Chapter: 55
“W-Welcome.”
“It is an honor to meet you, Lady Claudius.”
At the sudden appearance of the formidable Lady Claudius, the ladies of the book club were, pitifully, frozen stiff.
Oh, I’ve seen this look somewhere before.
They looked just like my parents when they first met Lady Claudius…
“……”
However, judging by the way Lady Claudius was keeping her lips firmly sealed,
she seemed to have absolutely no intention of displaying the sociability she had shown when meeting my parents.
“Thank you all for welcoming us so warmly.”
I hurriedly joined the conversation.
“I was truly delighted to be invited to the gathering, Lady Sherwood.”
“Ah, I’m delighted to hear you say that as well.”
Lady Sherwood quickly came to her senses and eagerly agreed with me.
“Then, shall we go inside?”
The ladies each took their seats.
Lady Sherwood, who was hosting the book club, spoke on everyone’s behalf.
“First of all, I would like to express our gratitude to Lady Claudius and Lady Ansi for joining our gathering. Our book club is a place where we select a book and share our thoughts and impressions about it with one another…”
The welcome speech kept pouring out, so apparently she had decided on her lines beforehand and memorized them…
Yet the atmosphere was strangely excited, and the reason was obvious.
‘Lady Claudius is actually attending our gathering!’
‘What should I do? This is the first time I’ve ever seen Lady Claudius from this close!’
…The other two ladies were completely overwhelmed with excitement.
Well, honestly, I could understand how they felt.
The members of the book club weren’t exactly the most popular ladies in high society.
They were rather quiet and inconspicuous, so to speak.
In other words…
‘The more prominent ladies used to look down on them a little…’
For example, someone like Seraphina?
‘Hmm.’
At the thought of Seraphina, my mood instinctively sank.
Of course, since each member of the book club came from a powerful family, they were never openly ignored.
But somehow, it felt as though they didn’t mix properly, like oil and water.
Just then, one of the ladies clasped her hands together over her chest and spoke.
“We’re truly delighted that you came to our gathering, Lady Claudius…”
At her ecstatic voice, Lady Claudius propped up her chin and asked indifferently,
“What about Lady Ansi?”
“W-Of course, we’re happy to see Lady Ansi too!”
“Of course! Otherwise, why would we have sent her an invitation?!”
The flustered ladies hurriedly chimed in.
“That’s right! We’ve always wanted to meet Lady Ansi as well!”
Lady Sherwood even stepped in to support them.
Yet for some reason, the looks they gave me were more serious than I had expected.
‘Huh, me?’
I blinked blankly.
I thought I was only invited as a stepping stone to Lady Claudius.
“Lady Ansi is so famous these days.”
“I’m… famous?”
“Of course. You’ve changed so much, after all.”
“Your personality is much brighter than it used to be, too. And I’m not sure if I should say this, but…”
One of the ladies cautiously glanced at me before giving me a shy, eye-smiling grin.
“You’ve also become incredibly beautiful.”
H-Have I?
Well, I had noticed that the way people looked at me had changed quite a lot compared to before.
Still, since Lady Claudius was so famous, I had wondered whether I was simply basking in her reflected glory.
‘…I’m happy.’
It was a little embarrassing, but I really was happy, so I gave an awkward smile.
Meanwhile, Lady Claudius was…
‘Didn’t I tell you? I’m the one who made her look like that.’
She seemed to be making that exact claim with her expression and eyes as she sat beside me, looking smug…
“Perhaps you were always so attentive to Lady Lopes that it was difficult for us to approach you before.”
“But lately, you seem to get along well with other people too, so we were able to gather the courage to approach you.”
Hmm. They were really working hard to put it indirectly.
To put it bluntly,
‘You were so devoted to playing Seraphina’s maid that it was uncomfortable for us to approach you.’
…Isn’t that what they mean?
Sigh, seriously.
Why had I lived such a pathetic life back then?
I quietly chewed over my regrets about the past.
“So it’s truly a misunderstanding if you think we don’t welcome Lady Ansi.”
“That’s right. We hope you won’t think that way.”
The ladies, who had been watching one another’s reactions, continued speaking.
