Chapter 13
Thud!
All the maids carrying gift boxes suddenly turned their gazes toward me.
How disgraceful. I had stepped on a stray ribbon on the floor and tripped flat on my face.
“……”
I was a little—no, very—embarrassed, but I stood up as if nothing had happened and brushed the dust off my skirt with a nonchalant hand.
My ankle throbbed with a sharp, dull ache, probably bruised.
Honestly, it hurt like hell, but I knew better than to whine—there wasn’t a single soul here who’d care. So instead, I just bit my lower lip in frustration.
Since I didn’t make a fuss, their attention quickly dispersed.
They returned to their tasks, moving swiftly to carry the gift boxes.
I stood there, watching them absentmindedly, then muttered to myself.
“Just how many are there?”
Had they raided every women’s dress shop in the city?
The table that had been empty just this morning was now stacked high with colorful gift boxes like a tower.
From famous designer dresses recognizable just by name to affordable but steadily popular mid-tier brands—
it was an endless parade of dresses.
Hats, shoes—you name it. Every box opened revealed something new.
Shaking my head at the market-like frenzy, I turned at the sound of a knock just in time.
“Excuse me.”
A man entered, wheeling in a rack loaded with dozens of dresses. He bowed gracefully before me.
Judging by his unfamiliar face and clothes, he probably wasn’t from our household.
…A blue parrot.
I glanced at his chest—there was a small brooch of a blue parrot, the symbol of House Catherine.
That confirmed it—he was someone sent by Viscount Catherine.
“We will immediately remove anything that does not suit the lady’s taste.”
The rich voice of a middle-aged man echoed through the room.
He flipped through the dresses with confident, practiced ease.
I almost clapped without realizing it at his smooth, graceful movements.
“Please have a seat here.”
Following a maid’s guidance, I leaned back on a small velvet-cushioned sofa and tilted my head back.
“This piece is a one-of-a-kind custom design by Madame Luwanna, known globally.”
“Oh… I see.”
Madame Luwanna? I didn’t even know who that was, so I could only offer a soulless nod.
‘This cushion is really fluffy.’
That was about the level of thought I had left in me.
My lukewarm response made the man break into a nervous sweat as he began a spirited explanation.
“This dress is made from the finest materials, and it—!”
I let his words in one ear and out the other, offering a polite smile and a few vague nods.
“Wow. That’s amazing.”
Apparently, even that small gesture touched him deeply. His voice grew more passionate with emotion.
‘He’s really into this.’
Resting my arm against the sofa armrest, I watched the dresses with a bored expression while gently swinging the tip of my shoe.
The ribbon on the shoe fluttered listlessly with each motion.
Honestly, the ribbon on my shoe was more interesting than anything he was saying.
Some might call this rude behavior, but—
‘What do they expect? This is seriously boring.’
I remembered how I used to fantasize while reading romance novels, watching the male lead shower the heroine with expensive gifts.
A heroine smiling brightly, surrounded by sparkling treasures.
A devoted male lead, willing to pluck stars from the sky just for her.
‘How romantic and sweet!’ I had once thought.
Back then, I believed I’d be over the moon if I ever received such gifts.
But now that I was actually experiencing it, I realized something:
Fiction is only blissful when it stays fiction.
First, the dust flying everywhere made me nauseous.
The more the man talked, the paler my face grew. My butt hurt from sitting too long.
Not to mention my neck, stiff from keeping my chin up to look at the dresses.
And after an hour of staring at glittering jewels and luxurious dresses, even my eyes began to ache.
If I took an eye test now, I’d probably score in the negatives.
‘Feels like my vision’s gone blurry.’
Rubbing under my eyelids with my fingers, I squinted and twitched.
This was my limit.
Just as I was about to tell him I’d had enough—
“That’s everything we’ve prepared for today. If there’s anything more the lady requires, please let House Catherine know—”
Thankfully, he retreated before I could kick him out.
But the more I thought about his words, the more ridiculous they sounded.
‘Who asked for any of this?’
That family, said to be richer than even the royal family, had the nerve to offer to buy me something?
Even the man seemed to realize something was off, glancing nervously at me as his words trailed off.
Sigh. Anyway…
‘It’s over, right?’
I shuddered as the tension left my shoulders. Honestly, I just wanted to collapse into bed.
“Oh, and the young master said he had something he wished to say in person and requested another meeting.”
At that, my previously neutral gaze curved into a sharp arc.
‘So that’s what this was about.’
Dresses, flowers, and jewels as a trade for a single date with a noble lady.
‘Not a bad deal—for them.’
In noble society, “Yuria Benestra” was a jewel everyone wanted.
Rich, beautiful, with an elite family background to boot.
Aside from her eccentric personality, she was the perfect woman.
And when people met her, they realized the rumors weren’t that exaggerated.
Maybe someone had even entertained the cliché thought:
‘You’re the first woman who’s ever treated me like this!’ when I rejected their advances.
“……”
No, that’s too far-fetched.
In any case, I was sure he had no interest in me beyond my wealth, power, and family name.
That’s what the social scene was—one big matchmaking market.
Take Noel, for example.
He said he liked me for who I was, but if I were a penniless beggar on the street—
If I had a face that was disfigured and monstrous—
Would he still have reached out his soft hand?
