SMR | Chapter 21

~Chapter 21~

“You can’t read all of them, which is why I’m sorting them like this, isn’t it?”

Usually, everything was delivered to Trisha, but the amount of mail during the year-end holidays was simply too overwhelming. Therefore, anything from familiar names was sent to Trisha, while Andre checked letters from unfamiliar names first. Only those deemed worthy of Trisha’s attention were then delivered to her.

As Andre, the experienced butler, was quickly sorting through the stack of letters, his hands suddenly froze upon touching an envelope without a noble family’s seal.

“Harriet Listerwell?”

Should this be considered an unfamiliar name? It was the first time he had received a letter from this person, but Andre, who had been keeping tabs on both large and small rumors of the social circle for his master’s sake, already knew the name. Moreover, the Listerwell family was the one Trisha herself had come from.

“Should I just deliver this? Or should I check it myself?”

As he tapped the letter while pondering, Andre hesitated for a moment before placing it on the silver tray. The shabby envelope stood out among the New Year’s cards from Trisha’s old acquaintances on the silver tray.

“My Lady, here is today’s mail.”

Trisha, who was sitting on the sofa by the fireplace reading the newspaper, glanced up at Andre as he brought the tray and nodded once.

“Just leave it there. I’ll read them later.”

The elderly woman with streaks of white in her brown hair, styled neatly, had a rather stern expression with sharply arched eyebrows. However, her bright blue eyes sparkled with sharp intellect.

Trisha, who had been about to finish reading the editorial in the newspaper, turned her head again when she sensed that her faithful butler was hesitating.

Receiving a questioning look from her, Andre bowed his head.

“Most of the letters are New Year’s cards from your friends, but there was an unexpected one as well. I thought about checking it first, but something made me feel like it might be inappropriate for me to open.”

At those words, Trisha raised her eyebrows slightly and extended her hand. Andre quickly picked up Harriet’s letter and handed it to her.

Trisha frowned, seeming surprised as she read the sender’s name.

“Why is she writing to me…? Ah, perhaps?”

She briskly tore open the envelope and pulled out the letter. Although the paper was of poor quality, the writing on it was neat and pretty.

“Dear Great-Aunt Trisha, I first pray that luck will always be with you in the new year. I hope you are in good health. I wonder if you were surprised by this sudden letter. I am Harriet Listerwell, the daughter of Arthur Listerwell. Thirteen years ago, I visited you with my parents at the Welhav estate; I wonder if you remember me.”

One corner of Trisha’s mouth lifted.

“Of course I remember. You didn’t exactly give me a chance to forget, my grandniece.”

The scandal surrounding the Listerwell family could be heard wherever one went. After Arthur’s death, Trisha had almost completely cut ties with the family, but she had always felt that John, who was supposed to be protecting Harriet, was at fault for much of it.

In any case, as her thoughts reached that point, she began to get a general sense of the letter’s purpose.

And, as expected, the main point soon followed.

“She’s asking me to be her guardian…”

“What? A guardian?”

Andre, who had been standing nearby, asked in surprise. It seemed he had caught on to the contents of the letter as well.

Trisha chuckled softly.

“Arthur’s daughter is bolder than I expected.”

“It’s not just that she’s bold; hasn’t she already gained quite the reputation for it?”

“Well, I think those rumors were greatly exaggerated.”

She was well aware that rumors involving affairs or love were often sensationalized and blown out of proportion.

“She must have been an easy target for people to gossip about.”

John Listerwell, despite being Harriet’s guardian, hadn’t protected her at all.

When there’s a child who, out of a desire for love, makes mistakes, and adults who fail to guide and protect that child, who should be blamed?

“And now it seems that the child, who was practically banished from society due to that adult’s neglect, is planning something.”

Even though the request seemed unreasonable, the letter lacked any sense of desperation, which piqued Trisha’s curiosity.

“Interesting.”

As she finished reading the letter, Trisha’s eyes gleamed with amusement. It seemed that something entertaining was about to happen in her otherwise dull life.

***

The first news that heated up the New Year’s social season was that Daphne Laurel had broken off her engagement. It wasn’t just anyone—this was the beautiful Daphne Laurel, one of the most admired women in society.

