Chapter 47
“Shall we, then?”
“May I sit beside you? I don’t see any suitable seats.”
“Of course. Gladly.”
The lady glanced at Rowina, smiled awkwardly, and offered up the empty seat to her left. Amid the unsettled atmosphere, Veronica sat down confidently and noticed Rowina.
“Oh my. Miss Philone, you were here too?”
“……
Lady Taldon.”
Unlike her, the other was the daughter of a high-ranking noble. Rowina made as if to rise slightly from her seat and bowed her head in greeting. Considering what had happened last time, it was uncomfortable to face her, but everyone was watching them.
As tension hung in the air, unexpectedly, it was Veronica who first extended a hand of reconciliation.
“I was thoughtless last time. We merely bumped into each other, but I overreacted.”
Erasing the way she had snapped so viciously before, Veronica looked at Rowina with tears shimmering in her eyes.
“It was only after I heard from Countess Rachel that I realized my mistake. Will you forgive me, Miss Philone?”
Her voice dripped with earnestness. As if Rowina’s wariness had been for nothing, the expressions of the noblewomen softened at the young lady’s heartfelt apology.
“How can she be so honest and pure?”
“I know. She’s different from the rumors.”
“And today, that leech of a viscountess isn’t by her side either.”
“I’m sure that viscountess was the one clinging to her one-sidedly. She’s the kind of woman who scurries toward whatever benefits her. What would a young lady know?”
The atmosphere that had leaned toward Rowina slowly shifted toward Veronica. It seemed no one knew that the young lady before them was the candidate the queen had chosen as the next duchess. Unable to read the other’s intentions, Rowina chose her words for a moment before smiling back.
“Forgive you? Lady Taldon, that’s entirely unnecessary. It was my mistake for bumping into you.”
“You’re just as I heard, Miss Philone. Beautiful and kind.”
Veronica exaggeratedly exclaimed, her eyes sparkling.
“I’m glad the two of you have reconciled.”
The countess, who had been sitting between them and listening to their conversation with satisfaction, changed the subject. While paying attention to her words and laughing along like the others, Rowina hid her unease.
“You handled that very well earlier.”
Thankfully, the uncomfortable gathering did not last long. The countess rose with Rowina under the pretext of taking a short walk. And as soon as the two were alone, she advised her.
“If you had seemed easy to look down on there, she would certainly have tried to torment you even more from now on. I don’t know why she suddenly came out so humbly, but you must never let your guard down.”
“I understand what you mean. Don’t worry.”
At the calm reply, the countess stopped walking and stared intently at Rowina. A young lady who had only just made her debut and Rowina, who had spent three years as the talk of society, had different levels of experience. Compared to her former self, who had only been dazzling and fragile, she had become incomparably stronger, so perhaps the countess’s concern was needless. Still, she wondered what motive Lady Taldon had for changing her attitude so abruptly. There was surely something behind her humility, but she could not tell what.
“Did His Highness say anything in particular?”
“Well. Nothing special.”
At Rowina’s brief answer, the countess’s expression darkened. Seeing her reaction, Rowina smiled bitterly inwardly.
It seemed the countess had expected to hear that, since he was giving Rowina his support, there would be no remarriage, but Rowina could not say that rashly.
Rowina did not trust a man like Killian. The memory of being deceived and abandoned so cruelly remained like a burn, still unhealed and unerased. In the carriage, he had acted as if there would absolutely be no remarriage and as though she was the only one, but he was a man who, if the benefits of remarriage exceeded a certain level, could mercilessly discard a mistress without hesitation.
“It looks as though you have him firmly in your grasp, so why are you so lacking in confidence?”
Seeing Rowina’s resigned expression, the countess blinked and sighed.
“Say it plainly. Tell him you hate the idea of another woman being there. Tell him you should be the only one by his side. If you speak honestly, then perhaps—”
“Countess.”
It was too hard to keep listening. Though she knew it was rude, Rowina cut off the countess and continued with a tired face.
“I still haven’t fully recovered from the journey. Forgive me, but may I go in first? To my lodging.”
“Are you very tired?”
“I have been lately.”
“Could it be…”
At the possibility that flashed through her mind like lightning, the countess’s eyes widened. Before she could say it aloud, Rowina firmly shook her head.
“No.”
“……”
“That could never happen. You know His Grace’s disposition well.”
The night Damian was conceived was the one and only night when both he and she had lost all reason and become beasts. It had been an accident, like being struck by lightning while walking down the road—impossible to avoid and impossible to undo.
