Episode 5
* * *
To prepare for the garden party, Isabel had secluded herself in her bedroom long ago.
Starting with the party budget proposal.
Where to source the food ingredients, what dishes and drinks to serve.
How to decorate the garden that would serve as the venue.
How to plan the guests’ flow.
On the vanity, various plans containing related details were neatly stacked.
Despite being utterly exhausted from days of focus, Isabel’s expression remained as bright as sunlight throughout.
The scratching of her pen was remarkably light and cheerful.
‘Finally…… I have something I can do as the lady of the house.’
Truthfully, Isabel knew.
That everyone pointed fingers at her, calling her a ‘duchess in name only.’
But Isabel couldn’t refute the mockery.
Since marrying the Duke of Lavantes, she had never once led a family event.
Even now.
Though an office for the duchess was properly prepared, it was occupied by Marisa.
Isabel couldn’t even set foot inside.
‘In any case, I’ll have to ask Mother for the budget execution this time too……’
Isabel closely examined the documents she had prepared.
Of course, in principle, since the Duchess of Lavantes was Isabel, she didn’t strictly need Marisa’s permission.
But if she didn’t get prior approval, who knew how viciously Marisa would torment her.
Even now, Marisa would arbitrarily take the documents Isabel prepared under the pretext of reviewing them.
Or reject them for utterly nonsensical reasons.
Still.
‘I want to do this well, no matter what.’
She could feel her heart pounding pleasantly.
The very act of doing something herself was simply joyful.
The feeling that her self-esteem, shattered for so long, was healing even just a little for the first time.
The only slightly unsettling part was……
‘Back then, the young lady definitely took my side.’
For the first time, Isabel’s consistently bright expression darkened.
When the garden party was first mentioned.
Elodie had flushed red arguing with Marisa to reclaim the hosting role for Isabel.
And Isabel simply couldn’t understand why Elodie was suddenly acting friendly toward her.
A duchess in name only, and the current duke’s adoptive mother.
It was obvious which one she should be close to.
Bluntly put, there was no need for Elodie to take Isabel’s side.
Moreover, Elodie had always treated Isabel harshly.
Yet now, flipping like the palm of a hand, the reason for the change……
‘She probably has some ulterior motive.’
Isabel bit her lower lip firmly.
She might not know other things, but one thing was certain.
That Elodie held no goodwill toward her.
Just then.
Knock, knock.
A polite knock sounded.
‘Strange, no one should be visiting?’
Isabel lifted her head in confusion.
Along with it, a lively voice came from beyond the door.
“It’s Elodie. May I come in for a moment?”
……Young Lady Elodie?
Isabel’s face instantly turned wary.
But she couldn’t refuse Elodie’s visit without good reason.
In the end, Isabel swallowed a sigh and answered.
“Come in.”
The door opened silently.
Isabel lowered her eyes with an expressionless face.
“You’ve come, young lady?”
Elodie, stepping lightly into the bedroom, momentarily looked dumbfounded.
Her pretty sky-blue eyes alternated between the mountain of documents on the vanity and Isabel’s ink-stained fingers.
After a brief pause.
Elodie opened her mouth in an incredulous voice.
“No, why are you working so uncomfortably here? There’s a duchess’s office.”
“That office is being used by Mother.”
At that answer, Elodie’s expression instantly froze like ice.
She murmured chillingly.
“I think I’ll have to write in the diary again……”
“Diary?”
Out of nowhere, a diary?
Isabel asked back with a puzzled face.
‘Gasp.’
Elodie inhaled sharply and quickly shook her head.
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
Well, if so.
Isabel neatly shut off her curiosity.
Whether Elodie wrote in a diary, partied day and night in the banquet hall, or burned enormous sums in jewelry shops—
she had no particular interest anyway.
Rather, what Isabel was curious about was something else.
“So, why have you come to see me, young lady?”
Her tone was quite defensive, but Elodie didn’t flinch at all.
“I have something to ask.”
With that opener, Elodie threw out another question.
“By any chance, about the designated dress code for this garden party—have you heard it too, sister-in-law?”
At the same time, Isabel’s eyes widened slightly.
“Dress code…… you say?”
Taking a deep breath, Isabel clenched her fists and answered.
“No, this is the first I’ve heard of it.”
A heavy emotion settled over Isabel’s beautiful face.
That emotion was anger at being excluded once again.
……And shame.
Elodie, looking at Isabel with pity, carefully asked.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m okay.”
Answering reflexively, Isabel bit her lower lip firmly.
The indignation rising from deep in her chest.
The lingering resentment like a knot.
But no one acknowledged Isabel’s grievances.
‘It’s okay, I can endure it.’
Isabel closed and opened her eyes tightly.
Wasn’t this something she’d experienced often anyway?
Being excluded from family matters like an outsider.
To these people, Isabel had never once been family.
‘I never expected anything anyway.’
Just as Isabel was trying to soothe herself.
“What do you mean okay?”
A sharp voice pierced Isabel’s eardrums.
Snapping back to reality, she saw Elodie glaring sharply at her.
“Mother is practically ostracizing you right now.”
In that instant, a spark lit in the emerald-green eyes that had been gloomy.
Elodie continued clearly.
“Moreover, you’re the host of this garden party, sister-in-law. Yet she’s sidelining you and arbitrarily setting the dress code.”
“……That’s.”
“Mother is overstepping her authority right now. You should be angry.”
Elodie, furious to the top of her head, raised her voice with a huff.
Isabel looked at her sister-in-law in bewilderment.
Of course, Isabel knew that part too.
The Duchess Dowager arbitrarily contacting invited guests and meddling in party preparations—
was flaunting that her authority was higher than Isabel’s.
‘But why?’
……Why was Elodie getting angry as if it were her own affair?
“Thank you for the advice. I should dress according to the dress code too.”
After a moment.
Isabel gave the safest possible answer.
Elodie’s seemingly kind attitude might be a trap.
She didn’t want to be caught on something and end up in trouble again.
Meanwhile, Elodie looked somewhat dissatisfied.
“Just matching the dress code and going…… well, that’s not a bad direction, I suppose.”
Trailing off for a moment.
Elodie’s eyes sparkled as she met Isabel’s gaze.
“How about using this situation to your advantage, sister-in-law?”
“What do you mean?”
Isabel’s eyes widened.
Elodie met her gaze and flashed a beaming eye-smile.
“I have a good method.”
“If it’s a good method……”
“How about trusting me just this once?”
Elodie proposed confidently.
At the same time, the emerald-green eyes, calm as a lake, rippled finely.
