“Dorothy.”
Dorothea spoke firmly.
“Ariadeline just ended up losing out, but don’t think you can deceive me. I know this was something you deliberately set up.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Did you think I would underestimate you?”
Dorothea let out a short, dry laugh.
“I can tell just by looking at your expression. We’re close, aren’t we?”
“…….”
The same was true for Dorothy.
As she gazed at Dorothea, she finally opened her mouth.
“Dorothea, are you disappointed in me?”
Tears of injustice fell from her eyes. Dorothea seemed surprised by her expression; her eyes widened for a moment.
“Dorothy, don’t cry.”
“He was someone I admired so much.”
“……Dorothy.”
“But she easily destroyed the opportunity I had gathered the courage to create.”
“…….”
“I don’t want to forgive her.”
Dorothea nodded as if she understood.
“I understand your feelings.”
“But you’re disappointed, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
Dorothea readily accepted it.
“But that doesn’t mean I’m disappointed enough to hate you.”
“Really?”
“Yes… However, if you were to pull a similar stunt again, I might come to hate you.”
“…….”
“Right now, you probably don’t want to apologize to her. So I won’t force you to. But I hope you won’t do something like this again, for your own sake.”
“……I understand.”
In the end, Dorothy nodded obediently. Dorothea smiled with a sigh, as if content with this.
After their conversation ended, Dorothy’s friends approached hesitantly.
Since Dorothea had spoken to her like that and she still wouldn’t budge, it seemed pointless for them to say anything.
“Oh, are you done talking?”
“Ah, when did you all get here?”
“We just arrived.”
They pretended not to have heard the conversation and approached Dorothy.
“How are you feeling, Dorothy?”
“Oh, yeah, I’m fine.”
Dorothy’s eyes were slightly red. Her friends decided to remain silent and focused on comforting her.
No matter what, Dorothy was their friend. And since Dorothy had promised Dorothea she wouldn’t do such things again, they felt things would be okay going forward.
With that, the four of them returned to the reception room.
Carlothian and Ariadeline greeted them in a rather unusual manner.
Click.
“Ah.”
“What are you two doing?”
“…….”
Carlothian had Ariadeline sitting on his lap, and there was something strange about their gazes.
No matter how one looked at it, it seemed like they had been caught in an intimate moment. As soon as Ariadeline saw them, she was startled and pushed Carlothian’s face away.
“Ah.”
“Hahaha! So, what happened was… um, it was cold!”
Ariadeline made a feeble excuse as she hurriedly got off his lap. She then sat on the sofa and awkwardly rubbed her cheek.
“Um, you two seem to be getting along well.”
“Not particularly.”
Ariadeline waved her hands dismissively. But it was pointless to make excuses after being in such a position just moments ago.
“We should probably be going now.”
“Oh, then I should see you off.”
Ariadeline hurriedly stood up to escort them. Dorothy turned her head with a huff, while her friends smiled awkwardly.
Dorothea stayed behind for a moment with Carlothian, while Ariadeline, Dorothy, and her friends made their way to the first-floor hall.
“Thank you for visiting.”
“…… It’s nothing. We also had a good experience.”
Angela spoke in a slightly awkward tone, though Dorothy remained tight-lipped.
The four of them were about to get into the carriage when Ariadeline suddenly called out to Dorothy.
“Lady Antrue.”
“……What is it?”
“It might be too late to say this, but…”
Ariadeline smiled bitterly as she spoke.
“I truly regret what happened in the past.”
“……Now, of all times?”
“Right? It’s quite brazen to bring it up now. Still, I wanted to apologize.”
“…….”
Dorothy bit her lip tightly and then jumped into the carriage without a word. Only her friends exchanged glances with Ariadeline and offered their farewells.
Tap.
The door closed, and the carriage started moving. Dorothy continued to stare out of the carriage window, still with her lips tightly pressed.
Her friends, subtly glancing at her, slowly began to speak.
“To be honest, it does seem like she’s changed.”
Dorothy didn’t respond. Her friends, not expecting a reply from her, began to speak quietly among themselves.
“How should we put this?”
“People will probably think that all the talk about Ariadeline changing is just false rumors.”
“Well, we don’t need to actively correct that, but…”
They felt a twinge of guilt for what they had done. At that moment, Scarlett cautiously spoke up.
“By the way, am I the only one who noticed the scars on her wrist?”
The inside of the carriage fell silent at those words. Even Dorothy, who had been looking out the window, turned her head.
“Scars? What kind of scars?”
At Dorothy’s question, the three hesitated. After a moment, they finally spoke.
“On her wrist…”
They spoke as if it was too terrible to describe.
“There were… so many marks on her wrist that looked like she had cut it herself…”
“What do you mean?”
Dorothy paused for a moment.
“What on earth happened to her outside the capital?”
“She’s a sinner. She is a sinner, but…”
They were deeply disturbed. And Dorothy, who had learned about this late, was also shaken.
‘Being hated is quite painful.’
‘Right? It’s quite brazen to bring it up now. Still, I wanted to apologize.’
She remembered Ariadeline’s awkward smile. Ariadeline had changed. It was something Dorothy didn’t want to accept at all.
But what if she had gone through immense suffering? What if her days had been painful enough to change her?
Dorothy’s eyes wavered.
Her friends also sighed. The atmosphere inside the carriage returning to the Count’s mansion was heavy.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
‘Oh, it’s finally all over.’
I sighed inwardly and tapped my shoulders. Just then, Dorothea approached me.
“I just came to see your face. I’m sorry for suddenly interrupting.”
“It’s fine. There’s no need to apologize.”
Well, if you hadn’t been here, things might not have been resolved so neatly.
Thinking that, I nudged her gently.
“You must be busy, so you should head back now.”
“Ah, since I saw Ariadeline, I should start heading back soon.”
“Thank you so much for today.”
After seeing Dorothea off, I turned to Carlothian. He was looking shamelessly at me.
I approached him, gritting my teeth.
“What were you thinking, putting someone on your lap like that?”
“So they wouldn’t get hurt.”
“Even so, people almost misunderstood.”
“What misunderstanding?”
“You’re someone who’s supposed to get married later, after all.”
“What does that have to do with this?”
What kind of nonchalant attitude is this? I scowled deeply and questioned him.
“Do you perhaps like me?”
“What?”
“Are you planning to remarry me?”
“I’ve never heard such ridiculous talk in all my life.”
“No, I mean, if that’s not the case, then why are you doing things that could cause scandal with me?”
At that point, Carlothian’s brow naturally furrowed. Do I really have to say it explicitly for him to understand? I felt like this man had no idea how to treat a woman.
How many years had he spent only looking at Dorothea? No, he hadn’t even held her hand once.
‘Why would he do that to me?’
I guess I don’t seem like a woman to him at all. I thought about it for a moment, then extended a finger toward him and said.
“Usually, you don’t put any woman on your lap.”
“I know that.”
So he knows! Huh?!
I felt frustrated and pressed my forehead. Carlothian nodded, as if he understood.
“As long as it’s not just any woman, it’s fine, right?”
Thanks for the chapter