(15) Rachel's Scheme (1)
'Why on earth did she change so much?'
Ariana should have worn a tacky dress, acted stubbornly, and then cried and cried throughout the party.
Then Rachel would have blamed Ariana's bloodline, saying things like "the sisters," and people would have whispered, comparing Ariana to the polite and well-educated Helena and Victoria.
Some might have questioned Ariana's treatment, but their voices would have been very quiet. It should have gone that way, but Ariana didn't cry or blush.
'What was the problem today?'
Victoria glared at the kneeling maids.
'They're the problem. If they had done their job properly, I wouldn't have been blamed.'
Victoria ordered the maids.
"Strike them fifty times and lock them in the East Tower."
“Oh, Miss! Miss, no. Please forgive us.”
“We tried to do well. We will do well. Please forgive us.”
“Please spare us, Miss.”
The East Tower was a prison with no guards or visitors. It was a terrifying place where criminals who had caused great harm to the Bronte family were locked up and left to their own devices.
The maids knew that no one had ever gone there and come out alive.
However, Victoria refused to listen and went into the bedroom, and the maids were dragged out by the servants summoned by the maid.
Duke Jacob Bronte had been silent since the party was over.
Jacob was tall and slender with black hair and eyes, and he had a studious and slightly sensitive appearance.
When expressionless, he looked nervous, but when he smiled, wrinkles formed around his eyes, and a friendly atmosphere appeared. Rachel was immediately enamored with that smile.
Jacob, who knew this, always smiled in front of Rachel, so it had been a long time since she had seen her husband with such a stern expression.
Since she's known Jacob, she only seen him this serious twice before: when Rachel learned she had to marry the Eastern Duke, and when she returned to the West with Ariana, the child she'd borne with the Eastern Duke.
And today, Jacob's expression was darker than ever, and he refused to meet Rachel's eyes.
Rachel, wary, cautiously placed a hand on his arm.
"Jacob. You don't have to take it so seriously."
"You don't have to take it so seriously? Are you serious?"
Rachel flinched at the angry voice.
Born as the Western Duke's daughter, Rachel had lived without fear, but she was vulnerable to Jacob. The man she'd loved for the first time in her life, and the man she'd love until the end. She didn't want to be hated by him.
“Didn’t you see everyone’s expressions at the party earlier? Didn’t you hear what people were whispering about her? Rachel, it wasn’t just the nobles of the West. There were nobles from the capital, too. You can’t silence them.”
“Why silence them? Just leave them alone. Whatever they say will be a fleeting story. Other scandals will arise, and they’ll forget it easily.”
Jacob sighed.
“Rachel, that won’t be forgotten so easily. She is no ordinary noblewoman. She’s the daughter of the Princess of West and the Eastern Duke, and now the adopted daughter of the Duke of Bronte. Don’t women in high society love to hear about such things?”
“Yes, they do...”
“They’ll forget for a while. But every time they see us, they’ll think about it again.”
Rachel watched Jacob pace nervously around the room, her heart sinking.
What happened at the party earlier was like a nightmare. A terrible nightmare that couldn’t possibly happen. How could something like this happen when she'd summoned the nobles of the capital, especially those who were renowned in high society?
'Ariana...'
The Ariana in the greenhouse seemed different from the Ariana whom Rachel had raised all this time. She seemed different, as if possessed by some evil spirit.
Her expression, her gaze, her posture, her tone of voice—none of it felt like the Ariana that Rachel knew.
Come to think of it, she'd been acting strange for a few days. Even when she'd gotten sick from eating spoiled food, and when she'd run into her in the garden yesterday morning.
Back then, she hadn't taken the changes seriously. She'd been scolded and disapproved of no matter what she did, so she'd just been trying to act differently.
She'd thought that no matter how hard Ariana tried to change, as long as she was under Rachel's wing, she couldn't harm the Bronte family.
But in a single moment, Ariana had dealt a huge blow to the Bronte family.
As Jacob had said, the nobles attending the party today would think of Ariana whenever the Bronte family was mentioned.
'This won't do,' Rachel thought.
He would then find a suitable family to marry her off to when the time came. The Western Duke already had several families in mind for Ariana's marriage.
The most likely of these was the House of Alfrech. Viscount Ingo Alfrech, who had made a fortune selling weapons and acquired the title of Viscount.
'Viscount Alfrech is known to be a womanizer, so even if Ariana's appearance is a bit scandalous, he'll be happy about it. With a pretty young wife and the possibility of ties to the Western Duke, he wouldn't reject her just because of a little scandal.'
