Chapter 14

As Hermia reached for a glass of lemonade, her fingers brushed against someone else’s.

“Oh, excuse me… Hyah!”

“……?”

Watching the girl stumble away, Hermia lifted the glass. 

What was that about? Feeling awkward, she glanced around and suddenly felt a familiar sensation wash over her.

So this sense of alienation… it was something she had experienced for quite some time since her name became associated with “Vansen.”

In those days when she wore fluttery dresses and small shoes that felt awkward and uncomfortable, the remnants of her weary life had not yet been completely erased. Hermia had always been alone.

No one was willing to approach the illegitimate child of a family that had neither a long history nor an abundance of wealth.

It was only natural. Had she not been recognized by the Count’s household, Hermia would have been no different from the maid who took off their shoes.

They only approached her after the will of the late Duke Rockford was published in the newspapers. More accurately, they were pushed toward her by their parents.

‘Still, during Jack Vansen’s time, there seemed to be some honor in being a family with two generations of military service.’

After Jack Vansen died, her father inherited the title but refused to enlist due to having no sons.

There were ways to adopt a cadet or take in a son-in-law to inherit the title, but in that regard, her father was truly transparent.

Well, if there had been a collateral line, they wouldn’t have brought her in. The thought left her feeling unexpectedly bitter.

The family’s once scant honor had vanished like smoke, and the wealth that should have been its sole support was merely mediocre.

As far as Hermia knew, the sources of fixed income entering the Count’s household were roughly threefold:

The rent from lands inherited from the first Count, a pension granted due to the previous Count’s status as a national hero, and interest from the family deposit Jack Vansen had set aside.

‘Does my father even bring in any money…?’

She held the glass to her lips while rolling her eyes in confusion.

And back to the present, Hermia ultimately decided to find a lounge since the bandage on her heel had finally come off.

As she stepped out into the hallway, watching people drift away like an ebbing tide, she wondered if she smelled bad when she heard a familiar voice call out.

“Long time no see?”

“Irene!”

It was her friend who had been the only one to speak to her and smile before the will was read.

Feeling delighted, Hermia smiled brightly but then froze and blinked. Other young ladies from different families stood beside Irene.

‘She used to have no friends but me; when did she make new ones?’

While she hesitated about whether to greet them, Irene crossed her arms and smirked.

“I heard you finally got engaged to the Duke?”

Ah, so she was angry about not receiving an invitation.

But since the Countess wrote out invitations herself, it was unlikely that she would have invited the Schwain family. Hermia immediately wore an apologetic expression.

“It wasn’t intentional; it’s just that… my mother…”

“Pfft!”

The skinny lady standing next to Irene burst into laughter. The lady on the opposite side looked extremely angry instead.

Hermia stood there with her mouth shut in confusion as Irene shrugged her shoulders.

“See? I told you I’d be right! You’d use your mother as an excuse.”

“Using the same excuse on us as she did on Bell—how shameless.”

“What did Helen say when Bell cried? Right. That’s it.”

The three young ladies seemed to have rehearsed their lines together as they said in unison:

“This is all my mother’s doing!”

They exaggeratedly recited their lines like stage actors before bursting into giggles again. Only Hermia stood there blankly without understanding what was going on.

“What does that mean…?”

Suddenly, Irene stopped laughing and asked with a cold expression,

“You didn’t bring Mel Greenwood today either? Why? Is she sick again? Is it because of you?”

“Irene, I don’t understand what you’re talking about. Why are you suddenly asking about Mel… She isn’t at our house right now.”

Should I mention that the Duke took her away? As she hesitated for a moment, Irene scoffed.

“We all know what happened at the engagement ceremony. No, everyone here knows. Lord Walter recognized Mel and immediately put her into his carriage.”

“Right. Our cousin saw it with her own eyes.”

“Leira’s cousin is also a member of ‘Ban.Sa.Yo,’ so it can’t be false information.”

What is “Ban.Sa.Yo”? With a puzzled expression frozen on her face, Irene stepped forward toward Hermia.

“We demand the truth from Vansen.”

“The truth? What truth?”

“Although our parents still don’t believe it, we all know. The truth will eventually come out.”

She declared firmly before turning back to her companions and said,

“Hey guys, it seems our Helen is flustered after having her past misdeeds exposed; can I talk with her for a moment? We’re not cowards like Helen after all.”

“Sure, Irene! If you need help at any time, just say so. I’ll rush over immediately.”

“Irene is too nice for her own good.”

With encouragement from her friends, Irene took Hermia straight into an empty parlor. She then plopped down onto a sofa carelessly and gestured for Hermia to sit across from her.

“Sit down. I’m willing to hear your excuses one last time. We’ve shared at least this much friendship between us, right?”

“…….”

“Should I go first? Fine. To be honest, I didn’t want to be friends with someone like you who’s an illegitimate child either.”

Irene acted as if she were doing Hermia a great favor while rolling her eyes dramatically.

