~Chapter 83~
This time, Lady Lethene spoke.
“Charlotte told me that Your Highness usually likes flowers, so I arranged the tea party here.”
“……”
“And the chiffon cake was also prepared for the same reason.”
As the eyes turned toward her, Charlotte began sweating nervously but still tried to talk to me.
“Y-you remember, right? On your birthday, you ate a lot of this cake. You liked it without whipped cream on top.”
“Oh my, so Your Highness prefers light flavors.”
“That must be why she has such a slender body.”
“I should remember this when I try to lose weight later.”
Everyone added their own comments, but one person only watched the situation quietly.
It was Lady Lethene.
I remembered Mrs. Wellington’s words:
“Lady Lethene may look innocent, but she is sly and cunning. Still, since she’s young, her tricks are not very deep, so she’s easier to deal with than Marchioness Matisha.”
‘So she’s sly indeed.’
She was carefully watching my reaction.
‘The Lethene family has enough influence to investigate the East. She must already know what kind of relationship Charlotte and I have. Then why is she doing this? To test my personality?’
And I recalled another piece of advice:
“People who don’t speak their opinions are often ignored. Never think it’s fine to just let things go.”
Even without that advice, I had no intention of staying quiet.
“Charlotte.”
“Yes?”
“I don’t like chiffon cake.”
Charlotte’s smiling face froze awkwardly.
“From the start, I never had things like preferences. I didn’t grow up in wealth enough to like or dislike foods.”
I didn’t know much about authority, but I knew one thing: people who hide and lie can never stand confidently.
Charlotte probably thought I would accept her pretending to be close with me to cover up the past. But she was wrong.
I had no shame about the days when I was forced to stand as her shadow and endure the Rohiltern couple’s treatment.
‘Because I was the victim.’
If anyone should feel ashamed and repent for those years, it should be Charlotte and the Rohiltern couple—not me.
“…What?”
“And I don’t like flowers either. I only know herbs.”
“That’s the same thi—”
“The only reason I learned herbology was because your family refused to let me see a doctor, saying the medicine cost too much.”
“……”
“And yet you say we grew up like real sisters?”
I let out a laugh, almost like a sigh.
“You really haven’t changed. Well, someone who once claimed a painting drawn by another was her own wouldn’t change, would she?”
“Sh-shut up!”
Charlotte’s face turned red as she shouted and jumped up.
The other ladies whispered in confusion.
“What’s going on?”
“Didn’t they say she was close with Her Highness?”
“What is this about a fake painter?”
As the young ladies looked troubled, only one person remained calm—Lady Lethene.
I looked straight at her and lifted my teacup.
Drip—
The cup tilted, spilling tea onto the tablecloth and dripping to the floor.
“!”
No matter how urgent the situation, once you attend a tea party, it is custom to finish your cup. I followed that rule—
In my own way.
“I have received the lady’s heart for inviting me to such a precious place.”
Lady Lethene bit her lower lip. Charlotte, who had been panicked since the tea spilled, quickly grabbed my arm.
“Hey! If you leave like this—”
“Let go.”
I didn’t say much.
But the weight of the gazes pressing down around her made Charlotte flinch and release me.
The whole place went silent.
“That will be my answer for today.”
“……”
“I hope there won’t be another time like this.”
When I stepped out of the mansion, the coachman waiting at the entrance lifted his head.
“My lady? Why so early…”
“I’m tired. I’ll return home now.”
“Pardon?”
“Start driving.”
The coachman looked puzzled, but as I urged him, he asked no more questions and set the carriage in motion.
The unpleasant feeling from seeing Charlotte faded after just an hour.
‘What should I do?’
I suddenly remembered that I had lied to Armians, saying I had lost my memory.
‘If what happened at the tea party spreads, Armians might think something is strange.’
Should I have just pretended not to know Charlotte there?
‘No.’
If I had overlooked her behavior, Charlotte would have thought of my past as a weakness and acted even more arrogantly.
Just imagining that made me angry.
‘Should I have just told Armians everything honestly?’
But that thought scared me too.
