“Congratulations on dating Sir Bright. But tell me, why did I have to find out from some gossip rag? Aren’t we friends? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Dayna, I’m really sorry. Things have been so hectic lately that I completely forgot to tell you…”
Letticia hurriedly apologized, trying to soothe Dayna’s rising frustration. But Dayna wasn’t the type to let something like this go with a simple apology.
“You forgot? Do you have any idea how I felt when Stella handed me this and asked if I knew?”
“You must have felt awful. I know. It was completely my fault. I should have told you first.”
“How could you do this to me…!”
“I know, I know. I messed up. I should have told you right away…”
Letticia ended up spending a long time comforting Dayna, who was on the verge of tears and voicing her hurt feelings.
Letticia had never been good at consoling people, but since she was undeniably at fault this time, she had no choice but to endure it.
‘I absolutely have to keep it a secret that I told Seraphina first…’
If Dayna found out that she had shared the news with Seraphina, a Western noble she wasn’t even close with, before telling her best friend, she might genuinely demand an end to their friendship.
Letticia made a mental note to ask Seraphina to keep quiet about it. After much effort, she finally managed to calm Dayna down, but the lingering disappointment was still evident in her expression.
Trying to lighten the mood, Letticia glanced at the gossip paper beside them.
“Um… Dayna, is this gossip paper from a well-known publisher? I’ve never seen it before, and I didn’t even know a picture had been taken.”
“…It’s a really small publication. I’ve never even heard of it before this. It’s probably one of those third-rate gossip papers that stake out theaters and take random photos. Honestly, no one except people who know you and Sir Bright personally will believe it.”
Dayna sniffled as she wiped her tears with a handkerchief, answering in a slightly choked voice.
“Then where did you even see this? Do you actually read these kinds of papers?”
“I told you, Stella brought it. She reads every newspaper that comes out.”
“I wonder if she reads our Sharon Jewelry ads too. Should I check with our PR department?”
“…More importantly, when exactly did you two start dating?”
Dayna’s sharp question made Letticia shrink slightly as she answered in a small voice.
“About ten days ago…”
“Ten days?! We’ve seen each other in that time! Why didn’t you say anything?”
“We mostly met during rehearsals, didn’t we? And last time, I was busy dealing with that argument with Lady Eskis over the press coverage. I completely forgot because of that.”
“But still, you could have at least sent me a letter after you started dating!”
“I would have if I weren’t so busy! You know how big of a deal this relationship is for my family. I had to introduce him to my parents, discuss how to integrate it into Sharon Jewelry’s branding… There was just too much going on, and I didn’t have time to think about anything else.”
When Letticia brought up family matters, much of the hurt in Dayna’s expression faded. She could understand how overwhelming it must have been if Letticia was dealing with family responsibilities on top of everything else.
“Yeah… I guess that makes sense. You really must have been busy. I’m sorry for getting mad at you earlier, Letticia.”
“No, I should have been more considerate. I’ve been so caught up with the concert and everything else that I’ve been spending more time with Lady Eskis than with you.”
“Ugh, to be honest, I really hated seeing you around her so much.”
“Haha… I wasn’t too thrilled about it either.”
It wasn’t that Letticia completely disliked Seraphina—there were aspects of her personality that were admirable. But if someone told her she had to be friends with her, she would probably run in the opposite direction.
Letticia enjoyed casual conversations and lighthearted chatter, whereas Seraphina could talk for over an hour about her vision for an ideal aristocratic society or the responsibilities of the nobility.
“Still, compared to the other old noble families, she’s at least somewhat easier to deal with. Honestly, I barely talk to Lady Wallace or any of the others outside of meetings.”
“Same here. Even Vanessa feels the same way.”
“Oh, Lady Maynard? Now that you mention it, you seem to have gotten closer to her.”
“It seems like she doesn’t have many people she can talk to comfortably besides me.”
“She could just talk to me… Am I that unapproachable?”
Dayna gave Letticia a strange look before replying.
“Letticia, sometimes I think you completely forget your own status and lineage.”
Letticia quickly tried to deflect.
“That’s just because I spend most of my time with you guys. We even drop formalities when we’re together.”
