CHAPTER 08
Meanwhile, when Helena received no answer from Elener, she puffed out her cheeks and said,
“El. Why aren’t you saying anything? Ah! Is your wound worse than I thought? This won’t do. I’ll go get the physician right away…!”
“No. I already showed it to the physician and received treatment. It isn’t a serious wound, either. Hmm. Is this the first time I’ve called you by your nickname?”
When Elener changed the subject, Helena, who had looked ready to jump up and run out at any moment, sat back down and looked at her with a smile.
“That’s right. Even though I’ve always asked you to call me by my nickname, you always called me Lady Demera or Miss Demera. I was a little disappointed because I was always the only one calling you El. But finally, the day has come when you’re calling me by my nickname. I’m really happy!”
“Then I’ll call you that from now on. Ren.”
Helena clapped her hands happily.
Clap!
The cheerful sound echoed through the reception room.
“Isn’t it wonderful? We sound so much closer already! Since we’ve gotten closer, why don’t we visit that new bakery in the outskirts together? I heard the owner used to be a pastry chef at the Imperial Palace.”
“A bakery?”
“Yes!”
Elener did not know which newly opened bakery Helena was referring to around this time of year, but she readily accepted the invitation.
Helena had asked half-seriously and half-jokingly, so when Elener immediately gave her a positive answer, she was so surprised that she clapped her hands and cheered.
She had actually accepted!
Since Elener had always rejected her suggestions from the very beginning, Helena seemed genuinely delighted that she had agreed so readily this time.
“You really promise?!”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s go together this weekend.”
“All right. Just tell me the time and place.”
Perhaps afraid that Elener might change her mind, Helena hurriedly nodded.
Elener quietly watched Helena’s great delight and smiled.
She knew that Helena wanted to become closer to her.
But Elener had always rejected Helena’s invitations because she was afraid that Helena’s reputation might be tarnished if people saw her associating with an illegitimate child.
Looking back, her former self had been such a fool.
Helena had never cared about such things.
Instead, by rejecting her invitations while telling herself that she was doing it for Helena’s sake, Elener might have been the one hurting her.
It’s not too late to change now.
Thinking that, Elener smiled.
While Elener and Helena were eating snacks and chatting, the reception room door opened and a maid entered.
She lowered her eyes demurely and bowed her head, so at first glance, there did not seem to be anything particularly different about her from the other maids.
However, her maid uniform appeared to be of higher quality than those worn by the other servants, and she was even wearing small but expensive-looking jewelry.
Is she the Grand Duchess of Raiwens’s personal attendant?
Elener carefully examined her face.
“Lady Elener, Lady Helena. My name is Abel. I serve Her Highness, the Grand Duchess.”
Helena, who had been placing one of the cookies she had been enjoying onto Elener’s plate, nodded, wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin, and asked,
“What is it?”
“Her Highness has asked me to bring Lady Elener to her.”
Elener put down the cookie she had been holding and inwardly sneered.
Only then did she remember something she had completely forgotten.
Right. This happened.
In her previous life, Elener had received an invitation from the Grand Duchess that morning, just as she had today, asking her to attend the gathering together.
But Elener had refused.
The Grand Duchess, as though she had already expected her refusal, had simply attended the gathering alone without saying much.
At the time, Elener had thought that not attending the family gathering together would be better for both of them.
But later, the Grand Duchess of Frihosen’s personal maid had told her that the Grand Duchess had suffered considerable humiliation at that gathering.
The Grand Duchess of Raiwens had always wanted to find some way to bring down the Grand Duchess of Frihosen.
She wanted to see her face twisted with humiliation and shame, or even see her cry.
But how easy a target was the Grand Duchess of Frihosen?
She was the sort of woman who would not even blink when something major happened.
Whenever a one-sided confrontation broke out, the Grand Duchess of Raiwens was always the one who ended up taking the damage.
She clearly knew that, yet the Grand Duchess of Raiwens was foolish to an almost astonishing degree.
The Grand Duchess of Raiwens spent all day thinking about how she could humiliate the Grand Duchess of Frihosen, so she remained completely oblivious to what was happening around her.
After all, she eventually died in the prime of her life after being betrayed by her own husband.
Elener had always wondered why the Grand Duchess of Raiwens was so hostile toward her mother.
Elener remained silent.
Helena, on the other hand, seemed to think she had misheard.
“Who did you say she wanted to call?”
“Lady Elener.”
Helena’s clear eyes turned toward Elener, filled with confusion.
Unlike Helena, Elener understood immediately.
