Chapter 115
“My lady requests your presence in the garden.”
Despite the servant’s emotionless voice, Jane responded kindly as always.
“Thank you for letting me know.”
Of course, despite having served her for quite some time, her consistently warm demeanor still failed to elicit any response from the servants, whose attitudes remained as impenetrable as they had been from the beginning.
“I will help you prepare.”
While being attended to by servants who moved like clockwork according to predetermined procedures, Jane hid the bizarrely flashing light in her eyes.
Perhaps due to her dreadful audience with the Duke, even the servants’ behavior—which she thought she had grown accustomed to—now grated on her nerves unbearably.
Her nails dug into her palms, hidden beneath the folds of her skirt, but outwardly Jane maintained a gentle smile.
However, when she caught sight of her dyed hair ends swaying neatly after being brushed by the servant’s hand, Jane closed her eyes completely.
By all rights, she should have been in an excellent mood right now.
After all, this would be a monumental day, marking the perfect commencement of her plan to finally drive out the impostor.
From today onward, whenever they shared refreshments, the impostor would drink poison.
Originally, she had planned to administer the poison through a servant she had won over, but…
If the best option is unavailable, one must choose the next best thing.
She couldn’t know how long it would take for the impostor to go mad from the poison, but fortunately, it shouldn’t require much time.
No one would ever know that the crazed impostor had consumed poison.
By then, she would have developed sufficient abilities to become Bolshevik’s true heir.
Not only her administrative skills but now her etiquette was perfect as well.
Everything is going according to plan. It’s fine.
Jane repeated this to herself over and over.
If she didn’t…
“It’s done.”
At the servant’s words, Jane’s eyes flew open. She nodded lightly, consciously took a deep breath in and out, then said:
“Could you leave me alone for a moment?”
After dismissing the servants, Jane habitually surveyed her surroundings keenly before opening her secret compartment.
“Hah.”
After a short sigh, she carefully tucked the mechanical device into her sleeve.
One drop—today she only needed to put one drop in the impostor’s teacup.
Everything is going according to plan. Everything is still flowing as planned.
Yes, regardless of what the Duke said, she was simply creating something he would bitterly regret when her true identity was revealed.
She would remember everything, collecting it piece by piece, to return it all methodically when she reclaimed her rightful place.
For that, the first step was to drive out the impostor and reclaim her position.
Jane rose with a determined face, and as she stepped outside, the waiting servant said:
“I will guide you.”
The words “Isn’t it surveillance rather than guidance?” rose to the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed them and followed the servant.
Before long, Jane finally entered the main building’s garden, which had previously been off-limits to the shadow, and stopped.
The servant who had guided her stepped aside, but Jane remained rooted to the spot.
Under the cloudless, clear sky, a vivid red head of hair that hurt the eyes was swaying.
Jane’s lips froze in a cold line as that color, made even more striking against the backdrop of the rippling greenery, was so drastically different from the hair color that swayed at her own shoulders. But her hand quickly covered her expression.
Eventually, Jane closed her eyes tightly once, then removed the hand covering her mouth to reveal her characteristic subtle smile.
Approaching Riina with light steps, Jane opened her mouth.
“I pay my respects, my lady.”
Indeed, Jane seemed to have invested considerable effort as she claimed, demonstrating picture-perfect etiquette.
Had it been before the regression, Riina would have responded with twisted words, but now she merely gave Jane an indifferent glance and gestured.
“Very well. Sit there.”
As Jane took her seat, servants skillfully filled the teacups.
Riina tapped her teacup—from which rose the rich aroma of milk—with the tip of her meticulously manicured fingernail.
When she had heard that Jane had requested refreshments, she had granted permission without much thought, but after listening to Becky’s observations, Riina had formulated a plan.
It wasn’t anything elaborate enough to be called a plan—just a simple matter.
She would merely dismiss all the servants to remove all eyes from the vicinity and watch what Jane would do.
Yet this simple measure would allow her to confirm.
What exactly would Jane do?
If there was something she wanted to accomplish by specifically requesting refreshments, it would likely be…
Poison.
There wasn’t much else she could do.
This train of thought led to considering how Jane would administer the poison.
Thinking conventionally, she would put it in the teacup; using a bit more cunning, she might smear it on the cup.