Even though she was married, Rachel still feared her father, the Western Duke. The Western Duke was willing to sell his children to get what he wanted.
'If Ariana becomes useless, he might try to use Helena or Victoria. I can't let Helena and Victoria end up like me.'
Rachel had to marry an unwilling man, leaving behind the man she loved, but she wanted her two daughters to grow up free and marry whoever they wanted. She couldn't let the Western Duke's expectations of Ariana be passed on to Helena and Victoria.
A brilliant idea occurred to her. It might be harsh on Ariana, but ultimately, this was Ariana's own doing.
'Ariana, if you hadn't acted that way at the party, I wouldn't have resorted to such tactics. I tried to raise you well and marry you, and now you dare to rebel against me...'
'Why on earth did she change so much?'
Ariana should have worn a tacky dress, acted stubbornly, and then cried and cried throughout the party.
Then Rachel would have blamed Ariana's bloodline, saying things like "the sisters," and people would have whispered, comparing Ariana to the polite and well-educated Helena and Victoria.
Some might have questioned Ariana's treatment, but their voices would have been very quiet. It should have gone that way, but Ariana didn't cry or blush.
'What was the problem today?'
Victoria glared at the kneeling maids.
'They're the problem. If they had done their job properly, I wouldn't have been blamed.'
Victoria ordered the maids.
"Strike them fifty times and lock them in the East Tower."
“Oh, Miss! Miss, no. Please forgive us.”
“We tried to do well. We will do well. Please forgive us.”
“Please spare us, Miss.”
The East Tower was a prison with no guards or visitors. It was a terrifying place where criminals who had caused great harm to the Bronte family were locked up and left to their own devices.
The maids knew that no one had ever gone there and come out alive.
However, Victoria refused to listen and went into the bedroom, and the maids were dragged out by the servants summoned by the maid.
***
Duke Jacob Bronte had been silent since the party was over.
Jacob was tall and slender with black hair and eyes, and he had a studious and slightly sensitive appearance.
When expressionless, he looked nervous, but when he smiled, wrinkles formed around his eyes, and a friendly atmosphere appeared. Rachel was immediately enamored with that smile.
Jacob, who knew this, always smiled in front of Rachel, so it had been a long time since she had seen her husband with such a stern expression.
Since she's known Jacob, she only seen him this serious twice before: when Rachel learned she had to marry the Eastern Duke, and when she returned to the West with Ariana, the child she'd borne with the Eastern Duke.
And today, Jacob's expression was darker than ever, and he refused to meet Rachel's eyes.
Rachel, wary, cautiously placed a hand on his arm.
"Jacob. You don't have to take it so seriously."
"You don't have to take it so seriously? Are you serious?"
Rachel flinched at the angry voice.
Born as the Western Duke's daughter, Rachel had lived without fear, but she was vulnerable to Jacob. The man she'd loved for the first time in her life, and the man she'd love until the end. She didn't want to be hated by him.
“Didn’t you see everyone’s expressions at the party earlier? Didn’t you hear what people were whispering about her? Rachel, it wasn’t just the nobles of the West. There were nobles from the capital, too. You can’t silence them.”
“Why silence them? Just leave them alone. Whatever they say will be a fleeting story. Other scandals will arise, and they’ll forget it easily.”
Jacob sighed.
“Rachel, that won’t be forgotten so easily. She is no ordinary noblewoman. She’s the daughter of the Princess of West and the Eastern Duke, and now the adopted daughter of the Duke of Bronte. Don’t women in high society love to hear about such things?”
“Yes, they do...”
“They’ll forget for a while. But every time they see us, they’ll think about it again.”
Rachel watched Jacob pace nervously around the room, her heart sinking.
What happened at the party earlier was like a nightmare. A terrible nightmare that couldn’t possibly happen. How could something like this happen when she'd summoned the nobles of the capital, especially those who were renowned in high society?
'Ariana...'
The Ariana in the greenhouse seemed different from the Ariana whom Rachel had raised all this time. She seemed different, as if possessed by some evil spirit.
Her expression, her gaze, her posture, her tone of voice—none of it felt like the Ariana that Rachel knew.
Come to think of it, she'd been acting strange for a few days. Even when she'd gotten sick from eating spoiled food, and when she'd run into her in the garden yesterday morning.
Back then, she hadn't taken the changes seriously. She'd been scolded and disapproved of no matter what she did, so she'd just been trying to act differently.