The Grand Duchess of Raiwens was trying to humiliate both Elener and the Grand Duchess of Frihosen.
Even after coming back, she hasn’t changed.
The Grand Duchess of Raiwens is still exactly the same.
How can she continue doing such foolish things? Honestly…
Elener shook her head in disbelief.
She was truly sick and tired of people who lived entirely on their own sense of superiority.
Elener imagined what her mother must have looked like when the Grand Duchess of Raiwens had asked for her.
She had probably been drinking tea with her usual indifferent expression.
Even though that expression never reflected what she was truly feeling inside.
The maid approached cautiously, apparently thinking that Elener could not move because of her injured foot.
Elener stood up and said,
“Then, if it isn’t too much trouble, could you show me to Her Highness?”
A look of bewilderment appeared on the maid’s otherwise expressionless face.
Apparently, she had not expected Elener to accept so calmly.
Rather than Elener, who seemed completely unfazed, Helena looked much more anxious.
She glanced at the maid, then leaned toward Elener and whispered,
“El. If you don’t want to go alone, shall I come with you?”
It was an unexpected offer, but Elener soon shook her head slightly.
She whispered back,
“No, it’s all right. Is Her Highness some kind of wolf that eats people or something?”
“Hmm. Of course not.”
Seeing Helena’s serious expression, Elener smiled.
“Exactly. She isn’t. Then, Abel, could you show me the way?”
“……”
“I’m rather curious about what Her Highness wants to talk about.”
Elener smiled sweetly.
The first-floor reception room where the maid led her was the largest of all the reception rooms in the Raiwens Grand Duke’s residence.
It was large enough to accommodate roughly forty people with room to spare.
The Grand Duke of Raiwens had specifically created the room for his wife.
The Grand Duchess of Raiwens would complain that her husband had wasted money for no reason, yet she would proudly boast about the room while puffing out her shoulders.
When the maid knocked on the reception room door, a voice from inside told them to enter.
The maid immediately opened the door and went inside, and Elener followed behind her.
In her previous life, she remembered being extremely nervous in a situation like this.
But after living her life a second time, she realized that it was nothing worth worrying about.
Without averting her gaze, Elener calmly met the blatant stares of the noblewomen who were openly staring at her.
She straightened her shoulders.
In the past, she had been intimidated by their gazes and would keep her head lowered, unable to answer even a single question properly.
But things would be different now.
Unlike those women who had been raised surrounded by nothing but privilege, Elener had experienced every kind of hardship in her previous life.
She would no longer shrink away or feel humiliated by such subtle, cold, contemptuous gazes.
Besides, she knew that some of the people in this room would soon die, while others would eventually bow their heads and beg her for favors after she became the Empress.
Elener’s gaze fell upon the table.
Every teacup and teapot placed upon it was a priceless, exquisite treasure.
They were extraordinarily expensive items that even Elener had not possessed when she was Empress.
Her gaze sharpened as she looked down at them.
Slavery no longer existed in the Lesger Empire.
Or rather, it had effectively been prohibited.
Anyone who violated the law by privately owning or purchasing slaves could not escape legal punishment.
They said human greed had no end.
Apparently, the Grand Duke of Raiwens, who already possessed plenty of wealth and honor, had been unable to restrain his greed.
In her previous life, he had privately kept slaves despite the law.
When the Grand Duke of Raiwens was brought before the court, he pleaded desperately.
He swore with his hand over his heart that he had never once purchased slaves for his personal use, nor had he ever beaten any of them to death.
He claimed he had been treated unjustly.
And without batting an eye, the Grand Duke of Raiwens shifted all the blame for his crimes onto his eldest son, Sebastian Raiwens.
As the image of his tear- and snot-covered face flashed through Elener’s mind, she unconsciously frowned.
At that moment, an irritated voice rang in her ears.
“Lady Frihosen?”
Elener suddenly snapped back to reality.
She composed her expression, put on the brightest and most obedient smile she could manage, and looked toward the Grand Duchess of Raiwens, who was seated in the seat of honor.
All the noblewomen’s scrutinizing gazes turned toward Elener.
Elener elegantly lifted the edge of her dress and bowed.
“It has been a long time, Your Highness and ladies. I am Elener Frihosen.”
She deliberately emphasized her family name.
At Elener’s flawless, elegant greeting, the hyenas who had been watching her like predators all this time merely snorted and quietly waited for another opportunity.
“I heard that Her Highness specifically asked to see me.”
“That’s right, Lady. But did something happen on your way here?”
