As Sonia went out, Bianca opened the lounge door and came inside, carefully speaking to Rosalie who was standing there.
“Sister, are you alright?”
“I’m a little tired today, so can we postpone shopping for another time?”
“Sure! I wasn’t really in the mood to shop either!”
Rosalie lifted her hand and gently stroked Bianca’s hair, finding her cute as she tried to gauge Rosalie’s mood. Bianca blushed and smiled at the touch.
As they left the lounge, the clerks tried to refuse the payment for the scarf Rosalie had ordered, apologizing for the statue incident. However, as Rosalie said that she wanted to pay for it because it was for a gift, the clerks had no choice but to accept the money.
They both left the store and got into separate carriages offered by the clerks as they continued to apologize for the statue and promised a special discount for their next visit to the shop.
“Hmm, hmm~.”
Bianca hummed in the carriage, feeling better. Although she was disappointed that they couldn’t continue shopping, she was satisfied because Rosalie stroked her hair.
Just then, she saw Sonia’s figure outside the slowly moving carriage.
At first, Bianca was going to ignore her, but she changed her mind after remembering the conversation that she overheard between Rosalie and Sonia in the lounge door.
“Please stop for a moment.”
Bianca knocked on the wall on the coachman’s side and the carriage came to a halt. She got out and called out to Sonia.
“Lady Amins.”
“…Lady Bright.”
Bianca stood in front of Sonia and flipped her pink hair over her shoulder before opening her mouth.
“From now on, I won’t be mean to you anymore. I don’t like seeing my sister in distress. I also apologize for my past actions towards you.”
Sonia blinked furiously, feeling angered by Bianca’s arrogant tone despite her apology.
“Since when have you been calling Rosalie ‘sister’ and acting so close with her?”
“It’s none of your business when it started. And I like my sister more than His Highness the Crown Prince now.”
Sonia clenched her dress tightly, her voice starting to tremble faintly.
“You pushed me away when I was being friendly. It’s not fair.”
Bianca snorted lightly at Sonia’s trembling voice.
“Because I hated it when you pretended to be kind and compassionate, while enjoying feeling superior to others. But now you don’t even have that to boast about.”
“I never did such a thing! And what do you mean by boasting?”
“You always boasted about being able to do whatever you want with the ‘venerable Duchess of Judeheart,’ and even the Crown Prince.”
Sonia screamed in anger at Bianca’s words.
“When did I ever do that?!”
Bianca smiled widely on purpose and covered her mouth with her hand. As expected, it seemed like Sonia was unaware of her own actions as usual.
However, Bianca always hated her, who always took everyone’s love for granted and the fact that Sonia prided herself on being able to manipulate the people around her, even if she wasn’t aware of it.
“Oh, you always pretended not to, but you boasted about it. You always acted high and mighty, saying that you were advising the Duchess. That was one of the reasons why I hated you.”
“I never did anything like that. I wouldn’t do such a thing…”
“Whether you remember or not, I don’t care, even if you keep pretending to be nice. However, I ask that you don’t speak ill of my sister anymore. Other than that, there will be no reason for me to bump into you in the future, so goodbye.”
Bianca turned around and got back on the carriage. The carriage soon departed, moving away from Sonia.
Sonia bit her lower lip, her green eyes trembling with anger and sadness.
“I never did anything like that.”
Sonia muttered quietly, standing still. She never bragged about manipulating Rosalie; she only gave Rosalie advice, as usual.
“I was just helping a friend.”
A feeling of confusion filled her heart, and once again, unpleasant emotions rose up inside her.
“How could you become friends with Lady Bright.. This is a betrayal.”
A small voice seemed to whisper in Sonia’s ear.
Be honest.
‘It’s all Rosalie’s fault. It’s because she changed and became weird and arrogant that I feel this way.’
Her honest feelings were beginning to surface. The unpleasant feelings, like a sticky substance that won’t come off once it’s stuck, began to eat away at Sonia.
⊱⊱⊱────── {.⋅ ✧✧✧ ⋅.} ──────⊰⊰⊰
It was five days after the wardrobe incident. That afternoon, while the sun was shining brightly, Emma found Rosalie holed up working in her office and dragged her out into the garden.
Once out in the garden, Emma bounced around with a light step, in a good mood.
“Your Grace, the weather is nice. At times like this, we should do some (1)photosynthesis.”
Ever since Rosalie had given her the scarf as a gift, Emma’s mood had been extremely good. She even cried when she received the gift.
“Walk slowly, or you might trip.”
As Rosalie strolled through the garden, she turned at the familiar but unwelcome scent of perfume on the breeze. There stood Bella in a red dress, and beside her, arm in arm, was a tall man with light blond hair and a familiar face.
As Rosalie’s eyes locked with hers, Bella walked closer, her thickly coated red lips moving.
