01. Invitation with a birch tree
May in Swanton, the capital of the Kingdom of Swanton, was filled with the scent of roses. The house of Aunt Talbot, where Chloe and Alice were staying, was far from the center of the city, but the scent of flowers was carried there by the spring breeze.
“I feel dizzy. I think I smelled too much perfume in the dressing room earlier.”
Alice collapsed on the bed, her voice weary. Her father, the Viscount of Verdier, would have called her unladylike if he had seen her.
“But what if you skip dinner? Your aunt will be worried.”
Chloe's voice was filled with concern as she opened the window to let in some fresh air.
“Since she's such a tightwad, wouldn’t she be happy to have one less mouth to feed?”
“Alice.”
The sisters knew that Mrs. Talbot, who did not like guests, had taken great pains to take them in for the sake of the social season, and that Alice had to find a worthy groom in a kingdom that was seeking stability after the long war that had ended two years earlier.
“You won’t have to tighten your corset tomorrow morning, so it’ll be comfortable. But, don’t your legs hurt, Sister? The damn coachman kept slacking off, so I had to wander around for a while to find a dress shop.”
Alice frowned as she watched Chloe put down her wand. Chloe smiled, not showing that her left leg was starting to stiffen from exertion.
“If you know that I worked hard for you, do better tomorrow. You know that you absolutely cannot cause an accident like last time, right?”
Alice had stayed at her aunt's house during the previous social season. Alice, who had just become an adult, was invited to over twenty parties because of her striking beauty. However, at the third party she attended, she drank five glasses of sherry and got drunk, causing a commotion and had to be carried out by a servant. Her aunt, who had been actively looking for a groom for Alice, was horrified, saying that it would be a disgrace to the family, and no grooms came to the Talbots.
“It was so boring that I couldn’t help it.”
Alice laughed, not knowing Chloe's speed.
“But this time it’ll be much better since I’m going with you. I’ll be dancing with you.”
After the incident last year that had caused a little uproar in Swanton, no one would invite Alice. But a month ago, an unexpected invitation arrived at the Verdiers.
How surprised their father, Visount Verdier, was when he received an invitation stamped with a birch tree emblem.
“Uh... Chloe, My daughter. As far as I know, there is only one noble in the kingdom who uses the birch seal... Am I mistaken?”
“No. I think it’s an invitation from the Duke of Tisse.”
“Oh, my God!”
Her father, who had not been to church for a long time since her mother passed away, was crying out to God.
“I’m not joking, Alice. You really have to behave yourself tomorrow.”
It was a ball hosted by none other than the Duke's family. Damian Ernst von Tisse. The only son of the Duke's family who had led the great victory in the war, the young Duke's prestige was immense as he had inherited the family early after his father's death.
His domain was in the northern Tisse region, but the villa he had in Swanton was rumored to be as beautiful as the royal palace. It was no exaggeration to say that there were more roses in the castle that his mother, the former Duchess, sister of the current King, had received as a gift from her father when she was a Princess than in the entire city.
Between the Duke of Tisse, the King's nephew and war hero, and the Viscount, who governed a small fiefdom in the country, there were countless steps. Think of it as the distance between the top of the church spire, the tallest building in the capital, and the ground.
“If only to show the sincerity of the person who invited me.”
Although it was a great honor to be invited to a party attended by all of Swanton's high-ranking nobles, Alice's face remained indifferent.
“Yes, yes, I understand. I’ll dress up like a doll and go dance with all the men there, and like a lady, I’ll only sip lemonade instead of wine.”
Chloe's heart felt a little heavy as she leaned against the second-floor window, where the shadow of the beech tree was cast. As she limped toward the bed, Alice turned around while lying down and looked at her. Chloe whispered softly as she smoothed the wavy hair that fell on Alice's beautiful forehead.
“I’m sorry, Alice.”
Even though she was an adult, she was still a child who preferred running through the meadows to formal parties. She felt uneasy because she felt like she had placed a huge burden on her. Her father probably felt the same way.
“What are you sorry about, Sister? If there is any fault, it should be with our Viscount Verdier, who loved Mom too much and used up all his fortune on hospital bills, and also failed miserably in managing his estates.”
Chloe gently comforted Alice, patting her pouting shoulder.
“It’s not just Father’s fault that we’ve had three years of crop failure. Typhoons and droughts are under God’s control. Even though Father can’t say anything, he must be feeling much more sorry towards you right now.”
“Even in this situation, my sister doesn’t blame my father.”
“That’s because we’re family. It’s only natural.”
Alice let out a long sigh as Chloe smiled faintly. It wasn't that Alice didn't know Chloe's heart. If it were Chloe, she would have attended every party in the capital and found a groom to save her family from debt. If only she could...
“When I think of my sister, I have to come to my senses.”