“True… I suppose so. Then I’ll see you at dinner.”
Her surge of hope lasted only a moment. Smacking her lips in disappointment, the countess called over Joanne, the maid standing at a distance, and had her support Rowina. As she silently watched Rowina move away, she sensed someone behind her.
“Countess Rachel.”
Startled, the countess turned around. At the same time, she doubted her own eyes.
“Y-Your Highness?”
Killian stood three steps away, holding a hunting gun whose barrel had not yet cooled. She had only glimpsed him now and then at banquets on a royal scale, and this was the first time she had ever faced him alone like this. His beauty was so outstanding that it made her forget all the rumors of his sensitive, prickly nature. Unlike at banquets, his jet-black hair fell over his forehead, and his ice-colored eyes were beautiful enough to leave one dazed. Though there was distance between them, the sudden rush of his sensual scent made the countess blush as she stammered.
“Miss Philone just went to her lodging…”
“I saw.”
“Pardon?”
“I have a favor to ask of you, Countess.”
Killian strode one step closer and suddenly raised the gun, aiming it at her.
Just as the terrified countess collapsed to the ground at the sudden threat, a deafening roar rang out, and in the distance, geese flapped their wings and flew off in a flock. Killian glanced at the doe that had been shot, then held out his hand to the countess, who had fallen onto the filthy dirt.
“Ah…”
Coming to her senses, the countess took his hand, clad in a cold, smooth leather glove.
“A-a favor, you say?”
After helping her up, Killian withdrew his hand and finished in a low voice.
“It is a very simple matter.”
* * *
Because the fox hunt took place in a vast forest, the nobles stayed for two days in their own temporary tents. Though they were called makeshift lodgings, the tents were very spacious, and since the floors were equipped with soft rugs, beds, dressing tables, tables, chairs, and other necessary furnishings, they lacked nothing for a stay of several days.
“How would you like me to do your hair for tomorrow night’s banquet? Would it be better to let it down, or shall I put it up elegantly with jeweled pins here and there?”
Seated on the stool before the dressing table as Joanne brushed her hair, Rowina tilted her head at the maid’s excited face.
“Is there any need to pay that much attention to it? It’s just something like an after-party.”
“Lady Rowina!”
Joanne widened her eyes and asked with an expression of disbelief.
“You don’t know that a new tradition began last year, do you?”
“A new tradition?”
Rowina, who had been removing her earrings, asked in return.
“What kind of tradition?”
“Well, since the fox hunt is, after all, an event for gentlemen, it’s a rather dull occasion for the noble ladies, who have nothing much to do except socialize, isn’t it?”
“That’s true.”
“So at the ladies’ suggestion, Her Majesty created a ceremony. At the banquet on the final day, the woman who receives the most votes from the gentlemen and ladies becomes the queen of the day.”
“What’s so good about becoming that?”
“She can do anything until the banquet ends. She can choose an unmarried gentleman and have the last dance with him—it’s such a romantic tradition.”
“So only unmarried people are included?”
“Married people are included too, but naturally, it would be more advantageous to be a young lady, wouldn’t it?”
Joanne answered with a bright smile, then suddenly pursed her lips.
“Ah, right. Was that why? Lady Taldon, you know. I was wondering why she was pretending to be so kind.”
“She was trying to gain votes.”
With the unease finally washed away, Rowina looked relieved.
“This is not something to smile about!”
Joanne’s expression turned serious as she advised her earnestly.
“She’ll become the star of the day, you know? If Lady Taldon receives the most votes, something bad could happen to you, Lady Rowina.”
“It would be in front of everyone. What could she possibly do? At most…”
As Rowina wiped off her makeup with rose water, her hand stopped.
“She would dance the last dance with His Highness, or ask him to escort her.”
“……
Lady Rowina, aren’t you even jealous?”
After a brief silence, Joanne asked cautiously. Instead of answering, Rowina smiled through the mirror before her. Joanne, suddenly deflated, shook her head.
“Lady Rowina, you’re exactly as Melissa said.”
“What did she say?”
“That you’re someone without greed.”
At the reply, Rowina lowered her eyes. It was not that she had no greed. She simply knew that it was meaningless. In his heart, there was a fiancée chosen before birth. Everyone else was merely a substitute or a shadow.
“I’ll change on my own now, so you may go back, Joanne.”
Gently changing the subject, Rowina sent her out. She was undoing the front hooks of her corset one by one when someone approached and loosened the laces behind her back. Catching the faint smell of blood, Rowina realized who it was and turned around.