~Chapter 51~
There wasn’t much to these so-called lessons. They just taught me how to hold a teacup, how to drink tea, and how to pour tea. They called it the basics for nobles and made me practice it for a whole hour.
By the end, my fingers almost cramped. My back was stiff from sitting up straight the whole time.
Next, they taught me how to dance. Noble ladies are supposed to dance gracefully like swans, or so they said.
They put me in high heels, which I didn’t even like, and made me dance non-stop.
After two hours of dancing, I couldn’t even feel my legs. By the end of the lesson, it felt like I was floating on a cloud.
Madam Crenbell kept repeating the same words like a habit.
“You can just use Lady Gwenndolyn here as your example! She’s the model of a noble lady.”
“Just try to be as good as Lady Gwenndolyn. If you can’t, you’ll never have the dignity of a Grand Duchess.”
She looked like some kind of fan who worshiped Gwenndolyn. Even though I was higher ranked than Gwenndolyn and even my mother-in-law was here, Madam Crenbell acted like she only wanted to impress Gwenndolyn.
Maybe she really cared about noble bloodlines.
There were still people who couldn’t let go of their old-fashioned ideas and only cared about tradition.
Madam Crenbell seemed like that type.
When I made a show of being tired and stumbling a little, the three of them looked satisfied and exchanged smiles.
“Let’s end today’s lesson here.”
“Good job, Madam Crenbell. Gwenndolyn, thanks to you, our family’s honor is safe.”
“No, ma’am, it’s only because you trusted me. I’m just happy to do something to help Baldwin.”
“How about having the next lesson three days from now?”
“Friday, right? Gwenndolyn, are you free then?”
“Yes. I’ll come again on that day.”
They all got along so well with each other. I didn’t want to join their little group, so I just gave a weak smile and stood by Madam Rosemarlin like a ghost, sending off the guests.
“I hope you’ll do better next time, Grand Duchess. It would be so embarrassing for me if you act like you haven’t learned anything.”
“Yes, I’ll try hard.”
I answered without much interest.
My answer made Madam Rosemarlin even angrier.
“I really don’t know what you learned in Barnaby!”
“I didn’t learn anything in Barnaby. I learned at the academy and from the late former marquis.”
“Ahem!”
The academy I graduated from was the best school in the country, and Cesares was a noble who had a seat at the round table.
Rosemarlin’s face turned red.
“W-Well, anyway, you have to work hard!”
She tried to speak elegantly, but her eyelashes trembled.
“Yes, I’ll try.”
I answered halfheartedly again.
Madam Rosemarlin stared at me, looking like she wanted to yell at me.
But she didn’t say anything else and turned around quickly to leave.
I let out a long sigh. Ella, who had been watching, ran over and helped me.
Ella sat me down on the sofa.
“Goodness, Your Grace, your legs are all swollen! Your muscles are angry with you!”
Ella glared at the shoes like they were the worst thing in the world. She looked angrier than I felt.
“That’s right. I think I danced enough for my whole life today.”
I kicked off my shoes. Ella told me to wait and came back with some slippers.
It felt like I was coming back to earth from a cloud.
We went back to my room. Ella had already prepared a warm, wet towel to wipe my feet and legs, and she massaged them with fragrant oil.
Lying on the bed, I let out a groan.
“It makes me so upset! Why did you just go along with them, Your Grace? You should kick them out!”
“If I do that, they’ll just come bother me at work. With people like that, it’s best to make them give up by breaking their fighting spirit.”
When I acted like a dead fish and just let them drag me around, my mother-in-law ended up running away first.
“Nothing is more tiring than fighting with people who won’t listen to reason.”
“You’re not going to keep letting them push you around, right?”
“Of course not. Did you check on what I asked for?”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Feeling my legs finally relaxing, I closed my eyes for a moment.
They picked the wrong target. Compared to the hardships I’d faced in my life, those women were nothing but dust.
When I was a child, I was always neglected. My mother got sick when I was five, and my father was useless.
We spent all our money on my mother’s treatments, so I was often hungry.
My parents wasted their days feeling sorry for themselves.
When I was too hungry, I’d eat grass. Neighbors who felt bad for me would sometimes give me a potato or a rice ball.
Whenever that happened, my father would say:
‘You fox of a girl. You only care about feeding yourself, don’t you? Did you sell the Barnaby family’s pride?’
I was so hungry, and to get away from my father, I wandered the marketplace and met my grandfather.
Grandfather was kind, taught me about life, and protected me. But no kindness is ever free.
I had to go to the academy, which I never expected. There, I was like a nail that stuck out.
I double majored in economics and accounting, and I graduated early. I never had time to make friends, and people always looked down on me.
‘Didn’t the Barnaby family go bankrupt? How did she afford the academy? Is she selling her body?’
‘No idea which family she’s from, but I heard she found herself a rich backer.’
Everyone treated rumors like truth, and it felt like the whole school was against me.
The worst was right after my grandfather died—when Egbert showed his true nature.
“…Isn’t it funny?”
“Huh?”
“I mean how those three always have to stick together to have any courage.”
“Oh, you mean Madam Rosemarlin, Madam Crenbell, and Lady Gwenndolyn?”
“Yes.”
Ella whispered as she massaged my shoulders with scented oil.
“I always thought it was pathetic.”
That made me laugh. I felt the same way.
If they could only be brave in a group, it would be easy to deal with them one by one.
That would be too easy.
Anais had no idea.
She didn’t know she had a spy with her.
Late at night, Ella hurried down the hallway. She had just finished massaging Anais’s muscles and making sure she was sleeping comfortably, but now her face was cold and serious.
‘Who do they think they are?’
To Ella, Anais was way more noble than those women. Acting like kids and showing off was just embarrassing.
She hated how those ridiculous women kept making Anais suffer.
[If anything happens to Anais, you must report it—no matter how small.]
Without hesitation, Ella went to the Duke’s office. Baldwin had only just gotten home at 11 p.m. and had gone straight to work.
The bell rang.
That meant she could come in.
Ella took a deep breath and entered.
She met Baldwin’s cold eyes, which held no emotion, and she almost gasped from the shock.
But she gathered herself and bowed her head.
“I came because I have something to report. Earlier…”
[I heard there were some useless guests at home today. Is that why you’re here?]
He already knew!
Ella nodded hard. Once she started, the words came easily.
“Yes, Your Grace! Madam Crenbell and Lady Gwenndolyn Horace came by. I heard from the Grand Duchess that all three of them, including Madam Rosemarlin, even went to the bank and made a scene.”
[A scene?]
“Yes, Your Grace! They threatened that if she didn’t go to the lessons, they’d come to the bank every day and turn it upside down!”
Ella exaggerated a little.
“They made such a mess that everyone at the bank almost ran away.”
Baldwin curled his lips up in a smile, but his eyes grew even colder.
Seeing those eyes, Ella felt scared.
But even though she was afraid, she finished what she had to say.
“They used dance practice as an excuse and made her stand in high heels for two hours. Her legs were so sore she could barely walk, so I spent the evening massaging her.”
The heels weren’t actually that high, but that didn’t matter.
“They said they’d come again on Friday.”
Ella’s tone made it clear she wanted him to do something.
[You did well, Ella. Please keep it up.]
Ella nodded.
Baldwin spoke politely, but somehow he felt even scarier. It was like the air turned cold.
She was glad they were on the same side.
