However, Letticia’s feelings vanished at Seraphina’s next words.
“I heard that the lady caused a disturbance at the tea party of Lady Casillis, even going as far as pouring tea over her head. Is that true?”
Her comment stirred the crowd, and Melanie, who was hiding behind her, decided to chime in.
“That’s right. On top of that, she even made my mother and brother kneel before her!”
“Made them kneel?! The Countess of Casillis and her son?”
“How could something like that happen between two counts?”
“What on earth happened?!”
The entire crowd began murmuring in shock at Melanie’s words.
For royalty, it might be one thing, but it’s rare for a countess and the heir of a noble family to be forced to kneel before anyone, not even a Marquess or a Duke. This was no ordinary matter.
But despite everyone’s shock, Letticia gave no response. Instead, the young Lady Campbell next to her shouted in anger.
“That happened because of you! You’re leaving out all the details and making it seem like only Lady Sharon did something wrong! How can you be so cowardly?”
“Even if that’s true, was it really enough to force the Countess and the heir of a noble house to kneel?”
“Oh, you’re utterly delusional. Unbelievable.”
Even Stella couldn’t hide her incredulity and shook her head. Knowing what had truly happened that day, she found Melanie’s accusations utterly shameless.
Letticia, with her arms crossed, also looked at Melanie with cold disdain and mocked her.
“It’s really amazing. Did you go around telling people that like it was something to be proud of?”
“So it really did happen?”
“Ultimately, yes.”
As Letticia confirmed, everyone gasped.
Seraphina, her face red with anger, raised her voice.
“How could you do something like that? If you’re a debutante personally selected by Her Majesty the Empress with the title of Diamond, then you should act accordingly!”
“Don’t speak carelessly when you don’t know the whole story, Lady Eskis!”
Lady Campbell shouted in support of Letticia, but Seraphina didn’t even respond. Instead, with a cold voice and an earnest expression, she spoke to Letticia.
“Being drunk on your privileges and honor, trampling over others, only shows your true nature. Do you think being chosen as a Diamond grants you the right to force other nobles to kneel? And that’s why you humiliated the countess and her son, and degraded a Lady to such a disgraceful state?”
“If you don’t know the circumstances, it’d be best not to meddle. I’m assuming you haven’t heard why I did what I did?”
“Regardless of the circumstances, there’s a line that shouldn’t be crossed!”
“There are indeed situations in this world that force you to cross certain lines, Lady,”
Letticia replied cynically, casting a glance at Melanie.
“Let me correct one thing first: it wasn’t me whom the Countess and her son knelt before. They knelt before my mother. And my mother never ordered them to do so; they did it voluntarily to apologize for your wrongdoing.”
“They knelt voluntarily?”
Shock was apparent in Seraphina’s emerald eyes.
Letticia smiled slightly as she continued.
“Yes, to apologize for not raising their daughter properly, of their own accord. Oh, and I nearly forgot—Lady Casillis knelt too, or rather, was forced to kneel by her brother. Even with her mother and brother bowing down for her sake, she still failed to grasp the situation and kept shouting, wondering what exactly she had done wrong.”
“What could Lady Casillis have done to warrant such actions?”
Seraphina voiced the question that had been on everyone’s mind as they watched the scene unfold. Letticia looked at Melanie with a relaxed expression.
“Well, it’s difficult for me to say… since the Countess and her son went so far as to apologize, we agreed not to make it an issue. I never expected the young lady herself would go around spreading the story.”
“…..…”
“If you’re so sure of yourself, why not recount it here? Tell us what you called me and my father at the tea party.”
At Let5icia’s words, Melanie flinched, glaring at her.
Though she didn’t believe what she’d said was wrong, her expression showed she knew admitting it would put her at a disadvantage.
“What’s the matter? Go ahead, Lady Eskis would love to know.”
“…No matter what I said, it was your family that made my mother and brother kneel.”
Melanie tried to shift the focus, but Letticia had no intention of letting it slide.
“Technically, it wasn’t me; it was you who brought it upon yourself. If you hadn’t said those words, they wouldn’t have had to kneel. Do you feel better justifying yourself by blaming others and thinking you’re somehow not at fault?”
“How dare you say that!”
Melanie protested loudly, stung by Letticia’s sharp remark, but Letticia continued without stopping.
“Of course, thinking you’re always the innocent one, that you’re purely good and unfairly treated, and the other party is always the bad one—life must be very comfortable that way. And when your family pays the price for it, well, that’s just what loving parents do for their dear daughter, isn’t it?”
