When Edith said she would personally clarify things, the Duke and Duchess looked hurt.
“Oh dear. We already said so many times that it is not true.”
“What else can we do? Verina said the servants are talking about it too. That did not seem right to me.”
“What?”
Hearing that even the lower servants were talking about it, the Duke abruptly stood up, as if angered.
“It can’t possibly be servants from our Ducal House, right?”
“No, it seems they are friends working elsewhere.”
“Tsk. In any case, people clearly can’t control their servants properly.”
The Duke, with a displeased expression, seemed not to have realized it had spread this far, and thought it would be better for Edith to step forward herself.
“It cannot be helped.”
“So what can I do to help, Edith?”
“Please find a gathering suitable for clarifying it. If possible, somewhere with people who spread news well.”
“I understand.”
Even if her reaction wasn’t as intense as the Duke’s, the Duchess didn’t look pleased either.
What parent would be happy seeing their daughter go out to make such a degrading clarification?
“May I go with you too?”
“You too, Mom?”
“Yes. I will just quietly stay beside you.”
“I would be grateful if you came with me.”
Seeing her earnest gaze, Edith smiled slightly as she answered.
If her mom came along, she would naturally feel reassured and glad. Edith still knew she lacked the experience to deal with seasoned noble ladies on her own.
Even if the Duchess hadn’t said it first, she would have asked her to come along anyway.
“…Edith.”
At that moment, the Duke called Edith in a low voice.
“Yes?”
“…”
“What is it?”
“…”
It seemed like he wanted something, but he wouldn’t speak, so Edith blinked, wondering what he was trying to do.
The incomprehensible standoff continued, and the Duke’s expression gradually became more dejected.
‘What is wrong with him?’
“Pfft.”
Edith had no idea what he wanted and looked at him as if asking what he expected her to do, and the Duchess laughed beside them.
“Don’t laugh…”
The Duke muttered sulkily in a very displeased voice, and only then did Edith realize what he wanted.
“Dad?”
“!!!”
As expected, the moment she called him Dad, the Duke jumped up.
His face was full of happiness, as if he had never been dejected at all.
“How can you say it so easily like that?”
So it really was this.
Edith laughed in disbelief, while the Duchess muttered as if disappointed.
She seemed regretful that she had lost something to tease him with.
At that, the Duke spoke rapidly in a hurt tone.
“What are you saying, my Dear! Of course I am her dad. What is so difficult about Edith calling me Dad? Right, Edith?”
“Of course, Dad.”
He couldn’t control the corners of his mouth twitching upward.
It looked like he wanted to brag to anyone immediately, his restless shifting making it amusing.
He was so simple that Edith wondered if it was alright for someone like him to hold the status of a Duke.
But it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling.
Could a middle-aged man really be this cute?
More than that, if both the Duke and Duchess wanted to hear Mom and Dad, they could have said so earlier.
She would have called them that.
It was strange how they had never said it even once.
***
The schedule wasn’t difficult to arrange.
It was because they thought it would be best to clarify things as quickly as possible, so they chose the invitation with the closest date.
Of course, that simple reason wasn’t the only one.
As Edith had said, it was a gathering hosted by someone who had a good reputation and included people with loose tongues.
“You look beautiful today.”
Since Verina and the servants had enthusiastically dressed her up for her first outing in a while, it was only natural that she looked beautiful.
“Thank you. Mother, you are beautiful as well.”
“Hoho. Then shall we go?”
The Duchess was so beautiful that it wasn’t an empty compliment, but she felt more imposing than usual.
It was like an aura that looked as if she could destroy everything at any moment.
It seemed that if anyone spoke carelessly at today’s gathering, they would be crushed.
Anyway, they boarded the carriage and arrived without difficulty at the mansion of Countess Anon, who was hosting the event.
“Welcome!”
Countess Anon greeted them with an excited expression.
She seemed quite thrilled at the thought that she would be able to hear a proper clarification at the tea party she had hosted.
“Thank you for welcoming us.”
“I am Eileen, Countess Anon. I did not have the chance to greet you before, so it is an honor to meet you like this. Your Grace, why did you not introduce her sooner?”
She seemed to be someone with good social skills, as she approached warmly, greeted them, and naturally led them to another area.
When they entered, it seemed that most of the guests had already arrived, and they enthusiastically welcomed both the Duchess and Edith.
***
After greeting everyone one by one, she noticed Marchioness Rosena Erves.
