“...I’m sorry.”
Lota flinched and apologized under the icy, sharp glare.
But the petty urge to jab back at Varia’s earlier remark still lingered within her.
“J-just now, the words... the Duchess said...”
Lota struggled to correct her tone as she had been chastised. Her pronunciation was choppy and dry, as though her mouth were filled with sand.
‘...She’s really sothing else.’
Leonia, watching from the side, clicked {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} her tongue.
Normally, soone would back down at least a little after being humiliated this blatantly.
But not Lota. Instead, she tried to use the fact that she had been scolded as a way to gain sympathy.
Thoroughly scolded, Lota didn’t even bother to hide her sorrow.
“It’s just... it seems the Duchess doesn’t care much for her birth family or the family her sister married into...”
To that, Varia responded with a soft smile.
“Does everyone know this?”
Then she spoke.
“Farrs let their fields rest after the harvest.”
They apply fertilizer to nourish the land and leave it to rest through the winter.
“Sotis, they even have to plow under the crops they raised so diligently, with a heavy heart.”
Varia placed a hand on her chest and sighed with concern.
“That’s exactly how I feel right now.”
“...”
“Usually, that only happens when there’s a problem with the crops, not the soil.”
“...Hhht!”
Lota sucked in a sharp breath.
And she wasn’t the only one.
The southern nobles sitting beside her, along with the noblewon of the imperialist faction, could no longer hide their reactions. So even looked terrified.
anwhile, the noblewon from the aristocrat faction gazed at Varia with deeply moved expressions.
An older noblewoman from the western region nodded repeatedly in admiration.
“Just wait and see.”
Varia turned to Leonia with a soft smile.
“It will beco good land, I’m sure.”
Because you will be gone.
Thanks to her elegant mother’s every word, the smile never left Leonia’s face.
***
“We underestimated her.”
And got utterly wrecked for it.
After the tea party ended, the noblewon who remained in the Kapher estate shook their heads at the Voreoti mother and daughter’s ferocity.
The ones who had stayed were all from the imperialist faction.
“This is why you should never judge soone by appearances.”
“Would the Duke of Voreoti really take in just anyone?”
“People really do gravitate toward their own kind, don’t they?”
“They used to call her the ‘Beast’ when she worked at the Treasury.”
“How terrifying!”
They learned a lesson not to take the Duchess of Voreoti lightly.
Their half-hearted attempt to humble her had left them completely speechless and full of dread.
“But you know...”
The Countess of Neophelli turned to Lota.
“The Duchess didn’t seem to have any affection for her birth family.”
Her gaze was full of confusion over what had just happened.
Lota, who had been sobbing into another lady’s arms, flinched.
“...Well, if it were ...”
The Countess of Neophelli glanced sidelong at her and muttered as if to herself. She hadn’t expected an answer from Lota anyway.
“After being treated like that.”
“Oh my, ‘treated like that’?”
Baroness Kapher pounced as though she’d been waiting.
“Then is the rumor true?”
“I’ve heard they’re no different from the Hieina family.”
The Countess of Neophelli nodded.
Her older brother — the son of the Marquis of Pardus — had heard the disgraceful public scolding at last year’s ball involving the Erbanu family.
“N-no, it’s not true!”
Lota protested tearfully.
“Our parents loved both my sister and equally!”
“And yet they humiliated you like that at last year’s ball?”
The Erbanu family’s very public spat had been quite a scandal at the ti.
It made them look like terrible parents who failed to recognize their daughter’s talent — just like the Hieina family.
The Erbanus beca known as parents who played favorites, and Lota Olor as the younger sister obsessed with disgracing her sibling.
“T-that was due to family circumstances...!”
“The one who throws the stone never knows.”
They never realize what they hit.
The Countess of Neophelli’s eyes were glacial.
“...I’m originally from the North, too.”
If she had to choose a side, she’d pick Voreoti over you.
She continued with that aning in her tone.
“You should be careful. The Duchess seems to have made up her mind.”
“I’m her sister!”
Lota cried out in a shrill voice.
“How could she abandon her own sister!”
“There’s a lot to learn from the Count and Countess of Erbanu.”
Naly, how not to raise your children.
The Countess gave a scornful smile.
“Are you seven years old?”
She couldn’t take it anymore and rose from her seat. If she stayed any longer, she was sure she’d get a headache — in fact, one was already creeping in.
“Such stubbornness only works when you’re seven.”
“...”
“How disappointing...”
Tsk.
Clicking her tongue behind her fan, the Countess of Neophelli finally left. The other noblewon followed suit, throwing sharp glances as they departed.
“I should take my leave as well.”
Even Baroness Kapher issued a silent dismissal to Lota.
Lota, now outside the estate, stopped by another noblewoman’s ho for a brief rest.
“They were so cruel.”
“She’s still young, the Viscount’s wife...”
“Why are they so vicious?”
The southern noblewon tried to console her.
But their sympathy didn’t reach Lota’s heart.
