♡ TL: Khadija SK
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Hazel felt perplexed.
Her younger sister was impulsive and had an almost exaggerated blind confidence that made her prone to speaking freely, but she wasn’t the type to assert something without evidence.
“They say Lady Lance, the baron’s wife, has been going around claiming that April is the only one fit to be a duchess. That others lack the qualifications.”
“In the eyes of parents, their daughter is always the most beautiful.”
Hazel considered this natural.
Didn’t Lady Easton herself believe Hazel was a daughter she could present without shame to anyone? Though she never claimed Hazel was a perfect wife.
“Yes. If she’d said it a week ago, it would’ve been fine. But saying it now is a clear dismissal of our family.”
“And why is that?”
Charlotte hesitated for a moment.
Hazel caught hold of Charlotte as she tried to subtly pull back.
“You’re hiding something, aren’t you?”
“Well…”
“Tell me.”
Charlotte bit her lower lip.
“Charlotte, it seems you’ve forgotten, but since childhood, you’ve never been able to keep a single secret from me.”
Hazel meant that Charlotte would spill it eventually, so it was better to save energy and speak quickly.
Charlotte lowered her head and moved her lips.
“There’s… a rumor.”
“A rumor?”
“That Duke Theodore is courting you.”
“What?”
Hazel let out a soft cry, rare for someone who seldom showed strong emotional reactions.
Theodore had only visited the Easton household twice.
And during one of those visits, the drawing room had been crowded with Charlotte’s suitors.
“We haven’t gone out on a public date, so how did such a rumor spread?”
Hazel muttered to herself before giving a faint smile, as if realizing something.
She’d forgotten that Theodore wasn’t an ordinary person.
He was the kingdom’s most eligible bachelor.
In other words, every parent with a daughter had their eyes on him.
Every move, every word, could be like a butterfly’s wingbeat turning into a storm.
Yet one puzzling question remained unresolved.
If a rumor had spread, shouldn’t it have been about him courting Charlotte? Why had her name come up immediately?
‘In high society, I’m practically a negligible figure.’
As the eldest daughter of the Easton family, no one dared treat her lightly, but women of marriageable age and their families didn’t see her as competition.
Some even regarded her as an excellent advisor.
Yet the moment news of Theodore’s visit to the Easton family spread, a rumor linked her to him?
Hazel looked at Charlotte with suspicion.
Charlotte stared back with nervous eyes.
The two locked gazes without blinking, as if in a staring contest.
“Sorry.”
Charlotte raised the white flag first.
She rubbed her eyes, which had started to ache. Hazel softened her intense gaze and composed her expression with seriousness.
“Sorry, sister.”
“You’re the one who spread the rumor, aren’t you?”
“Not exactly.”
Charlotte explained how the rumor began.
After Theodore visited the Easton family, she received letters from several friends asking about the purpose of his visit.
Charlotte had wanted to say he’d offered Hazel an engagement ring, but fearing Hazel’s reproach, she resorted to hinting instead:
[I think the duchess’s seat might be filled before the year’s end.]
The replies came instantly:
[Dear Charlotte, will you be reserving your wardrobe at Bluehouse in Kilbridge? I look forward to dinner at Bluehouse.]
Kilbridge was Theodore’s feudal estate, and Bluehouse was the historic palace where the ducal family had resided for generations.
Asking about her wardrobe there was a direct way of asking, “Are you to become the duchess?”
Charlotte couldn’t bear this misunderstanding. So she had to correct it, even if it angered Hazel.
If it was misconstrued, a rumor might spread that the sisters were vying for the same man!
The idea of a rumor about a feud with Hazel was more detestable to her than any scandal involving a man, so she hastily wrote a reply.
“What did you write?”
“That an invitation to Bluehouse would come in my elder sister’s name.”
Hazel sighed heavily after hearing Charlotte’s response. She really had started the rumor.
“Are you mad, sister?”
When Hazel didn’t answer, Charlotte fidgeted with her fingers nervously.
Hazel shook her head.
