(155) In the meantime (1)
Little Lord Geor White.
A distant relative adopted by the Eastern Lord after Rachel left for the West with Ariana.
Rachel knew the story about Geor. He was called "the mad murderer of the battlefield." She assumed he'd be a bear-like man like Russell White, but she hadn't expected him to be such a lanky young man.
Geor stared blankly at Rachel, who didn't answer, then asked the man standing next to him.
“Are you okay, Romian? How are you?”
“You may be respectful to older women, but if you are dealing with someone who does not require courtesy, then whatever you do is Your Excellency’s will.”
"Oh, right. Our clever Romian is fine. So, Duchess, answer me. Are the Western people really that thick-skinned?"
Rachel clenched her fists.
“You are so rude, Little Lord.”
"Your Excellency. You must call me Your Excellency, Duchess. I am the Eastern Little Lord, aren't I?"
Rachel was once a Duchess, but now she was merely a Duchess. And not a Duchess of the empire, but a Duchess of the West.
She couldn't help but get angry at the behavior of Geor, who was as young as her son.
"Your Excellency."
Geor smiled faintly at Rachel's gritted teeth as she hummed.
"Yes, I'm feeling a little better now. So why did you come to see our Princess? I heard things are not going well at the Bronte household. Did you come to borrow some money?"
Rachel's face turned bright red.
“There is enough money, Your Excellency.”
“No, I don’t think so. If you had enough, you would have rented a larger mansion.”
Rachel was speechless with shock.
She didn't know Little Lord was this crazy. The White family at least had some manners.
“What’s going on, Geor? I heard someone was here.”
Just then, a thin voice came from behind Geor. Rachel craned her neck to look over Geor's shoulder, wondering if it was Ariana.
The person walking briskly toward her wasn't Ariana. It was a woman with crimson hair and green eyes, somewhat resembling Geor. Her large eyes, downturned at the corners, gave her an innocent look, and Rachel decided she had to win her over.
“The Duchess of Bronte is here.”
“Oh, the Duchess of Bronte. Oh my. Oh my. Oh my.”
She covered her mouth and looked Rachel up and down, repeating, "Oh, my." Feeling humiliated by the appraising gaze, Rachel opened her mouth.
“Who on earth are you...”
"It's Wiona. I'm the wife of the Little Duke of White. And the Duchess of Bronte, isn't she? The woman who so horribly abused our Princess?"
“That’s right. That horrible woman.”
"How could you abuse your own daughter like that? Starve her, beat her, all that?"
“That’s right. She did something that even God would not forgive.”
“It’s scary too...”
Geor and Wiona spoke freely, with Rachel in front of them. Rachel couldn't understand what was happening before her.
How could anyone be so rude? She felt so humiliated that she didn't want to stay, but she didn't want to seem like she was running away either.
'Why did I come here?'
She thought she could vent her anger on Ariana. He thought Ariana would try to lighten her mood, like she always did.
Even though she became a Princess of the East, Ariana was still Ariana. Because she was the child she carried in her womb and gave birth to.
But, let alone venting her anger on Ariana, it was difficult to even look at her face.
“But why did you come here? To borrow money?”
"I guess so."
"The people of the West are quite thick-skinned. Did you add this to the West information?"
“I’m going to do it as I go.”
“Oh, but Duchess.”
Wiona, who had been chattering away while looking at Geor, finally turned to Rachel. A hint of contempt flashed in her eyes.
"Why are you still there? Are you so desperate for money that you have to endure all this?"
“I told you I didn’t come here to borrow money!”
“Really? Then why did you come? To harass our Princess like you used to?”
"I have done nothing wrong to Your Excellency, the Eastern Little Lord or the Little Duchess, yet I don't understand why you treat me with such contempt. I've come to realize just how petty the people of the East are."
"That's right. We're petty, and the old people are thick-skinned. So, since we're similar, there's no reason to criticize."
