TISND Chapter 121

Chapter 121

This year’s celebration of the Empress’s birthday attracted more nobles than ever.

First of all, the Empress’s birthday fell right in the middle of the social season. Rumors circulated that gaining the Empress’s favor could lead to securing a good husband, so debutantes dressed in their finest attire.

Most notably, Melissa York and Rosalith attended this banquet. Both were widely recognized as beauties within the Empire, and they were also connected to Duke Frantor.

Now, with her own presence added to the mix, how much more interesting could things get? Helena thought to herself.

She calmly observed the banquet hall. She had spent the entire previous night memorizing the guest list and now mentally scanned through it, piecing together the relationships between the attendees. As expected, most nobles gathered within their own factions—aristocrats with aristocrats, imperial loyalists with imperial loyalists. Having memorized this information in advance, seeing it firsthand allowed her to clearly recognize what each person desired and what they wished to avoid.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Helena,” she introduced herself.

A count introduced her to a member of the aristocratic faction. Helena made sure to commit each encounter to memory. She carefully observed their conversations and the relationships they seemed to have.

“…?”

While standing behind the count and keeping watch over the situation, someone suddenly brushed past her, knocking her shoulder. If Jane, who was assisting her, hadn’t quickly caught her, Helena would have surely fallen. She turned her head to see who it was and was met with a familiar face.

It was Rosalith.

“What are you looking at?”

Ever since Helena had returned to the Eskel estate, Rosalith, who had already been childish, seemed to act even more immaturely.

“I’m looking at you.”

“Don’t look!”

Seeing Helena’s unamused reaction, Rosalith huffed and stormed off. Though she stood out in any crowd, she never truly blended in.

Unlike Helena, who was receiving greetings alongside the count and Salizar, Rosalith remained isolated.

While her poor reputation played a role, it seemed more fundamental than that—she simply didn’t know how to approach people. She did nothing more than adorn herself in the way the count ordered and flaunt her beauty. Her relationship with Salizar also appeared strained. Once the count’s attention shifted away from her, she was left alone.

Helena watched her briefly before surveying the banquet hall once more, noticing other gazes directed at her.

First, there were Joshua and Jeremy.

Fortunately, aside from a slight tan, Joshua seemed fine. Jeremy, too, appeared healthy except for losing a bit of weight. That was upsetting—at his age, he should be eating plenty.

Joshua aside, Jeremy’s eyes were filled with sadness, as if he might burst into tears at any moment. Had something happened? Was he still feeling guilty about last time? He didn’t need to. It didn’t matter if she was hurt—but seeing him suffer was unbearable.

Just then, Helena’s eyes met those of Melissa York.

Oh, right. Melissa York was attending this banquet as well. She hadn’t known.

“Hele…!”

From a distance, Joshua’s lips moved as if he were hesitating to call out to her. Should she greet him first? Holding Jeremy’s hand tightly, he hesitated but seemed about to walk over.

At the same time, Melissa York was also approaching.

This wasn’t good. At this rate, the children would run into Melissa. She had to avoid that at all costs. The one who should be dealing with Melissa was her—not the children. That ill-mannered woman should be handled by someone with an equally notorious reputation, like an Eskel woman.

Jeremy seemed to notice Melissa first and was visibly unsettled.

There was no time to hesitate.

Jane, hold me.

Muttering those words, Helena swiftly turned around.

“Lady Melissa York.”

Positioning herself between Melissa and the children, she spoke first, blocking her view of them. The sound of two sets of approaching footsteps came to a sudden halt.

“Oh my, Helena! You’re attending the banquet? I had no idea!”

Melissa feigned ignorance, despite clearly having seen her.

“Oh, I didn’t know you were attending either.”

But in Helena’s case, she truly hadn’t known.

“…You didn’t know?”

“Yes.”

At Helena’s indifferent reply, Melissa bit her lip, then curved her lips into a coy smile.

“Listen, Helena.”

“Yes?”

“What I said when we first met—it still stands.”

“…What?”

“That promise. You haven’t forgotten it, have you? You’d better be thoroughly prepared. I’m not someone to be taken lightly.”

Helena blinked.

“…What promise?”

