Chapter 61
‘I shouldn’t have said that. Well, I guess he wouldn’t be happy to hear that his grandfather was a murderer.’
Belatedly regretting her words, she felt needlessly awkward and tapped his dessert plate, which he hadn’t touched.
“If you’re not going to eat that, can I have it?”
“…Ah. Of course.”
Hermia was actually already full, but she hated to waste food, so she ended up taking the plate. She still dismissed Mel’s story as childish fantasy.
Hermia nibbled on the slightly rich second mousse cake, but before long, she put down her fork.
When they tidied up and came out of the private room, her hand was demurely resting on Walter’s arm.
The employees who came out to see them off had their mouths tightly shut, but their eyes were extremely noisy.
The Duke and his fiancée, who had spent two hours having a long lunch, were bickering in a way that seemed friendly to anyone who looked at them.
There was no sign of the formal framework of a political marriage between the Duke, who was suggesting they go somewhere, and his fiancée, who said they didn’t need to go. Only a couple remained who seemed to have plenty more to say even after talking for two hours straight.
Why did he tell them to leave the door open? The gazes that lingered on the backs of the two people walking away were filled with curiosity.
* * *
“I’m telling you, it’s okay. I have the jewelry from the Duke’s castle, or I can borrow the Countess’s jewelry.”
They had left Thiago’s restaurant and were now headed toward Madame Sophia’s jewelry shop.
It wasn’t a long distance, and they decided to take a walk to digest their meal, dismissing the prepared carriage.
Soon, the words ‘Duke’ and ‘villainess’ passed by on the lips of the people they encountered. Since they were walking through an area with many nobles, more and more people were recognizing them.
Hermia didn’t care.
Go ahead and spread the rumors. She shot them that look and strode confidently.
The two were having a small argument as they walked, in a much more intimate atmosphere than when they had strolled through the Duke’s garden.
When Hermia had completely put down her cutlery, Walter, who had been lost in thought, suddenly spoke.
He suggested going to buy jewelry to wear to the Queen’s palace.
“So, I’m telling you again, you don’t have to buy me anything.”
Hermia glanced at the attendants who were following them from behind and once again expressed her refusal.
Walter refused again.
“Oh, right. Something about needing permission from the owner first, or whatever…”
“No, I just don’t want you to. That’s all.”
“But I saw some nice pieces in the jewelry box.”
“They’re outdated.”
“Ugh. I shouldn’t have mentioned the necklace.”
Even as she pouted her lips, Hermia couldn’t find anything to argue with.
He was right. The items in the jewelry box were of good quality but outdated in design, and the Countess had taken all the jewels from the dressing room while on vacation.
It would have been perfect to wear the diamond necklace Mel took to the ball. She forcibly suppressed the rising anger.
“I admit I’m not the most considerate person, but…”
She hesitated before finally confessing.
“It feels like a waste to spend a lot of money on a party I’m just going to for a little while. Even if it’s not my money.”
It was true that once they were married, his money would be as good as hers, so it felt like a waste.
She agreed to some extent with the Countess’s advice that a man’s wallet opens the most before marriage.
“So as long as it’s not too expensive, it’s fine?”
Walter asked as if to confirm, and Hermia could easily understand what he meant. He was going to buy the most expensive one and then insist that it wasn’t a lot of money by his standards.
If the end result was that he was going to buy it for her anyway, wouldn’t it be better to choose it herself? If she was going to be criticized no matter what as the Duchess, wouldn’t it be better to have something in her hand?
After coming to a moderate agreement in her mind, she reluctantly nodded.
As they talked and walked, they soon saw the store clerks lined up outside the store and Sophia, who had come out to greet them.
The madam, clutching the hem of her dazzling dress, hurried towards them.
“Isn’t it a truly beautiful afternoon? Miss Hermia! And Your Grace!”
She bent her knees with a flushed face, appearing to genuinely enjoy the beautiful afternoon.
* * *
Under the early evening sky, where dusk was beginning to settle, Hermia opened the jewelry boxes, arranged in order of size, on the dressing table.
It was a moonstone necklace called Selene something, which an employee wearing white cotton gloves had carefully and cautiously placed on her.
The round beads strung together had a subtle bluish-white color that was darker than pearls. Like its name, it was a graceful jewel that seemed to contain a full moon.
