Chapter 10
The duchess, flustered by her husband’s outburst, nevertheless seemed to have something more pressing on her mind as she reached toward me.
“Th-that… you, hand me the ring first.”
“Here it is.”
I obediently placed the ring in her hand and cast my gaze around to take in everyone’s reactions.
Among them, Aiden’s was the most amusing his eyes darting about frantically, his lips sealed tight.
“As I feared…”
Natalie, the duchess, scrutinised the ring closely.
Then, without warning, she turned a withering glare on Kate.
“This ring was meant for Aiden’s fiancée.
Why on earth are you claiming it as yours?”
“Because I am his fiancée!
The young master gave it to me himself!”
Oh dear.
At that, I clicked my tongue inwardly.
Kate was far more naive than I’d thought.
And naive, of course, did not mean innocent.
“What nonsense!
She stole it, Mother!”
“What?
Young master, what are you saying…?”
Kate’s face flushed crimson with shock and betrayal, but Aiden, averting his eyes, only raised his voice louder.
“I must have doted on her too much because she seemed diligent.
Now she’s gotten the wrong idea.
Hey, you really think you can just steal your master’s belongings?”
“Young master!
You told me yourself the ring suited me and gave it to me!”
“When did I ever?
I only showed it to you told you to have a look.
As if a lowly maid could ever wear something like that.”
“Young master!
How could you say this to me?!”
Aiden’s sudden about-face was so brazen that even I had to bite back a whistle.
Their tug-of-war over the truth spiralled until, finally, the duchess stepped in.
“Y-you there, girl.”
Kate, with desperate eyes, turned to her for salvation only to be met with Natalie’s hand flashing up.
Slap!
Smack!
Crack!
Not once, but three sharp blows rained across her cheek.
Oof.
That’s gotta hurt.
Then, in a voice as elegant as it was merciless, the duchess declared, “How dare a wretch like you raise your voice at my son?”
Kate clutched her stinging cheek, her eyes brimming with tears, but no words left her lips.
“James.”
At her summons, James hurried forward, head bowed.
“Yes, my lady.”
“Lock her in the storeroom.
Make sure she’s taught her place before she’s thrown out.
How dare a thief roam unchecked in my house?
And keep it quiet no word of this beyond these walls.”
“As you command.”
At his signal, two servants seized Kate by the arms.
That was when her panic broke loose.
“No, no!
I didn’t steal it!
Young master, you said you loved me!
You said we’d run away togeth—mmph!”
Well.
She really went and said it.
No wonder she’s lost her grip.
But honestly, remembering all she’d done to Amelia, I couldn’t summon much sympathy.
What I suffered was nothing compared to Amelia’s memories of times when Kate’s malice had nearly gotten her killed.
Her muffled cries faded as she was dragged away.
The duchess only clicked her tongue.
“Still lying to the bitter end.
This is why breeding matters.”
…And why was she looking at me while she said that?
With one hand pressed elegantly to her chest, Natalie inclined her body in a graceful bow toward the duke.
“My apologies, Your Grace.
As mistress of this house, it was my failure to keep order that allowed such disgrace.”
“Hmph.
Aiden.”
The duke gave a slight nod, his tone cool and detached as he called Aiden’s name.
“Yes, Father,” Aiden answered hastily, almost tripping over his words.
“There are ranks, even among toys.
Learn to choose them wisely.”
“Ah… yes, Father.”
He had just referred to a person as nothing more than a toy, and yet his reprimand was brief, almost casual.
“I told you to be careful before marriage.
If needless rumours reach the Cavendish household, it will become troublesome.”
“I’ll be cautious, Father.”
Unlike when he was with me, Aiden now resembled a mouse cowering before a lion, meek and compliant.
Beside him, the duchess watched the duke anxiously, as though terrified he might find another fault with her son.
“Ahem.
I’ll take my leave.”
With that, the duke dabbed his lips with his napkin and rose from the table.
I, too, wiped my mouth quietly, only to feel an unspoken gaze on me.
