Episode 31

According to Abigail, the Duchess of Bellona had encountered Juliet in the forest when the stone house was halfway built. She didn’t know what they had talked about.

Elouise remembered now—how Juliet’s hands had been caked with dirt after her first visit to the woods.

“I didn’t realize she was building something like this…” Elouise murmured.

Abigail tilted her head and smiled.

“Parents rarely know what their children are up to.”

She went on to mention a niece she’d raised like her own daughter—now away at boarding school, who didn’t even bother sending letters.

“But the Duchess… what on earth is she after?”

Elouise felt the question rise in her chest.

She had long known Juliet had a knack for making things. Elouise had seen her line up a teacup and saucer just right to build a tiny gazebo. This was the same thing—just on a larger scale.

When she voiced that thought, Abigail gave a small shake of her head.

“I can’t say too much. Honestly, I don’t think Eve—Evenia—could explain it well to you even if she tried. But it would be presumptuous for me to speak on her behalf, too.”

“…”

“I know the idea of her taking an interest in Juliet makes you uncomfortable. But… could you try listening to her, just once?”

Abigail explained that she had come to the forest herself, led by the Duchess. She’d seen the stone house—and that was when the desire to teach Juliet had taken root in her.

“I think Juliet is incredibly talented. I’m not arrogant enough to say I can fully nurture that talent, but… I wanted to help in whatever small way I could. That is why I offered to tutor her.”

Elouise stared at Abigail for a long moment. Only after a long pause did she manage to speak—and when she did, her words were blunt.

“But Abigail, what if… what if you’re actually part of the Duchess’s scheme?”

“Lady Hanger.”

“I told you—I don’t trust doctors. One of the young doctors in our city once said he wanted to open Juliet’s skull. What if the Duchess wants to do the same thing—to take apart the head of the child who built this? Can you tell me that’s not true?”

Elouise’s suspicion was valid, and Abigail understood completely.

Parents raising children who are even slightly different from the norm often become worn out. The exhaustion builds walls, and over time those walls become thicker, harder. To reach past them takes gentleness. And even Abigail could admit—Eve’s approach had been clumsy and rude.

So Abigail gave a quiet smile and gently held Elouise’s hand. Her hands were warm. Elouise was caught off guard by how comforting the warmth was.

“Even if I said it isn’t true, what would it matter, Lady Hanger? I am not Evenia Bellona. Even if I promise she won’t do anything wrong, if she does, it would render everything I’ve said meaningless. I’m sorry. If you truly don’t wish for me to see Juliet again, I shall stop.”

Those final words surprised Elouise. She realized then just how sharply she had reacted.

Thinking back, Abigail had been waking up at dawn every day to tutor Juliet. For other noblewomen, who wouldn’t rise before the sun was high, that was a near impossible task. Abigail wasn’t even being paid much—she’d volunteered.

And Elouise realized something else: she was being selfish.

She had never met a tutor Juliet responded to this well. And that tutor… was Abigail Taylor. If Abigail were to leave now, Elouise would have to resume the role herself, facing long, exhausting days she already knew she couldn’t sustain.

“…There’s no need for that, Abigail. I was just being oversensitive.”

So Elouise took a step back. Abigail, visibly relieved, gave a beaming smile.

Elouise spent the entire afternoon thinking about just how much she was leaning on this warm, intelligent woman’s kindness—and how far that reliance might go.

---

Naturally, none of her thoughts were resolved in just one day.

Elouise stayed holed up in the Noskina estate for several days, lost in thought. Marcus kept pestering her with endless questions, but she dismissed him as annoying and promptly kicked him out of the room.

Coincidentally, Madam Noskina also scolded Marcus harshly. The heart of her lecture was simple.

“Did you even tell your father in the capital?”

Marcus had lied to his aunt, claiming he had informed the Hanger family of his marriage to Elouise with a simple letter.

At the time of the wedding, he had given the excuse that he didn’t want to face his father’s wrath, so he’d send it by regular post rather than rushing it by express train. Strangely enough, it worked. The reason was simple: his aunt assumed it was just her cowardly nephew trying to delay the inevitable.

But when a whole month passed after the wedding with no word from the capital, even she grew suspicious. After all, Marcus was the heir to the Hanger family.

From what Madam Noskina knew, her brother—Lord Hanger—would have stormed into Cliff on the next express train if he found out his son had married in secret.

The express train from the capital to Cliff took about two days. By now, Lord Hanger should’ve already burst into the Noskina estate. Marcus, sweating bullets, muttered something about a messenger getting lost, but it wasn’t convincing.

