“I’m fine, Ez. If she says something, I’ll just say, ‘Yes, yes,’ and send her off.”
– No, it’s better not to engage with her at all from the start. Even just exchanging a few words can be draining.
Ezkhiel’s firm dissuasion made Letticia internally lower her already-low opinion of the Baroness even further.
Based on what she had heard from Stella about the baroness’s reputation, she had assumed the woman was the typical overbearing mother-in-law who tries to crush her daughter-in-law’s spirit. But for even her own son to dislike her this much?
‘She might not throw water on me or fling an envelope of cash like in dramas, but I still don’t want to deal with her.’
In terms of social status and wealth, the Sharon Count family was far superior to the Bright Baron family. That made it all the more likely that the baroness would attempt to use clever emotional and verbal manipulation to break Letticia’s spirit.
It wasn’t hard to speak out against such nonsense, but that title of ‘future mother-in-law’ made things complicated.
‘If it comes down to it, I might just have to use my mom’s name as an excuse to leave.’
While Letticia was trying to think of a way to deal with it that would cause the least damage to her image, Ezkhiel spoke in a slightly trembling voice.
– This is something I need to handle. It’s a family matter—my family, not yours, Letty. So you really don’t need to worry.
“If she comes to me directly, then it becomes my matter, too.”
– No. That would just be you getting dragged into my issues. Just because you’re dating me doesn’t mean you have to deal with my parents.
Ezkhiel, unusually firm, clearly drew the line, and Letticia couldn’t argue further.
Even if two people are in a relationship, they can’t just jump into each other’s family problems so easily. Besides, Ezkhiel was only reacting this way out of concern that Letticia would be harmed by his family.
“Alright. But if we run into each other at a social gathering, I’ll deal with it.”
– That probably won’t happen, since you two move in different circles. But if it does, just greet her briefly and excuse yourself with something urgent.
“What kind of person is she that you’re warning me so seriously?”
Letticia found it strange that he was insisting so much, even knowing her personality, so she asked. Ezkhiel hesitated to answer.
He seemed reluctant—not because he didn’t want to speak, but because he was searching for the right words.
– …Whoever she talks to, she always ends up making the other person look like the bad one.
***
At the Wallace Count’s estate, the meeting—as always—proceeded with difficulty.
The first agenda was the ‘press policy’ proposed by Seraphina. When Letticia explained that she based it on materials received from Sharon Jewelry’s PR department, the three noble ladies immediately pushed back.
“You want the coverage to be mostly about the orphanage, not us? Why?”
“This is our event, not the orphanage’s. We took the time to attend, so if they don’t write about us, what’s the point?”
As Giselle and Evelyn voiced their complaints, Letticia pointed to the materials and explained.
“We need to emphasize that this is a charity event more than a concert. That’s what will set us apart from the other debutantes, and that will be good for our image too. The more attention the orphanage gets, the more people will be interested in us, since we’re the ones raising money for them. Plus, if we’re seen trying to gather donations for underprivileged children, won’t that raise our reputation for having good character?”
At the mention of ‘reputation for character,’ Giselle showed a flicker of interest. Then as now, there was no compliment more favorable for a bride-to-be than being said to have a kind and gentle nature. Especially among the older generation—many believed beauty and wealth were fleeting, but good character was everything.
However, Evelyn seemed less impressed. Perhaps she preferred being praised for her refinement over her virtue, as she still didn’t look convinced by Letticia’s words.
“I understand the importance of our character being recognized. But this is a concert. Are you saying we should give up on being evaluated for our refinement?”
“Lady Norton is right. We’ve all been practicing so hard to give our guests the best performance we can. Isn’t it unfair to focus only on the charity aspect and ignore everything else?”
Audrey sided with Evelyn and looked toward Seraphina. But Seraphina countered her cousin’s words in a strict tone.
“Lady Wallace, no matter how much this is a concert, the core purpose of this event is charity. Any evaluations of us are merely secondary—they should never be the goal.”
