CHAPTER 44….
Dite was utterly exhausted and worn out. Accepting the rift with Lady Cyrillezé was so painful it felt as if her chest would burst, as if she might die from the agony.
And then, just in time, Cayenne appeared.
To Dite’s eyes, Cayenne seemed like a savior come to rescue her from the hell she had fallen into.
“Please… stay with me, Cayenne.”
Dite clung to him repeatedly. It was as if she could barely see Etisha standing beside him at all.
This situation left Lady Cyrillezé in an awkward position.
She had been trying to comfort Dite, but instead, Dite was looking for Cayenne.
Yet sending Etisha away and leaving only Cayenne behind would be just as strange.
After all, Cayenne had joined the tea time at Etisha’s invitation, and Lady Cyrillezé had also originally arranged to meet with Etisha…
“In that case, let’s all four of us have tea together.”
At that moment, Cayenne offered the solution.
Dite, who had just stopped crying. Lady Cyrillezé, full of concern. And Etisha and Cayenne, soon to become a duke and duchess.
Thus began a precarious tea time.
Clink, clink.
In the quiet, only the faint sound of tableware touching rang out.
The four of them sat around a round tea table, silently drinking tea.
What could have happened?
Etisha carefully studied Dite, who sat across from her. She seemed much calmer now, but the tear stains from earlier were still clearly visible.
I always thought Dite and Mother were on good terms…
Etisha turned slightly to look at Lady Cyrillezé. The atmosphere was distinctly subdued. Today, Lady Cyrillezé’s complexion was poor and her expression stiff.
I know better than anyone that Mother cherishes Dite.
Etisha had lived her whole life with a stepmother, Lady Dorothea, who never spared her so much as a glance.
That cold gaze that turned icy every time she looked at Etisha…
But with my stepsister Larienne, she would become almost dripping with excessive affection.
Having experienced both extremes, Etisha couldn’t possibly misunderstand how Lady Cyrillezé felt toward Dite.
Dite was loved by Lady Cyrillezé to the point that Etisha sometimes found herself feeling a twinge of envy.
Relationships between mothers and daughters are complicated…
Etisha set her teacup down, then turned to her side.
Beside her sat Cayenne, as if painted into a picture.
She didn’t want to be distracted by Cayenne’s looks in such a situation, but he was irresistibly handsome. Her gaze was naturally drawn to him.
Dark hair like the night sky and deep eyes that revealed nothing of his thoughts. His posture was always straight, and the way he drank his tea was the very model of noble grace and elegance.
I feel bad for the Duke. If I had known it would turn out like this, I wouldn’t have asked him to join me for tea.
She had imagined having a pleasant tea time with Lady Cyrillezé and him, but now she felt regret.
Maybe next time I’ll ask him for tea, just the two of us…
At that moment, a voice broke the long silence.
“Cayenne… sitting here like this reminds me of the old days.”
It was Dite, stirring her tea with a spoon. Though she was smiling, something about her felt oddly unsettling.
The proof was in her tea—she had added so much sugar that the granules wouldn’t dissolve no matter how much she stirred.
“When we were little, we used to see each other often, right? We’d have tea, read books, go for walks…”
“Did we?”
“Of course. We were the only children in the castle, so we were always together.”
“…”
Cayenne realized that Dite’s memory was distorted, but he didn’t bother correcting her.
As the Wintel heir, his childhood had been consumed with endless education. The time he had spent with Dite was just a small fraction of that.
But to young Dite, Cayenne had been her everything.
Her only playmate, her only conversation partner. Even when she was alone with nothing to do, she would simply wait for Cayenne, thinking of him.
“I had the most fun when I was with you, Cayenne.”
“…”
“I never needed any other friends. Because you were my closest. As long as I had you, that was enough…”
Her voice grew softer.
“Only you, Cayenne…”
Dite was seeking salvation in him.
The wound left by Lady Cyrillezé’s words needed soothing somewhere. Just as she had once easily opened her heart to Lady Montmade, she now had great expectations for Cayenne.
“I suppose… perhaps it was like that when we were young.”
He answered calmly.
“Right? And you liked being with me best, too, didn’t you?”
Dite twisted his answer in her mind. That was how desperate she was.
“I want to go back to those days.”
She placed both hands on the tea table.
Her gaze at Cayenne was as bright as a traveler in the desert who had found an oasis.
Even if that oasis turned out to be a mirage.
“Oh, that’s right! Do you remember that?”
“…?”
“That cabin. The little cabin. Built up in the trees… the cabin in the forest.”
Even if Lady Cyrillezé had lied to her, it didn’t matter. Even if her feelings toward Lady Cyrillezé as a mother were hers alone, it didn’t matter.
Because she had Cayenne. She cherished and loved him more than anyone.