She’d promised to meet Theodore ten times, and rumors were bound to spread sooner or later.
Still, she felt annoyed on Theodore’s behalf. Sudden rumors weren’t pleasant for anyone.
“How could I be mad? You didn’t mean to. But Charlotte, I hope you’ll be more careful with your letters from now on.”
“Okay, I will. I’m sorry.”
This time, Hazel hugged Charlotte.
Charlotte hadn’t expected the contents of her letter to leak out.
“Shall we return to talking about the Lance family’s ball?”
Charlotte wriggled out of Hazel’s embrace.
“Since the rumor says Duke Theodore is courting you, the baron’s attempt to pair April with him is a blatant insult to our family.”
It was acceptable for men to compete over a woman, but not the reverse.
Even for a daughter of a prominent family, approaching a man tied to another woman was taboo.
That was the custom in the kingdom, but…
There was an exception.
If the other woman was vastly beneath the man in status—like a nobleman and a commoner—a woman of equal standing could pursue him.
“Sister, we can’t overlook this!”
Charlotte clenched her fists and trembled with anger. Hazel took her fists in both hands to calm her.
“Hush, calm down, Charlotte.”
“How can I calm down? This is about you… They’re doing this knowing your past.”
Charlotte’s eyes reddened. She looked ready to cry at any moment, her eyes filling with tears as she bit her lower lip to hold them back.
Hazel’s past.
Her decision to reject marriage and live alone was certainly her choice, but her resentment toward the unfairness of the marriage system and the narrow life available to women might trace back to her origins.
She was indeed Hazel Easton, but not of the Easton family by birth.
Hazel gently reached out to stroke Charlotte’s hair and cheek.
“Charlotte, it doesn’t matter what others think.”
Hazel hugged Charlotte tightly and slowly closed her eyes. She appeared calm outwardly, but her heart was in turmoil.
Whenever she faced her past and origins, a storm raged in her chest.
Or rather, she felt lost. Despite being twenty-five, an age late for an identity crisis.
‘I was raised an Easton… and every member of the Easton family acknowledges me as an Easton.’
But others didn’t.
Rigid nobles pretended to treat her with respect and kindness on the surface, but behind her back, they drew a dividing line, emphasizing her difference, eagerly searching for any distinction with prying eyes.
Hazel felt hurt. But she couldn’t show it.
Doing so would wound the Easton couple who raised her as their daughter, Andre who saw her as his true elder sister, and Charlotte who got angry on her behalf in situations like this.
Hazel pressed her lips shut tightly and quelled the storm battering her chest.
“Charlotte, are you done crying?”
“I didn’t cry. Even if I did, it wasn’t from sadness. It was from anger!”
“Of course. You’re a strong girl.”
“Naturally! I’m strong because I take after you. Remember? When you knocked down that man following me with one punch? You said you learned it from a novel. That was amazing!”
“Did that happen?”
As Hazel sifted through her memories, Charlotte continued.
“When I was little, Isabelle mocked me, called me ugly, and pulled my ribbon. You scolded her until tears streamed from her eyes and reprimanded Lady Frickett sternly for not teaching her manners properly. You were truly incredible.”
“I was rude. She was older than me, and I hadn’t even debuted yet, but I scolded her. I didn’t know right from wrong because I was young.”
Charlotte furrowed her brows.
“Sister, I loved that version of you. Not that I don’t love you now! But you’re so cautious these days…”
Hazel understood well what Charlotte meant.
She hoped Hazel would live freely and boldly as she had in childhood, speaking her mind without hesitation or fear.
But Hazel couldn’t.
She realized this after her debut.
Every time she thought she was acting justly and moving freely, she’d hear what was said behind her back:
“Truly, a girl without lineage is different from those of proper birth. How can she be so ignorant… I pity Viscount Easton and his wife.”
“Doesn’t she know her insolence stains the Easton family’s reputation? Who’d want to ally with the Eastons now? Their eldest daughter is that arrogant.”
She could endure any insults aimed at her. But she couldn’t bear seeing Viscount Easton’s family reputation tarnished.
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