Going a step further, she might take an antidote beforehand and then put the poison directly into the teapot.
Whichever method she chose, Jane was not a professionally trained assassin, so her unnatural movements would be noticeable.
Jane would surely be aware of this and want to avoid others’ eyes.
That’s why among the several instructions Riina had given Becky, one was particularly important:
‘I’ll dismiss all the servants. Instead, you must not take your eyes off Jane.’
It’s extremely unnatural for someone to keep their eyes fixed on another person constantly.
Moreover, having granted Jane’s request for teatime to discover what she might do, it would be a waste of valuable time if nothing happened.
But the situation was different with servants.
They knew how to provide just the right amount of attention at just the right time, and even if they didn’t, people rarely think about servants’ gazes anyway.
Riina had considered keeping many servants around to hide Becky’s watchful eye among them, but with so many gazes, there was a higher chance that Jane wouldn’t proceed with her plan at all.
Riina gave Becky a brief glance while half-hiding her face behind her teacup, and Becky responded by lowering her eyes and subtly turning her body toward Jane.
Holding the steaming teacup, Riina said:
“Becky, stay. Everyone else, withdraw.”
After the servants receded like an ebbing tide at Riina’s command, only Becky remained, quietly waiting a few steps behind.
Riina hesitated momentarily as she held her teacup with its rising white steam.
Jane was not picking up her cup but instead gently waving her hand over it.
Sensing Riina’s gaze, Jane withdrew her hand and bowed her head slightly.
“I can’t handle hot beverages well, so out of habit… This is my first time having tea outdoors, so I didn’t expect it to be this hot. I apologize.”
“That’s hardly a flaw worth noting. It’s better to match others’ pace in emptying one’s cup, even if you must cool it first.”
“Yes.”
Following those words, silence flowed between them until their first cups were empty.
Watching Jane place her cup down without a sound, Riina briefly commented:
“Your etiquette is impeccable.”
“Thank you.”
Her talk of etiquette hadn’t been a lie, it seemed. Though grace didn’t quite overflow to her fingertips, it was more than sufficient now.
As their second cups were filled and Riina’s cup became half empty, no particular words were exchanged between them.
Jane, who claimed she couldn’t handle hot beverages, once again lightly waved her hand to cool her second cup, but ultimately set it down almost untouched before finally parting her lips, which had remained tediously closed.
“I’ve heard that when the trade negotiation period ends, the tea party season will also conclude.”
“Yes. The season lasts a bit longer than the negotiation period, but only by a few days.”
“Before the season ends, one should host at least one tea party…”
“I won’t be hosting one.”
Before Jane could finish, Riina cut her off with a firm denial.
“You won’t? The only families that don’t host even a single tea party during the season are those whose fortunes have completely declined…”
“It’s just one tea party.”
Once again, Riina interrupted before Jane could finish, taking another sip from her half-empty cup.
After all that talk about etiquette and deliberately requesting refreshments, was it a tea party she wanted to host?
Surely she hadn’t summoned her specifically to bring up such a trivial matter…
Come to think of it, before the regression, around this time, Jane had quite successfully hosted a tea party in place of Riina, who had been completely distracted by Smith.
While that event hadn’t particularly elevated the Bolshevik name, it had certainly made Jane’s name circulate in society.
Although it was already somewhat known that she was a shadow, at the time it was mentioned as a rare case of a shadow stepping into the light due to Riina’s foolish behavior of being obsessed only with Smith.
Back then, Riina had thrown a tantrum, saying that a mere shadow didn’t know her place and was running wild.
Since a shadow existed to fill in for the heir’s shortcomings, Jane’s hosting of a tea party before the season’s end was entirely due to Riina’s failure to properly fulfill her duties as Bolshevik’s heir.
This time too, she had paid no attention, and it seemed she was about to end the season without hosting a single tea party.
Well, since she had no intention of repeating her past behavior, this would be disappointing for Jane.
Riina set down her teacup and lightly raised her chin.
“Who would dare wag their tongues about Bolshevik for not hosting a single tea party during the season?”
As Riina effortlessly and nonchalantly uttered these intensely arrogant words, her piercingly cold blue eyes and the red hair swaying against her white cheeks painfully stabbed Jane’s eyes.
