Chapter 27
. Explanation
2023.08.27.
When Ellis appeared, the ladies fell silent.
Seeing their flushed cheeks as they glanced at her and whispered, Ellis could easily guess what they had been talking about.
“They must have been spinning some sordid story about me and Karan.”
The ladies, unable to hide their discomfort at Ellis’s arrival, shifted uneasily.
One of them deliberately moved to another spot to avoid her, and another crooked one corner of her lips into a sly smirk as soon as their eyes met.
Only one person greeted her with a bright smile.
“Have you been well, Duvoy?”
Ellis spoke first.
“Thanks to your concern, I have.”
Ellis held out a champagne glass toward Duvoy.
“Champagne? It seems there must be something worth celebrating.”
It was Sien, the last remaining lady, who glanced at Ellis’s glass as she spoke.
Sien, daughter of a southern noble family, was subtly ostracized in the capital’s social circles.
Harboring resentment against the capital society that looked down on the southern circle, she saw Ellis as an excellent target.
“Doesn’t it bother you all? I, for one, find this rather beneath us.”
Even hidden behind her fan, the scorn dripping from her voice left no doubt as to her expression.
Ellis stifled a laugh.
“How convenient. She’s walking right into my hands.”
She could only feel pleased.
“Why so sharp today? It’s a joyous occasion, isn’t it? Spring is coming. Let’s enjoy the party.”
Ellis kept her smile. To Sien, it looked unbearably brazen.
“My, my. So you’ll openly admit to carrying on an affair while being—if only verbally—engaged?”
Spring was often likened to new beginnings—enrollment, marriage, courtship.
Sien was eager to drag Ellis and Karan’s rumored romance into the spotlight.
The others pretended otherwise but pricked up their ears to listen.
Their silent support only spurred Sien on.
“You have no consideration for others. Did you at least apologize?”
“To whom should I apologize?”
Ellis tilted her head innocently, as though she truly didn’t understand.
“If someone wanted an apology, of course I would have given it.”
She even let her brows droop with feigned sincerity.
“Why, to Prince Chase and Lady Iris, of course.”
“Do you think His Highness Chase and my sister would want my apology?”
“Is that even a question? Do you realize how much pain they suffered because of you? Are all capital folk this shameless—without honor, without decency?”
Sien stretched out her neck, projecting her voice as if performing on stage, clearly hoping those nearby would overhear.
And they did—her theatrics carried well.
“Why, that makes it sound as though my sister and His Highness Chase are victims. Is that what you mean?”
“Of course! Victims. Don’t you all agree?”
Sien glanced around. But those who had been silently encouraging her quickly averted their eyes.
The atmosphere of support evaporated.
They now strove to distance themselves—fanning their faces, stepping back, anything to show they had no part in this.
Only then did Sien realize she had misstepped.
“Sien, why don’t I just ask my sister directly? Ah, there she is now.”
Ellis looked past Sien’s shoulder.
Sien turned slowly.
There stood Iris, clad in a layered, gauzy gown that billowed like dragonfly wings.
She wore a gentle smile, but Ellis knew better.
She was suppressing her anger.
“Sister, are you upset with me? Is your engagement to His Highness Chase against your will?”
Ellis tilted her head, mimicking the apologetic look Iris always used.
A slight twitch flared beneath Iris’s eye.
“Ellis.”
Her cherry-red lips parted.
“What a thing to say. I’m delighted to be with His Highness Chase.”
Iris gazed at Ellis as if lovingly.
Duvoy observed the two with interest.
It was well known that Ellis and Iris were on cool terms—never once appearing together at a party.
Yet today, they played at sisterly warmth so convincingly it looked calculated.
“I misunderstood before. I thought there was something between you and His Highness. But there was nothing at all, just an adult mistake that nearly tangled our hearts.”
As she spoke of “hearts,” Iris laid her hand near her chest and heaved a sigh as though relieved.
“Thank you, Ellis.”
The grateful sister, whose pure love was fulfilled thanks to her younger sibling—willing to forgive past discord out of benevolence.
Iris’s performance was flawless.
Even Ellis almost felt moved.
“Do you suffer because of people’s rumors? I so hate when others misunderstand us. It pains me whenever they do. Sometimes I grow to despise them.”
Her meaning was clear.