I readily nodded.
“Don’t worry. I won’t misunderstand you like that.”
“I’m really glad to hear you say that.”
“Let’s get along well from now on.”
Just as the atmosphere was about to become warm and friendly,
‘Huh?’
Feeling an inexplicable chill run down my spine, I discreetly glanced to the side.
And I was inwardly horrified.
‘Huhhh?’
It was only natural, because Lady Claudius was glaring at me with a strangely cold look in her eyes!
‘Why?!’
But Lady Claudius’s strange behavior continued.
She quietly stood up from her seat, then sat down right beside me, practically clinging to my side.
‘Why is she doing that? Did I make some kind of mistake?’
I hurriedly went over everything I had done so far in my mind.
‘…No?!’
I concluded that I hadn’t.
Just then, the ladies called out to me with sparkling eyes.
“Um, Lady Ansi!”
“Yes, please go ahead.”
“Um… about the South this time.”
The lady who brought it up blushed faintly before asking,
“I heard that Duke Claudius danced with Lady Ansi. Is that true?”
Ah.
For some reason, I found myself at a loss for words.
As I hesitated over how to answer, feeling somewhat troubled,
Lady Claudius, who had been staring intently at me, snapped in a strangely sulky voice.
“Excuse me, I attended the Ansi family’s party too, you know?”
“L-Lady Claudius?”
“Is my brother the only member of the House of Claudius, and I’m not?”
…Somehow, Lady Claudius seemed a little prickly today.
After stealing another glance at her, I quickly brought Lady Claudius into the conversation so the atmosphere wouldn’t freeze over.
“Ahaha, the party was even more enjoyable because you were there, Lady Claudius.”
Forcing a smile, I hurriedly turned toward Lady Sherwood.
“So, what is the title of the book you selected this time?”
“Ah, the book is…”
And as I became engrossed in the conversation,
Lady Claudius watched me without even blinking.
The first day of the book club ended on a fairly pleasant note.
“I had such a wonderful time today!”
“See you again in two weeks!”
As I exchanged farewells with the other ladies,
‘Ugh, I can feel my back prickling…’
I felt a cold sweat run down my spine.
It was only natural, since Lady Claudius had been staring fixedly at me with a sharp gaze for quite some time.
Somehow, Lady Claudius seemed to have been in a slightly bad mood for a while now.
‘It would be nice if she would just tell me what’s bothering her.’
Judging by how tightly she was keeping her lips pressed together, however, it seemed unlikely that she would tell me…
I sighed deeply to myself and climbed into the carriage with Lady Claudius.
“……”
“……”
Silence filled the carriage.
Normally, Lady Claudius would already have been chattering away about the book club meeting.
But now, she merely rested her chin on her hand and stared out the window with a displeased expression.
“Um, Lady Claudius.”
I cautiously spoke to her.
“What?”
A sullen reply came back.
I smiled awkwardly.
“Did you perhaps not enjoy the book club meeting today?”
At my question, Lady Claudius pouted.
“No? I enjoyed it.”
…Someone who enjoyed it is making that face?
‘I can’t just let this go.’
My instincts sounded an alarm.
I hurriedly tried to soothe her.
“You can be honest with me.”
Lady Claudius kept her chin propped up and merely shifted her eyes to stare at me.
She seemed to move her lips for a moment before saying,
“Never mind that. What about Lady Ansi?”
The question suddenly came back to me.
“Me? I… did enjoy it.”
I answered without thinking, then abruptly stiffened my shoulders.
‘She just frowned, didn’t she? She did, right?!’
I hurriedly added,
“But if you don’t want to, it’s perfectly fine if you don’t come to the book club anymore, Lady Claudius.”
After all, Lady Claudius had only attended the book club because I had suggested it.
Who would dare force Lady Claudius to attend?
I carefully chose my words.
“I can attend by myself from now on, so…”
“I don’t want to.”
Huh?
I blinked blankly.
At the same time, Lady Claudius turned her head away primly, like an annoyed cat.
“I’m going with you too.”
Honestly, I had absolutely no idea what was going on in her mind.
I couldn’t hide my bewildered expression.