Surely Cayenne understood her feelings.
Surely Cayenne cherished and loved her just the same. As much as she thought of him as special, he surely thought the same of her…
“Yes. I remember that cabin.”
“When we were kids, you’d always go there alone. I’d be waiting for you to come back. Honestly, I wanted to go with y—”
“I went there recently with Miss Etisha.”
“…What?”
Cayenne looked at Etisha. When he turned his head, Dite could only see the back of it.
“It was a place I’d long forgotten, but hearing Miss Etisha sing brought it to mind. She’ll be using it from now on.”
“Etisha… the Baroness?”
“Yes. So she can sing comfortably somewhere secluded.”
“Oh… to sing…”
Dite blinked rapidly. Her arm, resting on the table, began to tremble slightly. Cayenne didn’t notice and continued speaking.
“On the day of the Montmade Count’s party, Miss Etisha sang the Song of Spring. If you had seen her, Mother, you would have been surprised.”
“Yes, I heard something about that.”
“So you knew. You were also invited to that party, Dite—did you know about this as well?”
“I did, Cayenne.”
As someone who practically ruled the social scene, there was no way Lady Cyrillezé wouldn’t have heard about what happened at the party. With so many eyes and ears everywhere, the spring festival incident had naturally reached her.
“I’ve heard many compliments about my new daughter-in-law’s singing. She’s the talk of the capital.”
Etisha smiled shyly at that.
“Thank you, Mother…”
She still wasn’t used to being praised. Especially praise from Lady Cyrillezé—it felt like praise from a real mother, which made it all the more pleasant.
“I hope someday I can hear it for myself.”
“Oh, of course. Naturally.”
“Fufu, I’m looking forward to it. My new daughter-in-law singing for me…”
“But don’t expect too much. I’d worry about disappointing you.”
“What modesty. There’s no way that could happen.”
A warm conversation passed over the tea table.
Lady Cyrillezé looked at Etisha with fond eyes, and Etisha smiled shyly back. Dite’s arm trembled harder.
Then Cayenne put a period on the conversation.
“Since Mother already knows, I’ll keep it brief. I’ve cut off several dealings with the Montmade family.”
Lady Cyrillezé accepted this as only natural.
“Yes, an appropriate response. I knew you’d handle it without me having to say so.”
The Countess of Montmade had used Dite to openly humiliate Etisha. So Cayenne’s action was only right.
But to Dite, it was not.
“What do you mean… you’ve cut off dealings with the Montmade family?”
She couldn’t forget the warmth of the shawl the Countess had draped over her.
Nor the handkerchief she had given her to wipe her tears.
Dite’s thin arm trembled so much it seemed it might snap, and the shaking spread through her whole body.
The teacups on the table shook along with her hands.
Clink, clink. The loud noise filled the sitting room.
“The Countess of Montmade did nothing wrong. I sang because I wanted to, that’s all. So why…”
“Dite.”
“She’s a good person!”
Dite bit her lip hard.
She hated everything.
She hated that Cayenne had taken Etisha to the cabin. She hated seeing Etisha and Lady Cyrillezé so close.
Cayenne, Lady Cyrillezé—none of them were on her side here. Everyone was on Etisha’s side.
“I… I’ll be going now.”
Unable to bear it any longer, Dite shot to her feet.
The table rattled, and a teacup toppled over noisily.
Crash!
Leaving the shattered cup behind, Dite staggered out of the sitting room. This time, she didn’t even think to take the gift from Lady Cyrillezé.
“Dite…? Dite!”
The sudden outburst left the three at the table startled.
“I should go after her.”
Lady Cyrillezé started to rise, but Cayenne stopped her.
“Mother, you’re injured.”
Shards from the overturned cup had cut her hand, and blood was flowing. Cayenne examined the wound.
“Treatment comes first.”
“Yes, Mother, please tend to that first.”
Etisha also supported Cayenne’s words, then added reassuringly,
“I’ll go after Dite. Please don’t worry.”
She stood and looked toward the open door, her gaze calm.
I’ve been wanting to talk to Dite, anyway.
Cayenne’s adoptive sister. Lady Cyrillezé’s foster daughter. Even setting those ties aside, Etisha had wanted to meet and speak with Dite at least once.
There were things to address—what happened in the banquet hall on Cayenne’s birthday, the encounter at the Montmade spring festival party.
“I’ll be back.”
Etisha stepped out after Dite. Her eyes met Cayenne’s for a brief moment.
And suddenly, words he had once told her resurfaced in her mind:
If you learn the truth, Miss Etisha, you must keep an equal secret in return. Because Udite is Wintel’s disgrace… a person who must be hidden.
Why had those long-forgotten words suddenly come to her?
Just what secret was Dite hiding…?
