NRAL | Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Why’s the Mood Like This?

About ten pairs of eyes turned toward Nora all at once. The atmosphere, which had eased just a little, suddenly became not only chilly but frozen solid. It was natural. After all, the very person the servants had been cursing under their breath had walked in on her own.

The maids, who had been deeply sympathizing with Eleanor’s story, glared at Nora as if they were looking at the most wicked woman in the world.

‘What’s going on? Why is the mood like this?’ Nora was confused, not knowing what conversation had taken place before she arrived. Until just yesterday, the looks she received had been warm, mixed with a bit of jealousy, but now there wasn’t a trace of warmth left.

Even the Duke of Astoria squinted his eyes as if he wasn’t too pleased with the sudden intrusion. His sharp eyes, shaded by the hollow space under his eyebrows, created a menacing atmosphere.

“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. It’s just that I heard the family has breakfast together every Friday morning…”

She blushed and lowered her head deeply. Her thin voice was mixed with a hint of tears. By now, someone should’ve reacted, but strangely, the dining room remained silent.

“…Sit down,” the Duke of Astoria finally softened his expression and gave her permission.

Nora beamed and gracefully walked over to sit next to Eleanor.

“Of course, it’s a family meal. Our sister should definitely be here. Good to see you, Nora.”

“Thank you for the warm welcome, Demian.”

“Just call me Demi. We’re like real siblings.”

Unlike someone else. Demian added with a grin. He was the only one at the table who genuinely welcomed Nora.

“Demian Astoria,” the Duke called him with a chilling voice. Demian quickly changed the subject.

“I was just kidding, just kidding. Haha. You know I make a lot of bad jokes.”

“Anyway, good morning, Nora.”

“Yes, good morning to you too, Demi.”

Nora smiled brightly, her long eyes crinkling, and then she turned her head slightly to gaze at Eleanor.

“Good morning, Ellie.”

“…Yes, good morning.”

Eleanor responded calmly. All she did was return the greeting, yet the servants around her seemed to pity her even more.

Soon, rare dishes were placed in front of Nora. She awkwardly picked up some gratin and popped it into her mouth. Her round eyes grew wide, and she let out an exclamation.

“Wow…! This is so delicious!”

All eyes were on her again. Feeling awkward, Nora quickly smiled and spoke.

“I’m sorry, I got too excited. This is my first time having food this good…”

Eleanor let out a silent laugh.

Since childhood, Nora has always desired Eleanor’s food. It started with secretly eating the leftovers Eleanor didn’t finish. After Eleanor caught on, she began to set aside half of her meals and snacks for Nora. With this history, there couldn’t be anything on the table that Nora hadn’t tried before.

“…Eat plenty,” the Duke said.

“Yes, thank you!”

The Duke frowned, seemingly displeased with Nora’s loudness at the dining table, but he didn’t scold her. In fact, he even offered her more food. Compared to the way he used to look at her as if she were trash on the street, this was a big improvement.

Eleanor was impressed by how quickly her father’s attitude changed. He didn’t seem to be in a good mood, as if he wasn’t completely over his anger, but it looked like he decided it was better to show some kindness to Nora for the future.

“Ellie, you should eat a lot too,” Nora said.

“Wow, our sisters seem to be getting along well. How is that possible? It’s only been a few days since someone got slapped. Is your cheek all better?” Demian teased, bringing up the incident from a few days ago. Nora’s pale cheeks flushed red as she hurriedly shook her head.

“I-I’m fine! I’ve been punished worse than this before! I’m really okay, so don’t worry!”

‘Punished,’ huh? Eleanor thought. As far as she could remember, no one had physically punished Nora since she came to this mansion. It was common knowledge that Nora had the complete favor of the duchess.

“Oh, and… you don’t need to feel too bad about the misunderstanding last time, Ellie,” Nora continued.

Right, here comes the attack, Eleanor thought, straightening her posture and slowly fluttering her eyelashes.

It was the Duke who took the bait instead of her.

“…Misunderstanding?”

“About… you accusing me of insulting the Duke’s family and the royal family. I didn’t mean any harm, but it seems Ellie misunderstood. I understand, Ellie. You must’ve been upset. His Highness is your long-time fiancé, after all… and yet, someone like me caught his attention. I also feel sorry about what happened at the ball the other day. I didn’t say anything to His Highness, but he overreacted, and strange rumors seem to have spread because of it.”

As soon as Nora mentioned the ball, the atmosphere turned cold again.

Nora didn’t notice this and continued speaking seriously.