‘No way.’
Scoffing coldly, I curled my lips into a bitter smirk.
“…Do you perhaps not like the gifts?”
The man’s nervous voice trembled as he spoke, probably rattled by the scowl I hadn’t realized was on my face.
In a way, I did feel a little sorry for him. He was probably just doing what he was told.
Groveling in a stranger’s mansion, trying to read the mood of a barely-adult noblewoman—
how degrading must that feel?
He might be thinking how unfair this all was.
But that’s life in the aristocracy.
‘Kid, money doesn’t come easy.’
I gave a casual shrug.
“These may not compare to what the lady normally uses, but the young master handpicked them himself.”
Normally, I would’ve politely said thank you and sent him on his way.
But I’d already been stressed once from sorting through the mountain of flowers earlier.
And I could tell I wasn’t in the mood to say anything nice.
Then he added:
“They were the most expensive items he could afford.”
“……”
“He really stretched his limits to buy them.”
Now that was the final straw.
My fingers dug into the velvet cushion, leaving clear nail marks.
He probably meant to emphasize how much effort Rastin put into this.
But to me, it all sounded like:
‘This is exactly how much you’re worth to me.’
Now I truly understood how Rastin viewed me.
‘The best investment opportunity.’
If he’d cared at all, he would’ve asked what I needed or wanted.
Not dumped a bunch of overpriced gifts on me like an auction.
Looking at those presents, I couldn’t help thinking:
‘To him, this is my exact value.’
Excessive kindness exhausts people—especially when it’s something they don’t want.
He probably thought I’d be dazzled by dresses and flowers.
Why do men assume women only care about dresses and jewels?
Because they’ve never imagined giving them anything else.
That ridiculously binary thinking made me laugh.
I let out a soft snort.
I had no intention of replying kindly to such inconsiderate gifts.
As I sat upright, the shoe barely hanging from my toes fell limply to the floor with a thud.
The man’s gaze automatically followed the sound.
He could probably guess what I was about to say—his eyes trembled.
Pressing my throbbing temple, I muttered:
“Dispose of everything except the plants.”
In the now-empty room, I spread my arms wide and spun lightly, holding onto the curtain rod.
Anyone watching would think I’d lost it, but I didn’t care—I felt amazing.
I’d finally gotten rid of those damn gifts!
Scanning the now pristine room, I smiled in satisfaction.
A room should be clean. That’s the bare minimum for comfort.
‘Finally feels like someone actually lives here.’
I threw myself onto the bed, letting the blankets wrap around me in a warm embrace.
Turning my head toward the window, I spotted a yellow rose placed neatly on the table.
It was the same kind that filled Rastin’s garden.
‘Why wasn’t that one thrown out?’
My brows furrowed in irritation.
Someone must’ve forgotten to remove it.
“……”
After staring at the rose in a pointless standoff for a few minutes, I admitted defeat and turned my eyes to the ceiling.
The green ceiling somehow gave me a sense of closure for the day. Like a ritual.
I used to hate this ceiling. It felt unfamiliar and alien.
‘But now it’s oddly comforting.’
I guess that meant I’d adapted to this place.
Lifting my arms, the sore muscles screamed in protest.
I winced. As always, Yuria’s body truly lived up to her name—it was made of glass.
‘Well-named, I guess.’
I hadn’t even done anything, yet here I was, aching all over.
“Whew.”
Sighing, I gently rubbed my limp wrists and closed my eyes.
‘I really should start exercising someday.’
In this state, I’d die before I ever caught an assassin.
Oh, right—
As for the mountain of flower bouquets, I dealt with them by just tossing them outside and telling anyone to take what they liked.
At first, people hesitated, but when I checked back a few hours later, even the leaves were gone.
‘Mission complete.’
But while the bouquets were easy, the potted herbs and massive plants were a different story.
I couldn’t just throw them away—they’d come a long way to get here.
But I couldn’t keep them all either.
So for now, I had them planted in the garden beds outside.
Thankfully, it rained, so I didn’t even need to water them.
“……”
Now that I thought about it, this whole house was turned upside down today, and Noah still hadn’t shown his face.
I even had a maid deliver one of the bouquets to his room.
It should’ve been plenty of time for him to have seen it by now.
I’d even picked the prettiest, most expensive one out of all of them.
Yet that guy—no thank you, no reaction at all.
Since then, he’s been oddly avoiding me, and now not even a greeting?
At this rate, I won’t just fail to win him over—we’ll grow more distant.
Maybe I should have hugged him in that carriage.
Letting out a long sigh, I buried my face in the freshly washed, sweet-smelling blanket.
‘Feels nice.’
The soft, fluffy bedding washed away all the clutter in my mind.
As I relaxed into it, a thought suddenly popped into my head.
What Sophie had said earlier—
“There’s a letter from Young Master Rastin inside the purple hydrangea bouquet.”
I really didn’t want to read it.
But since he did make the effort to send it, I should at least pretend to read it. He was the heroine’s older brother, after all.
“…Ugh. So annoying.”
He wasn’t even a target character, and yet he kept bothering me.
Just as I sluggishly sat up to read it, a memory flashed through my mind like a film reel.
“……”
Wait a minute.
The purple hydrangea bouquet?
Shit.
That’s the one I sent to Noah’s room!
