~Chapter 27~
A Strange Person
The way he spoke made it clear that this wasn’t just a formality.
For Eleanor, there was no reason to refuse his offer. It was certainly uncomfortable being with someone who disliked her, but it was far better than standing awkwardly in front of the Count’s front gate, waiting for a carriage.
“Then, thank you.”
Just as Karsian had said, the Royster family’s carriage was spacious and comfortable. It was large enough to fit four or five more people without any problem.
Yet, whether it was because of his large frame or his undeniable presence, the spacious carriage somehow felt smaller.
Even though she sat far from him, Eleanor was still on edge, worrying that their knees might accidentally touch. She gulped dryly.
Eleanor tried to forget his presence and absentmindedly looked out the window. Outside, the dusk was softly settling. The streets in the evening were quiet, with only the irregular sound of the wheels rattling.
Should she try to start a conversation? Normally, that would be the polite thing to do with other nobles.
But the Grand Duke of Royster was like her, not someone who enjoyed meaningless small talk. There was no need for fake pleasantries.
So, Eleanor remained silent, and Karsian, as if his invitation to ride with him had never happened, said nothing either.
The silence was finally broken when they were almost at the Duke of Astria’s estate.
“May I send you letters?”
“…Pardon?”
“I asked if it would be alright to contact you by letter in the future.”
It was the first time she’d ever been asked such a question.
Even the most formality-loving nobles never asked permission to send letters. They didn’t think it was something worth asking about. So, was it Royster’s sense of manners? Or was he just a strange man?
She had a gut feeling it was the second.
“Yes, of course. But in case someone intercepts the letters, it might be better to discuss important matters in person.”
“…In person, you say?”
“Well, only if it’s not inconvenient for you.”
“It’s not inconvenient.”
“Then that’s good. Ah, could you let me off just up ahead?”
Eleanor pointed out the window with her finger. The gate to the Duke’s residence was now visible, not far away.
If the servants saw her getting out of the Royster family’s carriage, things could get unnecessarily complicated.
Karsian Royster had become a new card in her hand. Whether she could actually play it or not was uncertain, but it was better to keep such cards hidden for now.
Seeming to understand her intention, Karsian didn’t press for details and instructed the driver to stop the carriage.
“…I hope you stay well.”
“Yes, Your Grace, please return safely as well.”
At least their parting words were polite and proper. Eleanor turned to leave the carriage, bowing slightly.
The door opened, and a coachman extended his hand to help her down. Just as she was about to take his hand, she suddenly remembered something.
“Oh, wait.”
A thought crossed her mind.
Eleanor turned back to Karsian with a bright smile.
“Thank you. For saving me last time and for bringing me here today. I won’t forget it, and I’ll repay you.”
She had nearly forgotten to express her gratitude again. Even though there was no need for pretense, she couldn’t allow herself to be rude.
Karsian seemed slightly surprised by her smile. His red eyes wavered subtly.
But it was only for a brief moment. He quickly returned to his usual cold expression, turning his head away instead of replying. Eleanor wasn’t surprised and smiled to herself as she stepped lightly out of the carriage.
‘He’s a strange person.’
From his sudden appearance to his unexpected offer of alliance, and even the quiet ride in the carriage—none of it was anything she could have predicted.
In the end, all of it had worked in her favor, but instead of welcoming it, Eleanor felt cautious.
She had experienced enough to know not to blindly welcome good fortune. Luck was just another name for uncertainty, and it could turn into misfortune at any moment.
Though she was grateful for his help today, she planned to end it there.
‘I did agree earlier, but… if I don’t contact him, that’ll be the end of it.’
Karsian Royster wouldn’t reveal her secret.
From his behavior today, Eleanor was confident of that. Whether she asked for his help or not, he wasn’t someone who would go out of his way to help the Crown Prince.
‘It seems I won’t have any reason to see him for a while.’
When Eleanor glanced back, she saw the black carriage still there. Without hesitation, she turned away and walked through the front gates.
The Royster family’s carriage didn’t leave until she had completely disappeared from view.
There was quite a commotion at the Duke of Astria’s mansion.
The fact that Lady Eleanor had returned on foot, rather than in the carriage she left in, caused quite a stir.
The surprised servants hurried to greet her, and when the head maid, Mary, heard the news, she rushed out to check on her condition.
“Lady Eleanor! Wh-what in the world happened? How did you end up walking back here?”
“Well, there wasn’t a carriage for me…”
“No carriage? What do you mean? That makes no sense!”
Eleanor glanced around and noticed that a few of the servants were pretending not to listen, but they were clearly eavesdropping on her conversation with Mary.
With a sorrowful expression and a bitter tone, Eleanor muttered softly,
“Nora sent my carriage away. She said she could just ride with Arlo and didn’t need it…”
“What…!”