“Lady Eskis, even if we raise a little less for the orphanage, it’s not the end of the world. But if we don’t get proper recognition at the event we worked so hard to host, it could hurt our reputations.”
“In a charity event, what matters most is how well we communicate the cause to others—and how much that interest translates into real support. Even if we impress everyone with our sophistication, if we don’t meet our fundraising goal, we can’t call the event a success.”
Audrey frowned at Seraphina’s unflinching principle. Her expression showed she had no intention of agreeing. At that, Letticia tapped the table lightly to draw everyone’s attention to her.
“Lady Wallace’s concerns aren’t wrong, but as Lady Eskis said, the most important factor in a charity event is the amount of money raised. Unless we totally botch the performances, our level of refinement isn’t the main concern.”
“Lady Sharon, are you belittling our efforts? We’ve been practicing so hard—are you saying that all our hard work is meaningless?”
Giselle slammed the table and stood up, clearly upset. But Dayna shot her a sharp look and rebutted calmly.
“Lady Sharon simply reminded us of what the evaluation criteria are. She never said our practice was meaningless.”
“Isn’t that the same thing? You’re saying only the donation amount matters and that our refinement doesn’t count for anything! This concert is supposed to show off how well we can perform!”
“That would be true—if this were just a concert. But it’s a charity concert. And charity events are judged based on whether or not we reach our fundraising goals. Look at the articles written about the charity exhibition Lady Sharon and I hosted recently. They focused on how much money we raised, not the art pieces we showcased.”
Dayna had firsthand experience with hosting a successful charity event, which gave her words more weight than those who didn’t.
Even so, the three noble ladies looked unconvinced. Then Letticia pulled out her trump card—the one she had only told Dayna and Seraphina about before the meeting.
“Come to think of it, I completely forgot to mention this at the start. His Highness the Crown Prince has expressed interest in attending our concert, so we’ll need to prepare one more invitation.”
“What?! His Highness the Crown Prince?!”
“Is that true, Lady Sharon?”
At the mention of the Crown Prince, the atmosphere in the meeting room shifted immediately. Unlike the two who had been tipped off in advance, the other four were shocked and fired off questions at Letticia.
“Are you saying His Highness really plans to attend?”
“Yes. Sir Bright, his chief aide, contacted me directly to say that an invitation should be sent to the palace soon.”
“How could you forget something that important! His Highness is coming, my goodness…!”
Even as Giselle scolded her, she couldn’t hide the blush of excitement on her face. Evelyn, however, glared at her—clearly annoyed that Letticia had taken the spotlight. But since this was someone who had managed to invite the Crown Prince, there was little she could say.
“I didn’t expect His Highness to show any interest in our concert. Did you pull some strings for this, Lady Sharon?”
“Me? What power do I have to make something like that happen? It just so happened that His Highness recently became interested in welfare issues.”
Letticia gave a bright smile to Vanessa, who was looking at her in admiration. Then, she casually turned to Audrey and added,
“According to Sir Bright, His Highness wants to hear the nobility’s views on charity and welfare. So I think emphasizing that angle rather than refinement might be more appropriate.”
Audrey seemed to understand what Letticia was hinting at. After a brief silence, she turned to Seraphina and said.
“We can’t let His Highness be disappointed with our concert. We’ll follow Lady Eskis’s PR strategy.”
She couldn’t bring herself to say they’d follow Letticia’s words, so she chose to attribute it to Seraphina instead. Seraphina furrowed her brows but didn’t argue. Instead, she calmly declared to the group.
“Then I’ll take that as agreement from everyone on Lady Sharon’s policy. Also, Lady Sharon, please draft the invitation to His Highness and send it to the palace. Add him to the guest list as well.”
Letticia wanted to ask, ‘Can’t you write it instead?’—but technically, the person Matthias contacted, even indirectly, was her. So it made sense for her to do it.
Instead of using her trump card to smoothly wrap up the meeting, she now had to write a letter she really didn’t want to write. Clearly, everything came with a price.
