CH 9

Looking at the clumsy smile still up, Floria sighed inwardly as she seemed to see a girl ten years younger than her, not someone of her age. But since the Duchess herself asked for this, she should take good care of her.

She thought about it without being aware that Beatrice had copied her smiling face.

After that, the conversation didn’t go smoothly since Beatrice didn’t know much about the outside world — or at least that’s what Floria thought.

Little did she know, Beatrice lived a long life and was well aware of the scandals and events that became the talk of the town during this time. However, she didn’t feel the need to speak first, so she continued the conversation by just responding to Floria’s words.

“By the way, do you already have a dress for your debut party?”

“I didn’t have any dresses before, but I’ve got quite a few new ones now.”

Floria smiled but furrowed her eyebrows when Beatrice informed that she didn’t have any dresses before. She just talked about how her relationship with the Duchess had improved recently, but then said she never even had a dress?

The Duke was wealthy. No matter how bad having an illegitimate child was, I couldn’t understand why she was so neglected when she also lived in the same mansion.

“Of course, it’s not that the Duke didn’t support me financially — it was because the servants in the annex had secretly stolen the budget allocated to me.”

“They stole your budget?”

“Now the Duchess had either sent them out or punished them all and then moved my room to the main building.”

“That’s a relief…”

It’s a common story where they only provided financial support to the illegitimate child on behalf of their beloved husband but they, themselves, didn’t care about them at all. Besides, providing financial support was close to being generous in the first place. You usually don’t even see it.

However, Floria was concerned about how Beatrice could sit in front of her and just talk about it so calmly.

Her voice remained the same as if she didn’t feel wronged or sad — it had no trace of even a little bit of resentment. I could now see why the Duchess suddenly took care of her daughter…

She’s such a gentle and kind young lady that it makes you feel somewhat guilty. Floria saw the Duchess as someone slightly intimidating but was not a bad person. She was both human and a noblewoman.

“Do you mind if I give you a little advice?”

“Yes, go ahead, Lady Billander.”

“I’m giving you this advice as I decided to be the Lady’s companion on the party at the request of the Duchess. Don’t tell that story at the party or to any nobles other than me.”

The high society was a place where people were like snakes hiding their venomous fangs under the cover of dressing up beautifully like a peacock — those who were passionate about gossip and scandal and were more interested in bringing someone down rather than up.

With the Duchess dominating the social circle and her two sons having a high reputation, no one could easily touch Beatrice… But it would be a different story if rumors of mistreatment spread from her family. They couldn’t touch the noble duchess, so they would bite the illegitimate child to suffice their dirty pleasure instead.

“Society is more than you think…”

“Are you saying it’s okay to talk to Lady Billander?”

“Huh?”

“You told me not to talk to any nobles other than the Lady, that means I can talk to you, right?”

Floria’s blue eyes were tinged with mild embarrassment as her golden eyes tilted and met hers. She blinked several times before nodding with a short laugh.

“Of course. I know we just met but my family has a long-term relationship with the Duke. I’m not on bad terms with Duke Amber and his second son, Lord Felix, so I’m certainly not going to do anything bad to you.”

A knock was heard. With Floria’s permission, her maid, Emily, pushed her tray into the living room. She seemed to be waiting for the conversation to end.

Beatrice briefly gave Emily a look. A loyal maid who had always been by Floria’s side. Floria was at the center of society in any life and mostly stood on the side of good faith. Yeah, for the most part.

“I like the tea scent.”

As Emily poured tea into their teacups skillfully, the subtle scent of tea filled the living room. Fortunately, it wasn’t sweet, so Beatrice picked up her teacup and took a sip right away.

The angle of her finger holding the teacup, the angle of her arm, how she drank — there were all flawless. There was also not a single sound when she put it down. Although neglected, she seemed to have received as much education as Floria had. Floria lifted her own teacup.

“This tea is from another country, it’s made of flowers that do not exist here in the Empire. I imported this when I learned about it at Marchioness de Flora’s tea party.”

“I still haven’t drunk much, but it definitely feels like a great tea.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

Beatrice was not very interested in tea throughout her life. She didn’t drink well in the first place, but if she had to, she just drank whatever she had.