Alice lifted her head from where she had been burying it, sat up, wrapped her arms around Chloe's waist, and laid back down next to her on the bed, blinking.
“Sister. But I thought I would marry someone who would completely steal my heart.”
“Who knows? A handsome gentleman might show up at the party tomorrow and steal your heart.”
Alice laughed as Chloe lowered her voice. It was as if they had gone back to their childhood, giggling in the same bed.
“I can still remember the look on my father’s face when he checked the party invitation. It was as if he had been summoned by His Majesty the King.”
Even if he was a lowly nobleman from the countryside who lived far from politics, he couldn't help but feel nervous when he heard Tisse's name. Since all the nobles would probably attend the party tomorrow, it was only natural for the Viscount to be nervous after receiving the invitation. Chloe just didn't want to burden Alice anymore, so she just gently stroked her lovely hair.
“At first, I was confused as to what on earth Tisse had to do with our family, but then I remembered what Uncle Chester had said before.”
“What did Mr. Chester say?”
“During the war, my father gave his castle to the soldiers of that Duke. He grumbled that all our family’s wealth was lost because he fed and treated the wounded and beggars in large groups.”
Mr. Chester, the butler, had a habit of talking loosely when he was drunk. He must have said something useless to Alice, who was studying at the monastery at the time and didn't know much about the situation. Well, she can't say it's not true.
“Yes. But my father is grateful that he was invited because the Duke remembered that fact and did not forget it.”
Chloe swallowed a sigh. As the night grew deeper outside the window, her heart grew heavier at the thought of tomorrow drawing nearer.
“Sister. Actually, you don’t want to go either, do you?”
Chloe blinked unconsciously at Alice’s question, which suddenly came up while raising her head. She didn’t think she was very perceptive, but it seems that sisters are sisters after all.
“I was hesitant because the rumors weren’t that good.”
“Isn’t that all bad? There are more than a few illegitimate children born between the government and the government. But they all killed them without a word.”
“Alice.”
Chloe could also guess where the dangerous rumors Alice was talking about came from. She had apparently recently gotten her hands on a gossip newspaper that was being published in the capital without the royal permission.
“His personality is completely hopeless, and if he does something wrong, he will completely trample on anyone, no matter if they are nobles or not. The overwhelming opinion is that it would have been better if he had died on the battlefield...”
Chloe's delicate hand eventually covered Alice's chattering lips.
“Anyway, it is true that this is an excessive invitation for our status.”
“But why did you ask father if you couldn’t go?”
Chloe paused, then asked back with an indifferent expression.
“Did father say that?”
“No. Mr. Chester.”
It seems that after having several servants, the butler was short on people to chat with.
“Actually, it was surprising that my sister said that, but it was more surprising that my father never listened to your request. He didn’t like my sister leaving home.”
The Viscount of Verdier was not happy to see Chloe leave the castle after suffering from a fever and her legs were in poor condition. This was especially true after losing her mother to illness.
“And most of the time, father respects and follows my sister’s opinion.”
After her mother passed away, Chloe had to take on the role of mistress of the castle in place of the heartbroken Viscount. Her originally meticulous and calm personality was further strengthened by her surroundings.
“When my sister said you wouldn’t attend, I think you thought about it deeply before saying it, but after hearing that you told me to go...”
Alice paused for a moment, frowned, and rolled her eyes.
“My father is an even more wicked matchmaker!”
Chloe let out a faint laugh and hugged Alice tightly. She held her now taller sister in her arms and stroked her hair like her mother always did.
“Should we just go home early tomorrow morning?”
“Tch. I don’t like that.”
Alice muttered in her arms, her voice a little tired. She had been dragged around by her aunt's hand for quite some time today, putting on and taking off several dresses, so it was understandable that she would be tired.
Over Alice's shoulder, a small round table was visible. A card was neatly placed in the center. Chloe squeezed her eyes shut as she saw the birch tree pattern stamped on it.
The party invitation sent by the Duke was so simple that it was embarrassing to call it an invitation. There was no mention of the somewhat boring but formal invitation that a noble should give. It was just the place and time of the party and the names of the people being invited. It was true that she frowned at the attitude that seemed to know very well that there would be no one in the kingdom with the courage to refuse Tisse’s invitation.
“It’s probably more brutal now...?”
Alice lifted her head from her arms as Chloe muttered to herself.
“Huh? What?”
“It’s nothing.”
Chloe shook her head hastily. Alice continued speaking slowly, her eyes half-closed and sleepy.
“Even if it weren’t for the rumors, I hate Tisse.”
"...Why?"
“After that army of Dukes left the castle and left, my sister got really sick. I remember. I came home during the vacation, but the castle was in shambles and my sister was so sick that my father wouldn’t even let me into your room.”
