Chapter 14
As soon as Harold received the telegram from the Anais Guild, he immediately stopped his work and left. Harold was someone who valued a structured life and rarely did anything outside his planned schedule.
Given his terminal illness, a misfortune beyond his control, Harold believed he had to be perfect to protect himself. He hated anything around him that he couldn’t control. Especially Diana’s mysterious powers, which were the only key to freeing him from his illness. The fact that she was moving in secret without telling him was making him anxious in more ways than one.
If even Evan was feeling uneasy, how much worse must Harold be feeling?
Evan had been by Harold’s side for a long time, so he was sure Harold would’ve grilled Diana to the bone by now.
“I didn’t ask her.”
“What?”
“I didn’t ask her.”
“…Are you saying you didn’t ask or you couldn’t ask?”
Evan, completely dumbfounded, asked again. He even rubbed his ears, thinking he must have heard wrong.
“Both, I suppose.”
What kind of nonsense is this?
While Evan was left with his mouth hanging open in confusion, Harold leaned back in his chair with a calm expression. The soft material of the chair provided stable support for his broad back.
“It’s better to let Diana use the Anais Guild without knowing anything.”
“Ah… I see. That makes sense.”
Evan nodded as if he understood. This way, they wouldn’t raise any suspicions, and it wouldn’t be too bad for keeping an eye on Diana’s actions and figuring out how to respond. But still, what did he mean by ‘couldn’t’ ask?
However, Harold didn’t seem interested in resolving Evan’s curiosity. Instead, he picked up a report detailing the places where Diana had invested. There were some high-value investments, but there were also some that made no sense.
Harold glanced over the documents and rolled his tongue in his mouth as if lost in thought, his cheeks puffing up slightly.
He vividly recalled Diana’s terrified face when she was surrounded by human traffickers, the way her expression softened with relief the moment their eyes met, the tears welling up in her blue eyes, and the lark-like voice that had reassured him she felt safe when she saw him.
It was all still fresh in his mind, especially the tear-streaked face that had stopped him from interrogating her further.
Diana had once told him that she used to run away from beggars trying to steal her stale bread and escape from human traffickers. She shared this on her second day at the estate. Even without her telling him, it was obvious what a noble lady, suddenly thrown out into the streets, would have gone through.
Everyone knew this, but now it was really starting to bother him.
Frowning, Harold slowly rubbed his lips.
“She’s been through all that, yet she still had the nerve to go out alone?”
Harold scoffed, finding it ridiculous, but his lingering displeasure soon silenced him. Narrowing his eyes, he got lost in thought before calling Evan.
“What did you do with the human traffickers we caught?”
“They’re currently locked in the underground prison.”
“Feed them to the starving wolves. Or better yet, hand them over to the people they sold into slavery.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And—”
Harold’s cold, stern voice continued.
“Summon the leader of the Black Hawks.”
The Black Hawks were an unofficial knight order that only listened to Harold’s commands. They usually handled things that couldn’t be done publicly.
“Time to clean up the streets.”
That should keep Diana from wandering out and putting herself in danger again.
Feeling his earlier irritation ease up, Harold let out a lazy smile.
***
Recently, Diana had been busy preparing for Lady Mayer’s party. The most time-consuming part of the preparations? was Dance practice.
Despite having Diana’s memories, knowledge, and experiences, none of that was helping her when it came to social dancing. Unfortunately, Diana was a terrible dancer.
“Ugh!”
She tripped and twisted her ankle, falling to the floor. The pain was brief thanks to her abilities, but tears still welled up in her eyes.
Before being reincarnated into this world, she never had any reason to learn ballroom dancing. As a result, she was having a hard time learning from the basics, She had improved a lot since her first day, but she still kept tripping over her own feet.
“Madam, wouldn’t it be best to take a break?”
“I’m fine.”
“But you’ve already fallen three times today…”
“It’s still better than yesterday when I fell five times. The party is the day after tomorrow, so I need to practice more.”
