“Do you know how greedy that kid is when she commits a great sin against the Newt family? L’Arch may not have noticed, but he cares about you!”
However, Lorina, who thought he would be surprised, just smiled faintly. As if he already knew.
“It doesn’t really matter what Elaine has in mind. So, don’t worry about that.”
Lorina couldn’t tell whether she should be relieved or worried about L’Arch’s answer.
“Are you saying you don’t mind Elaine being so ungrateful?”
“If she hated me, then I would have felt betrayed. Isn’t that what you wanna say?”
“but…don’t you feel bad?”
“Well. Not really.”
Lorina was speechless, not knowing what to say.
She also thought that L’Arch’s expression and attitude seemed to have become softer since Elaine’s story came out.
Lorina, feeling that she could not lose, began to talk about her current situation.
But no matter how many times she told him about how she had befriended someone in the temple who was a scion of a powerful family, or how the priests thought she was beautiful, L’Arch’s response was just merely nodded, unimpressed, as if she were stating the obvious.
Lorina deliberately brought up the topic of Elaine to get L’Arch’s attention, just in case.
“I am working hard on social aspects, while Elaine is focusing on her studies. During catechism and scripture recitation, she hasn’t missed the first place, but why is she doing that? Don’t you think that girl seems a bit harsh?”
L’Arch’s eyes sparkled for the first time.
Although it was momentary, Lorina could tell that L’Arch, who had been bored until now, was showing interest for the first time.
“Hmm… I wonder what else Elaine is thinking?”
L’Arch even looked somewhat happy.
Lorina clenched her fists as her ominous premonition seemed to come true.
‘If L’Arch likes Elaine…No, that can’t be true. What nonsense am I thinking right now?’
Lorina denied her thoughts fervently and tried to keep the conversation going using all the methods she had read about in the book, “How Beloved Wives Should Be”.
She reacted loudly to L’Arch’s trivial words and smiled brightly, and nodded her head while asking various questions to show that she was concentrating on the conversation with him.
But L’Arch remained sullen the entire time, and after exactly an hour, he stood up.
“As I said before, I only have one hour to give to Miss Lorina. There’s so much work to do. I trust you will understand.”
“Well, of course. Work is good, but be careful not to harm your health.”
“Thank you. Okay then.”
L’Arch turned around and left without any sign of regret.
‘He didn’t seem to be this cold to people he met through work.’
‘No, it’s all my imagination. He was probably tired because he had a lot of work to do.’
Lorina left Count Newt’s mansion, satisfied with the friendly greetings from Count Newt and his wife, Martin, Damon, and Ellie.
However, the news waiting for Lorina at Count Dardil’s house was also not pleasant.
“Lorina! Do you remember Aunt Bree? My cousin.”
“Yes, mother. “Baroness Bree Arten.”
The news that Countess Dardil reported with a happy smile was about her cousin.
Normally, it was something about a distant relative that could be overlooked, but it was quite disturbing news to Lorina’s ears, which had become sensitive because of L’Arch.
“You have a good memory, Lorina. “Bree’s daughter Dahlia is getting married next month.”
“Is it so? Who’s she marrying?”
“They said he was Dahlia’s cousin on her father’s side. I don’t know his name, but he is from Baron Arten’s family.”
“What? Cousin? then…Are cousins getting married?”
“Yes. I hear they’ve been so close since they were children.”
Countess Dardil smiled happily, but Lorina couldn’t smile like that.
She couldn’t help but think of what her aunt, Baroness Essira, had said the last time.
“There’s something I’ve seen growing up: there’s no law that says a son shouldn’t resemble his father. Moreover, the empire allows cousins to marry.”
Her heart was pounding erratically.
At the same time, she remembered the day when Lorina came to hate Elaine.
From a very young age, Lorina often went to Count Newt’s mansion with her mother.
And young Lorina fell in love with the dazzlingly pretty boy L’Arch at first sight.
That was probably when Lorina was six years old and L’Arch was ten years old.
At that time, Lorina thought that since she liked L’Arch, just like her life had always been, L’Arch would also like her.