She had been invited as a member of this party.
Edith had met her once when she was Aisha, and her humiliated expression at the 500th Founding Day event had remained vividly in her memory.
“Is something wrong?”
Perhaps because Edith had been staring too openly, Rosena asked cautiously.
“No. You are just beautiful.”
“Oh my.”
Rosena covered her mouth and laughed softly.
When Edith was Aisha, she had thought poorly of her because she had behaved so aggressively, but seeing her today, she had quite a gentle impression.
Anyway, the tea party proceeded quite naturally, like water flowing smoothly.
The one leading the conversation was mostly the Duchess.
Since everyone eagerly agreed with whatever the Duchess said, she had no choice but to take the lead.
Watching quietly, Edith thought that living as a Duchess wouldn’t be easy either.
Well, no life was ever truly easy.
And so the Duchess naturally began talking about Edith again.
She didn’t jump straight into the main topic, so nothing felt strange about it.
She praised Edith so much that she almost seemed like a doting mother.
“Our daughter and I attended Mass together recently.”
“Really? Was the young lady also a believer?”
“She must have known how devout I was, because she was the one who suggested we go first.”
“As expected, your daughter is truly thoughtful.”
…The more she listened, the more embarrassed Edith felt, as if her face had been excessively gilded with praise.
She could only smile awkwardly and thank them for the flood of compliments directed at her.
Then, someone who had been listening quietly finally opened the topic.
“You must be upset. Your daughter is so beautiful, yet those rumors about her are circulating…”
“Ah, that matter.”
If she pretended not to know here, she would be a fool.
It was obvious that once she left this place, she would be ridiculed.
Of course, she wasn’t unaware, and she had already denied it once, so they were probably probing her like this on purpose.
Everyone’s gaze turned toward her.
Edith, realizing that the moment she had been waiting for had arrived, slowly opened her mouth.
“I do not know how such rumors started. We are not in any kind of relationship.”
It was best to clarify things firmly.
Simply denying it wouldn’t convince those who refused to believe it.
“I merely became close with Jeron, the son of Duke Valencia.”
“…The young master of House Valencia?”
“Yes. He is so cute.”
Those who had seen Jeron at the 500th Founding Day event all looked at Edith with question marks in their eyes.
No matter how they thought about it, he didn’t seem cute at all.
Rather than cute, he had looked like a smaller version of Luzbel, which had been unsettling.
“Hehe. He is really cute, unlike how he looks.”
Perhaps just thinking about Jeron made her happy, because Edith even laughed out loud for the first time since arriving here.
Everyone looked surprised.
“Ah, and if you are misunderstanding my mental age, please refrain. My parents alone are more than enough for that.”
“Oh my, something like that happened?”
“I cannot tell you how wronged I felt at the time.”
To prevent any possible misunderstandings, she even thoroughly recounted what had happened with the Duke and Duchess.
The Duchess, though embarrassed, secretly smiled when she saw Edith handling the situation far better than expected.
“I still feel sorry. Misunderstanding you like that.”
The Duchess joked that she had even summoned a physician and conducted tests herself, and the matter was completely clarified.
Since Edith herself denied it, there was nothing more for people to say.
The atmosphere continued warmly.
***
Rosena wanted to become close with Edith.
Edith was still a young lady, while she herself was already a married noblewoman, but there was nothing bad about becoming close.
Rather, she thought it would benefit her image.
That was why she wanted to get close to her even more.
Rosena, whose image had been strongly marked by pity because of Aisha, wanted to break free from that.
Though, truthfully, it hadn’t been entirely bad.
Still, she thought it was about time to move on.
Edith seemed like the most suitable person to use.
Her status wasn’t bad, after all.
Edith had been unable to wake up for twelve whole years because of an unfortunate accident.
She had even heard that her legs didn’t function properly.
Though she was walking now, she probably hadn’t fully recovered yet.
Rosena planned to use that appropriately and take care of Edith.
“My Lady, let us go together.”
“Yes.”
But throughout the party, people never left Edith’s side.
That meant she wasn’t the only one aiming for the closest position beside Edith.
Naturally so.
Because of that, her determination only grew stronger.
How envious everyone would be if she stood beside her.
Just imagining it made her feel good, and it was hard to suppress the smile tugging at her lips.
Anyway, she had been watching for an opportunity to speak, when Edith stood up saying she was going to the restroom, and Rosena quickly followed after her.
