Chapter 157

“Well…can you wait in the parlor for a minute so I can ask the lady and then come back…”

“Oh my goodness. I don’t want to disturb the patient like that. I should go and see her. I’m not bad enough to harass the patient.”

The maid was silent at her asking.

“So, where is her bedroom?”

As she confirmed that Marianne was determined to see Ronstat, the maid helplessly escorted her to her bedroom on the third floor.

The maid made the wise decision. She knew after Lady Marianne left, she would get a good scolding from Lonstat, but even in that case, she would be cursed at for several hours as punishment.

If Lonstat annoyed Marianne, not only she but also her remote relatives would have to be ready for heavy punishment. Besides, her family was on good terms with Marquis Chester, who was as powerful as the emperor. It was natural that even Earl Lonstat checked Marianne’s moods as they didn’t want to turn all the prominent nobles in the capital as well as the imperial family against them.

Wielding the power she possessed as much as she could, Marianne stopped in front of Lonstat’s bedroom.

Soon the maid knocked on the door and said, “Lady!”

There was no answer from inside.

“Lady! You have a guest here.”

Again it was silent.

Checking her face once more, the maid once knocked on the door more nervously.

“Lady, are you still in sleep? A guest is here to see you.”

“…”

“Lady? Miss Roxanne?”

As if the silence in the room was her own sin, the maid nervously waited for Ronstat’s reply.

While looking at the closed door quietly, Marianne turned to her.

“Just open it. I think she is already awake.”

“Pardon? However…”

“You don’t want it? Can you step aside so I can open it?”

“Oh no!”

The maid shook her head and hurriedly refused. Soon the door was opened. With Iric standing next to the door, Marianne walked in with Cordelli.

The bedroom was pretty gorgeous for an earl’s daughter. The furniture unified various colors and the gilt paintings on the walls caught her eye. The fragrance of the garden and the sunshine was streaming through the open window, and on the tea table in front of it there was steaming of tea. The puzzle pieces scattered next to it were half finished, showing that someone tried to put the puzzle together.

Warning Cordelli with a look, who was already making a frown, Marianne approached an empty chair in front of the table and sat down.

“Well, it smells good. It looks like your taste is pretty classic. There are very few who make tea from lotus leaves these days.”

Ronstat still didn’t respond. While watching the patterns drawn with blue paint on the white teapot, Marianne turned her face to the bed.

“I brought a present for you too. Aren’t you curious?”

The blanket which was rolled up to cover her moved a bit.

“If I had known that you liked puzzles, I would have brought one from my house. I have a big puzzle that I’ve got my eye on. As many as two thousand pieces…”

In the end, Roxanne sprang up to her feet, kicking the blanket.

“Wow, you finally got up. It’s been a while.”

“Lady Marianne, are you really crazy?”

“Hummm…Do I look crazy?” Marianne shrugged her shoulders casually.

Roxanne’s white face quickly turned red. And she clenched her small fists.

“How rude you are! You entered this room without my permission! Didn’t the etiquette teacher in your house teach you about it?”

“Yes, she did. She taught me all the etiquette that I needed to know.”

“Where are your manners then?”

“But even you, who might have learned etiquette as much as me, were pretty rude to me, right?”

Roxanne was speechless with a perplexed expression.

In her eyes, Marianne was a cunning woman who pretended to be a good girl. At any place and in any situation, she pretended to behave kindly. Roxanne was surprised and upset at her seemingly worried look. That’s what Roxanne felt when she bumped into Marianne at Mrs. Chester’s house recently.

Roxanne shouted at Marianne, “Get out right away!”

“Oh, I’m leaving soon. I have the next appointment in an hour.”

“Why did you come here and ridicule me? Haven’t you been satisfied since that day? You’re terrible! Does the emperor and Marquis Chester know what kind of person you are?”

Roxanne bitterly retorted and scoffed at her. Marianne smiled at Roxanne, holding Cordelli’s skirt tightly as she was about to charge at her at any moment.