“If you keep this up, you won’t even be able to walk on the day of the party, Madam.”
The woman teaching her how to dance, Evan’s wife, was looking at her with pity in her eyes.
Diana scratched her cheek awkwardly, feeling embarrassed. She had healing abilities, so a bit of overexertion wasn’t a big deal.
“Alright, how about we take a short break?”
“Yes, please.”
Diana nodded and checked the time. It was about the right time for someone from the dress shop to arrive.
And just as expected, word came that they had brought the custom-made dress.
“I’ll go check it out for a moment.”
“Ah… so you’re not taking a break after all…”
Diana could faintly hear Evan’s wife sighing in the background as she headed to her room. She just had to try on the gown one last time and confirm there were no more adjustments needed.
She changed from her practice clothes into the formal dress, and then back into her indoor attire.
The dress shop staff and the head maid were discussing the final touches that needed to be made. From what she heard, the dress should be finished by the end of the day.
“Now all that’s left is for me to be ready.”
There’s no way I can avoid dancing at the party… especially since I’m now the Duchess of Vissen, meaning all eyes will be on me. I can’t let them find anything to criticize, so I really should get back to practicing, she thought as she opened the door.
Through the crack of the door, she heard some commotion.
“Is that coming from downstairs? What’s going on?”
In all her time here, she’d never heard anyone raising their voice in the mansion. Diana, still mindful of the dress shop staff and head maid in her room, quickened her pace.
As she reached the main staircase, she made eye contact with the butler, who was rushing up in a hurry.
“The young lord Garcia is insisting he won’t leave until he meets with you, my lady. He’s being quite forceful about it.” the butler said.
“So the one shouting is the Vincent, huh?” Diana replied.
“Yes, ma’am…”
Since he was a relative of the household’s mistress, the butler must’ve been hesitant to throw him out on his own. Diana gave her orders without delay.
“Bring him to the reception room for now. But next time, just kick him out right away.”
Though she didn’t want to waste her precious time on this troublesome relative, there were other guests in the estate today, so causing more of a scene would only be inconvenient.
“As you wish,” the butler responded promptly, seemingly pleased with her decision, and moved swiftly. Diana followed closely behind.
Standing in front of the reception room, she took a deep breath to calm herself and composed her expression.
“You’re finally here?”
Upon entering, she found Vincent lounging with his legs spread wide and his elbow propped on the chair, giving her a casual nod. It was exactly how she remembered him treating ‘Diana’ in her memories.
“Viscount, mind your manners,” Diana said sternly.
“Hey, we’re not in some official setting, and your husband isn’t even here. Why should I bother treating someone like you with respect?”
Harold had gone out for business and wasn’t expected back until the evening. Whether Vincent knew this before he came or found out upon arrival, it was clear from his dismissive glare that he didn’t take her seriously without Harold around.
“So, how much allowance are you getting?” Vincent asked bluntly, not even bothering to hide the greed gleaming in his blue eyes.
“Does he need more money to gamble?” Diana thought. According to her memories, Vincent had a notorious habit of gambling. Even though the Count strongly disapproved, Vincent couldn’t quit. He still indulged in it within the limits of his allowance.
“Why should I tell you that?” Diana responded coolly.
“Oh, come on. Don’t make a big deal out of it. If I ask, just tell me. You’re the beloved duchess, so I bet you’re getting quite the sum,” he sneered, extending his hand toward her.
“What’s the point of having a family if not for things like this? You’ve got to repay us for raising you, right? You owe us,” he said confidently.
‘Repay them for raising me?’ Diana stifled a bitter laugh. He genuinely believed she’d just hand over money at his demand. It was laughable how entitled he was.
But the only reason Diana could even think this way now was because she was an outsider. The original “Diana” was a bastard child of the Garcia family, who had always been afraid of her biological father and half-brother. She had lived in constant fear and resentment of them, always shrinking in their presence.
The original Diana would never have dared to oppose them.
If she did, she’d be punished immediately.