She had heard that Sophia had been running around trying to find a jewel that suited her image, and she felt strange.
The ore itself was a common stone, but it felt especially so because they mined the pretty parts of it, which were a small portion, and made them into the finest jewelry.
The jewelry made of moonstone, which the madam had brought in with great effort, was a set of necklace, earrings, and bracelet.
When she tried them all on and smiled at herself in the mirror, Walter told her to send them to the Count’s residence right then and there.
Without even asking how much it cost.
“…It is pretty.”
She stroked the round trinkets that touched her fingertips for a while, then lifted her head and gazed at herself in the mirror. The woman in the mirror, where the sunset was reflected as it always had been, was beautiful as well.
The day of the decisive battle has finally arrived. She must receive a proposal from Walter in front of the King and Queen. Absolutely.
“Miss, would you like me to help you with your makeup?”
Just as she was burning with determination, there was a knock at the door along with a familiar voice. It wasn’t just any party, it was a ball hosted by the Queen, so the Duke’s maids had been dispatched to help her get ready.
Hermia greeted Emily and the other maids with a welcoming expression. To think that she would see faces she thought she would never see again at the Vansen family’s mansion.
“Yes, come in.”
“Wow! This is Miss’s room…”
The maids who entered in a row with some excitement each shut their mouths as if they had promised to.
Unlike the rest of the mansion, which was full of luxury goods, Hermia’s room was, to put it nicely, simple, and to put it bluntly, shabby.
The wallpaper, which had faded and had a faint pattern, the old carpet with frayed edges, the furniture with worn corners, and the window frames with chipped paint were all part of the villainess Helen’s bedroom.
What villainess? Even those who had secretly wondered if the character in the novel was real lost their words and looked around the room. Then, they exchanged glances filled with the same emotion.
In a scene where nothing had been replaced for at least 10 years, the women of similar age felt something bubbling up inside them.
‘They brought an illegitimate daughter and raised her like this.’
They would have felt envy and jealousy if someone from their own background had become a noble by luck and lived a glamorous life, but when faced with the opposite situation, they felt bad as if they had been mistreated.
“You didn’t need to bring so many people.”
Looking at Hermia, who was smiling brightly like a flower even in the midst of it all, the maids couldn’t hide their pity any longer.
“Just you wait…! You’ll be the most beautiful lady at the ball today!”
At the words of the youngest maid, who had brought all kinds of new cosmetics, the rest of the people nodded vigorously.
‘Why are they being like this?’
Hermia made a bewildered expression, then closed her mouth and smiled.
If she opened her mouth here, she was sure to say something unlucky. Even without trying, I’ll be the prettiest, what. That kind of thing.
A person whose heart is a little sore.
The maids surrounded Hermia, once again engraving in their hearts the impression they had of her before.
They exchanged opinions on the hairstyle that would suit the jewelry and dress more seriously than any discussion, and they almost got into a fight when choosing the color to put on her lips.
Hermia, who was isolated in the middle of it all, was only glancing at the clock from time to time. A sense of unease crept in that the makeup would be finished after the ball was over.
As the room darkened a little, someone was seen struggling to light the lamp on the wall.
“Ah. That one is broken. The third lamp and that one won’t light, so try it somewhere else. I think the oil has hardened inside.”
Likewise, the maids, who had been gradually exhausted by the calmly uttered words, reignited their hearts once again.
When all the grooming was over, Emily finally brought the new dress. Hermia, who had been slightly dazed from being swayed around all the time, got up with a delighted expression.
The all-white dress with ruffles added to the sleeves up to the elbows was moderately formal, moderately gorgeous, and, above all, very beautiful.
It was still the voluminous and splendid pannier style worn at general balls, but hers, unified in one color, was by no means gaudy or crude.
This sophisticated party dress, which Sophia had strongly recommended from ‘Marie’s (Sophia’s youngest sister) Clothing Store’ after buying the jewelry, was also bought by Walter.
Hermia, who had finally completed her grooming, checked the clock before looking in the mirror. She seemed to be able to avoid being late somehow.
She picked up the heavy pouch she had placed on the dressing table and turned around, and Walter was standing in the doorway. Hermia ran to him with a happy face.
“Did you wait long?”
“Not really.”
“How do I look?”