“But Duke, I love this Astria family more than I love His Highness. I’m sorry to say this about His Highness… But Astria, which has raised and fed me, is more precious to me than anything else. What I’ve always wanted was not love but a family. I never want to do anything the family doesn’t want me to. So if you order it, I’ll firmly tell His Highness again that I don’t want to see him anymore. Though I’m not sure if His Highness will listen…”

The way she talked about family in such a sorrowful voice was enough to stir up sympathy from those around her. By declaring that she would even break up for the sake of the family, she might even be able to dismiss the rumors that she had done something terrible to Arlo.

That is, if Eleanor hadn’t already made the first move.

‘What a joke.’

‘Look at her pretending to be innocent. We know everything she’s done!’

‘How can she lie so easily without even blinking?’

Unfortunately for Nora, the general mood in the dining room had already shifted in Eleanor’s favor. No matter how kind and thoughtful she acted, the maids wouldn’t stop looking at her with disdain. Their reactions might change over time, but certainly not today.

“Oh, I’m sorry for calling you family like that. Nothing’s been officially confirmed yet… but I’m really happy right now. This is my first time eating together like this.”

Despite Nora’s attempts to smooth things over, the Duke remained silent, and even Demian, sensing the awkward mood, just kept stirring his soup.

‘Damn it, why is no one reacting the way I expected?’

Seeing how things weren’t going as she had planned, Nora clenched her fists under the table.

She was well aware that people didn’t think highly of her. She was angry that she was merely called a mistress and that Arlo hadn’t done anything to stop those articles from being published.

But there was some progress.

Eleanor, that foolish girl, had called her by name in front of the nobles!

Even though things weren’t going exactly as she wanted, now the Duke of Astria would be forced to acknowledge her, if only to show that the relationship between the royal family and Astria was still strong.

With that thought, she had happily come to the breakfast table, but the atmosphere that greeted her was nothing but hostile.

It was understandable for the Duke to be this way, but why were the servants acting like this? They knew she might actually be the true duchess, and because of that, they had already begun to distance themselves from Eleanor. So why were they now glaring at her?

Nora bit the inside of her lip harshly.

Then, with a short sigh, the Duke finally rescued her from the silence.

“…Every Friday, the Astria family has breakfast together. You should come from now on, too.”

“Really?”

It was an invitation she hadn’t expected.

Yes, the servants’ reactions don’t matter. What’s important is the Duke’s opinion.

Nora glanced at Eleanor proudly.

‘You thought you could rely on the Duke and act superior? Look at you now!’

Ignoring the obvious meaning behind Nora’s look, Eleanor quietly focused on cutting her steak.

Satisfied, Nora turned back to the Duke, her voice full of affection.

“I’m so touched that you think of me like this… Thank you so much!”

But in her excitement, she moved too suddenly, causing her elbow to knock into a fork.

Clang!

The sharp sound rang out as the fork tumbled onto the floor by her left side, only stopping when it hit the leg of Eleanor’s chair.

Startled, Nora gasped and bent over instinctively to pick it up.

And then, at that moment—

Flash!

Something silver caught the light right in front of her eyes, gleaming like frost.

Drip, drip. It was only when she saw the dark red blood dripping onto the floor that Nora realized what it was.

A knife.

It was the knife Eleanor had just been using to neatly cut her half-cooked steak. The tip of the knife was so close to her eyes that it looked like it might stab her at any moment.

“Kyaaah!”

A high-pitched scream came from under the table.

“Whoa! What the—what’s going on?”

Demian jumped in surprise, accidentally throwing his own fork backward.

Clang! Another sharp sound echoed through the room, and the Duke furrowed his brows in displeasure.

Nora had somehow fallen onto the floor. It seemed she had lost her balance while trying to avoid the knife.

She looked almost exactly the way she had when she had been slapped before—sitting on the dirty floor without caring about her dignity.

“Oh my, what happened?” Eleanor looked down at Nora with a calm expression. The right hand that had just been holding the knife at Nora was already back to calmly cutting her steak.

“You… you tried to stab me!” Nora stammered.

“Stab you? With this?” Eleanor’s eyes widened in mock surprise, and then she let out a small laugh, speaking gently.

“Nora, you can’t kill someone with a knife like this. It’s only meant for cutting steak. I think you misunderstood something.”

“Pffft!”

Laughter burst out from across the table.

Demian, forgetting for a moment that he was supposed to be on Nora’s side, was holding his stomach, laughing.

“Demian.”

“Haha! Sorry, Father. I just couldn’t help it. I started imagining my two sisters fiercely fighting with such a small knife. It’s hilarious. Haha!”

Demian’s loud laughter echoed through the room, and a few of the servants, seemingly influenced by him, twitched the corners of their mouths, subtly mocking Nora.

Seeing this, Nora’s face turned bright red in an instant.