Chapter 39: Let the Show Begin
“Goodness, Lady Vandermeer, what has happened to your face…?”
“I’m more surprised she even stepped outside looking like that. Has she completely lost her mind?”
The moment Aracilla entered, ghostly pale and sickly, the guests murmured in shock.
But she paid them no mind, her gaze locked onto the Grand Madam’s table as she slowly crossed the hall.
By the time she arrived at the table, even the Grand Madam looked momentarily unsettled.
“Do you have no sense at all? How shameless must you be to appear in public in such a disgraceful state—”
Ignoring the Grand Madam’s words, Aracilla opened her handbag.
Though her movements weren’t dramatic, every eye in the room was on her.
A peculiar silence settled over the hall as she slowly retrieved something from inside.
Slender, pale fingers held a single purple violet.
Why does she have that…?
The noblewomen seated at the Grand Madam’s table exchanged glances, confused.
Then, something even more shocking happened.
Thud.
Aracilla dropped the purple violet—right in front of the Grand Madam.
The entire room gasped.
Then, Aracilla finally spoke.
“Grand Madam, I must speak because I feel like I’m going to die at this rate.”
Her clear, ringing voice carried effortlessly through the hall.
“For the past week, I have done everything you commanded. Even when the tasks were beneath the dignity of a noble, I did not refuse.”
She raised her blistered hands to her chest, ensuring everyone could see them.
“But no matter how much I tried, you still refuse to accept me. So tell me—what more must I do? Should I be publicly punished here? Should I scrub the floor with a towel again? Or would kneeling at your feet and begging finally satisfy you?”
In battles of reputation, the first to strike always had the advantage.
Before coming to the tea party, Aracilla had instructed Audrey to obtain a single purple violet.
Before the Grand Madam could stand her up and throw flowers at her in humiliation, Aracilla would throw the first strike and ruin the Grand Madam’s image instead.
She hadn’t even needed to find anyone to support her—because support would come naturally.
She wanted her tears to glisten in her crystal-clear blue eyes.
Unfortunately, they weren’t coming as easily as she had hoped.
So instead, she buried her face in her hands, pretending to sob.
Seeing her shoulders tremble slightly, people began to whisper.
Unlike the Grand Madam’s loyal followers, many of today’s guests were neutral nobles.
“Did you hear what Lady Vandermeer just said? ‘Again’—that means the Grand Madam really did order her to do those things.”
“I assumed the rumors were exaggerated, but maybe they weren’t.”
“Oh my… even the Grand Madam of Vandermeer wouldn’t go this far, would she?”
Most of them had already heard the recent rumors about Aracilla and the Grand Madam.
Power struggles between noble in-laws were common in the early days of marriage.
But when things went too far, even indifferent nobles started to disapprove.
Locking her up without food, forcing her to work like a servant, beating her with a whip…
Many had initially dismissed the rumors, but now, seeing Aracilla in this state, they weren’t so sure.
“Poor Lady Vandermeer… She must be truly desperate to act like this.”
“Seeing her cry like that, I feel terrible. She’s about my daughter’s age, you know.”
“My household only has daughters as well… This makes me anxious for their future.”
If the Grand Madam’s plan had gone as expected, these nobles would have helped destroy Aracilla’s reputation.
But because Aracilla struck first, she had turned the tide in her favor.
Their sympathy was shifting toward her, subtly strengthening her position.
Noticing the shift in atmosphere, the Grand Madam let out a dry laugh.
She had always known Aracilla was bold, but she hadn’t expected her to turn the tables so skillfully.
Ha! So she managed to find the flower on the invitation? Cunning girl.
Suppressing her rising anger, the Grand Madam slowly stood, maintaining an air of arrogance.
She had to admit—Aracilla had guts to challenge her so openly.
But in terms of verbal combat in high society, the Grand Madam was far more experienced.
If this was a real fight, there was no way a mere girl could outmatch her.
“You disgrace yourself by bringing private household matters into public—”
She had intended to speak forcefully, reminding everyone that she was still the highest authority in the Vandermeer Duchy.
But before she could finish, Aracilla collapsed.
“Ah… my head…”
Pressing a hand to her temple, she swayed dramatically before crumpling to the floor.
“Gasp! Lady Vandermeer has fainted!”
“Someone, fetch a doctor!”
The Hounds estate erupted into chaos.
It wasn’t every day that someone collapsed at a noble gathering.
People scrambled in confusion, unsure what to do.
Lying on the floor, looking as fragile as a flower cruelly trampled underfoot, Aracilla’s complexion was deathly pale.
No one suspected she was faking it.
“Madam—!”
At that moment, three maids rushed in from the open hall doors, panting.
Audrey led the way, followed by two other Vandermeer estate maids.
They immediately knelt beside their mistress, checking her condition with frantic hands.
Secretly, Aracilla poked Audrey’s fingers.
This was the signal they had agreed upon beforehand.
Audrey, understanding instantly, launched into a flawless performance.
“Grand Madam, how could you?! Even if you dislike her, how could you torment someone like this?!”
Tears welled in Audrey’s eyes as she turned toward the Grand Madam in fury.