“My parents ran a casino in the provinces before coming up here; who would want to associate with me? The noble families in the capital tend to look down on people like us.”

“Irene, if this is because of ‘The Stolen Lady’ it’s all wrong. My father would never do something like that…”

I was going to say that he couldn’t possibly do such a thing, but Irene interrupted me again.

“You’re really shameless, aren’t you? Are you claiming that what you did to Mel was justified?”

“What did I do?”

I genuinely asked out of confusion, but Irene’s face turned red with anger.

“You starved Mel, locked her in the attic, and constantly humiliated her!”

She stood up abruptly and shouted, causing Hermia to look up in surprise. Ignoring Hermia’s reaction, Irene continued to raise her voice in fury.

“When the Duke came by, you locked Mel in the barn for two days to avoid getting caught hitting her! Is that something a person would do?”

“When did I ever!”

“Don’t pretend like you don’t know! The evidence is clear!”

Irene pulled a yellow book from her handbag and threw it at Hermia’s feet.

The cover of the crumpled book read “Volume 2.” Her blue eyes were fixated on the rolling novel.

Irene glared at her sharply.

“Our ‘Ban.Sa.Yo’ has decided not to tolerate injustice any longer.  Even if you were a duchess—or a princess—we won’t bow down to your cowardly tricks!”

Hermia still looked confused as she asked,

“I-I haven’t read Volume 2 yet, so… are you saying I did such things to Mel?”

“Don’t play innocent, you vile villain! Do you think I didn’t notice you pretending to be sweet all this time? I’ve seen you muttering curses to yourself countless times! You’ll get what’s coming to you!”

With that, Irene stormed out. However, even the sound of the door slamming shut didn’t register in Hermia’s ears.

“…So she heard me muttering to myself…”

—

Once Hermia got into the carriage, she leaned her head against the window and stared blankly outside.

As they returned to the Count’s residence, she watched the unique-shaped garden trees typical of an artist’s mansion pass by.

Left alone in the parlor, Hermia picked up Volume 2 that had fallen on the floor and began flipping through its pages. With each page she turned, her face grew paler.

‘Helen was me. Why didn’t I think that I would appear?’

After firmly securing both volumes with a strap tied around her thigh, she stepped outside.

The whispers that had been muffled before suddenly became clear in her ears.

“What a wicked girl.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the Royal Police arrested the Count any day now.”

“Such lowly blood will never change.”

Ah. This is truly a ridiculous situation.

She had become a public enemy among her peers since Volume 2 was released. The fierce glares directed at her felt like they were ready to throw stones at any moment.

“This is why power is so important. Even those arrogant ladies tread carefully around her… Oh my! You’re bleeding from your foot!”

“……?”

The Countess across from her exclaimed dramatically, snapping Hermia back to reality. Looking down, she saw red stains on her shoes and the carriage floor.

“Speaking of which, I forgot to reapply the bandage…”

“I can’t believe this! What have you been doing until now that it bled so much?”

The Countess pulled out a silk handkerchief and hurriedly bent down.

“I’ll take care of it. Thank you…”

“What if blood stains get on the cushions after I just changed the fabric?”

The Countess was scrubbing not Hermia’s foot but rather the floor vigorously. Only after ensuring that the carriage floor was clean did she toss the bloodied handkerchief at Hermia’s shoe tip.

“Quickly clean it up. Be careful when getting off.”

“…Yes.”

“How can you be so careless? Still, you’ll be forgiven since this won’t last much longer. Once you marry the Duke, both of us will be free from hardship.”

As Hermia stuffed the handkerchief into her heel, she paused. The Countess leaned deeply against the backrest and let out a long sigh.

“You have no idea how hard it’s been raising someone else’s child this far. I deserve a medal for this.”

“I need to meet… the Duke.”

Hermia murmured. Ever since he took Mel away at the engagement ceremony, there had been no word from him.

She had intended to wait patiently, but after seeing Volume 2, she felt she could no longer remain idle.

Had he also read Volume 2? Was he as angry as Irene had been when she hurled insults at her?

If she returned home like this, she would undoubtedly lose sleep and continue trembling with anxiety.

‘Yes. Let’s go settle this right away. If we’re going to break off the engagement, let’s do it quickly and then leave the capital altogether.’

Even if she didn’t have enough money to rent a house, her remaining emergency funds should be enough for travel expenses; she could take a train to some remote countryside and look for work at an inn or restaurant.

Ideally somewhere far away where that wretched bookstore didn’t exist.

“You must remember my sacrifices even after you’re married. Convince your husband to invest in your father’s business. If that’s too difficult, there’s always the Duchess’s allowance, isn’t there? That’s bound to be a hefty sum…”

“Driver!”

Hermia turned around and raised the window connected to the coachman.

“Sam! Please stop the carriage!”

“Yes?”

“Stop the carriage! Quickly!”