"A mother wants to see her child, so why are we talking about being so brazen here? Can't I even see my own daughter? Are the people of the East this heartless?"
"No, ma'am. The Duchess is not our princess's mother. That's the legal definition."
“But I gave birth to her in pain!”
Geor raised his arm and pushed Wiona back, smiling elegantly at Rachel.
“It would be a disgrace to our Princess. That she came from your womb.”
Rachel opened her eyes wide and glared at Geor.
Bang!
The door closed in Rachel's face. The knight who had entered earlier to summon the people was wearing a look of disapproval.
Rachel trembled. This was the first time she'd ever been humiliated like this. Even after the custody trial, no one had insulted her so openly. Still, her heart felt like it was going to burst at the thought of her helpless situation.
The high walls of the East Mansion came into view. The walls surrounding Ariana. A wall Rachel couldn't overcome with her strength.
Only then did Rachel realize that Ariana was beyond her reach.
Ariana was no longer the helpless child who had been watching Rachel's every move. She was no longer the little girl who swallowed back tears and took Rachel's wrath.
“Ariana!”
She screamed, but the closed door did not open again.
Wiona gently placed her hand on Geor's arm.
“You held on well, Geor.”
"Yes."
He almost cut Rachel's throat.
From the moment Rachel, who had broken Ariana's heart and made her sick, showed her face shamelessly, he almost forgot his place and cut off her head.
When Ariana received the report that Rachel had arrived, Geor, Wiona, and Isabelle were in the parlor. Isabelle cussed out the woman's presence, but Ariana dismissed it as nothing serious.
-“Things aren’t going her way, so she must have come to me to vent her anger.”
Ariana's tone was calm, but there was bitterness in her eyes.
-“She still thinks I’m her daughter. What should I do? Should I meet her or not? What should I do to make her feel better?”
Ariana, who had been mumbling, smiled at Geor.
-“Geor, I have a favor to ask. And you too, Wiona.”
Isabelle was furious, saying she wanted to do it too, but Ariana cut her off with a single stroke.
-“You’re going to hit her.”
-“Can’t I hit her? She deserved it!”
-“No. It has to be noble and dignified, and vulgar and desperate.”
Ariana, who always kept her feelings hidden, had never shown her emotions so openly before. Meeting Rachel, he thought he understood why.
He was disgusted by her audacity to still believe she was Ariana's parent, even though she did such a thing to Ariana.
"She must be heartbroken to have been subjected to such a thing by us, who were the same age as her own daughters. Our Princess is quite clever. It's far better to let her feel humiliation alive than to kill her in one fell swoop."
At Wiona's words, Geor laughed coldly.
“Yeah. I’ll make her pay for it while she’s alive.”
The rumor that the Duchess of Bronte had visited Ariana, but returned without even seeing her, and was now in bed, spread like wildfire. It was Ariana who had spread the rumor.
After hearing the rumor, Victoria went to see Rachel, who was unable to get out of bed, and poured out her heart to her for a long time.
"I can't live with the shame I feel because of my mother! Why are you doing such useless things! I told you to just stay still!"
Jacob, who rarely came home because he was busy with his secret salon, came home that day and got angry at Rachel.
"Why are you embarrassing me like this? Please don't go anywhere and do anything conspicuous! I can't show my face in front of people!"
Is that so? Was I really that shameful?
No matter how much Rachel cried in bed, no one came to comfort her. She was crushed by this desperate loneliness.
Even though it was late at night, she couldn't sleep.
Ariana went out onto the terrace to get some fresh air, then put on a robe and went out into the garden. Shini followed quietly behind her. The knight, who was nodding off against the wall, wanted to follow, but Ariana stopped him.
“I just wanted to take a little walk in the garden with Shini.”
Knights were guarding the garden, and with Shini with her, there was nothing to worry about. The escort knight warned her to be careful, and as Ariana left, she leaned against the wall again.