At that, Melissa suddenly shouted.

“I won’t let you be!”

“Oh.”

Helena had only been focused on keeping Melissa away from the children. But truthfully, her words held no real threat to her, so she had completely forgotten about them.

Hmm. Considering that Melissa already wanted to bring down House Eskel, her saying she wouldn’t let Eskel be was almost… a favor?

“Oh, I’m sorry. I remember now. Yes, I remember.”

“…”

“So, how’s that going for you?”

Melissa fell silent.

“Let’s both do our best.”

“…Are you mocking me right now?”

“No.”

Melissa, clearly wounded in her pride, snapped back. Helena, in turn, glanced behind her.

Joshua and Jeremy, who had been approaching earlier, had now retreated a good distance away, their faces filled with confusion.

“I was being sincere.”

Did they think she had ignored them? That wasn’t it at all. She would have to seek them out later.

*

Melissa’s anger didn’t stop there. As if looking for an outlet, she quickly found her next target—Rosalith.

Lashing out, huh… It wasn’t hard to imagine how her inability to control her temper had affected the children.

“You there, Lady Eskel.”

“What is it?”

So far, Rosalith had always shown Helena a strong and stubborn side. But that wasn’t how she was with everyone. She tended to act strong toward those weaker than her, yet submissive toward those stronger—like her father or Salizar.

So when Melissa immediately approached her with hostility, Rosalith flinched slightly. Melissa, quick to pick up on this, smiled knowingly.

“It’s about time you started thinking about marriage, isn’t it?”

“Why are you concerned with my marriage?”

“It just seems like a shame. There were rumors about you and His Highness the Crown Prince before, and more recently about you and Duke Frantor… But it looks like nothing worked out?”

Melissa glanced toward Helena, smirking.

Ah, so she was just provoking her to gauge Helena’s reaction. Helena let out a quiet chuckle.

“Don’t pick a fight, Lady York.”

“Oh, come now. I’m just concerned for you.”

Melissa replied with feigned innocence.

“Is there some kind of issue? As fellow women, if you have any worries, you should talk about them.”

“…”

“There’s nothing wrong with your health, is there? People have been wondering… if you might not be able to bear children. That’s not true, right? I’m only asking because I care. As your friend, of course.”

Rosalith had received countless proposals, and with them came countless rumors.

One such rumor was that she was unable to bear children. It was just another baseless piece of gossip.

“What did you just say? That’s ridiculous…!”

She shouted in outrage, but failed to properly refute it. Simply getting angry would only fan the flames of the rumor.

Melissa must have brought it up precisely to enjoy her reaction.

“Rosalith.”

Helena called out to her.

“Come here.”

“Oh my, Helena. What’s the matter? I was only worried…”

“Lady York, you said it yourself, didn’t you? That you wouldn’t let me be.”

“S-So what?”

“If this pathetic excuse of a scheme is the best you could come up with… I think I might be a little disappointed.”

“What? Pathetic?”

“Isn’t it? Spreading baseless rumors just to provoke someone—if that’s not pathetic, then what is?”

“I-I was just worried…”

“Then should I ask you something out of concern, too?”

Helena said calmly.

“I heard you gambled away all your money last month. Including the funds meant for your dowry.”

“…H-How did you—”

“That’s true, isn’t it? Now then, who’s the one who really needs to be worried about?”

Pfft.

A few onlookers who had been eavesdropping but pretending not to suddenly burst into laughter.

Melissa’s face turned bright red.

In the end, she stomped her foot furiously, like an enraged bull, before storming out of the banquet hall.

“…Sister.”

Rosalith gazed at Helena with slightly surprised eyes.

Well, of course. She probably never imagined that Helena would step in or help, given their poor relationship.

After all, House Eskel had always been too preoccupied with their own survival to be considerate of others.

“I didn’t do it to help you.”

Helena stated matter-of-factly.

“No matter how much people despise us, being blamed for something we didn’t do is unfair.”

“…”

“Don’t treat a rabid beast as if it’s human. You’re the only one who’ll suffer for it.”

I’m leaving now. I have someone to meet.

Helena spoke indifferently and walked away without looking back.

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