She'd thought that no matter how hard Ariana tried to change, as long as she was under Rachel's wing, she couldn't harm the Bronte family.
But in a single moment, Ariana had dealt a huge blow to the Bronte family.
As Jacob had said, the nobles attending the party today would think of Ariana whenever the Bronte family was mentioned.
'This won't do,' Rachel thought.
Western Duke, her father, told Rachel to raise Ariana quietly. Eastern Duke also ordered that Ariana, his own daughter, be raised unnoticed by anyone, so she would be forgotten.
The most likely of these was the House of Alfrech. Viscount Ingo Alfrech, who had made a fortune selling weapons and acquired the title of Viscount.
'Viscount Alfrech is known to be a womanizer, so even if Ariana's appearance is a bit scandalous, he'll be happy about it. With a pretty young wife and the possibility of ties to the Western Duke, he wouldn't reject her just because of a little scandal.'
Even though she was married, Rachel still feared her father, the Western Duke. The Western Duke was willing to sell his children to get what he wanted.
'If Ariana becomes useless, he might try to use Helena or Victoria. I can't let Helena and Victoria end up like me.'
Rachel had to marry an unwilling man, leaving behind the man she loved, but she wanted her two daughters to grow up free and marry whoever they wanted. She couldn't let the Western Duke's expectations of Ariana be passed on to Helena and Victoria.
A brilliant idea occurred to her. It might be harsh on Ariana, but ultimately, this was Ariana's own doing.
'Ariana, if you hadn't acted that way at the party, I wouldn't have resorted to such tactics. I tried to raise you well and marry you, and now you dare to rebel against me...'
She felt no guilt.
She would do anything for Helena and Victoria.
'Ariana is still a bit young, but... I can just make up stories.'
Duchess Juliana Rowenta had invited Ariana to this social season, but Rachel had no intention of taking her to the capital.
If something happened that made it impossible for Ariana to go to the capital, Juliana would accept it as inevitable. If everything went well, she might even come to think that the incident at this party was part of Ariana's unruly scheme.
Rachel stroked Jacob's arm, who still had a heavy expression on his face, and said,
"Don't worry, Jacob. Ariana's problem will be solved soon. I will."
"Ahhhhh."
"Huhhhhhh."
The women's sobs drifted through the damp air.
The cries that had been heard since yesterday had diminished significantly as the day passed, but they still contained deeper sorrow, resentment, and fear.
Ariana leaned against the cold wall, closed her eyes, and listened to the maids' cries.
Listening to the cries in the darkness would have been chilling, but a strange smile played on Ariana's lips.
"Helena doesn't know what her maids did, so it must have been Victoria who locked them up."
Victoria had been polite and kind to her employees to maintain her image. They praised her, saying, "The youngest princess of Bronte is not only beautiful, but also has a beautiful heart."
Victoria's beautiful heart was not so solid that it could be shattered by a slight provocation.
"She's still young."
If this had happened a few years later, Victoria wouldn't have become so emotional.
No matter how skilled she was at reading others and manipulating them from behind, she was still immature in responding calmly to a sudden disaster.
The maids, who had been locked in last night without a sip of water, had voices that were hushed and cracked, unable to cry properly.
"Yes, they must be scared. But aren't you all together, in a place with light?"
Unlike Ariana, who was locked in a windowless dungeon, the maids were locked in an upper-floor cell with windows. Rachel would release those maids this evening or tomorrow.
With Ariana's abuse already causing a stir, it would be difficult to clean up if several maids died at the same time.
Having been on the hard, cold floor since yesterday, her body trembled. The spot where Rachel had hit her throbbed, and a fever broke out, breaking out in a cold sweat.
Ariana wrapped her arms around herself.
Even though she was used to being locked up, the thirst was still hard. The fever made her thirstier.
"It's okay. This is nothing. It was harder in the last moments. I can handle this much."
Perhaps because she was in the darkness, various emotions rose silently.
The biggest one was the sadness she thought she had discarded when she was revived.
She wanted to cast aside her negative emotions and calmly walk forward, but no matter how much time she turned back, she couldn't erase all her emotions, because she was still human. She felt sad and sorrowful.
She felt sorry for herself and pitiful.
She was just born, she just lived, she just wanted to live, why does she have to be treated like this?
Her eyes stung, and Ariana clenched her fists.
"Don't cry. It's nothing to cry about. You won't be able to do anything if you cry this much. Don't be shaken. It's nothing to be shaken about. I knew this would happen, didn't I? I'm just being treated as I deserve, so there's no need to be sad."