The garden was bright with lights scattered throughout. Ariana and Sini walked side by side along the path between the flower beds.
“Master, are you sad?”
“Do I look sad?”
"Yes."
Ariana raised her head and gazed at the moon illuminating the night sky. The weather was nice, so the moon was clearly visible.
"My mother wouldn't even blink an eye if I died. Can you believe that?"
"Yes. There are parents like that in this world. My parents sold me into slavery."
"Yeah, that's right."
"But I've encountered good weather. Master, there's plenty of good weather around you, too. I hope you won't be sad."
Ariana brushed her hair back.
“I’m not sad. I just sometimes regret my past mistakes.”
“Did you make a mistake?”
"Yeah. Now that I think about it, I wonder why I did that. I could have easily escaped, so why did I dedicate my life to it? But back then, that world was everything to me. My mother's words sounded like the words of God. I felt like an idiot."
“Everyone makes a fool of themselves once in a while.”
Ariana burst out laughing.
"Where did you learn that?"
"Lord Louis told me. Even His Excellency the Northern Lord has been a fool at one point. A very foolish one."
“Yes, the Northern Lords are also human.”
“That’s right. I’m human too.”
The answer came from a little further away.
Ariana stopped dead in her tracks at the unexpected sound of a voice. Conversing with Shini, she hadn't realized she'd already reached the wall that bordered the mansion at the end of the garden.
A soft voice flowed in from beyond the wall.
“Can I move over?”
“No, Northern Lord. I would prefer not to do that.”
“You must be very angry.”
"The Northern Lord and I aren't in a position to be angry at each other, are we? I don't have such feelings, so please put those thoughts aside."
After a while without hearing an answer, Ariana turned around.
At that moment, a soft voice grabbed Ariana's ankle.
"I want to be like that. A relationship where we get angry at each other and feel resentment at each other."
“...”
"Tell me, Ariana. What must I do to make that happen between you and me?"
Little Lord Geor White.
A distant relative adopted by the Eastern Lord after Rachel left for the West with Ariana.
Rachel knew the story about Geor. He was called "the mad murderer of the battlefield." She assumed he'd be a bear-like man like Russell White, but she hadn't expected him to be such a lanky young man.
Geor stared blankly at Rachel, who didn't answer, then asked the man standing next to him.
“Are you okay, Romian? How are you?”
“You may be respectful to older women, but if you are dealing with someone who does not require courtesy, then whatever you do is Your Excellency’s will.”
"Oh, right. Our clever Romian is fine. So, Duchess, answer me. Are the Western people really that thick-skinned?"
Rachel clenched her fists.
“You are so rude, Little Lord.”
"Your Excellency. You must call me Your Excellency, Duchess. I am the Eastern Little Lord, aren't I?"
Rachel was once a Duchess, but now she was merely a Duchess. And not a Duchess of the empire, but a Duchess of the West.
She couldn't help but get angry at the behavior of Geor, who was as young as her son.
"Your Excellency."
Geor smiled faintly at Rachel's gritted teeth as she hummed.
"Yes, I'm feeling a little better now. So why did you come to see our Princess? I heard things are not going well at the Bronte household. Did you come to borrow some money?"
Rachel's face turned bright red.
“There is enough money, Your Excellency.”
“No, I don’t think so. If you had enough, you would have rented a larger mansion.”
Rachel was speechless with shock.
She didn't know Little Lord was this crazy. The White family at least had some manners.
“What’s going on, Geor? I heard someone was here.”
Just then, a thin voice came from behind Geor. Rachel craned her neck to look over Geor's shoulder, wondering if it was Ariana.
The person walking briskly toward her wasn't Ariana. It was a woman with crimson hair and green eyes, somewhat resembling Geor. Her large eyes, downturned at the corners, gave her an innocent look, and Rachel decided she had to win her over.
“The Duchess of Bronte is here.”
“Oh, the Duchess of Bronte. Oh my. Oh my. Oh my.”