“No, they probably don’t know because I’m pretending to be very weak before them.”

Roxanne looked embarrassed at her unexpected confession. Cordelli, who knew it was true, slipped the fan she was holding in embarrassment at the moment.

“Mr. Roxanne.” Marianne finally turned and saw Roxanne face to face.

“I really… I’m here because I am worried about Roxanne.”

“…”

“I was worried if you would become lean like a dried tree while crying all day and skipping meals without meeting anybody.”

As she always did when she was in distress, Marianne looked down a bit, blurring her last words. She recalled what Roxanne shouted while being dragged out the Chester house recently.

Her crying voice, begging Ober, crawling on the floor, broke Marianne’s heart deeply. She was lifted and dragged by Giyom, with her mouth shut, and Ober acted as if nothing happened even when he ruined her reputation in social circles overnight. All this reminded Marianne of her previous life.

“Aha! You were not worried about me, but you wanted to ruin my life!”

“It doesn’t matter whether you believe it or not. I’ve left the gift to your butler, so check it after I return. If there is anything else you want, let me know.”

“Are you trying to buy me off with a gift? Dream on.”

Roxanne’s hostile attitude clearly showed that she hated her very much.

But Marianne didn’t hate her so much.

“Mr. Roxanne, why do you hate me?”

“What are you talking about? Yes, absolutely.”

“Because I am going to be the emperor’s wife? Or because I’m close to Sir Ober?”

Hearing that, Roxanne sniffed and turned her mouth up as if she didn’t want to talk.

“Do you love His Majesty?”

“Love?”

“Or Sir Ober?”

Roxanne naturally scoffed at her question.

“Do you think I resent you because of that cheap feeling?”

Roxanne stood up from the seat. She approached Marianne with white bare feet and an ivory chemise dress fluttering like butterflies. Then, her pale lime eyes stopped before Marianne’s nose.

“I want power. I want the type of power with which I can throw you away at my fingertips when you’ve done something terrible to me like this.”

The wind blowing from the window scattered her bright blonde. Roxanne was smaller than Marianne, but she had a higher eye level than Marianne sitting in a chair. As she was very close to Marianne, Roxanne could look down on Marianne more dramatically.

“I see.” Marianne raised her head slightly and made eye contact with her.

“Where are you going to use that power when I’m gone?”

“If I use it the way I want, what does it have to do with you? None of your business!”

“Of course, it has nothing to do with me, but I’m just curious.”

Marianne pushed back the air with a squeaking noise, scratching the floor.

She continued, “If that power was what you really wanted, I thought there would be a lot more you could try.”

Now, Marianne stood up slowly without avoiding her sharp eyes.

Marianne stood up, now looking down on Roxanne who was smaller than her, and said,

“As you said, this is the power with which you can get rid of the emperor’s fiance and the lover of the most prominent nobleman, right? Don’t you think it’s a waste if you use it only to ruin only one woman’s life?”

“…”

“Oh, of course, I’m saying this on the assumption that you have this power.”

Roxanne moved one step back with a frown.

“I want to get along with you, Miss Roxanne. I think that will be more helpful to you.”

“…”

“Do you think I’ve taken away your lover?”

“…”

“Wouldn’t it be better to deceive me rather than just antagonize me? Why don’t you take back what you want after I first make you believe I’m trustworthy?”

Roxanne thought to herself, ‘Who could tell the enemy how to defeat a friendly army? Unless the purpose is to distract the enemy with false information, no friendly army would tell the enemy their weakness. So all of those words will either be false or a trap. Accordingly, Marianne’s reassurances should be a lie.’

Roxanne thought so, but she did not turn away from Marianne’s eyes and voice.

“I have brought with me only one maid here when I came to the capital. I don’t have many friends in Milan. Well, if you think about the rumors about me, I don’t think I want to get along with myself.”

Roxanne didn’t reply, though.