She steeled her weakening heart. She forced her crumbling mind back up.
She thought of Rachel, who had abandoned and trampled Ariana, Helena, who had laughed even as she watched Ariana die, the pain of the rough rope digging into her neck, and Victoria, who had orchestrated it all from behind the scenes.
The most pathetic and resentful thing was herself, trusting them.
Foolish Ariana, who had been so fragile, so desperately longing for affection and recognition.
So she had to make this heart stronger.
"If I cry over something so simple as this, I'll just end up repeating the same old story."
Ariana tried to distract herself from the physical pain by thinking about something else. She tried to anticipate how Rachel would react next, what tactics Victoria might devise.
She struggled to escape the sadness of not being recognized.
Then, something fell at Ariana's feet.
She would do anything for Helena and Victoria.
'Ariana is still a bit young, but... I can just make up stories.'
Duchess Juliana Rowenta had invited Ariana to this social season, but Rachel had no intention of taking her to the capital.
If something happened that made it impossible for Ariana to go to the capital, Juliana would accept it as inevitable. If everything went well, she might even come to think that the incident at this party was part of Ariana's unruly scheme.
Rachel stroked Jacob's arm, who still had a heavy expression on his face, and said,
"Don't worry, Jacob. Ariana's problem will be solved soon. I will."
***
"Ahhhhh."
"Huhhhhhh."
The women's sobs drifted through the damp air.
The cries that had been heard since yesterday had diminished significantly as the day passed, but they still contained deeper sorrow, resentment, and fear.
Ariana leaned against the cold wall, closed her eyes, and listened to the maids' cries.
Listening to the cries in the darkness would have been chilling, but a strange smile played on Ariana's lips.
"Helena doesn't know what her maids did, so it must have been Victoria who locked them up."
Victoria had been polite and kind to her employees to maintain her image. They praised her, saying, "The youngest princess of Bronte is not only beautiful, but also has a beautiful heart."
Victoria's beautiful heart was not so solid that it could be shattered by a slight provocation.
"She's still young."
If this had happened a few years later, Victoria wouldn't have become so emotional.
No matter how skilled she was at reading others and manipulating them from behind, she was still immature in responding calmly to a sudden disaster.
The maids, who had been locked in last night without a sip of water, had voices that were hushed and cracked, unable to cry properly.
"Yes, they must be scared. But aren't you all together, in a place with light?"
Unlike Ariana, who was locked in a windowless dungeon, the maids were locked in an upper-floor cell with windows. Rachel would release those maids this evening or tomorrow.
With Ariana's abuse already causing a stir, it would be difficult to clean up if several maids died at the same time.
Having been on the hard, cold floor since yesterday, her body trembled. The spot where Rachel had hit her throbbed, and a fever broke out, breaking out in a cold sweat.
Ariana wrapped her arms around herself.
Even though she was used to being locked up, the thirst was still hard. The fever made her thirstier.
"It's okay. This is nothing. It was harder in the last moments. I can handle this much."
Perhaps because she was in the darkness, various emotions rose silently.
The biggest one was the sadness she thought she had discarded when she was revived.
She wanted to cast aside her negative emotions and calmly walk forward, but no matter how much time she turned back, she couldn't erase all her emotions, because she was still human. She felt sad and sorrowful.
She felt sorry for herself and pitiful.
She was just born, she just lived, she just wanted to live, why does she have to be treated like this?
Her eyes stung, and Ariana clenched her fists.
"Don't cry. It's nothing to cry about. You won't be able to do anything if you cry this much. Don't be shaken. It's nothing to be shaken about. I knew this would happen, didn't I? I'm just being treated as I deserve, so there's no need to be sad."
She steeled her weakening heart. She forced her crumbling mind back up.
She thought of Rachel, who had abandoned and trampled Ariana, Helena, who had laughed even as she watched Ariana die, the pain of the rough rope digging into her neck, and Victoria, who had orchestrated it all from behind the scenes.
The most pathetic and resentful thing was herself, trusting them.
Foolish Ariana, who had been so fragile, so desperately longing for affection and recognition.
So she had to make this heart stronger.
"If I cry over something so simple as this, I'll just end up repeating the same old story."
Ariana tried to distract herself from the physical pain by thinking about something else. She tried to anticipate how Rachel would react next, what tactics Victoria might devise.
She struggled to escape the sadness of not being recognized.
Then, something fell at Ariana's feet.
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