“You didn’t go out except for the first day of the ball, did you?”
Rosalie didn’t answer and just stared at her bluntly. Emma and Martin were the only ones who’d seen her that night, and they didn’t speak lightly, so she knew Bella was just trying to start a fight.
“What does it have to do with you?”
Rosalie started to think of Bella like a weed. Because of her unnecessarily strong petty pride, it seemed that no matter how much Rosalie stepped on her, she would grow endlessly like a weed, and would constantly argue with Rosalie every time she met her.
‘Weeds should be uprooted. However, it’s not the right time yet.’
Bella leaned her head slightly on the arm of the blond man who had his arm linked with hers and gave Rosalie a proud look.
“Hmph, I guess it’s because you’ve never been able to attract a man. Surely you didn’t make up that rumor between you and the Crown Prince too, didn’t you? You wouldn’t have done that if you had any shame.”
Rosalie looked at the face of the man standing next to Bella. His hair had been shortened and turned a plain blonde, but that face was unmistakably Nathan’s.
Emma nervously watched them from the sidelines. This was because whenever the old Rosalie saw Bella’s boyfriend standing next to her, she would be reminded of her father and would spend the whole day cooped up in her room feeling sad.
“Why aren’t you saying anything? Is it true or not?”
At Bella’s constant whining in front of her, Rosalie’s eyes flashed, and she spoke a stern warning in her voice.
“Well… whether it’s made up or not, does it have anything to do with you?”
Bella, who was scared, looked at the man with a face resembling Nathan’s and tried to pretend like she wasn’t frightened. Unfortunately, her eyelashes and fingertips were fluttering pitifully.
“It doesn’t matter to me what you do! And you! I heard you’re going to the territory soon.”
“If you want to, you can stay.”
Rosalie said in a tolerant tone, as if giving permission. Bella bit her lower lip and turned away.
“I was going to stay even without your permission!”
“Then don’t bother me and just leave.”
“You! Did you just say I’m bothering you?”
Rosalie started to move as Bella lunged at her again, but the man who resembled Nathan stood between them.
“Stop it.”
At his words, Bella cleared her throat and shouted again.
“You! Don’t you dare think that I’m just going to let this go.”
Bella spoke haughtily and started walking, and the man who resembled Nathan followed her.
Rosalie murmured almost inaudibly towards the two figures moving away. Even Emma, who was standing next to her, couldn’t hear the small sound.
“Come to my room tonight.”
The blond Nathan turned his head slightly and gave a small nod. Only Rosalie saw the gesture.
“Duchess, I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have asked you to come out to the garden.”
Emma glared resentfully in the direction where Bella had left. She brought Rosalie out for a change of scenery, but Bella had ruined it all.
“Why are you sorry? Anyways, I’m a little hungry.”
Emma smiled brightly, relieved that Rosalie didn’t seem to care at all.
“I’ll ask the chef to make you a sandwich!”
“Sure. With lots of butter.”
Emma nodded vigorously.
⊱⊱⊱────── {.⋅ ✧✧✧ ⋅.} ──────⊰⊰⊰
The bright sunlight that illuminated the land faded and night fell. A crescent moon replaced the sun in the cloudless sky.
On Rosalie’s desk was a pile of letters she hadn’t opened yet, half of which were from Bianca.
Since the incident in the dressing room, Bianca had been sending letters every day and came to the mansion to have tea time, but there was no contact from Sonia at all.
‘Was she always like this, or did something change her? Could it be because of the rumors between me and Derivis?’
Rosalie put down the letter she was reading, lost in thought. Whatever it was, she was about to get busier. To prevent any further unexpected events, Rosalie decided to distance herself from Derivis and stop the rumors.
‘Until the territory battle…’
Since Derivis hadn’t shown himself since the incident in her room, Rosalie thought that it would be possible to avoid him. As she was lost in thought, she heard a small knock on the door.
“Your Grace.”
“Come in.”
Martin opened the office door and spoke politely.
“I packed your luggage so that you can go to the territory tomorrow. But you suddenly said you’re going…”
“It’s okay even if something is left behind. We can use the portal.”
“Yes. Would you like me to make some tea?”
“No, it’s fine.”
After bowing politely, Martin left the office. Rosalie planned to go down to the territory since she had confirmed that Nathan had approached Bella.
There was also a report that the crossbow was almost finished, and she needed to check on it.
“Rosalie~.”
She heard a small knocking sound on the terrace and a familiar voice. Rosalie got up, pulled back the curtains that covered the terrace, and opened the door to find Nathan leaning against the railing.
[Collection of Footnotes]
1) “Photosynthesis”
– Emma simply meant to say that Rosalie should take a break and enjoy the sun, or perhaps also because the sun gives Vitamin D, and Rosalie, being always cooped up in her office, does not get much of that.
