Chapter 11
Jay’s face turned pale.
Had he been so flustered that day that he didn’t even notice someone eavesdropping?
Seeing his expression suddenly worsen, Elena jumped up from her seat.
“J-Jay? Are you okay?”
Out of concern, she started to approach him, but Jay quickly reached out a hand to stop her.
Right now, his coughing wasn’t the important part.
He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, wiped his mouth, and cleared his throat.
“…Ahem. I’m fine, so you don’t have to come over. More importantly, why are you asking if I met the Grand Duchess?”
He almost asked How did you know?—but stopped himself just in time. Saying that would basically be the same as admitting it was true.
For now, Jay decided to pretend he didn’t know anything.
Maybe Elena hadn’t actually heard anything yet, so jumping ahead could be risky.
“…Ah, um.”
Hesitating at his refusal, Elena sat back down on the sofa.
She paused and took her time speaking.
To Jay, those few moments felt painfully long.
In his mind, every detail of what had happened at the Grand Duke’s estate flashed by.
Things had happened with Pdea—yes—but he swore nothing beyond that.
Still, he couldn’t help feeling uneasy, because even if nothing happened, someone who heard about it could smirk and say, So you were in the same bed and told to move into the Grand Duke’s estate, huh?
Jay’s throat felt dry—not from training this time, but from sheer nerves.
“…It’s nothing big. I just remembered you had tea with the Grand Duchess at that café last time.”
“Yeah, I did.”
He answered casually, but cold sweat ran down his back.
Even at the café, there had been a small incident with Pdea.
Did she overhear back then?
Jay worried that Elena might have caught their conversation.
Even then, they hadn’t exactly had a “normal” conversation—it would be bad if she had heard.
But the truth was, his fear was unnecessary.
That day, Elena had been at just the right distance, and the two of them had spoken quietly.
She hadn’t heard what was said at all.
His current tension was purely from his own guilty conscience.
“You two looked close that day. And at the imperial banquet before that, didn’t the Grand Duchess ask you to show her the terrace?”
“…Ah.”
Jay reacted as if he had just remembered, like it wasn’t anything important.
But inside, it was a sigh of realization—he really had been running into Pdea a lot lately.
“So I was wondering if you’ve been meeting her recently. …Am I right?”
As her words came out slowly, Jay’s heart pounded harder and harder.
Her guess was an exaggeration, but half true.
He never thought of himself as being close to Pdea, but he had been invited to the Grand Duke’s estate recently.
Hesitating, Jay forced an awkward smile.
Since Elena hadn’t mentioned anything else, maybe there were no strange rumors after all.
“It was just a coincidence. The Grand Duchess and I aren’t anything—and we haven’t met privately.”
He felt relieved, but a pang of guilt followed.
He had been lying to Elena more often lately.
“Elena, is that really the only reason you came to see me?”
Wanting to push the topic away from Pdea, Jay asked in a playful tone.
Elena flinched and looked flustered.
Tilting his head, Jay thought she seemed like she was hiding something.
“O-of course! And also, I just wanted to see your face. You’ve been staying in the mansion lately. I wanted to check you’re okay and nothing’s wrong!”
When she clapped her hands as she spoke, Jay’s eyebrow twitched upward.
He didn’t know whether to be pleased she worried about him—or curious about what she was hiding.
“There’s just been some things to handle at the estate. It’s all sorted now, so you don’t need to worry.”
Jay decided not to press her.
After all, he was hiding things from her too.
He didn’t want to force her to say something she didn’t want to.
Thanks to that, Elena smiled in relief.
And yes—she really was hiding something.
…I guess I was wrong about them being close.
Elena had come partly to check on him, but also because she had unexpectedly received an invitation from Pdea.
She had wanted to see if Jay had also been invited.
Since she had recently seen him spending time near the Grand Duchess, she thought it might be possible.
But when Jay strongly denied meeting her, she decided to keep her own tea party invitation a secret.
* * *
Before long, the day of the tea party arrived.
It was being held at a certain Count’s estate—one Elena had never visited before.
She knew the host, though.
She remembered her clearly, even if she’d rather not—this young lady often stuck by the Grand Duchess and had publicly embarrassed her before.
Guided by the estate staff, Elena reached the garden tea table and took a deep breath.
Approaching a group of people who were openly hostile toward her was always difficult.
“Thank you for inviting me to today’s tea party, Lady Bella.”
Summoning her courage, Elena thanked the host.
Though they didn’t have a good relationship, it felt awkward to sit down without saying anything.
Her greeting drew everyone’s attention.
Around her, the other young ladies had the same faintly amused expression.
In the silence, the host finally spoke.
“Oh, right. Lady Elena, you said you’d be attending today’s tea party. Welcome.”
The host gestured toward the one remaining chair, telling her to take a seat.
But there was something cold in her tone.
Sure enough—just as Elena put her hand on the chair, the host spoke again.
“Oh my, wait a moment. I didn’t realize there’s only one seat left. In that case, the Grand Duchess won’t have anywhere to sit… what should we do?”
Elena froze mid-motion.
Looking around, she saw that the host was right—if she sat, there would be no seat for the Grand Duchess.
And though no one said it aloud, their looks clearly said, You wouldn’t actually take her seat, would you?
Elena stepped back from the chair.
“…I’ll wait. Could you prepare another seat in the meantime?”
“Of course, please wait a moment. We’ll bring one right away.”
The host called over a maid with a smile.
As the maid left, Elena caught the host glancing at her and whispering to someone nearby.
When their eyes met, the host smiled as if nothing had happened.
Soon, the other young ladies began making shallow compliments about her “consideration.”
And then they moved on to a different topic, leaving Elena forgotten.
The promised extra chair still hadn’t come, even after ten minutes.
She had expected something like this might happen, but it still hurt.
Standing apart from the group, unable to join the conversation, she felt small and pathetic.
She just wanted the time to pass quickly.
Then—
“Why are you standing instead of sitting?”
The owner of the empty seat, Pdea, had arrived.
Elena flinched at her appearance.
She assumed Pdea was part of the humiliation, here to mock her.
Holding back tears, Elena stayed silent.
Pdea’s gaze, however, changed as she saw Elena’s sad face.
She slowly looked over each of the seated young ladies, memorizing their faces.
When her eyes met the host’s, the woman quickly explained, as if she had been waiting for the question.
“We forgot Lady Elena was coming, so we didn’t prepare an extra seat. I asked her to wait until we brought one.”
The host’s eyes ran over Pdea, filled with expectation.
She had often received little rewards from the Grand Duchess for such “efforts”—once, a pair of expensive earrings Pdea had worn.
She was already guessing which item she might get today.
Pdea, however, was disgusted by that greedy look.
“I’m sure I told you Elena would be attending. And you ‘forgot’…?”
Her voice stretched like a snake coiling around the host.
“Are you ignoring me, the Grand Duchess?”
Thank you very much