She remembered her maids paying attention to it before serving them, but she never asked for the names of the tea. To be honest, she was initially more interested in alcohol than tea, she’s not fascinated with water that was made from grass or flowers.

A knock was heard again, disrupting them as they drank their tea. Floria’s maid was already inside, so she glanced at the door — but it opened without permission.

“Damn, I’m late.”

“…Gallot?”

It was Gallot Billander, the eldest son of the Billander family. Floria had a bewildered expression on her face, barely managing to call out his name. It’s shameless of you to say that you’re late — as if you were originally supposed to be here!

“I’m sorry, but who are you?”

Beatrice obviously knew who he was, but pretended not to know. Even if you didn’t know him, Floria and Gallot had the same bright blonde hair and looked like twins who’d rather not show it, so it’s easy to guess.

They had eyes that resembled the sea and blonde hair that seemed to be made by pure molten gold. One of the reasons for his popularity in the social circle was his appearance.

“I am Gallot Billander of the Billander family. When I heard that the daughter of Duke Amber was coming, I asked Floria to meet with her, but I had to do something for a while.”

“I hadn’t heard of such a thing.”

“It looks like you forgot. Right, Floria?”

Floria kept her mouth tightly shut, not answering Gallot’s grinning face.

It felt like her guts were twisting and turning inside her stomach when she saw him enter the room even though she told him not to — but she shouldn’t show the problems within the family to outsiders. She didn’t want to be seen arguing with her brother, especially in front of the Duke’s family member.

To come without consent was a thing only between close friends. It’s rude if you’d just met them!

But considering Floria’s silence as a yes, Gallot walked confidently into the living room and sat next to Floria. He didn’t even pretend to ask Beatrice for her permission.

Beatrice emptied her teacup and put it down. She knew this was rude, but she was too lazy to point it out, so she just sat there quietly and stared at Gallot who suddenly intervened.

This brother and sister… It’s amazing how they almost had the same face, but completely different impressions. Though, it had been like that for a long time.

“I am Beatrice Amber of the Amber family.”

Beatrice greeted him formally at least. She knew from the beginning that he would come to her.

A handsome face and a neat attitude. This was not the first time he had visited the daughter of the Duke himself, he had an excellent talent of looking for people he could manipulate to get what he wanted.

It was the same in her previous life and the lives before that. He turned his back on Beatrice without regret after learning that she was being neglected in her family, but that might not be the case now since her relationship with her family had become smooth. In her last life, he married a young girl from the Marquess’ family, except this time he might try to marry me.

“It’s an honor to meet you. You’re so beautiful.”

“Is that so?”

Beatrice shivered in response, not because it was dry, but because of Gallot’s compliment. Her curved eyes flinched, but it was so short that it was easy to miss.

She averted her eyes from him and peered down at the teacup Emily had filled. If it wasn’t for her plan, she would have thought about marrying him.

Unfortunately, Lily was more valuable to Beatrice, so she didn’t pay any attention to him. Looking at her indifference, Floria bit her lower lip, stopping herself from bursting out laughing.

Ordinary people were attracted to Gallot’s handsome appearance and confident attitude, however, Beatrice reacted as if a servant had come in.

“I heard that my younger sister will be attending as your companion at your debut party.”

“That’s right.”

“She’s a nice kid with a good reputation, so she’ll be of great help to you.”

“I know.”

“…Haha, I want to help you with things that my sister might not be able to help you with.”

“I doubt that.”

Gallot’s voice that remained firm despite her indifference began to falter. He was a little embarrassed. Ordinary young people always responded with a gentle voice when they first talked to him.

But the woman sitting in front of him right now only spat short answers, as if she had no desire to talk. He glanced at Floria, wondering if she might be acting like this in response to his sudden rudeness, but she only had a face that seemed to hold back laughter.

Yeah, that’s not going to help me. There was no displeasure on Beatrice’s face when Gallot caught a glimpse of it again. She was looking down on her teacup and didn’t even make eye contact with him.

It’s almost the first time you’d ever been out of the house, so maybe you’re still not used to dealing with people?