Chapter 34
But all that was written was a couple of lines in familiar handwriting that I had read.
Puzzled, I looked back at the invitation.
If it were a masquerade ball where rumors and scandals spread, I wouldn’t have even considered it.
However, the Countess poetry gathering was known for being calm and respectable, so I didn’t think it was dangerous.
Still… something about it bothered me.
“Why doesn’t he reveal who he is?”
Memories of the past kept coming back.
‘It’s too similar… Me, shaken at the ball, comforted by a man. Falling in love with him, walking straight into hell without realizing it.’
The excitement in my heart sank heavily.
I hesitated and hesitated again. A part of me wanted to see him once more.
But the thought that this could turn into another nightmare made me afraid.
In the end, I couldn’t decide anything and simply placed the card back in the envelope, then stored it in my letter box.
‘There’s still time before the date on the invitation. There’s no need to decide right away.’
I suddenly recalled his words about how difficult it is to trust people.
He was right.
“Carmilla, what are you thinking so deeply about?”
I shook my head in surprise.
Sitting across from me was Diane, lounging in a peach-colored silk dress. I gave her a vague reply.
“I was just thinking… Now that the wedding preparations are over and I’m back in society, maybe I should visit the poetry gathering I used to attend.”
As expected, Diane, who had been eager for some gossip, quickly lost interest and shook her head.
“You still go there? You have patience, Carmilla.”
I simply smiled in response.
Diane sighed and mumbled, “I wish the royal fencing tournament would start soon. That’s going to be so exciting—seeing which ladies give their handkerchiefs to which knights, and which knights make their vows to which ladies.”
She spoke in a dreamy tone but soon shook her head.
“But there’s still quite some time left until then…”
At that moment, something arrived to break Diane’s boredom.
A gift from someone.
Excited, Diane stood up and eagerly asked, “Oh my! Who is it from? Baron Saki? Or Viscount Juan? Come on, tell me!”
The maid hesitated slightly before answering, “Miss… it’s from Count Donau.”
Diane’s face immediately hardened. Her sparkling red eyes turned icy cold in an instant, making the maid flinch.
However, after a glance at me, Diane seemed to regain her composure and forced a cheerful tone.
“Oh, right. Carmilla, you wouldn’t know.”
Then, gesturing for the maid to place the gift on the table, she continued,
“I had a very unpleasant experience with him at the last banquet. Just remembering it makes me furious, so seeing a gift from him only irritated me at first, but…”
Then, with a mischievous smile, she added,
“But maybe opening it while talking with you will make it less annoying. Let’s see what ‘amazing’ and ‘thoughtful’ gift he sent.”
But I was feeling a little confused.
Diane had gotten married after me, and if I remember correctly, her husband was Count Donau.
Count Donau was considerably older, had lost his first wife, and even had children. He wasn’t exactly the type of man the lively and sought-after Diane would usually choose.
I remember being so surprised that I had asked her why she had decided to marry him.
She had simply smiled brightly and said it was because she loved him so much.
I could still picture her beaming in her wedding dress, so I hadn’t imagined their relationship had been bad from the start.
Curious, I asked, “What exactly happened that made you dislike him so much?”
Diane, who was known for her strong opinions, hesitated for a moment before deciding that telling the story might make her feel better.
“During the dance where partners switch, I ended up dancing with him.”
She frowned briefly before continuing.
“He already had a lot of bad rumors. That he had terrible tastes, that his first wife’s early death wasn’t just a coincidence…”
I widened my eyes in shock.
Diane liked to gossip, but she never spread false rumors.
Had she truly fallen in love with a man with such a reputation and smiled so brightly while marrying him?
She misunderstood my reaction, thinking I was only surprised by the rumors.
“Oh? You didn’t know? Well, they aren’t openly discussed. He doesn’t seem that bad on the surface.”
Then, lowering her voice, she whispered,
“But I overheard something from men who visit brothels… The women who spend a night with him are left completely ruined. Even though they try to keep it quiet, the rumor has spread quite a bit.”
I fell silent, shocked.
Diane continued,
“Of course, if that were all, I wouldn’t have been too offended since it had nothing to do with me. But his eyes…”
She wrinkled her nose in disgust as if recalling something filthy.
“They were… so repulsive. He looked at me from head to toe like he was licking me with his eyes.”
I groaned. I understood exactly what she meant.
“That man must be insane. How dare he look at you like that?”
Diane shuddered, as if shaking off the memory, and gritted her teeth.
“Exactly! That lunatic. After looking at me like that, he dared to tell me how lonely and empty his house feels, especially at night. Then he said he’d love for me to come live with him.”
“…What?”
I was so shocked I was speechless.
What kind of nonsense was that?
“What did you say? You should have slapped him on the spot!”
Diane’s expression became oddly serious.
“I was furious, of course. But he just smiled and said that one day, I’d seriously consider his offer.”
She frowned in discomfort.
“At first, I was just angry. But later… I started feeling uneasy. The way he spoke… It was like he already knew something. As if, eventually, something would happen to make me seriously consider it.”
“This is ridiculous! Why would you ever—”
I stopped mid-sentence, suddenly realizing something.
‘But in the end, she did marry him.’
How did she go from being so disgusted by him to marrying him with such a bright smile?
‘She was truly in love with him? After hearing something so disgusting? No way.’
I thought back to her wedding day. Amidst all my faded memories, something resurfaced.
‘That’s right… When I asked what was so charming about him, she mentioned how well he treated her family and how much he loved her…’
I frowned.
A big age gap, a second marriage, children from a previous wife—none of that mattered if she truly loved him. But no woman would fall for someone who had once disgusted her that much.
‘So what happened?’
I recalled the reasons she had given for loving him. Of course, she might have been making things up, but there was probably a grain of truth in what she said.
‘Maybe the part about helping her family was true?’
But what kind of crisis could have hit the Rust family, one of the empire’s most established noble houses, to push them into such a marriage?
“…Carmilla? Carmilla?”
Diane’s worried voice snapped me back to reality.
“Oh… sorry. It was just so shocking. Do you have any idea what he might have meant?”
Diane frowned in thought, then shook her head.
“Not really. My family has been doing well. My father was excited about a new mine he purchased, saying it would be a great financial asset. My brothers are also thriving in their positions.”
She sighed and shook her head.
“Let’s not talk about it anymore. It’s just upsetting. I have no idea what he meant, anyway. Instead, let’s open this ridiculous gift and mock his pathetic attempt at making amends.”
Forcing a smile, she opened the package.
“…A white dress? Or is it a gown?”
I immediately noticed something odd—the excessive amount of lace and how sheer the fabric was.
Diane picked it up, then her face stiffened.
“This is… a chemise.”
A sheer, lightweight undergarment.
A completely inappropriate gift for a noblewoman from a man she wasn’t even engaged to.
I pinched my forehead in frustration.
“This is beyond offensive. You should file a formal complaint!”
Diane pursed her lips, then called a maid over and handed her the package.
“Take it and burn it.”