He might accept me… but he might also look at me with a hurt expression, or even push me away like I was a traitor.
And I wasn’t ready to endure that yet.
But I also didn’t want to run away.
I knew the reason.
‘In the end… I’ve come to like that terrifying man. Even knowing he could break my neck… how foolish of me.’
Time slipped away while I could neither decide nor act.
Tired from all the tension, I finally fell asleep late into the night.
When I opened my eyes again, it was deep dawn.
“Are you awake?”
Armians was beside me. A cool hand touched my forehead.
“No fever.”
“…Your Highness.”
“They said you’ve been sleeping since afternoon. I worried, so I came.”
Armians clicked his tongue.
“What happened at the tea party?”
“Didn’t you hear?”
“Everyone kept their mouths shut like clams.”
Armians smiled and shook his head.
‘Well, for those young ladies too, nothing good would come from letting this spread outside.’
Relieved, my eyelids suddenly grew heavy.
“Sleepy?”
“…No.”
“A lying Bella is quite annoying. Go to sleep. For tonight, I don’t want to do anything too harsh.”
A lie…
Yes, I had lied to him.
Maybe because I was sleepy, or maybe because it was night—
‘I don’t want Armians to look at me with disappointment.’
Suddenly, the words slipped out like an impulse.
“Don’t get angry.”
“I’m not.”
“I’ll handle the tea party matter myself…”
Armians’s face strangely stiffened.
“Don’t look into it… there’s no need…”
Even if this peace was only temporary, it was fine.
“I don’t want Armians to change.”
“If Armians gets angry…”
I kept murmuring.
“I’m scared…”
“……”
I didn’t know then that Armians would spend the whole night turning over those meaningless words in his mind.
Armians did not try to investigate what had happened at the tea party.
Since Bella disliked it so much, he thought there was no need to bring it up.
But even without knowing the details, some things could still be understood.
Sensing that something unusual had happened, Armians showed his displeasure directly to the parents of those involved.
“What kind of rudeness did you commit against Her Highness?”
“Are you all trying to ruin your own families?”
Scolded by their furious parents, the young ladies ran in tears to Count Lethene’s mansion.
“My father said if I don’t resolve this, he’ll cut off my allowance!”
“My parents told me not to even come home! Mine’s worse!”
“This is all your fault, my lady. What are we going to do now?”
But Lady Lethene remained calm. From the very moment she had brought in Charlotte to plan this, she had already predicted things would turn out this way.
“Everyone, calm down.”
“How can we calm down right now?”
“Don’t tell us you’re trying to step back alone!”
“Of course not.”
Lady Lethene smiled.
“If there’s anyone who’s most hated by Her Highness, it would be me. I’m the one who brought Charlotte to the tea party, and I’m the one who hosted it. As for you, the only thing you did was believe my words.”
The young ladies looked at one another and then nodded in agreement.
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
“We were just deceived.”
“That’s right, we’re victims too.”
Then Lady Lethene played a recording crystal, showing Charlotte in a maid’s uniform boasting about how close she and Bella supposedly were.
“See? This proves how we were tricked.”
Lady Lethene grouped herself with the others, using the word “we,” but no one objected.
“Since I was the one who started this, I’ll be the one to take responsibility and apologize to Her Highness. So you all can rest assured.”
“!”
Her faint smile shone. Was this what it felt like to see a saint who chose noble sacrifice for the sake of humanity?
“My lady, you’re truly…”
“Thinking back, I spoke too harshly. My lady always looked out for us.”
The young ladies were moved to tears. Some even cried for real.
“Please, it’s nothing.”
Lady Lethene smiled again.
“Your happiness is my happiness.”
Meanwhile, in the next room, Charlotte had overheard everything.
When the other ladies left and Lady Lethene walked toward her, Charlotte shot up in fear.
She was terrified by how quickly Lady Lethene could change her attitude, faster than even an actress.
“You…! You knew everything from the start, didn’t you? You knew who I rea—”
Slap!
Charlotte’s head snapped to the side.
“Show some respect. I don’t need to hear rude speech from a maid.”