His aunt exploded, demanding he resend the letter immediately. Marcus fled.

A few days later, while on her way to a lady’s tea party, Elouise heard the full story from Logan in the carriage and laughed in disbelief.

“Unbelievable.”

“He’s currently staying at another gentleman’s estate in the suburbs. Though he assures you he’ll still attend the fox hunt in two days.”

Logan spoke in his usual emotionless tone. Elouise looked at him sympathetically.

“Shouldn’t you have gone with him?”

“He claimed someone needed to stay behind to assist you, Madam. Master ordered it himself.”

“I don’t think now is the time to be assisting me…”

“I agree.”

Elouise gave a sarcastic laugh, which Logan accepted with a solemn nod.

Just then, the carriage arrived at a central estate in Cliff. Logan escorted her with practiced grace. Compared to Marcus’s smooth, natural manner, Logan’s formality was a bit stiff, but Elouise still preferred him—likely for emotional reasons.

Whenever Marcus touches me, it feels like my heart might burst out of my chest.

Elouise couldn’t tell whether her current situation was a comedy or a tragedy. The man she loved loved someone else—and yet treated her with perfect gentlemanly manners.

Even knowing that his kindness wasn’t hers alone, Elouise still found herself fluttering at every moment.

And when she thought about the woman he loved, her mood didn’t just drop—it plummeted.

Lately, she felt like she thought about the Duchess of Bellona even more than Marcus. The things Abigail had said about her, her own thoughts about Juliet, and the Duchess’s cryptic comments haunted her.

“Logan.”

“Yes?”

“What do you do when your head feels all tangled up?”

Logan tilted his head, then replied,

“I think about money.”

“…Money?”

“Yes. Most problems stem from money, after all.”

“…Have you never been in love, Logan?”

At that, Logan stopped mid-escort to the estate and looked directly at her.

“Could it be…”

“Could it be…?”

“Forgive me if I’m being presumptuous, but… have you picked up some of the young master’s bad habits?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Good. I apologize for overstepping.”

Logan bowed slightly. Elouise stifled a laugh.

Money… Come to think of it, she had completely forgotten about that diamond lately.

The fact that she had forgotten such an enormous diamond was even more shocking. How could anyone forget something like that?

It’s all the Duchess of Bellona’s fault.

No, if she were honest, it was that lunatic's fault!

Elouise found herself deeply irritated at the lunatic who’d fled after being scolded by his aunt. And yet, though his constant running away made her feel fed up, sometimes it struck her as almost childishly endearing—and she hated herself for finding it so.

Her mood swung wildly. She felt like a moody teenage girl lately. Lost in those thoughts, she found she’d already entered the estate. As usual, the ladies welcomed her warmly.

“You’re not with Sir Hanger today!”

“No, my husband is currently…”

Logan leaned in and whispered discreetly,

“Aden’s estate.”

Elouise smiled brightly.

“He’s residing at Sir Aden’s place in the suburbs for a few days. Men! They’re always criticizing women for being chatty, but they’re just as unruly. Once they start gossiping, it seems they want to talk for days!”

“Ah, is that so?”

The lady smiled faintly in response, and Elouise returned the smile. Tea and pastries were served, and as always, the ladies and gentlemen chatted idly.

Most of the women at this tea party were slightly older than Elouise, from lower nobility or middle-class families. Elouise guessed it was because the estate was located in central Cliff.

Like in Maine, nobles tended to look down on those who lived in densely populated urban areas rather than in the suburbs.

They should all try living at the Starwood estate in the suburbs of Maine—then they’d know just how awful it is to maintain a secluded country house!

In any case, because of the age group, many of the women were in the process of marrying off their adult children—or had just done so. That was when Elouise overheard a conversation.

“The matron of the family we’re arranging a marriage with used to serve the queen.”

“Oh my, really? What a promising match.”

“Not that we’re banking on it, but… the lady visited two days ago…”

A woman who served the queen… That triggered an unpleasant memory.

Elouise didn’t know what the Queen of the capital was like, but the woman who claimed to have served her? Elouise had a clear opinion: the worst.

Well, it’s not like there’s only one person who’s served the queen.

If someone else was getting married, she ought to wish them well.

She sipped her tea. It was delicious. The conversation swirled around her—topics she didn’t know or care about. It was the perfect setting for distraction, and so she didn’t notice the strange looks being cast her way.

---

Prev || Toc || Next