Mary’s face contorted in shock and anger. She looked like she wanted to hurl insults at Nora right then and there, but since the Duke of Astria had ordered them to treat Nora as a noble lady, she couldn’t, and it was eating her up inside.
“So you really walked all the way from the Count’s mansion to here?”
“Yes, they wouldn’t even send for a carriage. So, I ended up being a little late.”
In truth, she had only walked for about five minutes, but Eleanor pretended it had been a much longer, exhausting walk.
“My goodness, the road is so far and difficult!”
“I’m fine, Mary. I guess I’ll have to get used to being treated like this…”
“Miss…”
“I’m tired. I’d like to rest now. I’ll head upstairs.”
Eleanor, her head bowed like a sorrowful figure, began to climb the stairs. Mary followed her, looking like she might burst into tears at any moment.
Not long after, the sound of the maids whispering to one another began to spread.
“Did you hear that just now?”
“They said Nora deliberately sent the carriage away! She wanted to ride with the Crown Prince and made Miss Eleanor walk back all by herself.”
“My goodness, how awful. She’s lived her whole life as a noble lady.”
“But do you think it’s true?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, Natalie said Miss Eleanor has been secretly trying to bring Nora down with lies. Could this be another one of those lies?”
“Impossible!”
“Let’s go ask Tobias! He was the one driving the carriage. He’ll know the truth!”
The group of whispering maids quickly ran off toward the stables. Tobias, the coachman who drove Eleanor’s carriage, would surely know what had really happened. It wouldn’t take long before there was a new rumor about Nora.
‘Good. I played the poor victim well again today.’
Eleanor continued toward her room with light steps.
A little later, she encountered Hilda, who came running toward her with a rag in hand.
“Miss, how was the dinner party?”
Hilda hadn’t yet heard the news that her lady had walked home without a carriage. She’d been busy cleaning the room, a task she still enjoyed even though, as Eleanor’s personal maid, she no longer had to do such chores. Cleaning helped clear her mind.
Eleanor glanced at Hilda’s face in surprise. It had only been a few hours since she had left the mansion, but Hilda looked much paler than she had earlier. The reason was obvious: she had been worrying about whether Eleanor had been mocked for wearing the hat she had made.
“Everyone said I looked more stylish than usual. They also said the hat was beautiful.”
“R-really? Oh, thank goodness. I was so worried…”
There was no need to spoil her mood with the truth. Eleanor told a small lie out of kindness, and Hilda finally let out a relieved sigh.
“I’m just so glad you didn’t get any bad comments because of me,” Hilda said this while smiling brightly, but watching her innocent face somehow made Eleanor’s heartache.
“But guess who else was at the dinner? Nora and Arlo.”
“That crazy…! So that’s where they went!”
Smack! Hilda threw the rag she was holding onto the floor and cursed. The pure, innocent smile she had moments ago vanished in an instant.
Her quick change in demeanor was startling. Eleanor held back a laugh and continued.
“She even wore the hat she stole. And she said someone without any fashion sense gave it to her as a gift.”
“Wow! What a complete lunatic!”
“Pfft, that’s pretty harsh.”
Eleanor couldn’t hold back her laughter any longer. She had never felt this way before. She was starting to understand why the aristocrats enjoyed gossiping about others so much. It was surprisingly fun.
“Harsh? That’s me holding back! I mean, it’s true that my lady doesn’t have a good fashion sense, but what did she do to deserve this? It’s ridiculous for a hat thief like her to be talking big!”
Even though Hilda was harshly criticizing Nora, she couldn’t quite defend Eleanor’s lack of fashion sense.
‘Am I really that bad?’ Eleanor pursed her lips.
“Ahh! How should we get revenge? Maybe we should burn off all her hair so she can never wear a hat again! But that might leave too much evidence… Oh! How about we slip some hair-loss medicine into her food? If we add a little every day, no one will ever notice.”
“That’s a good idea, but…”
Hilda’s methods of revenge were much more vicious than expected. The sinister grin on her face as she plotted was a little creepy.
Eleanor made a mental note to never get on Hilda’s bad side.
“But I told you I have a plan. I’ll need your help… will you help me?”
“Of course! Whatever you need!”
“First, I need you to get close to the postman who delivers packages and letters to the mansion.”
“Oh, that’s easy! Actually, the postman, Mr. Jay, has a bit of a crush on me. He’s at least ten years older than me and already has kids, so I’ve been keeping my distance, but if I act friendly, he’ll do whatever I ask.”
“Hmm, I don’t know whether to be happy or sorry about that… Anyway, I’m counting on you. And I also need you to place an order at Filling Heights Jewelry under someone else’s name.”
“Okay! But… why Filling Heights? Are you going to buy more jewelry?”
Eleanor shook her head lightly. A smile of anticipation bloomed on her face.
“They do custom orders, don’t they?”
