—you look good. The shawl is absolutely terrible, though.”
“It’s not! It’s fine. I like this shawl so much.”
“It’s worse because of that brooch. What is that? Did you pick it up off the street or something?”
Clicking his tongue, Shasha pulled out a brooch he had brought. It was clearly more luxurious than my old, scratched one.
“Hold still. I’ll pin it on.”
He stepped closer. If he touched the shawl, he would immediately discover the book I had hidden. Panicked, I kicked him in the stomach. Caught off guard, Shasha gagged.
“You…!”
“You came at me all of a sudden! What was that? D–don’t make a big deal out of it! I’ll do it myself—just give it to me.”
“I came at you suddenly?”
“Yes! You’re the one at fault. If someone suddenly approaches, anyone would be startled.”
I felt a little bad for kicking him while he was defenseless, but I brazenly raised my voice instead. Contrary to my expectations that he would explode in anger, praise slipped from his mouth.
“Good job.”
“What?”
Handing me the brooch, he continued his strange comment.
“I said, good job. If someone approaches you like that, forget manners—just kick them.”
Got it?
At his words, I nodded vaguely. But inwardly, I thought differently.
I only acted that way because it was my brother. Would I ever behave like that outside? If I did, I’d be the one labeled an uncultured lady.
Sadly, that was the kind of world this was. And to survive in it, I had evolved into a nauseating lady with a ninth-degree mastery in playing innocent.
Because of Shasha’s rare big-brother moment, the atmosphere became oddly tense. As he dusted off the shoe print left on his clothes, I scolded loudly for no reason.
“Like anyone would come near me. Everyone thinks I’m boring and quiet.”
Thanks to my excessive façade, I was nothing more than a decorative screen at social gatherings. Keep my presence faint—naturally there, yet not really. Then quietly slip away. That was my specialty.
At balls, there were truckloads of people desperate to stand out, so hiding myself was easier than anything. But Shasha spoke with a rather serious expression.
“There’s someone you need to be careful of.”
“Who?”
“Armin Gray.”
“Armin Gray? You mean that Gray family’s heir?”
I widened my eyes. Armin, the only son of the Gray family. Around my and Shasha’s age, but rumors said he would soon inherit the ducal title.
The Gray family was one of the most ancient central noble houses in the country. I’d heard they rarely cared for social gatherings. Why was he coming this time? Tilting my head, I asked,
“Why would the Gray heir attend?”
“I’ve heard it’s for a reason similar to yours. They say he’s looking for a bride before inheriting the duchy.”
“Really?”
I grinned. Shasha looked so tense over someone I’d never even seen that I teased him lightly.
“That’s perfect. I’m looking for a groom, he’s looking for a bride. Win-win.”
“Absolutely not. Not him.”
“Why?”
“He’s not someone who would ever understand you.”
Shasha shook his head.
“The Gray duchy is not only one of the oldest central noble families, they’re also close to the imperial family. Imagine marrying into that house. You’d wither away in less than a year.”
“Ugh. That’s true.”
I quickly backed down. Seeing me, Shasha sighed deeply.
“Other noble families might overlook your strange habits just to connect with our house.”
Our Viscount Roha family had recently amassed enormous wealth through overseas trade. Though only a viscountcy, in terms of wealth we ranked among the top ten in the nation.
When Shasha told me to casually choose a husband, it was confidence in our finances speaking. There was also the faint hope that if I took interest in a man, my behavior might improve.
“But the Gray family… they’re not the type to understand you.”
Hearing this for the first time, my curiosity was piqued.
“What are they like?”
“The Duke of Gray is one of the most influential figures in noble society. He’s rather aggressive. If he likes someone, he supports them wholeheartedly…”
“And if he doesn’t?”
“He’s known for being merciless.”
Shasha made a throat-slitting gesture. It didn’t feel exaggerated at all, and a chill ran down my spine.
I swallowed and asked about the duchess. Unlike the duke, I knew a few things about her.
“I heard the duchess doesn’t enjoy social life much.”
She rarely attended events and only interacted with a small circle.
Shasha nodded.
“She’s famous for being arrogant. If she didn’t believe in maintaining proper status, there’s no way the lady of the ducal house would behave like that.”
The more I heard, the more the Gray family sounded cold and strict. Definitely not my type.
Seeing my tense expression, Shasha warned me again.
“So Armin Gray is out of the question. That family lacks nothing. Don’t even think about catching his attention.”
“You worry too much. I’ve heard his standards are sky-high. Why would someone like him take interest in someone like me?”
“Someone like you?”
Shasha flared up. Though he was always nitpicking me, when it came to outsiders, the noble sibling rule applied perfectly—if anyone’s going to criticize her, it’s me.
“What’s wrong with you? You’ll probably be the prettiest one there.”
“Say that after you wipe the drool from your mouth. There’ll be golden-haired and silver-haired beauties everywhere. Would anyone even remember such a plain face?”
“You don’t know yourself at all.”
He stared at me as if I were ridiculous. Compliments like this always gave me goosebumps. The people in this house were far too soft on me.
“Fine, fine. So you’re worried I might get involved with Armin Gray?”
Even though I thought it was a completely pointless concern, I nodded outwardly. I had no intention of wasting energy on something that would never happen. My only interest was how quickly I could slip away from Shasha’s sight and loaf around in an empty room.
“I won’t even cross paths with the Gray heir, so stop worrying. Okay?”
“Do you even know what Armin Gray looks like?”
He asked incredulously.
Recalling the rumors I’d heard, I answered,
“Silver hair, violet eyes. A dazzlingly handsome man whose radiance shines from ten kilometers away.”
“Silver hair…? I guess that sounds about right. But who adds such cheesy descriptions?”
“There are always young ladies at gatherings who talk about him. You sometimes come up as a topic too, you know?”
“Ugh.”
“What was it again? A smile like sunshine and hair like warm earth, or something.”
“Stop. I don’t want to know.”
“They also say they’d love to be held by him.”
“I said I don’t want to know.”
“Why? There’s more.”
The “held by him” part was a complete lie. No shy noble lady would say something like that.
Shasha had already realized I was teasing him. He looked at me as if I were hopeless.
“At this rate, are you even going to get married?”
“You’re the ones pushing me to find a husband within a year, even though you say I won’t.”
“If you don’t find one, you’ll become the mistress of the merchant guild within a year.”
“Ugh. I really hate that.”
“You’ll have to call Andre ‘darling.’”
“Ah! Stop!”
Only after both of us suffered emotional damage did we finally fall silent. The rhythmic clatter of hooves echoed. Looking out the window, I saw the imperial palace drawing near.