She knew all too well they were just scared that Voreoti’s wrath might soday reach their own families.
No matter how powerful House Olor beca, it could never surpass the Black Beast.
“Hh-huu...”
Lota collapsed onto a sofa, tears streaming endlessly down her face.
Her pink hair, elegantly tied, had co loose slightly, and combined with her tear-streaked face, it created a pitiful image.
“But, you know...”
One of the noblewon hesitated, biting her lip.
“Earlier, Lady Voreoti...”
“Madam.”
Others tried to signal her to stop.
Bringing up Voreoti in front of Lota right now wasn’t the best idea.
“Sniff... What about Lady Voreoti?”
Lota asked with a tear-soaked voice.
“It’s fine. Please tell .”
“Are you sure?”
“No matter how my sister pushes away, we’re family. And that makes Lady Voreoti my dear niece.”
So of course I care, Lota said, eyes glistening with tears.
Her act worked perfectly.
The pure, sorrowful tears and gentle smile of a beautiful woman were more than enough to sway hearts.
Even the noblewon who had started to grow tired of the situation were drawn in by sympathy.
“It’s not anything major, really...”
The lady who had started to speak finally said, cautiously.
“But Lady Voreoti was wearing a bracelet on her wrist...”
It had caught her eye.
“Ah.”
Lota also recalled seeing it.
That annoying black-haired girl, acting all cutesy next to her sister — she had worn a slim bracelet of golden thread on her right wrist.
Unraveled, it could’ve served as a necklace.
And attached to it... was one particular charm.
“You know what that ornant was, don’t you?”
As the noblewoman asked, Lota slowly nodded.
“It was... a swan.”
***
“My wrist’s gonna rot off!”
Leonia, back at the mansion after the tea party, ripped off the swan necklace from her wrist and hurled it to the floor.
“Connie! Mia!”
She called for the maids.
“Get the bath ready. And burn these clothes.”
“Shall I make sure they’re turned to ash?”
Connie asked as she took the outfit.
“Not a speck left.”
“Understood.”
“I’ll get the bath ready right away!”
Connie went to burn the clothes, and Mia hurried up the stairs.
“Such temper.”
Ferio, who had co to greet them, looked at his daughter disapprovingly.
“If you were going to burn them, you should’ve faced it toward the Olor estate.”
“Whoa, Dad, you’re a genius!”
“Leo, you’re way too rciful.”
Ferio sharply pointed out his daughter’s failure to vent her anger properly.
The baby beast nodded solemnly, engraving the lesson deep in her heart.
“Leo! Co here.”
Varia, having changed her clothes, called out.
“Ti to disinfect.”
The maid following her carried a silver tray with cloth soaked in disinfectant and a pair of tweezers.
“You wore that filthy thing — if we don’t disinfect, you’ll have nightmares and catch sothing.”
Varia used the tweezers to wipe Leonia’s wrist clean with the cloth.
The sting of the alcohol brought a refreshing coolness.
“Mom, you were amazing back there!”
“Hardly. I just copied you.”
The mother and daughter told Ferio about everything that happened at the tea party.
“Didn’t copy at all?”
Ferio asked in a mock-hurt voice.
“Dad! When I copy myself, I’m copying you!”
Who else did I learn from?
Only after that complint did Ferio’s mood improve.
“...You’re going to live with a guy like this, Mom.”
Leonia tattled right away.
“But you can’t cancel a wedding!”
Now that you’re stuck with him, you’ll have to take responsibility, she whined to Varia.
“You both whine just the sa.”
Varia said playfully, looking between the two beasts.
“But I’m still cuter, right?”
“This dad’s finally lost it. Did you drink expired whiskey? Was it your stomach or your brain that went bad? At this rate, you’ll go bald.”
“Unfortunately, my roots are as firm as the northern mountains.”
“Then they’ll dry out soon.”
Leonia cackled in triumph.
Varia blinked in surprise.
“Ferio...”
She glanced at her husband.
Her daughter’s savage tongue, her husband’s unreadable stare, and the wife caught between the two — it all felt a bit too much.
“Our Leo.”
Ferio said quietly, in a calm voice.
“You’ve crossed the line.”
The child had just said the one thing a daughter must never say to her father.
His luscious black hair was Ferio’s pride, and though he pretended not to care, he was secretly very proud of it.
And she dared...
This ti, Ferio could not let it slide.
“You must be punished.”
He brought out a punishnt that had long been sealed away.
The infamous Wrongdoing Necklace and Thinking Chair.
Still, Ferio was a deeply affectionate father.
He waited until Leonia had bathed and finished her dinner before personally fastening the Wrongdoing Necklace around her neck.
[Failed to appreciate the beauty of black hair.]
Leonia’s eyes chilled as she read the inscription.
“...Dad, doesn’t your conscience hurt when you put this on ?”
“Your mom wrote that one.”
“Figures. The handwriting is so beautifully guilt-inducing.”
Ferio looked at his daughter, wondering what am I going to do with her, as she admired the calligraphy like a fool.
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