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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: My Enemy Sister Cherishes Me
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“I found it while reading a fairy tale book with Theon. He told me to give it to you.”
I pulled out the note Theon had given me from my pocket, trying my best to look angry. It wasn't very effective, though, as the rabbit ears kept falling over my eyes.
Vittori slowly unfolded the note and read it at a rapid pace.
The smile slowly faded from her face.
“What did he say? That scrawny guy.”
Aramis grumbled, asking.
Now with a completely serious expression, Vittori lightly ignored him and asked me,
“Lady Harper, was the reason Lord Theon’s cough stopped… because of this?”
“Yep.”
“And this story was in the fairy tale book Lady Harper found?”
“Yep. I found it at the Central Library.”
I nodded vigorously.
Watching this, Callista’s eyes widened.
“Theon’s illness is cured?”
“Yes, Lady. I heard about it yesterday when I met Doctor Rubens. I was planning to ask what happened anyway…”
Vittori’s voice trailed off, as if she herself was surprised. Callista stared intently at me without a word.
“Lady Harper, are you giving this to me?”
When Vittori asked me again, I nodded vigorously once more.
“Yes!”
“Why?”
“Because I like Vittori!”
“Oh my.”
Vittori, who had been picking up the Yellow-Green Herb with the serious face of a medical student, suddenly blushed. At the same time, Aramis made a gagging sound as if he were about to throw up.
“Vittori, Lady Harper’s head seems to have gone a bit strange, so you should treat her.”
“Aramis, don’t stand so close to Lady Harper with that ugly face of yours. You’re scaring her.”
The twins snarled at each other, neither waiting for the other to start.
Vittori’s gentleness didn’t seem to apply to her twin brother. Turning her head back to me from Aramis, her face was adorned with a smile as bright as the sun.
“Lady Harper, come with me. As a reward for your gift, I’ll give you some delicious cookies.”
Cookies!
I knew that phase one of my plan had succeeded. Vittori was looking at me with eyes overflowing with affection.
Vittori and I walked out of Callista’s study door, hand in hand.
Just before the door closed, what caught my eye was Callista’s gaze, fixed on me with an expression of deep contemplation.
***
Vittori’s laboratory was a warm beige. The desk and floor were as tidy as Callista’s study, but the wallpaper gave the room a cozy feel.
Here and there on the walls hung small pictures of cats and dogs, and some of the furniture had similar motifs. She was someone whose tastes were evident at a glance.
“Are they delicious?”
“Yep!”
From the reception sofa in a corner of the laboratory, Vittori pushed a plate piled high with warm, freshly baked cookies in front of me, seemingly out of nowhere.
With just one bite, a unique aroma filled my mouth along with the sweetness. It was the kind of taste I could never get tired of.
Why hadn’t I known in my past life that I ate so well?
“Danny, please pour some tea for Lady Harper as well.”
The maid, who had brought in the tea and cookies, glanced at Vittori, then poured a beautifully colored liquid into both our cups.
Knowing that tea, no matter how pretty, often tasted bitter, I diligently brought only cookies to my mouth.
“Oh, how lovely you look even when you’re eating.”
Vittori looked at me with an expression that seemed to have hearts practically popping out of her eyes.
Well, even I thought I looked a bit cute these days.
Theon had bought me decent clothes, so I didn’t look as rundown as before, and ever since Jena had more free time, she brushed my hair well, making it shinier than before.
The rabbit hat was hardly my style, but in Vittori’s eyes, it just seemed adorable.
“Eat plenty, Lady Harper. Those cookies are made by an artisan from the Mueller Estate. They’re very sweet, but also good for you. You can only get them here.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Lady Callista used to love them when she was a child. Aramis and I don’t care much for sweets, so she ate them all.”
Callista liked sweet things? I hadn’t known that, as we’d never eaten anything together.
“She doesn’t eat them much now. She has no preferences for food at all, actually. I think she realized that even small things could be used by the Elder Council to find fault with her.”
“The Elder Council?”
The topic piqued my interest, and I stopped eating to listen intently.
“Yes, Lady Harper. There are people in the Elder Council who dislike Lady Callista.”
“Mmm.”
I knew that. The Elder Council Chairman, Igard, was deeply opposed to her.
The conflict had originally begun between Igard and Lucille Litra, Callista’s mother. It was a story from before I was even born.
The master who had tutored Father since his childhood and Father’s Duchess Consort fiercely contended for real power within the Ducal Family. It was so intense, I’d heard that they even drew swords against each other once.
That quarrel led to the Duke and Duchess Consort’s divorce, and Lucille returned to the Litra Ducal House, leaving only Callista behind here.
Callista had already received the Luperne name, meaning she was a person of Luperne.
The Duchess Consort was gone, but her daughter, Callista, perhaps resembling her mother, didn’t get along with Igard.
It was a well-known story within the family that due to the strong opposition from the elders, Callista, despite being sixteen, had not yet received the title of Junior Duchess.
