~Chapter 117~
“Why would she go looking for that? And before that, how did she know it would be a prize?”
Tez shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.
“I don’t know that part. But anyway, she found it and gave it back to the owner. Duke Kailas was wearing the brooch at the picnic yesterday.”
“Ah…! So this means Harriet has now formed a connection with Duke Kailas?”
“Exactly. At the picnic yesterday, Duke Kailas introduced Harriet to Count Alberman. He probably thought it was nothing special since she returned the brooch.”
“What?” Bella jumped up in surprise.
Count Alberman was a big name in the empire, and so was Cedric Kailas.
Bella was furious thinking that Harriet, someone she hadn’t even met, had connections with people like them.
“Why would Duke Kailas care about someone like her? He didn’t just make her his lover because she found his father’s heirloom, did he?”
“Calm down. It didn’t seem that way. Apparently, Harriet had been running errands for the Duke’s family on behalf of Lady Pellon. I guess that’s how they became acquainted.”
“Acquainted? Does Duke Kailas have time to make friends with someone like her?”
“Like I said, she was working as Lady Pellon’s messenger. Don’t you get what that means?”
Bella shot Tez a frustrated look as he smiled and explained further.
“Lady Pellon has no children. She could make Harriet her heir. And since Harriet found the heirloom, it makes sense that Duke Kailas would become close to her.”
“That’s nonsense!”
“It’s not. You’ve heard the rumors about how the Empress invited Harriet for tea recently, right?”
When Bella first heard this, she had thought it was a lie. How could Harriet meet the Empress, someone Bella had never met herself?
Tez, noticing Bella’s shaken eyes, teasingly continued, “Apparently, Lady Pellon sent Harriet in her place. It seems Lady Pellon is pushing Harriet forward. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone sends her a marriage proposal soon.”
Bella, furious, grabbed a cushion from the side and threw it at Tez.
He caught it with a laugh, but Bella, in a fit of rage, shouted, “Pellon, Pellon, Pellon! That Lady Pellon is always the problem! Why is she so kind to Harriet and not to me, even though we’re both her nieces?”
“Well, why don’t you go flatter her now?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. If that would work, I would’ve already done it. You don’t know how strict and sharp she is!”
Bella thought if only she had been the one to meet Trisha first, things might have turned out differently. She had once thought she could take Trisha away from Harriet, but now, because of her deep dislike of John, she hadn’t even had the chance to visit her. It was her own laziness that cost her the opportunity.
“That old lady has to disappear. Only then can I crush Harriet…”
Bella muttered in a venomous voice, and Tez, sensing her bitter tone, sat up and looked at her.
“You know, I’m curious… Why do you want to crush Harriet?”
“What’s that got to do with you…?” Bella snapped.
“Answer me.”
Tez’s voice wasn’t harsh, but it sounded threatening to Bella. She knew he could easily ruin her engagement if he wanted to.
Bella glared at Tez, but after a long silence, she finally gave in.
“It’s nothing really… I just don’t like her.”
Bella stood up, put on a silk gown, and poured herself a drink. She didn’t want to remember the unpleasant past while sober.
“She’s not even that special. She’s just lucky to have been born the daughter of a baron, so she gets everything without even trying. Love, admiration, everything.”
She took another sip of her drink.
“When we were little, we got along fine. I was jealous but accepted it. But one day, that feeling changed.”
That day was when Harriet hosted her first tea party.
Back then, it was a custom for aristocratic women to throw tea parties for young girls who hadn’t debuted in society. Special tea sets were even made for the girls.
The girls’ mothers found it adorable when their daughters wanted to do everything they did.
Harriet was so excited that she seemed like she was floating on air.
“Harriet was wearing a beautiful, expensive dress, and I knew it would look better on me, but I still complimented her, saying she looked great, as always.”
The tea party was somewhat luxurious.
Tables were set up in a garden full of flowers, and tea was served with plenty of snacks that the girls would love.
Harriet’s friends, holding their mothers’ hands, sat at their assigned places, excitedly tapping their feet.
At first glance, it seemed like a perfect tea party for young girls.
“The first time I started feeling bad was when Harriet introduced me to her friends, saying, ‘This is my cousin, Bella.’”
“Why did that upset you?”
“I don’t know. I guess I realized I wasn’t the main character in the situation I had imagined.”
But the real turning point came afterward.
As they ate snacks and chatted happily, one of the girls, with a flushed face, asked, “What kind of man do you think we’ll marry?”
For girls born and raised in noble families, marriage was the most important thing.
And since they were too young to understand men, they imagined marriage as something romantic, like the fairy tales or stories of princesses they had heard.
When it was Bella’s turn to answer, she spoke dreamily, “I want to marry a prince and live like a princess. I’ll wear a tiara every day and a gown like this.”
Looking back, it seems silly, but at the time, she was serious. She thought that by marrying a prince, she could give her parents a life of luxury.
But then one girl, in a somewhat superior tone, pointed out, “Harriet can marry a prince, but you can’t.”
“Why?”
Bella, offended, asked, but the other girl answered, looking at her like it was obvious.
“Harriet is the daughter of a baron, but you’re just a common noble’s daughter. Why would a prince marry a commoner?”
Harriet immediately intervened, stopping the girl, “Don’t say that! Bella is very pretty and angelic, so she could definitely marry a prince.”
Harriet didn’t know that her words would only deepen Bella’s shame and humiliation, but that day, Bella’s world was completely turned upside down.
“I didn’t resent the girl who pointed it out. In fact, I was grateful. She removed the old-fashioned morality that was blinding me.”
That girl had clearly shown her what she needed to do to achieve the future she dreamed of.
‘I need to become the Listerwell baroness first.’
From that day on, Bella began taking everything from Harriet—her friends, her background, her looks, and even her bright and confident personality.
Her plan had been going smoothly, without obstacles, until recently—before Harriet came back from the convent.
“I am the Listerwell baroness. But when Harriet keeps showing up, the name that should belong only to me is losing its value. So I have to crush her.”
After hearing Bella’s self-assured words, Tez chuckled softly.
“Bella, you’re not Genoa’s golden rose. You’d be more like Genoa’s poisonous mushroom.”
“I don’t care what you call me. But one thing’s for sure. Whether it’s the golden rose or the poisonous mushroom, I’m beautiful enough to captivate people.”
Tez swallowed his sarcastic remarks and thought to himself that she was more like a poisonous snake than a poisonous mushroom.
“Is it a battle between the devil and the angel?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Harriet came from the convent, didn’t she? Don’t you think God would support her?”
As Bella took the last sip of her drink, she let out a small, mocking laugh.