She covered her mouth and looked Rachel up and down, repeating, "Oh, my." Feeling humiliated by the appraising gaze, Rachel opened her mouth.
“Who on earth are you...”
"It's Wiona. I'm the wife of the Little Duke of White. And the Duchess of Bronte, isn't she? The woman who so horribly abused our Princess?"
“That’s right. That horrible woman.”
"How could you abuse your own daughter like that? Starve her, beat her, all that?"
“That’s right. She did something that even God would not forgive.”
“It’s scary too...”
Geor and Wiona spoke freely, with Rachel in front of them. Rachel couldn't understand what was happening before her.
How could anyone be so rude? She felt so humiliated that she didn't want to stay, but she didn't want to seem like she was running away either.
'Why did I come here?'
She thought she could vent her anger on Ariana. He thought Ariana would try to lighten her mood, like she always did.
Even though she became a Princess of the East, Ariana was still Ariana. Because she was the child she carried in her womb and gave birth to.
But, let alone venting her anger on Ariana, it was difficult to even look at her face.
“But why did you come here? To borrow money?”
"I guess so."
"The people of the West are quite thick-skinned. Did you add this to the West information?"
“I’m going to do it as I go.”
“Oh, but Duchess.”
Wiona, who had been chattering away while looking at Geor, finally turned to Rachel. A hint of contempt flashed in her eyes.
"Why are you still there? Are you so desperate for money that you have to endure all this?"
“I told you I didn’t come here to borrow money!”
“Really? Then why did you come? To harass our Princess like you used to?”
"I have done nothing wrong to Your Excellency, the Eastern Little Lord or the Little Duchess, yet I don't understand why you treat me with such contempt. I've come to realize just how petty the people of the East are."
"That's right. We're petty, and the old people are thick-skinned. So, since we're similar, there's no reason to criticize."
"A mother wants to see her child, so why are we talking about being so brazen here? Can't I even see my own daughter? Are the people of the East this heartless?"
"No, ma'am. The Duchess is not our princess's mother. That's the legal definition."
“But I gave birth to her in pain!”
Geor raised his arm and pushed Wiona back, smiling elegantly at Rachel.
“It would be a disgrace to our Princess. That she came from your womb.”
Rachel opened her eyes wide and glared at Geor.
“Duchess. You are no longer anything to our Princess. Our Princess is someone the Duchess would not dare to meet without permission, so go back. I don’t want to give you even a single coin.”
The door closed in Rachel's face. The knight who had entered earlier to summon the people was wearing a look of disapproval.
Rachel trembled. This was the first time she'd ever been humiliated like this. Even after the custody trial, no one had insulted her so openly. Still, her heart felt like it was going to burst at the thought of her helpless situation.
The high walls of the East Mansion came into view. The walls surrounding Ariana. A wall Rachel couldn't overcome with her strength.
Only then did Rachel realize that Ariana was beyond her reach.
Ariana was no longer the helpless child who had been watching Rachel's every move. She was no longer the little girl who swallowed back tears and took Rachel's wrath.
“Ariana!”
She screamed, but the closed door did not open again.
***
Wiona gently placed her hand on Geor's arm.
“You held on well, Geor.”
"Yes."
He almost cut Rachel's throat.
From the moment Rachel, who had broken Ariana's heart and made her sick, showed her face shamelessly, he almost forgot his place and cut off her head.
When Ariana received the report that Rachel had arrived, Geor, Wiona, and Isabelle were in the parlor. Isabelle cussed out the woman's presence, but Ariana dismissed it as nothing serious.
-“Things aren’t going her way, so she must have come to me to vent her anger.”
Ariana's tone was calm, but there was bitterness in her eyes.
-“She still thinks I’m her daughter. What should I do? Should I meet her or not? What should I do to make her feel better?”
Ariana, who had been mumbling, smiled at Geor.
-“Geor, I have a favor to ask. And you too, Wiona.”