Father, reluctant to appoint her as Junior Duchess, but also worried that if he excluded her entirely, his uncle, who was constantly eyeing the ducal title, might assassinate him and seize the family, chose the easiest path for himself.
He leisurely embarked on a journey, deferring the decision of whether to recognize her as Junior Duchess to the Elder Council.
His intention was to ambiguously postpone the judgment and, in the meantime, have another child with the concubine the Chairman had assigned to him.
Well, their relationship wasn’t important right now. What was important was the person in front of me.
“…What about Vittori?”
“Pardon?”
“Do the council members dislike Vittori too?”
I added a phrase to make the question sound more innocent.
“But I like Vittori.”
“Oh my!”
She covered her cheeks with both hands, as if she didn’t know what to do with her delight. Then she looked at me with such affection, as if I were a kitten.
“I don’t have many occasions to meet with the Elder Council members, except for my father. So there wouldn’t be anyone who dislikes me, would there?”
“Really?”
I looked up at Vittori with eyes full of suspicion.
In my past life, I’d definitely heard that the Elder Council had assigned someone to her for the long term to manipulate her...
Even though there was still time, it was the right moment for at least one Elder Council member, whether friend or foe, to be attached to Vittori.
“Vittori.”
“Yes?”
“You shouldn’t do your Yellow-Green Herb research with anyone else. You have to do it yourself.”
“Oh my, why?”
“I don’t like it if someone else does it.”
It was a baseless request, but perhaps it was perceived as just a child’s expression of affection, because Vittori simply blushed and nodded.
“Of course, Lady Harper.”
“You’ll do it every day, right?”
“Absolutely, of course!”
I popped the remaining cookies into my mouth, stood up, and hugged Vittori tightly.
“Vittori, play with me again next time.”
Leaving her, who was smiling blissfully with her hands covering her mouth, I exited the laboratory.
With this, I felt I had taken all the necessary preliminary precautions.
Click—
I opened the laboratory door and stepped back into the hallway. Through the closing door, I saw Vittori’s maid moving my untouched cup back onto the tray.
***
Crash!
Smash!
Clarissa hurled a mirror, a cup, and whatever else she could get her hands on against the wall.
“Madam! Please be carefu—.”
“Shut up! Are you saying I can’t even touch things as I please?!”
Whoosh—smash!
Salia narrowly dodged the vase Clarissa threw. It shattered sharply against the wall.
“Those two are completely ignoring me, as if by design!”
Clarissa roughly pushed back her disheveled hair and shouted.
Lately, nothing had been going right for Clarissa.
It had all started with that impudent little brat making her eat moldy bread. That day, she had dry-heaved all day long.
When she ran to pull her hair, she met Theon and lost what little authority she had left. Her relative, Leroy Brown, had completely ruined his life, and her own profits, which she had gained by turning a blind eye to his embezzlement, had vanished.
Not only that, but that little girl had even threatened her, demanding she apologize to a mere maid. It was the greatest humiliation of Clarissa’s life.
“I thought she was obedient, but behind my back, how dare she…”
After that, her nephew, Louis, had a scuffle with that brat. Right in front of Callista, of all people.
Callista, who Clarissa had thought might show a little leniency, had almost crippled Louis. He barely avoided being expelled, but his chance at a swift knighting was gone.
Furthermore, since that day, Louis had been subtly avoiding Clarissa’s summons. Clarissa, who needed him for various errands, including siphoning information from the Knight Order, was getting a headache.
“Madam.”
“You keep your mouth shut, Salia!”
“But…”
“I told you to shut up, didn’t I?!”
Clarissa picked up a plate and threw it.
Whoosh—smash.
“Oof!”
What she expected to hit the wall instead struck someone’s chest and broke. Only then did Clarissa look up at the doorway.
“Isn’t this a bit much for early morning, ma’am?”
“I didn’t see you, Osen.”
The middle-aged man, whose eyes were wide with surprise as he brushed ceramic shards from his chest, was Osen, the Vice-Chairman of the Luperne Elder Council.
“Why are you always hiding in plain sight like that?”
“I’ve been standing in front of the door for ten minutes!”
Osen protested, as if feeling wronged. As the Vice-Chairman of the Elder Council, acting as the Chairman’s right-hand man, he had no presence, perhaps due to his meek appearance or his timid personality.
It was very common for many people, including the elders, to fail to notice Osen even when he was right in front of them, or to try and sit in a seat he was already occupying.
“I nearly got hit in the head, Madam.”
“Even if it hit that bald head of yours, it would just slide off, wouldn’t it?”
Clarissa twisted the knife into Osen, who looked thunderstruck, then put down the knife she had picked up and plopped onto the sofa.
Salia let out a sigh of relief and offered Osen a seat.
“You may leave, Salia.”
“Yes, Madam.”
As Clarissa’s cold command fell, Salia fled outside as if she had been waiting for it.
In the suddenly quiet room, Osen and Clarissa faced each other.
Soon, it was Osen who spoke first.
