Chapter 05
“What… What on earth do you think you’re doing?!”
The young lady who had been splashed with the cocktail let out a shrill scream and glared at Elizabeth.
Elizabeth merely smiled calmly and tilted her head slightly to one side.
“I have a tendency to call people out when they say one thing and do another.”
“Say one thing and do another? Are you talking about yourself?”
“Do you remember what you said to me at the last tea party?”
Elizabeth reached up and removed the brooch pinned to her chest.
The young lady who had been splashed with the cocktail visibly flinched, looking flustered.
“This brooch. You said you wanted it, remember? You said it was so beautiful.”
“That was…!”
“Would you like it?”
The young lady was caught off guard by the unexpected question, leaving her momentarily speechless.
Before she could respond, Elizabeth tossed the brooch onto the ground at her feet.
The young lady instinctively bent her knees to pick it up, only to catch herself at the last second and quickly straighten up.
But by then, everyone had already witnessed what she had done.
The onlookers were appalled, and Elizabeth laughed at the sight.
“You used to praise everything I wore until you could hardly stop yourself from singing its praises. And now, suddenly, you think my dress is tacky?”
Elizabeth chuckled, looking thoroughly amused.
“Do your eyes have no sense of personal taste or loyalty?”
“Lady Elizabeth, mind your words!”
“Even if I mind my words, that won’t change the fact that you used to lavish praise on my dresses. Everyone gathered here knows that, don’t they?”
At Elizabeth’s words, the young lady who had been splashed with the cocktail clamped her mouth shut as though her lips had been glued together.
Everything Elizabeth said was true.
Belated shame crept over the young lady’s face, turning it red.
“I can understand insulting me by calling me a bastard, but isn’t it rather embarrassing to say one thing and then contradict yourself?”
“Lady Elizabeth, are you making a fool of me right now?”
“Of course not. I’m simply telling you to be consistent. Unless you want to become the laughingstock of everyone who knows what you were like in the past.”
Elizabeth shrugged before directing a pointed remark at everyone gathered there.
At her words, those who had once been desperate to curry favor with her flinched reflexively.
Elizabeth regarded them with a cold, cynical gaze before speaking again.
“Keep the brooch or throw it away. Do whatever you like. I no longer want to wear a brooch that has been praised by someone as spineless as you.”
With that, Elizabeth abruptly turned around and resumed walking.
Behind her, the young lady who had been splashed with the cocktail let out another bizarre scream, which rang in Elizabeth’s ears like the final note of an orchestral performance.
Elizabeth headed straight into town.
Her dress was far too soaked for her to wear it all the way back to the estate.
I’ll save the confession about Father not knowing my true origins for later.
Even if she revealed the truth now, no one would believe her. They would only accuse her of making pathetic excuses.
Worse, they might suspect that her father was using her as a scapegoat to escape criticism himself.
It would be better if people mocked Father for being deceived by me. That would make it easier to convince them.
If that happened, Marquis Leonette might even gain some public sympathy.
Perhaps this was the last act of filial duty she could perform for the father who had raised her all these years.
…Even if he had never loved her.
She would have to endure some truly vicious insults, but she was leaving anyway.
If Father disowns me, I’ll go to Vaslatia.
Vaslatia was a resort town that welcomed people with divine abilities like Elizabeth. Spending the rest of her life there as a civil servant wouldn’t be a bad option. She could always make other plans, too.
Things have ended up going exactly the way that woman wanted.
And yet, Elizabeth didn’t hate Sybilla. If anything, she was grateful to her.
For the past ten years, how often had Elizabeth felt as though she were sitting on a bed of thorns?
Every night, she had nightmares about her secret being exposed, and every day, she had lived in constant fear.
She had lived a life in which other people’s opinions mattered more than her own desires.
No more. I’m done worrying about what anyone thinks. From now on, I’ll live the way I want to and do whatever I please.
Firm in her resolve, Elizabeth entered a dress shop and changed into a new dress.
As she was about to return to the estate, she spotted a street stall selling pretty accessories.
“…Wow.”
Bailey had never even allowed her to look at things like these, always insisting that she must never reveal her vulgar nature.
Elizabeth gazed at the accessories on display as though she were under a spell.