Isabelle was furious, saying she wanted to do it too, but Ariana cut her off with a single stroke.
-“You’re going to hit her.”
-“Can’t I hit her? She deserved it!”
-“No. It has to be noble and dignified, and vulgar and desperate.”
Ariana, who always kept her feelings hidden, had never shown her emotions so openly before. Meeting Rachel, he thought he understood why.
He was disgusted by her audacity to still believe she was Ariana's parent, even though she did such a thing to Ariana.
"She must be heartbroken to have been subjected to such a thing by us, who were the same age as her own daughters. Our Princess is quite clever. It's far better to let her feel humiliation alive than to kill her in one fell swoop."
At Wiona's words, Geor laughed coldly.
“Yeah. I’ll make her pay for it while she’s alive.”
***
The rumor that the Duchess of Bronte had visited Ariana, but returned without even seeing her, and was now in bed, spread like wildfire. It was Ariana who had spread the rumor.
After hearing the rumor, Victoria went to see Rachel, who was unable to get out of bed, and poured out her heart to her for a long time.
"I can't live with the shame I feel because of my mother! Why are you doing such useless things! I told you to just stay still!"
Jacob, who rarely came home because he was busy with his secret salon, came home that day and got angry at Rachel.
"Why are you embarrassing me like this? Please don't go anywhere and do anything conspicuous! I can't show my face in front of people!"
Is that so? Was I really that shameful?
No matter how much Rachel cried in bed, no one came to comfort her. She was crushed by this desperate loneliness.
***
Even though it was late at night, she couldn't sleep.
Ariana went out onto the terrace to get some fresh air, then put on a robe and went out into the garden. Shini followed quietly behind her. The knight, who was nodding off against the wall, wanted to follow, but Ariana stopped him.
“I just wanted to take a little walk in the garden with Shini.”
Knights were guarding the garden, and with Shini with her, there was nothing to worry about. The escort knight warned her to be careful, and as Ariana left, she leaned against the wall again.
The garden was bright with lights scattered throughout. Ariana and Sini walked side by side along the path between the flower beds.
“Master, are you sad?”
“Do I look sad?”
"Yes."
Ariana raised her head and gazed at the moon illuminating the night sky. The weather was nice, so the moon was clearly visible.
"My mother wouldn't even blink an eye if I died. Can you believe that?"
"Yes. There are parents like that in this world. My parents sold me into slavery."
"Yeah, that's right."
"But I've encountered good weather. Master, there's plenty of good weather around you, too. I hope you won't be sad."
Ariana brushed her hair back.
“I’m not sad. I just sometimes regret my past mistakes.”
“Did you make a mistake?”
"Yeah. Now that I think about it, I wonder why I did that. I could have easily escaped, so why did I dedicate my life to it? But back then, that world was everything to me. My mother's words sounded like the words of God. I felt like an idiot."
“Everyone makes a fool of themselves once in a while.”
Ariana burst out laughing.
"Where did you learn that?"
"Lord Louis told me. Even His Excellency the Northern Lord has been a fool at one point. A very foolish one."
“Yes, the Northern Lords are also human.”
“That’s right. I’m human too.”
The answer came from a little further away.
Ariana stopped dead in her tracks at the unexpected sound of a voice. Conversing with Shini, she hadn't realized she'd already reached the wall that bordered the mansion at the end of the garden.
A soft voice flowed in from beyond the wall.
“Can I move over?”
“No, Northern Lord. I would prefer not to do that.”
“You must be very angry.”
"The Northern Lord and I aren't in a position to be angry at each other, are we? I don't have such feelings, so please put those thoughts aside."
After a while without hearing an answer, Ariana turned around.
At that moment, a soft voice grabbed Ariana's ankle.
"I want to be like that. A relationship where we get angry at each other and feel resentment at each other."
“...”
"Tell me, Ariana. What must I do to make that happen between you and me?"
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