However, L’Arch was the first ‘trial’ to appear in her six-year-old life.
He didn’t like her easily.
Although he smiled politely and got along with her appropriately, he always put his successor classes before Lorina and kept his distance from her.
Then, one day when she was seven years old, Lorina went to Newt’s mansot to play with her mother like she always did and found an unfamiliar girl standing awkwardly in the corner of the playroom.
“Who is she?”
“She’s a very bad girl. My mother and father had a big fight because of her.”
Martin hated that girl so much, even though he couldn’t explain why she was such a bad girl.
And like all children, Lorina thought that what Martin said was right, and began treating the girl like a maid and mistreating her.
However, L’Arch’s attitude when he briefly entered the playroom was different from that of other children under Martin.
“Elaine.”
He called the girl by her first name, whom Martin had only called an idiot, a rat, and a dog.
Then he pulled Elaine, who was being pushed around by Martin and his gang, away from the spot.
“This is not the place for you. Go up to your room.”
“Brother! Can’t we play with her a little longer?”
“Martin. Since when did you start hanging out with the lowlifes?”
“Oh, no, it’s not like that.…”
Martin couldn’t say anything more, and Elaine only bowed to L’Arch and left the room.
At first glance, it seemed like L’Arch separated Elaine from his precious younger siblings, calling her ‘lowlifes’ but strangely enough, Lorina felt as if L’Arch had saved Elaine.
‘It’s always been that way. He acted like he didn’t care, but he always took Elaine’s side at important moments.’
‘I was angry just because L’Arch was soft on Elaine, but I got more angry when I heard that Elaine kept visiting L’Arch’s room. This is because he has never kicked out Elaine.’
The same thing happened when Elaine, who had been quiet until the middle of last year, suddenly started speaking informally and confronted Martin.
She remembers L’Arch’s response to Elaine, who shamelessly said that she was a member of the Newt family.
“If Elaine is not a member of the Newt family, then what the hell is she, Martin?”
Lorina can’t forget the atmosphere that was getting cold at the time.
Even though Elaine said happily, ‘Tell them to take me out of the family.’
L’Arch pointed it out as if it was unpleasant.
“Elaine. Do not say things like removing someone from the family register or kicking them out. Unless you are ignoring the Newt family’s authority as head of the family.”
Others might have accepted that L’Arch was blaming Elaine, but Lorina got the feeling that L’Arch was trying to hold back Elaine.
What made that anxiety seem real was when Lorina saw him taking Elaine around and buying her supplies before the initiation ceremony.
He has never cared for his younger siblings like that either.
‘And now he’s even visiting the temple to meet Elaine.…’
‘I can’t understand L’Arch at all. Is there any reason to take such care of that girl like that?’
However, it was not possible to criticize L’Arch just because she did not like it. He was always clever, so it was really difficult to find fault with his actions.
Not only did he always have a valid excuse for his behavior, but he never seemed to like Elaine. So, the person Lorina blames has to be Elaine.
‘Yes, if Elaine is gone, all the problems will go away. Newt’s family will be happy too, right?’
The idea that she had no control over Elaine because she was part of Newt’s family faded away.
Instead, Lorina thought that her hatred was justified, thinking about the people in the family who were always anxious because they could not kick out Elaine.
Lorina, who was clenching her fists, looked at her mother with a cold expression that was unlike a seventeen-year-old girl.
“Mother. Please help me.”
“What does my little Lorina want?”
Countess Dardil smiled sweetly and caressed her daughter’s cheek, and Lorina said a terrible plan she had never dared to speak of before.
However, Countess Dardil’s expression did not change even as she listened to the story, which was a scary thought for a young girl. She said as she hugged her daughter even more warmly.
“I wonder how much my daughter was hurt to even think like this. I’m sorry. I should have paid attention in advance…”
“Are you going to help me?”
“Of course, Lorina. Don’t worry about anything and have fun. Your mom will clean up everything that gets in the way of your life.”
“Thank you, mother!”
Lorina smiled happily, feeling relieved as if she had won a thousand things.
* * *