Eric Wentworth, the second son of the house, had been staring at me the entire time.
Compared even to Amelia, who was dismissed as the illegitimate daughter, Eric’s presence in this family seemed all but invisible.
“Aiden, for heaven’s sake, stop causing trouble.
You should be grateful your father let you off so lightly.
What would you have done if he hadn’t…?”
As the duchess scolded her elder son, I slipped out of the dining room unnoticed.
In the corridor leading toward the lobby, I suddenly spun around.
And there it was that head of violet hair.
“Why are you following me?”
“You did it on purpose, didn’t you?”
“Did what on purpose?”
I asked calmly, and Eric stepped closer.
“You may fool that idiot Aiden, but not me.”
Brushing past me as he said it, he continued down the hall.
…Kids really don’t know when to hold their tongue.
Not that he was wrong about Aiden being an idiot.
Still, watching Eric’s back retreating, an image surfaced unbidden in my mind Eric being shoved to the ground by a figure cloaked in black.
I blinked a few times, and the vision vanished.
By then, Eric was already heading toward the lobby.
What struck me most was that the man in the black robe… looked eerily like the one I’d once seen transform from a crow into a man.
But even though I never truly saw it, did I?
It was nothing more than a fleeting image in my mind.
I must be exhausted.
Shaking my head twice, I kept walking.
Before reaching the lobby, a murmur of voices drifted to me, the duke’s and another man’s.
“I intend to establish a trading company under another’s name.”
“A trading company, my lord?”
“Yes, a phantom one.
I’ll funnel funds into it and make it appear legitimate.
Once it looks like a normal business…”
“Do you mean to approach Marchioness Moulton through it?”
I lingered just short of the lobby, listening until the approach of maids forced me to move.
What on earth…?
The lobby was scattered with dresses and jewellery, a chaotic display that unsettled me more than I cared to admit.
Tearing my gaze away, I walked toward where the duke and the unfamiliar man stood.
“Father.”
“Mm, yes.”
The duke propped his chin against his fingertips, his gaze sweeping me up and down as though he were appraising a prized object.
Judging by the satisfied curve of his lips, I seemed to meet his approval.
Did he really have to look at his daughter that way?
I smothered my distaste and instead gestured toward the man at his side.
“And this gentleman is…?”
The man stepped forward with his own introduction before the duke could answer.
“Alfred Leighton, at your service, Lady Wentworth.”
Ah.
So this was the duke’s famed informant.
I knew the name, but this was the first time I had seen his face.
His dark brown hair was tied neatly back, and the monocle perched over one eye lent him an air of keen intellect.
“A pleasure to meet you, Viscount Leighton.
I am Amelia.”
I lifted the hem of my skirt lightly and dipped into a graceful half-curtsy.
Leighton tilted his monocle, surprise flickering in his eyes.
“The honour is mine entirely, my lady.”
His reaction told me he hadn’t expected such decorum from me.
But I had my reasons for the courtesy.
For now, he served the Duke of Wentworth.
But in the days to come, he would stand at the side of the returned crown prince, a man who would become an influential advisor, shaping much of the future.
It was only wise to leave a good impression.
My survival might well depend on it.
“So the rumours are merely rumours.
I’d heard you were… quite the free spirit.
I did not imagine you would be such a refined and beautiful lady.”
To call me “free-spirited” in place of “scandalous” showed a certain wit.
And his gaze was not hostile; if anything, it carried a note of warmth.
Well, Amelia was strikingly beautiful.
Any man with eyes would be drawn to her.
And yet somehow, she had still managed to earn the crown prince’s dislike.
Amelia, you must have been truly remarkable in your missteps.
“Your health has fully returned
, I trust?”
“…Yes, Father.”
“Good.
Then I shall send you to the crown prince’s palace.”
His words froze me where I stood.
One look at the array of dresses and jewellery scattered about the lobby told me the truth: my answer had already been decided for me.
This was not a choice.
This was inevitable.
Thank you very much