“Lady Sharon, that’s too harsh!”
Seraphina interjected, but Letticia just shrugged.
“Well, here it seems Lady Eskis is willing to take up the defense, so you can keep pretending to be the victim. Or is it not pretending if you genuinely think you’re the victim? That’s why you told her everything, not realizing it’d be your own undoing.”
“What are you implying by saying I’m pretending to be a victim? All I did was call you a *‘half-bread.’ Is it really such a big deal? Calling a parvenu a *parvenu isn’t something worth kneeling over!”
Finally, Melanie exploded, grabbing a glass of champagne and flinging it toward Letticia.
However, since Letticia had already noted the champagne’s position, she quickly stepped back, and the glass shattered on the floor without reaching her.
The loud shattering of glass was barely noticeable amidst the murmuring of shocked onlookers.
“No wonder Lady Sharon was angry. How could she stay quiet when her father was insulted like that?”
“Exactly. Considering the Countess of Sharon’s personality, it’s fortunate she didn’t banish them from high society altogether.”
“Her kneeling was probably to prevent that, really. I feel sorry for the Countess of Casillis.”
“No, the real mistake was letting her daughter stay here. If she wanted to avoid bringing shame to the family, she should have sent her back west immediately.”
Suddenly, the mood had shifted in Letticia’s favor.
Even those who had initially been appalled at the thought of the kneeling now nodded in understanding.
“What on earth is going on here?!”
A loud shout rang through the ballroom, where the music had already stopped.
Countess Freke, who had previously been known for her gentle demeanor, pushed through the crowd, enraged, and shouted at Melanie.
“Lady Casillis, leave my ball at once. Now!”
“Countess, I—”
“Now!”
Tears welled up in Melanie’s eyes and began to roll down her cheeks, completely wetting her face. Yet no one felt sympathy for the tears filled with indignation and resentment.
“Crying like she’s done nothing wrong—so shameless.”
“In my day, even if the lady had challenged her to a duel, it would’ve been justified.”
“No matter how naive one might be, how could she say such things…?”
Only words of contempt and disgust filled the air.
Seraphina stared at Melanie in silence, while Letticia held herself back from reaching for a wine glass.
“Why is everyone reacting like this? Is it really that bad to call a parvenu a parvenu and a half-bread a half-bread? Isn’t it already generous to even call someone like her a lady?”
“If I had known you were capable of saying such things, I never would have invited you,”
Countess Freke replied coldly to Melanie, who looked to her for support. When the countess didn’t take her side, Melanie desperately turned to Seraphina.
“Lady Eskis, you’re on my side, aren’t you?”
“…Do you not see the mood in this room right now?”
Seraphina surveyed the room and spoke to Melanie in a far colder tone than before.
“Do you not understand how serious your words were, even after seeing everyone’s reactions? Do you not feel even a hint that maybe something was wrong?”
“But that woman made my mother and brother kneel! And I had to bow and apologize to that half-bread!”
Now Melanie had fully given herself over to shouting slurs.
Letticia almost picked up her wine glass again, but Seraphina was quicker in chastising Melanie.
“Did you ever ask why they had to go that far? Did you even try to understand what you did wrong? Did you learn nothing from what happened?”
“I… I didn’t do anything wrong! She’s the one in the wrong. If she hadn’t ruined my tea party—”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You were the one who ruined the tea party!”
Other young ladies who had attended the tea party stepped forward from the crowd, shouting in agreement.
With everyone condemning her, Letticia drew back her hand from the wine glass and threw a mocking smile at Melanie.
“If you’re so determined to think you’ve done nothing wrong, that you’re always right and always the victim, then go home and live in your little world. No matter how much you kick up a fuss here, it’s nothing more than a child’s tantrum.”
Melanie tried to lash out once more at Letticia’s words, but the guards summoned by the countess acted faster.
“Let go of me! Why am I the only one being treated like this?!”
As Melanie was escorted out of the ballroom alone, Seraphina looked on with a conflicted expression.
🍓;
*half-breed or of mixed, lesser lineage, which can be especially insulting in settings where bloodline purity or noble heritage is valued.
*a person who has recently or suddenly gained wealth, status, or power but is not accepted as part of the established elite, often because they lack the refinement or background associated with traditional high society. It’s used somewhat contemptuously to imply that, despite their new position, they are still seen as an outsider or socially inferior by those with ‘old money’ or aristocratic lineage.
