Chapter 28
. A Sinister Affair
2023.10.28.
An hour later, when the official program of the banquet had ended.
Guests were scattered throughout the mansion, gathered in small groups and chatting freely with close acquaintances.
Each group’s members varied, but the topic of conversation was only one.
The Grand Duke and Duchess Twins.
“Don’t you think the two of them seem even more passionate than when they were newlyweds?”
At the central table in the third-floor lobby, the gathered ladies were exchanging gossip on the same subject.
“His Grace the Grand Duke has always been cold toward Her Grace. But today… the two of them seemed completely reversed, didn’t they?”
“Exactly! My husband won’t even glance at me anymore. I’m dying to know their secret!”
As the women burst into laughter—
In a guest chamber at the end of the corridor, a sinister tryst was taking place.
The protagonists were none other than Camilla and her lover, Henry.
Camilla lay in Henry’s arms upon the bed.
But suddenly she sprang up, sitting upright, and shouted in irritation:
“The way she strutted about so smugly! It makes me so furious I could die, Henry!”
Henry only brushed back his wheat-gold hair and rose as well.
Perhaps because he knew well Camilla’s hot temper, not the slightest trace of surprise appeared on his face.
He simply drew her into a gentle embrace and kissed her cheek.
“Camilla, don’t let it get to you. You have me.”
Soothed somewhat by his kiss, Camilla exhaled a long sigh.
“You’re too naïve for your own good, Henry.”
“Hah, me? I wonder what Loberia would say if she heard that from you, knowing about us.”
At Henry’s careless remark, Camilla’s slender arched brows knotted in irritation.
“Loberia? Why bring her up again?”
Since her girlhood, Camilla had long harbored feelings for Henry.
But her own family had barely clung to their rank as minor barons.
So when Henry was taken by her old friend Loberia, daughter of the influential Count Bart, the humiliation she felt was unbearable.
Even now, the memory made rage surge within her.
Of course, not long after, she herself had married into another count’s family and become its mistress.
Yet the flames of her desire for Henry never died out.
With the titles she had since gained—Countess, queen of high society, and even lady-in-waiting to the Grand Duchess—she finally resolved to make Henry hers.
Sure enough, fate seemed to conspire in her favor. Loberia’s parents, her strongest support, passed away.
Now left with nothing but her Bart bloodline, naïve, clueless Loberia could hardly compare.
Camilla enticed Henry with promises of greater things than that girl could ever offer, and soon all unfolded as she wished.
‘…Until that foolish Grand Duchess Rebecca had a change of heart.’
Because of Rebecca’s change, Camilla could no longer draw useful information from Henry.
That was when her emotions began to spiral out of control.
The fear of losing her darling social-climber Henry, her jealousy toward Loberia, and…
Her hatred for Grand Duchess Rebecca.
Whether Henry understood her turmoil or not, he fell into thoughtful silence.
At length, he muttered almost to himself:
“Lately… Loberia has changed somehow.”
At that name again, Camilla’s voice rose.
“Henry! Why do you keep bringing up Loberia in front of me?”
“Camilla, it’s just—”
“She must have noticed our affair, that’s all! Is that what worries you? I’d rather that clueless girl hurry up and find out about us. Wouldn’t you?”
But Henry only shook his head calmly, without even meeting her eyes.
“There’s no good in being found out yet. And I mean only that… she truly seems different.”
“…”
“She doesn’t attend to my parents the way she used to. And she seems strangely cold to me as well…”
“Henry!”
Camilla finally lost control, shouting sharply.
She loved everything about Henry—his handsome face, his boyish smile, even his shallow hunger for power.
But to hear him speak of Loberia—she could not bear it.
From childhood until now, Loberia’s very existence had always pricked at her deepest insecurities.
“How can you speak of Loberia to me? How can you be so heartless?”
Grinding her teeth, she demanded an answer. Henry only looked aggrieved.
“But Camilla, it’s not as though we’ve never spoken of her before!”
“That was when we were mocking that stupid girl!”
Her face was already a storm of anxiety and fury.
At last Henry sighed deeply and turned his back.
Seeing that, Camilla felt all the more let down. She finally declared:
“I… I’ll go first.”
But even as she walked out, Henry made no move to stop her.
Leaning against the closed door, Camilla muttered through clenched teeth:
“You bastard.”
The Grand Duchess Rebecca. Her lover Henry.
Not one of them was acting as she wished. Rage seethed inside her.
Just then, a faint shadow fell across her pale blue silk shoes.