“Since the day you arrived, our Madam hasn’t slept more than three or four hours a night! She hasn’t even had a single proper meal! Do you not see what you’ve done?! You’re killing her! You might as well kill me instead!”
Her desperate, tearful outburst shook the gathered nobles.
Limp in her maids’ arms, Aracilla internally marveled.
Wow. Audrey could be a theater actress.
Meanwhile, the Grand Madam was left stunned.
She had barely gotten a word in before Aracilla collapsed, and now—before she could even recover—her maid was shouting accusations at her.
She clenched her jaw in frustration.
“How dare a mere maid raise her voice in front of me?! Are you saying I caused this?!”
“Grand Madam, do you not remember making Madam clean the estate like a common servant?”
One of the other maids spoke up, tears streaming down her face.
“Just yesterday, you ordered her to clean the guest room windows alone! She has been overworked day after day— how could her body endure it?!”
Though this maid didn’t outright accuse the Grand Madam, her words were damning.
And then—
“Sob, sob! Our poor Madam! Even though she’s suffering, she never complained and always put us first! How could we ever repay her kindness?!”
The third maid dramatically wept over Aracilla’s limp body, amplifying the tragic effect.
Watching her maids overperform beyond expectation, Aracilla struggled to keep the corners of her lips from twitching.
Whew. Good thing I brought two more maids with me.
And so, among the onlookers who had witnessed everything, a storm of unease spread like turbulent waves on the sea.
The more they listened, the more the Grand Madam’s actions seemed utterly inhumane.
“My goodness, depriving her of sleep and food—isn’t that considered torture? And on top of that, forcing her to work? That’s no different from treating her like a prisoner.”
“I can’t believe something like this is happening within the distinguished House Vandermeer. Lady Vandermeer is also someone’s precious daughter—how could she be treated like this?”
“Now that I think about it, didn’t the Grand Madam have similar conflicts with the late first Duchess of Vandermeer?”
“That’s right. That poor woman passed away… and now history seems to be repeating itself.”
As public opinion turned increasingly against the Grand Madam, her supporters—the noblewomen loyal to her—hesitated, struggling to find a way to counter the tide.
It was blatantly clear who the villain and victim were in this situation.
Defending the Grand Madam was nearly impossible.
“D-Don’t you think the Grand Madam must have had her reasons? How could she have known Lady Vandermeer was so frail?”
The Countess of Hounds finally gathered the courage to speak in the Grand Madam’s defense.
However, the other noblewomen, well aware of their close ties, simply ignored her.
There was no benefit in supporting an argument so clearly biased.
Realizing she was about to be left to take the fall alone, the Grand Madam felt her blood pressure surge.
Her plan had been to expose Aracilla’s insolence through the Passing of the Purple Violets, force her into submission, and make her kneel at her feet.
She had never intended to be publicly branded as the cruel grandmother-in-law who tormented her granddaughter-in-law until she collapsed.
“My dignity! My reputation!”
Just as the Grand Madam clutched the back of her neck in frustration, the Hounds estate’s family doctor arrived.
Aracilla was promptly moved to the drawing room for examination, and the tea party fell apart.
“Make sure today’s attendees keep their mouths shut.”
As she left the estate, the Grand Madam ordered the Countess of Hounds to suppress any rumors.
It was a desperate attempt to stop the scandal from spreading through high society.
But even if the Countess somehow managed to silence the guests, nothing would have changed the disaster waiting for her the next day.
The Most Notorious Newspaper in Setron, , Received an Anonymous Tip.
The tip claimed that during the Hounds estate’s tea party, a certain Lady K was planning a secret affair with an opera singer.
Coincidentally, among the noblewomen attending the event, there were quite a few whose names started with K—
Kate.
Camilla.
Carrie.
Eager for a potential scoop, Hyena sent a reporter to investigate.
Disguised as a food delivery worker, the reporter entered the tea party, scanning the crowd for a noblewoman behaving suspiciously.
But instead, he stumbled upon something far more shocking.
“A fight between the Grand Madam of Vandermeer and the newlywed Lady Vandermeer?!”
His journalistic instincts kicked in immediately.
Watching the usually dignified nobles expose their ugly sides was an exhilarating spectacle.
And when Aracilla collapsed, he almost leaped to his feet and shouted—
“Breaking news!”
An elderly duchess-in-law fighting her granddaughter-in-law, only for the young bride to collapse mid-confrontation?
What journalist wouldn’t salivate over this?
Suffering from an incurable addiction to scandalous headlines, the reporter’s mind exploded with sensational article ideas.
“A Distinguished House’s Darkest Secret? Why Does the Newlywed Duchess Cry Every Night?”
“How Long Must We Watch Husbands’ Families Torment Their Wives? Exposing the Outdated Traditions of a Certain Duchy.”
“The Tragic Fate of Duchess A—A Rushed Marriage Ends in Disaster.”
His fingers itched to start writing.
He had failed to catch the supposed affair between the mysterious Lady K and the opera singer.
But who cared?
He had found something even better.
That night, after confirming reports that Aracilla had collapsed due to severe stress and malnutrition, he worked through the night, feverishly crafting his article.
And by the next morning—
His story turned the entire Setron Empire upside down