“Those two, weren’t they engaged for quite a long time?”

“It’s been about five years, I think? I heard they were getting married this year, but now this happened. Tsk tsk…”

“Why did they break off the engagement? They seemed like the perfect match.”

“Exactly.”

Rumors swelled, fed by all sorts of speculation and curiosity, without any regard for the person actually hurt by it.

“Sniff… sob… sob…”

“Daphne, you’re going to collapse at this rate. You should eat something, okay?”

Countess Laurel was once again comforting her daughter, who continued to cry endlessly. But Daphne only shook her head, crying even harder.

Their precious daughter, who had been carefully raised since childhood and admired by many families as a perfect bride, had been suddenly dumped without explanation. It wasn’t just Daphne who was in agony—her parents were also in turmoil.

The Earl of Laurel, pacing around the room while glancing at his daughter, suddenly burst out in anger.

“That bastard! How could he call off the engagement now? What is Daphne supposed to do?!”

In these situations, it was always the woman who suffered the most after an engagement was broken off. A woman’s past, even if it involved being with another man, was seen as a flaw, and she was usually forced to settle for a less favorable marriage in the future.

“My life is over. I can’t go outside anymore. Everyone will gossip about me, so how could I even step out of the house?”

She had been crying and refusing to eat for days. Everything filled her with regret and made her feel like she was going mad.

‘I should have talked to him when I felt something was off. No, I should have called James the day after Melody came over…’

She couldn’t help but wonder if the reason all this had happened was because she had been too afraid to confront James earlier.

Daphne blamed her indecisiveness and cowardice over and over again. But wasn’t it only natural that she had struggled to believe the betrayal of her kind fiancé? She had assumed there must have been some misunderstanding, and when he asked her to wait, she had patiently done so. She believed he would eventually explain everything clearly and apologize, saying, “I’m sorry for making you misunderstand.”

Instead, all she received was a cold “letter of engagement cancellation.”

“How could he do this? It’s not just about us, but also our families…”

The engagement’s collapse had severely damaged the relationship between the Laurel family, who had been great partners in the railroad business, and the Cheslow family. James’s father, the Earl of Cheslow, had expressed some regret, but he couldn’t go against his son’s decision, while the Earl of Laurel was furious, claiming the Cheslow family had betrayed their trust.

Daphne felt like she wanted to die from guilt for the embarrassment she had caused her father.

‘Please come back, James. If you apologize and say it was just a mistake, I’ll forgive you. Please.’

Daphne wrote yet another tear-stained letter to James that day. She had already sent more than five letters without receiving a reply, but she still hoped that James was conflicted and reconsidering.

But a few days later, even that small hope was shattered.

“Oh my, look over there! Isn’t that James Cheslow with Lady Bella Listerwell?”

“Oh my! You’re right! So, it was Bella Listerwell who replaced Daphne Laurel?”

“I’ve heard rumors that they’ve been seen together before, so I guess it was true!”

James had brought Bella to the New Year’s party held at the Cheslow estate as his partner.

Most people were puzzled by James’s decision. Bella was certainly beautiful, but so was Daphne, and when it came to family status, the Listerwell barony couldn’t compare to the Laurel earldom.

But it was clear that James was completely infatuated with Bella.

“It looks like the Earl of Cheslow has lost to his son. Well, there’s no parent who can win against their child.”

“And considering it’s Bella Listerwell, I suppose it makes sense. It’s not like there aren’t plenty of men who would be jealous of James.”

“Still, bringing Lady Listerwell as his date right after breaking off the engagement with Lady Laurel—it’s a bit much, don’t you think? What about poor Daphne?”

Some people sympathized with Daphne, while others understood James’s actions. At the same time, everyone found Bella’s involvement surprising. No matter how much James had pursued her, accepting the proposal of another woman’s fiancé didn’t fit with Bella’s angelic image.

“Fools,” Bella thought, smiling sweetly at Daphne’s friends, who were glaring at her with icy looks. Their expressions only hardened with anger, but to Bella, it was just an amusing sight.

“Another letter from Daphne. I didn’t realize she was so obsessive.”

Even yesterday, James showed Bella yet another letter from Daphne with a tone of annoyance.