Chapter Nine

An unwelcome guest burst into the room with enough force to break the door: my savior twin brother, May. He seemed surprised at how forcefully he had opened the door. He apologized awkwardly to Aria, then approached me. “What are you doing?”

“What do you mean? Can’t you see we’re talking?”

“Why on earth are you talking about her family affairs like that?” he whispered. It seemed he had been eavesdropping on our conversation, worried that I’d make trouble again, and barged in to stop me when he heard me saying something rude.

I turned my gaze away with my mouth firmly shut, but I wanted to stroke his hair repeatedly in gratitude.

“I’m sorry, Lady Aria,” he added. “My sister can be so simple sometimes.”

“Who are you calling simple?” I cried.

“Be quiet, you fool,” he growled, glaring into my eyes.

I turned my head without a word.

“I’m sorry for causing a disturbance,” he finished.

Clearly surprised by May’s entrance, Aria had been staring blankly at the two of us. She finally gathered her senses. “Not at all. Please don’t apologize.” She seemed ashamed of yelling so loudly. “I’m sorry to you as well, Lady Bell.”

“No need.”

I didn’t want her to be angry, and I also didn’t want her to apologize for no reason. My heart felt heavy as I accepted her apology. Barely calming myself, I decided to send Aria away. It didn’t seem we’d be able to talk in a friendly way in such a heavy atmosphere.

I called Annie, who had been waiting outside the room. “Annie, are you outside?”

“Yes, yes, my lady.” She rushed inside. Sensing the heavy atmosphere, she lowered her head.

“Bring the dress that I picked out yesterday. Prepare a carriage as well. Our guest is about to depart.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Aria, whose anger had already left her, waved her hands in refusal. “Lady Bell, you don’t need to call a carriage for me.”

But I couldn’t let her walk home carrying a heavy dress. “I hope you understand that it would hurt my reputation if I let a guest leave on foot while carrying luggage.”

May give me a disdainful look.

“Oh, I see,” Aria replied.

It seemed she wasn’t going to decline whatever I was about to give her. At least I could send her back home in a comfortable manner. I internally sighed in relief.

I gave her a sideways glance. “Well, maybe we’ll meet again sometime. I’d be happy to see you in that dress.”

Aria gave me a shy smile despite my blunt tone. I was glad she didn’t think I was a bad person, but smiling at such an impolite remark? Maybe she had a problem judging people’s intentions.

“Will I see you again?” she asked.

“If you attend a party or gathering at court, then most likely yes.”

She bowed her head, one hand holding her skirt. Of course, she wouldn’t likely be wearing the dress I gave her at our next meeting. Before long, Prince Edville would be showering her with gifts. She might not even need this dress anymore, so when I said I’d be glad to see her in it, I wasn’t lying.

“I will,” she replied. I took that to mean she would attend any court function she could, not that she’d wear the dress I’d given her. That would’ve been a big decision for someone who made a living off sewing. “I’m sorry for getting angry at you, my lady. Thank you so much for inviting me. I hope I will see you again.”

“...Farewell,” I managed. May went after her and offered to see her off.

“Really, I’m fine,” she said to him.

“I’m not,” he protested. “You are a guest. Please accept it as a gesture of kindness.”

It was obvious that he wanted to befriend her. After all, who wouldn’t want to befriend such a beautiful, kind, and bright person? I understood. I moved to the window to watch her leave.

Outside, a carriage rolled to a stop in front of the mansion.

It couldn’t be.

I raised my head and checked the time. It was fifteen to three. When had it grown so late? If I’d dragged on longer, the heroine and secondary character would have had an awkward meeting with the villainess inside her house.

“Ah, he’s out,” I murmured.

Ethen Frangert, my fiancé from the womb—the fiancé who could never end up with me—got out of the carriage. I was too far away to make out more than his blue hair, but I could see that he had an amazing build.

He ran into Aria on her way to the gate in the middle of the main drive. I watched as he exchanged greetings with May, then glanced at Aria before passing by—a rather bland reaction, considering that it was his first meeting with the heroine.

Anna approached me in the drawing room. “My lady, should I prepare fresh tea?”

I nodded curtly. It would be weird to greet Ethen with Aria’s cup of tea still on the table. “Take the cookies back as well.”

“I’ll bring something more to the young lord’s liking.” She put the teacups and cookies I’d shared with Aria on a tray and left with quick steps.

Soon after, I was facing Ethen Frangert, one of the secondary characters.

“It’s been a while, Lady Bell,” he said.