Her engagement to Chase was by her choice—not because Ellis had strayed, not because the royal family imposed it, not because the Warton house was pressured—solely because Iris willed it.
She cared more about her pride than truth.
Because she was a noble. Because she was the Rose of Bedroka.
She would not bear the shame of picking up a man her sister had cast aside.
“And I feel the same, Sister. I hope no one spreads such misunderstandings about us anymore.”
Ellis turned to Sien.
“You see, Sien? What more is there for me to explain?”
Sien stumbled back.
Now that Iris herself had publicly addressed the rumors, Sien looked ridiculous for having accused Ellis and Karan.
Though her makeup concealed it, her face beneath must have been pale as chalk.
“I’m in trouble.”
Alarm bells rang in Sien’s head.
She had only meant to point out the capital’s decadent ways.
Everyone disliked Ellis—she thought she’d win attention and favor, especially from Iris.
If she could gain Iris’s trust, she could stand tall in society.
But it had all backfired.
Decadence was recast as pure romance.
Ellis’s unpopularity was swept beneath the surface.
And Iris had called people like her “hateful.”
It felt like a death sentence for her social life.
“Sien.”
Ellis stepped closer to the trembling girl.
“Shall we ask His Highness Chase as well? What do you think?”
The question was rhetorical. Sien had no choice but to side with Iris.
“N-no, that won’t be necessary. I was mistaken.”
Flustered, Sien fled. Ellis waved inwardly.
“Goodbye, Sien. Don’t stray too far.”
She had played the role Ellis needed and exited.
Now that Iris herself had spoken, the gossip about Ellis and Karan would quiet—at least on the surface.
“Ellis, shall we have a look around the hall?”
Iris linked arms and glanced about.
The sharp stares scattered like rats when the storeroom door is flung open.
“Sorry, Sister, I already have a prior engagement.”
Ellis slipped her hand away and turned to Duvoy.
Sensing Ellis’s gaze, Duvoy set aside her empty glass.
“I suppose I started drinking champagne too early.”
She nodded at Ellis’s still-full glass.
“There’s always plenty of champagne. But, Duvoy—you said you had something to tell me?”
Whether she did or not, the moment called for it.
With a small smile, Duvoy nodded.
“I know a good place to talk. Shall we walk a bit?”
Ellis glanced at Iris as if apologetic. Iris reluctantly yielded.
“Let’s meet later, then.”
“I doubt you’ll have time, Sister. Look—His Highness Chase approaches.”
Indeed, Chase’s steps led toward them.
But whether they carried him to Ellis or Iris remained unclear.
“So, my usefulness ends here?”
By a pillar, out of Iris’s sight, Duvoy spoke.
“Yes, but I’d feel guilty if I didn’t repay you somehow.”
“Oh my, I feel like a prince on a white horse. But I’m not even a man.”
“No rule says only men can rescue women in distress. Be a princess on a white horse, then.”
“There’s no horse.”
“Shall I buy you one?”
Their banter ended with Duvoy’s laughter.
Ellis waited for her to stop before steering the conversation.
“I’m curious—what did you think of that exchange earlier?”
“You mean the one with Sien?”
“Yes. Do you think it’s worth publishing as an article?”
“Was that why you humiliated Sien? To give me a story?”
“Humiliate her? I merely responded to provocation.”
Of course, Sien would never see it that way. She’d think she had been attacked.
Duvoy smirked.
“What is it, Duvoy? Do you think I was cruel?”
“Not at all. Just imagining Sien tearing up her pillows tonight makes me feel quite refreshed.”
Duvoy had long been at odds with Sien.
A distant cousin, Sien constantly nitpicked and mocked her.
She scorned Duvoy’s indifference to appearances, gossiping and deriding her endlessly.
Though Duvoy herself didn’t mind, her parents did.
Whatever Sien had told them drove them to fuss over Duvoy’s looks, wasting her time.
That very morning she had endured pasty ointments smeared across her face, soaked in moss-scented green water, and crammed her feet into ill-fitting shoes.
Unless Sien was removed, such torments would continue.
But Ellis had solved that problem.
Now that Iris had marked her, no lady would stand by Sien.
Likely she’d leave the capital in lonely exile.
“She’ll be back next year, of course.”
Still, it meant a year of peace.
“Not at all. I think your handling was perfect. And if word spreads, it will help you greatly. You planned it all, didn’t you?”