“That’s different. We met you at the academy, so we see you differently. But to Lady Maynard, you’re someone way out of reach. You might not be as intimidating as Lady Eskis, but you’re still not someone she’d approach easily.”
“But she’s the daughter of a Viscount with a well-known family name! I don’t get why she’d think that way.”
“Among the seven of us, the Maynard family has the weakest standing—economically and in other ways.”
Most of the noble families that aligned with the neutral faction had, at some point, faced decline and had to merge with rising new nobles to survive—unless they were an exception like the Averil Dukedom.
It seemed that the Maynard family had either narrowly avoided ruin through a strategic marriage with a new noble family or had already collapsed and been absorbed by one.
“Then let’s invite her to one of our gatherings. It feels wrong that she’s in our group, but we’ve barely had a real conversation with her.”
“I’m glad you think that way. She’s actually a really decent person.”
Letticia smiled at Dayna, but a sudden thought crossed her mind, and she spoke without thinking.
“Dayna, do you know any civil servants?”
“Civil servants? Why do you ask all of a sudden? Is it because of Sir Bright?”
“No, it’s about Lady Averil.”
“Lady Averil? Why are you bringing her up?”
Hearing Ariette’s name so unexpectedly, Dayna looked puzzled. Since Letticia couldn’t reveal her true intentions, she decided to use Lenard and Ariette’s shopping trip as an excuse.
“Lady Averil has been buying jewelry from Sharon Jewelry lately, but every time she tries to shop alone, her brothers keep following her. So, I invited her over for tea as a private guest, and my brother agreed to join us.”
“What?!”
Dayna was so shocked that she immediately shot up from her seat.
“You invited Lady Averil? To the Sharon estate?!”
“Yeah, I already invited her a few days ago.”
“Are you sure you’re okay with this? After everything that happened because of her…”
“She already apologized through Freesia and even brought a letter of introduction from Marquess Brie. And to be honest, Lady Averil herself didn’t do anything wrong. If anything, this is a great opportunity to turn her into a loyal customer.”
“Hmm… I suppose that makes sense. The Duke’s family does have enormous buying power, but still…”
As expected from someone from a merchant family, Dayna seemed tempted by the idea of securing the Averils as customers. However, she still couldn’t shake off her unease. Letticia simply shrugged.
“Besides, my brother promised to keep her older brothers in check if they tried to interfere. If he hadn’t, I wouldn’t have even considered it.”
“Good. You should keep as much distance from those two as possible. Sir Achilles reputation in high society is awful.”
“How bad is it? Are there rumors that he hits women?”
“Worse. They say he raises his hand at women whenever he’s in a bad mood. No one invites him anywhere unless they’re desperate to marry their daughter into the Averil family. Even then, they only extend invitations if Sir Averil is attending as well.”
Hearing how bad Achilles reputation was, Letticia wondered if she should reassess his apology. If he had genuinely meant it despite everything, then maybe—just maybe—he had actually reflected on his actions.
“So, if the second brother is that bad, does that mean the eldest has a decent reputation? From what I remember, he was the one who kept running his mouth the most.”
“Well, technically, Sir Averil’s only official wrongdoing against you was calling for that hearing based on a misunderstanding. But honestly, I find him more unsettling than Sir Achilles. He’s always smiling, but he seems completely detached from other people. It’s… eerie.”
“I’d say that’s probably true.”
Letticia nodded in agreement, recalling Alexander’s unnerving, almost artificial smile.
Once they were done venting about the Averil brothers, they returned to their original topic.
“Anyway, since that’s the situation, I want to learn more about Lady Averil. My brother and brother Ken have told me a few things, but the more information, the better.”
“Hmm… One of my cousin’s friends works in the Ministry of Culture. I’ve heard some things—would that help?”
Fortunately, Dayna had useful information. When Letticia nodded, Dayna took a moment to gather her thoughts before sharing what she had heard.
“That friend works in a department right next to Lady Averil’s. From what they say, she’s basically an outcast in her office.”
“I’ve heard that too. Apparently, she skips department dinners and refuses to work overtime, so she’s not well-liked.”
So far, this matched what Lenard had previously told her. But from the way Dayna spoke, it seemed she had even more details to share.