‘…Who is it?’
The question flashed through her mind, along with the memory of her frantic lovemaking with Henry just moments ago.
Her blood drained cold.
Terrified, she slowly raised her head.
“Did you have a good time, Camilla?”
At the voice, Camilla’s face went ashen.
“Y-Your Grace…?”
It was her. The Grand Duchess, Rebecca Twins.
She stood with arms crossed, gazing at Camilla as if examining her.
‘Since when was she here? Don’t tell me… No, impossible. She must have just happened by.’
Camilla swallowed hard, nervously searching Rebecca’s eyes.
“This isn’t a place guests usually come… Did you perhaps lose your way?”
Forcing a trembling smile, she tried to play it off.
But Rebecca’s lips curved smoothly.
“Of course not. I followed you here from the start—because I have something to say to you.”
“What? Then… you mean…?”
Rebecca nodded leisurely.
“Yes. I saw everything. You going into the room with Henry Bart.”
Camilla’s lashes trembled violently.
But she knew—if one kept a straight face, even dire moments could pass.
That was one lesson that had gotten her this far.
So she feigned composure and spoke slowly:
“That’s not it, Your Grace. I feared you might misunderstand, but Henry Bart and I are merely old friends since childhood—”
A sharp chuckle cut her off.
“Why pretend, Camilla? We both know better.”
“…What?”
“Do you really think I haven’t known all along about your relationship with Sir Henry?”
The soft tone was all the more menacing.
Camilla’s body stiffened like stone.
“Camilla, I know everything about what you and Henry are.”
“Your Grace, that’s a terrible mistake—”
“Even that little honeymoon trip you took with him during the last holiday.”
“……!”
“How do you suppose your husband would react, if he knew?”
A huge ripple shook her gaze.
Her jaw trembled uncontrollably, her teeth biting down hard.
“M-My husband wouldn’t believe such a thing without proof!”
“Proof?”
Rebecca’s smile widened coldly.
“Do you think I’d go to him without it?”
“Then… you mean—”
“Oh, the proof is plentiful. From the moment you sent word you had arrived in Lovisher, I had someone tailing you.”
“Your Grace! How could you—ugh!”
Rebecca’s smile vanished. She seized Camilla’s collar in a brutal grip.
Camilla’s eyes flew wide at the sudden closeness.
“Then tell me, Madam Countess—why were you so desperate to humiliate me?”
“T-That was a misunderstanding! I told you, it wasn’t intentional—just a slip of the tongue!”
Rebecca sneered at her frantic excuse.
“I don’t care what pitiful intentions you had. What matters to me is,”
“….”
“That your actions gravely offended me.”
At Rebecca’s piercing glare, Camilla trembled all over.
“I gathered this evidence to dismiss you—but I didn’t expect to use it like this.”
“….”
“Whether I use it now depends on you.”
“W-What do you want me to do…?”
“For starters, you’ll never again dare oppose me as you did today.”
Rebecca’s smile twisted into a cold sneer.
“Unless, of course, you’d like to be thrown out by your husband penniless—and abandoned by Henry as well.”
“……!”
Camilla was too stunned to reply.
Rebecca regarded her with open disdain.
“Camilla, I am not someone who suffers in silence.”
She released her collar at last, brushing the dust from her shoulders.
“If you mean to challenge me again, be prepared to lose everything you have—and everything you hope to gain.”
Her gaze, sharp as an ice awl, stabbed into Camilla once more.
“So it would be best if you never drew my attention again.”
The words fell like frost.
Shaking, Camilla bowed her head, utterly defeated.
“Y-Yes, Your Grace…”
Rebecca gave her one last look, then departed without another word.
A chilling warning. Utter dismissal.
For the first time in her life, Camilla felt crushed by such humiliation. She hung her head, trembling with tears.
‘How… How did my life come to this?’
Bitterly lamenting, she turned and glared at the door she had exited moments before.
Surely Henry had heard her quarreling with someone. Yet he never once appeared.
He was already distancing himself from her, now that her usefulness waned.
That was Henry.
The same man who had whispered eternal love one night, then the next day proposed to Loberia to secure the Count Bart fortune.
As Loberia’s innocent face surfaced in her mind, Camilla’s hysteria surged.
“Loberia, Loberia, always Loberia!”
She stamped her foot furiously.
And in that instant, more than Loberia herself—
She found herself burning with a desperate wish to kill the Grand Duchess Rebecca, who had driven her into such ruin.
