The next day, Philome woke up quite late.
Normally, Sophia would come to wake Philome if she overslept, but not today. Based on the fact that Sophia had just arrived and then left, it appeared she had purposely let Philome rest.
“Ugh… I can’t move my body…”
It seemed Philome would have to retract her earlier statement about not realizing how tiring things were for her yesterday with Kaien.
Even though it had been a while since she opened her eyes, she still couldn’t muster any strength in her body.
Perhaps because of all the greetings yesterday, her throat was also sore.
Philome managed to crawl to the bed’s edge and pull the bell cord with difficulty. Soon, Sophia entered the room.
“Oh, Miss!”
Sophia rushed over when she saw Philome lying in discomfort.
“When I came in earlier, you were asleep. When did you wake up?”
“Just before you went out earlier… I called you, but you left…….”
Because she called softly due to her lack of strength, Sophia didn’t hear her and just left.
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
Sophia handed her a glass of water.
After drinking two glasses in a row, Philome lay back on the bed comfortably.
Sophia massaged Philome’s arms.
Philome looked at the faint sunlight coming through the curtains and asked,
“What time is it now?”
“It’s 2 o’clock. Would you like to have your meal in the room?”
“No. Moving around will help me recover faster.”
“Fortunately, you don’t have a fever.”
It was quite surprising that she wasn’t running a fever, given how poorly she was feeling.
After resting a little more, Philome reluctantly got out of bed and finished her meal in the dining room.
Because she woke up late, the sun was setting soon after she finished eating.
Despite feeling tired, Philome didn’t want to go back to bed, so she lazily stretched out in the garden, basking in the afternoon sunlight.
The wind gently blew as Philome slowly closed her eyes, savoring the leisurely moment.
She felt a sense of relief knowing that she had successfully completed one of the major hurdles, her engagement ceremony. However, somehow it didn’t feel real.
“I really got engaged to the Duke.”
In essence, yesterday’s engagement marked a point of no return for Philome.
In social circles, there would be no one who didn’t know her face and name now, and there would be curious eyes watching her every move.
‘I wonder if Nadia will find out?’
She was curious about Emon’s reaction, too. Their relationship wasn’t particularly bad, although it couldn’t be considered good either.
As an alliance between families, they met regularly with some degree of courtesy, exchanging gifts and letters occasionally.
Emon had always acted gentlemanly in front of her, but Philome knew that he was actually a scoundrel with a rather poor temperament.
Even though he had never directly used violence or hurled insults, Philome had learned about his true nature through the rumors that reached her ears.
‘So Emon is the trash fiancé from the original story.’
Busy living her own life, Philome hadn’t paid much attention to the original story. All she wanted was for both herself and the heroine to live happily. That’s why she would occasionally give Emon lectures about happiness when they met.
It feels like just yesterday she was engaged to Emon, but so much has changed.
Philome realized this fact once again and stirred her dangling feet.
‘I can’t even see one step ahead of what’s to come.’
Just as she opened her eyes, she heard a faint noise and furrowed her brows.
The Wintbell estate was usually very quiet. With well-educated servants and a well-structured system, there was hardly any noise.
So, it was natural to be concerned about the slight disturbance.
“Sophia, what’s the commotion about?”
Sophia, who had been sitting lazily with Philome, soaking up the sunshine, got up from her seat with a sleepy expression.
“I’ll go check and come back.”
She stormed away.
Sophia hurried off. Philome watched her go and decided it was time to head back inside.
Just when she thought the commotion had died down, it grew louder.
“Philome!”
The voice was familiar.
“Where the hell is this ungrateful wench, Philome!”
Philome ran out of the garden in a panic.
She found the countess shouting in front of the mansion, blocked by knights. The countess was holding Sophia by the hair and squirming, while knights and servants struggled to pull them apart.
“Shopia! Shout for help! She cares for you!”
“Countess! I’m Sophia! Ahh!”
“Don’t waste time arguing back! Shout louder! That way, Philome will come out!”
For a brief moment, Philome and the Countess locked eyes.
The Countess looked surprised, as if she hadn’t expected Philome to appear.
“Keep your hands off her.”
As Philome approached, the servants stepped back.
“Ah, uh… you’ve come out?”
The Countess answered awkwardly, letting go of Sophia’s hair.
“Ack, miss……!”
“Look at your hair. Are you okay?”
“Uh, I think I have a bump…”
Sophia gasped, then scooted closer to Philome. Only after Philome was sure she was unharmed did she look back at the Countess.
Her face was flushed, and as she got closer, she could smell the strong odor of alcohol on her breath.
It was hard enough to deal with her sober, let alone drunk.
Philome swallowed a sigh and asked in a low voice.
“Why are you here?”
“Have you forgotten? I had such a hard time meeting you yesterday, and you just walked away without saying goodbye. You really haven’t learned anything, have you?”
Philome chuckled in disbelief.
“I learned those manners from you, Mother. Who else could I have learned from?”
“What, what?”
The Countess’s face trembled, but she cleared her throat and turned away.
“Ahem, I’m in a good mood today, so I’ll let you off the hook. Hurry up and fetch the Duke.”
“The Duke? Why?”
“Why, I meet the Duke every time I come here, so hurry up and fetch him. Honestly, I have nothing to say to you.”
“What?”
Philome gradually noticed something strange.
‘Mother’s reason for coming here isn’t to see me.’
Kaien had also told Philome yesterday that her family had come to meet her several times, and each time he had politely turned them away.
It didn’t make sense for her mother to claim she had nothing to discuss with her.
Suddenly, Philome remembered the jewelry she had seen the Countess wearing yesterday. It felt familiar, and her mind flashed back to a few days ago.
It was the day that Madame’s Salon had to help choose the engagement ring. Kaien had already weeded out the lesser-quality gems. The gem the countess was wearing was one of them.
‘No way.’
Philome swallowed dryly and looked at the Countess.
“Mother, did you receive money or jewelry from the Duke?”
“W-What are you talking about?”
…She had, hadn’t she? Philomena tightly closed her eyes and then opened them again.
The countess had stood outside the door and never once asked to be let in. Her behavior was not to gain entry but merely to announce her presence.
Now, understanding why she had been so flustered when Philome came out finally made sense.
She had only made a fuss on purpose to get money, so it was no wonder she was surprised when she actually came out.
“How much have you received all this time?”
“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The Countess remained silent, avoiding Philome’s gaze.
Realizing she wasn’t going to answer, Philome took a couple of steps back.
“Milady!”
At that moment, Sebastian, who had heard the commotion, urgently appeared.
“Sebastian.”
Sebastian bowed politely, showing no signs of being flustered by Philome’s sudden address.
“Yes, milady.”
“Please escort Countess Bonita out. She seems quite intoxicated, so it would be best to have her moved personally.”
“I will do so. I apologize for not anticipating the disturbance earlier.”
“Hey, hey! Philome! Call the Duke! Philome!”
Ignoring the Countess’s shouts, Philome returned to the mansion.
Even after entering her room, she stood still, prompting Sophia, who had quietly followed her, to cautiously approach.
“Miss.”
“Sophia. Did you know about this?”
I wonder how she will prevent them from leeching on her rich fiancé…