Mr. Chester said that Miss Chloe, who was already weak, must have caught the disease from the wounded soldiers. To make matters worse, natural disasters began to occur that year, and crop yields were reduced by one-tenth. So, the ill-fated relationship between the Verdiers and the Duke began at that time.
“That’s why you didn’t want to go, right? Because you were afraid that you might get involved with Tisse and have another unfortunate incident.”
After reaching her own conclusion, Alice barely lifted her heavy eyelids and looked at Chloe.
“Don’t worry, Sister. I’ll go to the party tomorrow and behave properly and like a lady. Then I’ll find a groom who can really break the Duke of Tisse’s nose.”
Chloe smiled at her sister, wondering if it was possible to find someone within the kingdom who could match the power of the Tisse family.
“Yeah, I feel secure with you, Alice.”
Alice muttered in a determined voice for a long time about how she would make her aunt fall asleep in shock at the number of visitors, and then she fell asleep. Chloe carefully got out of bed after confirming that Alice's breathing was getting deeper.
A river breeze blew in through the slightly open window. It was a summer night, but she was worried that Alice might catch a cold. Chloe closed the window, sat on the chair with her legs stretched out, and thumped her swollen thighs with her fists. Her legs were sore from walking all day. She thought about getting a steam bath but decided against it because calling a maid would be a hassle.
“...don’t be afraid.”
Unlike Alice, Chloe had never left the Verdier estate except when she was too young to remember. She tried not to let her sister know, but it was natural that she had been nervous since the two days before she arrived at Swanton.
As soon as their aunt glanced through their trunks on the day they arrived, she told them that they did not have any suitable dresses and urged them to go to the best dress shop in the city the next day.
“I wonder if he really intends to marry off his daughter.”
The dress Alice had worn last year still looked new, but Mrs. Talbot had been quite vocal in her criticism, saying it was way behind the times. So they went to five different dress shops to find a dress and finally paid a lot of money for a custom-made dress that belonged to a certain lady who was unable to attend due to illness.
“I may not be able to dance, but I must still be polite as long as I follow Alice.”
Chloe was reluctant to buy a dress for herself, who could not dance, as Mrs. Talbot had said. However, after hearing that showing up in shabby clothes would not only be rude to the person who invited her, but would also embarrass the person she was with, she took out a gold coin from her pocket, which she had been holding on to as a treasure. She tried to hide the slight trembling of her hands as she paid, but it was no use.
“I understand why the Viscount sent you two away without an escort. The family is completely out of money, isn’t it? It’s so burdensome to even go on a trip.”
Mrs. Talbot's eyes were sharp. The Verdier estate had suffered a series of natural disasters recently, resulting in crop failures. To make matters worse, the stocks her father had invested in had plummeted. Chloe had known this far. She had believed that if she just tightened her belt a little more, she could overcome it, but the family's finances were more serious than she had expected. She had learned of her father's hidden debts just after the Duke had sent her a party invitation.
“I should be thankful... right?”
Chloe sighed softly as she looked at the invitation she had tried to ignore. She remembered Mrs. Talbot's face, who had been excited as soon as her sister arrived after hearing the news in advance. She had been hearing for the past two days that it was an honor to be invited to the Rose Palace party hosted by the Duke of Tisse.
Of course, Chloe had no intention of denying Mrs. Talbot's words.
The invitation to the party sent to the daughters of a poor Viscount, the landowner of a small fief in the southwest of the kingdom, could be seen as a great act of repaying the favor he had received during the war. It was unknown whether Duke Tisse knew about the incident Alice had caused in Swanton last year. However, the mere fact that she had been invited by him would raise Alice's reputation. If it became known that she had a connection with the Duke, many nobles would be interested, and Alice would likely meet a really good groom tomorrow.
But. Chloe was anxious. The summer breeze of Swanton, laden with the scent of roses, left a strange aftertaste instead of refreshing.
“Look at the condition of your legs. Is it hereditary?”
Her cane, which had been neatly placed against the wall, fell to the floor. Chloe bit her lip as she watched the cane roll away. Even though not a short amount of time had passed, she could not forget his cold voice.
“If you plan your strategy emotionally, you’re bound to lose. Likewise, if you don’t respond emotionally to orders, you can’t win a fight.”
“I am not a soldier of war, Your Excellency.”
Chloe stumbled to her feet, having dropped the basket. The Duke approached, stepping on the fallen flower petals, and lowered his head before locking eyes with Chloe.
“From the moment you are born, life itself is a war. Especially for someone like you.”
“Even if that is true, Your Excellency has no reason to meddle in my life.”
“Meddling? I know you must be quite upset since you don’t even say thank you when I give you advice on purpose.”
The young Duke's head smiled at Chloe, who was trying not to cry as she opened her eyes wide. It was a beautiful smile as if it had been sculpted by God, but it was a cold smile that she never wanted to see again. It was then that Chloe first understood what it meant to say that the devil was beautiful.
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