Having grown up surrounded by luxury goods, she could tell that the accessories were rather crudely made. Even so, they looked beautiful to her.
They weren’t simply cheap trinkets.
They were symbols of freedom.
Just then, she overheard a conversation between another customer and the stall owner.
“How much… is this?”
“100 yak.”
“That seems… a little expensive.”
“It’s made of gold, you see. It’s not expensive at all.”
Elizabeth could hardly believe her ears.
What? 100 yak? That’s ridiculously expensive!
Of course, if it were genuine gold, that wouldn’t have been an unreasonable price.
But gold was far too valuable a material to be sold at a street stall like this. There was a good chance the item was merely gold-plated.
Is this a scam?
Puzzled, Elizabeth turned her head and saw a man holding a necklace with a gold-colored cameo pendant, looking rather troubled.
He’s… incredibly tall.
The Leonette men were all over 190 centimeters tall, so Elizabeth had grown accustomed to seeing exceptionally tall men. As a result, most tall people barely registered as tall to her anymore.
But the man standing before her was so tall that even compared to the Leonette men, he would hardly have seemed short.
He was dressed entirely in black, making him look, at first glance, like an enormous, elongated black stick.
Elizabeth stared blankly at the oddly dressed man for a moment. Then, seeing him reluctantly reach for his wallet, she snapped out of it and intervened.
“Wait a moment. Doesn’t 100 yak seem like a ridiculous price for that?”
At her words, both the man and the stall owner turned to look at her.
At the same time, Elizabeth found herself holding her breath without realizing it.
The man looked as though he had been born from the darkness that had swallowed the primordial void. There was not a hint of color about him.
His slightly curly hair that reached his ears, his clothes, his round glasses, and even the eyes behind them—all seemed to be swallowed by an all-consuming darkness.
In stark contrast, his skin was almost unnaturally pale.
But more importantly…
He was devastatingly handsome.
The Leonettes had been renowned for their extraordinary beauty for generations, and Elizabeth had grown so accustomed to seeing their striking faces every day that it took something special to impress her.
Which made this situation all the more unusual.
Elizabeth stared at the man for a moment before quickly shifting her gaze to the necklace in his hand.
“Overpriced, you say, miss? I’m telling you, it’s real gold!”
“Would you mind letting me take a look at that?”
The man readily complied.
Elizabeth carefully examined the necklace before holding it out to the stall owner.
“Look at this. The gold plating is peeling off.”
“Th-That’s…!”
The stall owner’s face turned red and purple as he was caught in a lie.
Elizabeth wasn’t finished, however.
“There are even scratches on it. Charging 100 yak for a secondhand, gold-plated necklace seems a bit excessive, don’t you think?”
At this point, she began to wonder about the identity of a man who had nearly paid full price for such an item.
Was he a noble?
She couldn’t think of any noble in the capital who looked anything like him.
And even if he were a noble, how could he possibly be so ignorant of the value of things?
“Ten yak should be enough, don’t you think? I was willing to let it go, but marking up the price tenfold is going too far.”
“Here.”
A long arm extended toward the stall owner, holding out some coins.
Elizabeth turned to look at the man in surprise.
“Ten yak.”
“…You’re actually going to buy it? Why not choose one without any scratches?”
“I need this one.”
With that, the man pointed at the necklace in Elizabeth’s hand.
Looking bewildered, Elizabeth handed it over to him.
The stall owner had already begun spouting nonsense about how he was feeling generous today and had decided to sell it at a discount.
“Thank you. I got it for a good price, thanks to you.”
“Uh…”
“Have a nice day.”
What a strange man.
Elizabeth watched in bewilderment as the man gave her a small, polite bow and walked away.
By the time Elizabeth returned to the Leonette estate, she had completely forgotten about the strange, handsome man she had encountered in town.
Because she had more pressing matters to deal with.
“You’re back so early. Did you properly explain the situation?”
Elizabeth gazed silently at Bailey, who had been rude and ill-mannered toward her for ten years without a single change in attitude.
Someone she no longer needed to tolerate.
“Did you properly explain Marquis Leonette’s innocence…?!”
“I won’t have anything to do with you anymore, so I might as well say this now.”
What Elizabeth said next made Bailey clutch the back of her neck in shock.
“You’re far too insolent toward me. You need to learn your place.”
