Chapter: 14
The salon hosted by the House of Claudius was a prestigious artistic event with a long history.
Although it wasn’t an officially recognized competition, simply exhibiting a work there meant that the ducal family had taken an interest in the artist’s potential.
In fact, the House of Claudius selected and sponsored several artists every year.
Many nobles also attended as guests.
For artists, that was a tremendous opportunity.
The more favorable an impression they made on the nobility, the more it would benefit their future artistic careers.
If they were lucky, even if they weren’t chosen by the ducal family, they might still find a new patron.
As far as I knew, quite a few famous artists had launched their careers through this salon.
‘Then shouldn’t they be incredibly busy preparing for the salon around this time?’
Would it really be okay for me to visit?
Or was this an unspoken way of telling me to come help with the preparations?
Just as I stood there in confusionā
“Miss.”
Amy called me cautiously.
Snapping out of my thoughts, I turned around.
“Hm? What’s wrong?”
At that moment, a bad feeling ran down my spine.
‘This… doesn’t feel good.’
Amy was wearing an unusually troubled expression.
I knew that look well.
She had worn the same expression when Gregory and Seraphina had barged into the townhouse without so much as sending word beforehand.
Amy spoke.
“Lady Lopes has come to visit.”
Just as I expected.
My face immediately twisted into a frown.
‘Seriously, why does she keep clinging to me?!’
But Amy wasn’t finished.
“And… Baroness Bentner came with her.”
“What?!”
I practically recoiled.
Because Baroness Bentner was…
‘Gregory’s aunt!’
A little while later.
Unable to hide my displeasure, I headed down to the drawing room.
“Aunt, thank you so much for coming with me.”
Seraphina was speaking sweetly to the stern-looking middle-aged noblewoman seated beside her.
The two of them looked so close that anyone would have mistaken them for mother and daughter.
“If you hadn’t come with me, I never would have had the courage to visit by myself.”
“No, child. To think that girl Larit would treat Gregory so rudely.”
The middle-aged noblewoman smiled kindly at Seraphina.
“If it hadn’t been for you, no one would have been able to correct such disgraceful behavior.”
“A-Aunt…”
“No, I should be the one thanking you.”
…Did I really have to listen to such ridiculous nonsense first thing in the morning?
By the way, if you’re wondering why Seraphina was calling Gregory’s aunt “Aunt”…
“My aunt is your aunt too, Sera!”
“Really? Is it truly alright if I call you Aunt?”
“Of course. I’m delighted to have such a lovely niece.”
That absurd exchange was how they had settled on the title.
For the record, Baroness Bentner had always acted like my future mother-in-law, even though Gregory and I weren’t even married.
‘Still… they’re not even trying to hide what they’re after.’
I narrowed my eyes at Seraphina.
Since I kept refusing to see her, she’d brought someone along whom it would be difficult for me to reject.
Just then, Seraphina turned toward me.
The moment our eyes met, she smiled triumphantly.
‘No matter what you do, everyone else is on my side.’
It was as if her smile were saying exactly that.
“Lari!”
Pretending to be delighted, Seraphina greeted me.
“Good morning. Aunt said it had been a long time since she’d seen you, so I brought her along. And…”
“Seraphina.”
Cutting her off before she could continue, I spoke coldly.
“How many times has this been now? Showing up without even sending a message first is incredibly rude, don’t you think?”
Seraphina’s eyes widened dramatically, as though she had suffered an enormous shock.
Then she lowered her shoulders and cast her gaze downward beneath trembling lashes.
She looked so pitiful that anyone who didn’t know the situation would think I was bullying her.
“Are you scolding Sera right now?”
At once, Baroness Bentner jumped into the conversation.
“Sera told me everything. I heard you had the audacity to send Gregory a letter breaking off the engagement.”
Her fierce eyes gleamed beneath her wrinkled brow.
“And then you humiliated him in front of everyone.”
Well, technically, it was the princess who had humiliated him.
It was laughable that she didn’t dare say a word to the princess, yet came here to bully me instead.
“Don’t tell me that just because you’ve become a little acquainted with Her Highness, you’ve started acting so arrogant.”
The baroness shook her head and spoke as though lecturing a foolish child.
“If you’re this stiff and prideful, men won’t like you. That’s why Gregory doesn’t care for you.”
Wow.
No wonder she was Gregory’s aunt.
Every word that came out of her mouth was utter nonsense.
“A proper woman should be gentle and sweet like Seraphina. Don’t you agree?”
But I had no intention of quietly listening to any more of her nonsense.
So I answered bluntly.
“In that case, why don’t you have Gregory get engaged to Seraphina instead?”
“…Have you quite finished?”
The baroness’s face stiffened.
Meanwhile, Seraphina flinched.
“L-Lari… How could you…”
Tears rolled down her beautiful cheeks as she protested.
“Gregory and I are just good friends. You know that.”
Her voice trembled as though she had heard something utterly unforgivable.
“How could you insult our friendship like that…?”
The old me probably would have fallen for that expression immediately.
I might even have apologized, saying I’d gone too far and begging Seraphina’s forgiveness.
But now…
“No matter how close your friendship was, Gregory always cared more about you than he ever did about me, his former fiancĆ©e.”
“That’s only because we’ve been childhood friends!”
“I was your childhood friend too.”
Looking at the unusually speechless Seraphina, I shrugged.
“And yet you two only ever used me as a prop in your relationship. You never respected me even once. Isn’t that true?”
Suddenly, I thought of the princess.
Despite being one of the highest-ranking people in the Empire, she had shown proper courtesy even to a minor noble like meāa complete stranger.
And then…
“Pouring someone a cup of tea isn’t such a big deal. Why are you putting yourself down all of a sudden?”
Those words had pierced straight through to my heart.
Remembering that moment, I steeled my resolve once more.
‘I won’t let Seraphina and Gregory keep looking down on me anymore.’
Just thenā
“Larit!”
Baroness Bentner shouted at me.
“Seraphina once saved your life! How can you be so ungrateful? Have you no sense of gratitude at all?!”
Well, it was the same old pattern.
First, they used other people to make me feel guilty.
And then Seraphina would…
“It’s alright, Aunt.”
“Sera.”
“Lari is only saying those things because she’s angry. She doesn’t really mean them.”
As always, she never forgot to play the kind and forgiving one.
“You’re far too kind for your own good…”
Baroness Bentner sighed sorrowfully.
After wiping away her tears, Seraphina looked at me with mournful eyes.
“But Lari… I really hope you’ll think this through.”
“Think what through?”
“Honestly… Her Highness could never truly care about someone like you.”
Seraphina continued gently,
“I’m only saying this because I care about you. No matter how coldly you treat me, you’re still someone precious to me…”
“I see.”
Letting out a sigh, I looked at her.
“So you’re saying that you’re the only person who genuinely cares about me?”
