Chapter: 05
I sluggishly sat up in bed and replied indifferently.
“A guest? Didn’t I tell everyone to turn away all visitors?”
“Y-Yes, you did… but they forced their way in.”
Amy hesitated as she continued.
At the same time, I realized who had come.
The only people who could force their way into the Ansi Viscount family’s townhouse as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
The only people I had ever granted that privilege to…
There were just two.
“…Seraphina and Gregory?”
At my icy question, Amy answered nervously from outside the door.
“Yes, my lady.”
Honestly, I wanted nothing more than to throw them out immediately.
‘But I can’t do that.’
Leaving aside the Lopez Barony, which only possessed the title of a barony in name…
The Gusto Count family truly did outrank the Ansi Viscount family.
Starting trouble with them would only become a nuisance.
In that case…
“I’m not feeling well, so I don’t have the strength to come down to the drawing room.”
After pondering for a moment, I answered flatly.
“So if they truly have something to say, tell them to come upstairs to my bedroom.”
Incidentally, receiving visitors while still in one’s nightclothes was a privilege reserved for the higher-ranking party.
‘They’re so insignificant that I don’t even need to bother getting properly dressed to meet them.’
That was more or less what it meant.
In other words, it was a situation that their pride would never allow them to accept.
“Very well. I’ll relay your message.”
I heard Amy’s footsteps gradually fade away outside the door.
Listening quietly to the sound, I smiled to myself.
‘I wonder… will they actually come all the way up here?’
Honestly, I thought their pride alone would keep them from setting foot in my bedroom.
“Laritte! Just what kind of rudeness is this?!”
Gregory stormed in, glaring fiercely at me.
“You couldn’t even be bothered to get dressed? You’re greeting us while lying in bed?!”
That’s right.
I hadn’t even gotten out of bed.
Leaning comfortably against a soft pillow, I looked up at the two of them with a pitiful expression.
‘Seraphina, you’re not the only one who knows how to act.’
I can do it too.
“But… you came to see me even after I said I was sick.”
“What?!”
“I thought you had come to visit me because you were worried about me… I was truly grateful.”
A sick visit.
The moment those words left my mouth, Gregory and Seraphina’s faces turned red and blue in succession.
I chuckled inwardly.
Why else would I have used illness as an excuse?
This was exactly what I’d been saving it for.
“I even thought you showed up without making an appointment because you were so concerned about me.”
“W-Well, that’s not…”
“So I felt bad that you’d made the trip for nothing, which is why I invited you into my bedroom… cough.”
I deliberately coughed loud enough for them to hear.
For the record, I was perfectly healthy.
I’d spent several days holed up in the townhouse, eating regular meals, snacking whenever I felt bored, and sleeping to my heart’s content.
Maybe that was why my complexion was now as smooth and flawless as a peeled egg.
“Anyway.”
Ahem.
Gregory cleared his throat before unnecessarily raising his voice.
“Do you have any idea how much trouble we were in after you left the picnic like that?!”
…And what exactly was I supposed to do about that?
I looked at Gregory with that question plainly written on my face.
He puffed out his chest and continued.
“I’m truly disappointed in you. I think I need to reconsider our engagement.”
“…”
Whatever he interpreted from my silence…
His shoulders seemed to straighten even more confidently.
“I can’t stay engaged to such an uncouth woman any longer!”
Oh?
Is that so?
“I’m going to tell Father as well! Do you understand?!”
After declaring that triumphantly, Gregory discreetly glanced at my expression.
I…
Was simply dumbfounded.
What exactly was going through his head?
Did he seriously think that if he acted tough enough…
‘Sob… I was wrong! Please forgive me just this once!’
…I’d cling to him while begging for forgiveness?
‘Then again… the old me probably would have.’
The thought made me solemn for only a brief moment.
I let my shoulders droop and spoke.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about what happened that day.”
“Thinking about what?”
“When Seraphina fell, Gregory, you took such wonderful care of her.”
At that, Seraphina shot me a sharp glare.
She had probably remembered the humiliating position she’d been in.
Not that it was any of my concern.
“If it had been me, I would naturally have helped my fiancée to her feet if she found herself kneeling before another woman…”
“W-Well, that’s because Sera is my childhood friend!”
“Mhm, I understand. It’s only natural for childhood friends to care deeply for each other.”
I nodded with a deliberately dejected expression.
“It’s just… I realized how narrow-minded I really am.”
“…What?”
Gregory suddenly looked at me suspiciously.
I met his gaze with sorrowful eyes.
“Gregory, you said you wanted to reconsider our engagement, didn’t you?”
“I-I mean… that’s…”
“As it happens, I’d already sent a letter of annulment to the Gusto Count family.”
Looking at the stunned Gregory, I graciously added,
“Of course, I understand if you haven’t seen it yet. You’ve been far too busy taking care of Seraphina.”
“W-Wait… what are you talking about?”
“Though I suppose Seraphina’s condition did seem rather strange. Her legs must have been terribly tired if she mistook perfectly tied shoelaces for coming undone.”
I lightly shrugged before turning to Seraphina.
“But we’d been sitting around all day during the picnic… So it’s rather odd that you thought you felt your shoelaces come undone. There might actually be something wrong with your feet. Perhaps you should see a doctor.”
Seraphina’s face stiffened instantly.
At the same time, Gregory shouted,
“Laritte! What on earth have you been talking about this whole time?!”
“I’m saying I won’t obliviously intrude between the two of you anymore.”
I smiled kindly.
“You’ve both said it countless times, haven’t you? That true friends should sincerely wish for each other’s happiness.”
“Laritte!”
“So I’ll wish the two of you happiness as well. Seraphina, I hope you’ll be happy with my fiancé. Ah, right.”
My smile grew even wider.
“Or should I say… my former fiancé now?”
“Stop joking around—!”
Just as Gregory was about to raise his voice again—
“M-My Lady Laritte!”
Amy came running toward me in a panic.
I blinked in confusion.
“Amy, what’s wrong?”
“A letter!”
Amy held up an envelope high into the air.
It was made from stiff, luxurious paper, sealed with red wax bearing a noble crest.
A rose.
And a sword.
Those two symbols belonged to none other than…
“A letter from the Claudius Ducal House!”
“Whaaat?!”
My eyes widened.
I stared blankly at the envelope.
Written elegantly across the front was the signature:
[Evangeline von Claudius]
That’s right.
The sender of the letter was Evangeline, the one and only young lady of the Claudius Ducal House.
“…”
“…”
Seraphina and Gregory stared at me in stunned silence as well.
The Claudius Ducal House was the highest-ranking noble family in the empire, so distant and unattainable that they might as well have been stars in the sky.
“…The Lady of House Claudius?”
After a brief silence,
Seraphina spoke for the first time.
“Why would Her Grace send a letter to you?”
Oh?
That was a little unexpected.
As befitted the heroine adored by everyone, Seraphina was usually meticulous about maintaining her pure and delicate image.
Anything that might damage her reputation—especially saying unpleasant things—she always left for someone else to do.
Until now, Gregory had always been the one raising his voice at me while Seraphina merely stood behind him, pretending to be fragile.
Yet this time, she’d questioned me directly.
She must really be dying to know what was written in that letter.
Well, that didn’t mean I had any obligation to tell her.
“Who knows? I have no idea.”
I shrugged with an irritatingly smug smile.