I unconsciously gulped and inspected his face. He had blue hair and blue eyes, in contrast with Mary’s trademark bright red, but his elegant face complemented Mary Bell’s glamorous features. His eyes, slanted neither upward nor downward, and fair white skin were the only similarities they shared.

“Lady Bell? Is there something on my face?”

Maybe he’d noticed my staring. In a moment of carelessness, I let an honest thought escape my mouth. “Uhm, handsomeness?”

This was probably the weirdest of all the things I could’ve said.

“Sorry?”

It would have been better if he’d pretended not to have heard. But instead, he’d asked me what I meant, a bewildered expression on his face. Damn it! “Oh, uhm, it’s a joke I once heard. Isn’t it funny?”

“Ah, I see. Yes, very funny.”

An open insult would have played better. It was embarrassing to watch him try and maintain a calm expression. Please, shut up. Don’t act out. I wished there was a hole that I could crawl into. I tried to change the subject. “Thank you for your letter, my lord. I had no idea that you wanted to see me so badly.”

“For personal reasons, I wasn’t able to attend the imperial birthday celebration,” he said. “It bothered me that I missed the chance to escort you to the party.”

A lie. I didn’t have to know the original story to figure that out. He was making no effort to conceal that this meeting with Mary wasn’t to his liking.

“If you’d let me know more often,” I said, “I wouldn’t have remained in the dark as to how you felt.” Another sharp remark left my lips.

Ethen seemed to think it was another ordinary complaint and answered without much thought. “My awkwardness at expressing myself seems to have made you misunderstand. I’ll be more mindful in the future.”

“Truly?”

Despite Ethen’s dry reaction, the real Mary liked him very much. She thought he reacted this way because he was shy. I know you don’t want to be here. I don’t want to spend a long time with someone who doesn’t like me, either.

“Yes.” He sipped his tea.

After settling myself, I brought up the subject he had come to discuss. “All kinds of things happened at the imperial birthday ceremony, you know.”

“Ah, I heard His Imperial Majesty bestowed a dress upon you.”

“My own dress was ruined.” I chattered on with my chin leaning on the table. “Lady Gardner bumped into a lady and spilled wine all over my dress.”

“Lady Ashley Gardner?”

And I’d thought he already knew everything. I continued, “She was drunk and bumped into a lady behind her. Unfortunately, the wine glass she was holding splashed right on me. It completely ruined the dress I’d prepared especially for the celebration.” I ruefully recalled the ruined dress, dripping with crimson wine.

Ethen listened with a look of surprise.

“It caused quite a fuss,” I continued, “and the commotion reached the ears of His Imperial Majesty.”

“Who was this lady that you bumped into?” he asked.

“You just saw her leaving.”

His forehead furrowed at my answer, as though he didn’t understand what I was saying. Maybe he thought I was making a joke.

“Her dress was stained as well,” I said in a light, casual tone. “I couldn’t merely look the other way, so I invited her here and gave her one of my spare dresses.” Mary Bell was known as a fickle person. I thought if I said it lightly, he’d assume I’d acted on a whim.

Instead, his expression grew serious. “You gave her a dress?”

Mary Bell, what kind of life did you lead? Why does no one think you’d display kindness without an ulterior motive? “I’d given my word in front of His Imperial Majesty. I had no choice.”

“Ah, I see. Then that dress...”

“My dress was much worse off than Lady Peridot’s. His Imperial Majesty decided to bestow me one of the dresses that used to belong to the princess,” I said, shrugging my shoulders in pride.

“You must have been quite startled.”

“What’s done is done. I decided to let it go.” That concluded my account of what happened at the celebration.

Having gotten all the information he wanted, Ethen grew quiet, as though he couldn’t think of anything else to talk about. Ticktock, ticktock. Suffocating silence filled the room. If he was going to remain this silent, wouldn’t it be better to simply depart?

He finally opened his mouth just as that thought crossed my mind. “You’re wearing the dress I gave you.”

“Ah, yes! So you do recognize it.” A fancy dress from a young lord who preferred a neat style for his fiancée. I rose from my seat and spun where I stood to let the dress unfurl. “How do I look?”

“It’s very nice on you. You are beautiful, as always.” Another mechanical reply. How dull.

I sat back down at the soulless compliment. And then silence, once more.

“It’s a nice day,” I finally said. “Shall we take a walk outside?”

“We shall.”

Good. I’d talk with him a bit longer and send him on. We headed out to the garden on a sunny afternoon stroll.