Chapter 55
The Countess of Schacht’s room was a complete mess. Katia’s mother could no longer bear existing day after day. Every moment from opening her eyes to closing them was hell. But what tormented her most was the presence of her daughter, who occupied the entire house.
“You haven’t eaten at all, have you?”
“How dare you, you—how dare you…!”
A teacup flew at Katia. It missed her and fell weakly to the floor, making a dull sound against the plush carpet without even breaking.
“Mother…”
Katia picked up the cup.
“Will you endure me and stay in this house, or will you go to the temple?”
Her mother’s eyes went wide as she stared at her daughter with a completely horrified expression.
“Why… how did you become such a dreadful child?”
Katia met her gaze. She couldn’t understand why her mother was asking her that question. It was an unpleasant question anyway. Katia didn’t need an answer. It was the wrong question. Her mother should have asked herself instead: “Katia, can you bear your mother?” And the answer would have been no.
The following Wednesday, Katia sent her mother to the temple. If she became a priestess, that would be fortunate. But most likely she would be treated underground for her diseased mind in ways no outsiders ever knew about. If she was lucky, a death notice would come within three months; if unlucky, her mother might live there a long, long time.
“You’ll— you’ll be punished by God, I swear it!”
Her mother screamed as she was dragged away. Katia looked on with expressionless eyes, though inside her anger boiled.
“If it weren’t for that sister, none of this would have happened… If only I’d driven out the Grand Duke as planned… The North would belong to Schacht, and my brother would have one day fallen off a horse drunk and died. Then Father, Mother, and I could have lived in peace!”
Left alone in the house, Katia trembled with rage. She hadn’t planned to become this cruel.
The little play at that banquet hadn’t even been that important. But she’d needed results, and that trivial play had cornered her completely.
“Leuke, you won’t get away unscathed either. Let’s see how long that pretty face lasts.”
Katia rang the bell. A young maid ran in and stood politely before her.
“Send a letter to Sasha Omari. Tell her to throw a party. Say if she does, I’ll let her sit next to me at my next party. Tell her I’ll send the details once she agrees.”
“Yes, Countess.”
At the title “Countess,” Katia’s lips curved slightly. She removed her earrings—ones she’d once received from the Crown Prince—and handed them to the maid.
“These are…”
“I’m just giving them because I’m in a good mood.”
“Thank you!”
The maid bowed and left the room.
“It starts now. Petty and childish, but it’ll be a sure hit.”
“Sasha?”
Among the noticeably fewer invitations that had been arriving since the recent incident, a familiar name appeared. Sasha Omari had invited Leuke. She was hosting a tea party for young ladies who loved theater, and she especially wanted Leuke to come.
“Oh, I’ve been wanting to see Sasha! I’m so glad she invited me!”
Leuke was truly delighted to see Sasha’s invitation. She’d been stressed lately and hadn’t had much time to meet friends.
“Do I need to prepare anything?”
“I don’t think so. She said it’s just a casual gathering of people who enjoy plays.”
If they were all theater lovers, they probably wouldn’t dislike Leuke even if there had been some bad rumors about her lately. After all, she was popular now and a famous actress. Sasha had probably invited her partly to show her off.
“Alright then, just go and relax.”
“Yeah! But I should still bring a gift, shouldn’t I?”
“What does Sasha like? Oh, let’s give her tickets too.”
On the day of the tea party, Leuke packed Sasha’s favorite tea and fruit, along with theater tickets and some memorabilia, and set off.
“I’m off!”
She looked so bright for once that I felt good, expecting she’d come home cheerful after a pleasant evening. But she returned in less than three hours, looking utterly stunned.
“Sasha! It’s been so long. Thank you for inviting me.”
Seeing Sasha again brought a big smile to Leuke’s face. Sasha still looked cute and sweet as ever.
“Leuke! Thank you for coming! I really missed you!”
Sasha greeted her warmly.
“This is a gift for you.”
“Oh my, so much…”
“They’re just things I thought you’d like.”
But Sasha, holding the gifts, suddenly looked troubled.
“Um… Leuke…”
Behind her, a familiar face appeared.
“Hello, Leuke.”
It was Katia. Leuke glanced at Sasha, but Sasha avoided her eyes. She already knew what was going on.
“Long time no see.”
“It’s a theater gathering, so…” Sasha added as if making an excuse.
“Sure, I understand.”
Leuke’s voice turned cold, and Sasha grew even more nervous. The things Leuke had brought for her suddenly felt pointless.
“Um, Lady Warren, this way please.”
Leuke was certain something would happen here, but for now she let the maid lead her to a seat. She couldn’t just keep scowling—other young ladies were chatting brightly and welcomed her warmly.
“Oh my, Lady Warren!”
“I can’t believe we’re seeing Lady Leuke up close! I thought you never came to gatherings like this!”
“I’m close friends with Sasha.”
Leuke looked at Sasha again, her smile clearly tinged with reproach, though not enough for the others to notice. Sasha avoided her gaze and tried to leave.
“I’ll go check if there are more refreshments.”
“There are cookies with raspberry and apricot jam and also grapes!”
The clueless maid blurted out the menu before Sasha could leave. Leuke suppressed a bitter laugh and turned back to greet the other young ladies.
“Anyway, I’m happy to be welcomed.”
“The honor is ours.”
The noble girls exchanged polite introductions. Some offered Katia their condolences about her recent misfortunes.
“By the way, you received the countship, didn’t you? Congratulations. Oh, of course, my condolences about your father. And your brother too.”
“Thank you for your concern. I’m much better now.”
Once the atmosphere had settled, Sasha clapped her hands to gather everyone’s attention.
“Um, today I actually prepared a little game.”
“Oh my, what kind?”
Katia feigned interest, smiling slyly at Sasha. In that moment, Leuke knew instinctively that whatever “game” this was, it would not go well for her.
“My father recently imported a lot of tea. So I thought we could play a game with it!”
Sasha tried to speak brightly but couldn’t stop her voice from sounding strained.
“First, please drink the tea in front of you. We’ll drink three kinds of tea, and then you guess which one you had first!”
“How extravagant.”
Someone murmured, but it was actually a compliment. Sasha had just displayed her culture and wealth all at once—and of course, this was Katia’s idea. Leuke saw it immediately.
I’ve never had that kind of training.
Being able to distinguish flavors and aromas was a skill honed through steady practice. Back when Katia was in the Schacht troupe, she had often served tea to the members. Even then, Leuke had been self-conscious that, despite being a noble, she couldn’t comment on the tea as insightfully as the others.
“Interesting idea.”
Katia sipped the tea before her. The other young ladies also lifted their cups.
“Alright, I’ve memorized it!”
The maid poured a second tea into new cups—but not from the same teapot.
“Oh, it’s not the same pot?”
One girl asked. Sasha nodded.
“We’ll go around taking turns answering. It wouldn’t be fun if everyone had the same answer, right? The order’s different for each person.”
Leuke had no hope of answering correctly. Even as she sipped each tea, she couldn’t tell them apart. At least she could still keep a straight face.
“My answer is the second one.”
“Why?”
“…I’m not sure.”
Even if Melias had known about this game beforehand, she couldn’t have trained Leuke in time. As the cups emptied, Leuke’s heart raced faster and faster—whether from tea or embarrassment, she didn’t know.
“Let’s stop the game here.”
Afterward, the conversation turned to theater and art, but Leuke somehow couldn’t join in.
“How should I put it… I didn’t even feel like blaming them. I just started hating myself.”
