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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Waning Influence
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That evening.
Evanjeline skipped dinner and holed herself up in her bedroom.
*'To be honest, there's nothing to be upset about.'*
Lying spread-eagled on her bed, Evanjeline replayed the day's events in her mind.
*'First of all, Lady Ansi's reputation seems to have recovered quite a bit, right?'*
In fact, it was only natural.
Until now, the direct heirs of the Duchy of Claudius had never formed a close friendship with anyone.
But recently, the siblings Dietrich and Evanjeline had been growing close to Lalitt.
That friendship alone was enough for Lalitt to draw attention in high society.
*'And as for me…'*
Evanjeline's gaze clouded over slightly.
At the book club meeting, the ladies had been remarkably friendly to Evanjeline.
"To think Duchess Claudius would attend our meeting!"
"Oh, what do I do? This is the first time I've seen you up close, Your Grace!"
The memory of the ladies, their faces flushed pink, came to mind.
In that sense, Evanjeline had already achieved her initial goal.
After all, she had started associating with Lalitt in the first place to soften the rumors of her arrogance.
She had been so thorough as to even draw up a friendship contract for that purpose.
And now, she was finally seeing results.
And yet.
“…”
For a moment, her chest ached.
Evanjeline gently bit her lip.
*'Lady Ansi… she looked so happy mingling with the others.'*
Lalitt was happy, and Evanjeline herself had restored her reputation.
In other words, they had both achieved their goals.
*'So… I should be happy too.'*
Her blue eyes, always so clear, grew cloudy like a sky filled with dark clouds.
*'Why do I feel so awful?'*
Lalitt, smiling brightly with the other ladies.
Lalitt, chatting cheerfully.
At that moment, Lalitt had been right beside Evanjeline, and yet…
…she had felt strangely distant.
*'Could it be that Lady Ansi…'*
Unconsciously, Evanjeline clutched the edge of her blanket.
*'...enjoys making other friends more than being with me?'*
A question she had kept hidden deep in her heart suddenly surfaced.
But Evanjeline quickly shook her head.
*'What does it matter?'*
Lady Ansi and I are only friends because of a contract.
I just have to abide by the terms of the contract.
Even though she was sure of it…
"…This is so irritating."
Unable to understand her own heart, which had grown as prickly as a hedgehog's spines…
…Evanjeline let out a frustrated sigh and buried her face in her pillow.
* * *
The capital's high society had a veritable constellation of social gatherings.
Horseback riding, refreshments, tea, music, and so on.
The types of gatherings were many and varied.
But among them, one stood out from the rest.
Its name was ‘Peony’.
Known as a gathering of the ‘most popular’ ladies in high society, simply belonging to this group was enough to mark a lady as a powerful figure.
And the most famous member of ‘Peony’ was none other than Serapina Lopes.
A lady from the baronial House of Lopes, a lower noble family with no domain of its own, who had risen to become one of the most prominent figures in society through her beauty and gentle nature alone.
But despite her glamorous reputation, Serapina was currently burning with anxiety.
It was no wonder, as her influence had been diminishing by the day.
The reason was the subtle yet fatal rebellion of the other ladies, who used to defer to her every word.
"I heard Duchess Claudius attended the Viscounty of Ansi's party, didn't she?"
Yes, moments like this.
Although Serapina was very careful about outwardly showing her hostility toward Evanjeline…
…still, everyone who needed to know, knew.
The fact that Serapina despised Evanjeline.
And yet, the ladies didn't watch their words at all, despite Serapina being right there.
"That's right. And I heard the Duke himself shared the first dance with Lady Ansi!"
A faint twitch disturbed the corner of Serapina's picturesque smile.
*'This is so strange.'*
It wasn't like this before.
It was as if, ever since Lalitt had left her side…
…everything had been going wrong.
If she had been the protagonist of this world until now, it felt as though she no longer was…
This strange sense of powerlessness.
Meanwhile, the conversation about Lalitt and the Claudius siblings continued unabated.
"You see, my aunt is from the south, so she attended the Ansi party."
One of the ladies lowered her voice as if sharing a great secret.
"And get this—she said Lady Ansi was stunningly beautiful!"
"What? That gloomy Lady Ansi?"
"Well, rumors were going around that she looked quite good at the Claudius salon, too."
Lalitt, Lalitt, Lalitt!
How many more times did she have to hear that name!
*'She's nothing but a little wench without Duchess Claudius's protection!'*
Serapina desperately suppressed the urge to storm out of the room.
"On a separate note, I heard the County of Gusto's summer party was a complete bust, wasn't it?"
"It couldn't be helped. The Viscounty of Ansi's party was just so popular."
The lady who said this glanced at Serapina, her eyes tinged with mockery.
"Well, many prominent figures were in attendance, after all."
In the language of high society, that statement roughly translated to:
*'Lady Lopes isn't prominent enough to draw guests to the County of Gusto's party, is she?'*
…or something to that effect.
*'How dare they!'*
Veins bulged on the back of Serapina's hand as she gripped her fan.
Despite this, Serapina maintained her smile with all her might.
In this arena, the first person to show anger was the one who lost.
"Come to think of it, didn't Lady Lopes always attend the County of Gusto's summer party?"
"I think I heard that too. That Lady Lopes was so famous in the south."
"Of course, there's no lady as beautiful and gentle as Lady Lopes. Am I right?"
For a moment, Serapina's eyes turned cold.
This was the same method of speaking Serapina often used to belittle other ladies.
A rhetorical style that feigned praise while subtly asking, *'If you're so great, why couldn't you do anything about it?'*
*'This is… not good.'*
Serapina felt her mouth go dry.
Unlike before, when they had only revered her, an atmosphere of subtle disregard for Serapina was now forming in the group.
In truth, it was inevitable.
There could only be one queen in the group.
Until now, Serapina had held a firm grip on her throne, but her position was now rapidly shrinking, pushed aside by the duchess and Lalitt.
"By the way, I was rather surprised that Lady Lopes wasn't invited to the Claudius salon."
"Oh, me too. I actually thought Lady Ansi would pull some strings to get Lady Lopes an invitation."
The ladies' blade-like words stabbed deep into Serapina's heart once more.
"Honestly, after how much Lady Lopes looked after Lady Ansi."
"She's so ungrateful, isn't she?"
And so, to Serapina,
*'You won't get angry, will you? We're only saying this because we're worried about you.'*
…after making such a gesture,
"Well, I suppose Lady Ansi didn't want to get on the duchess's bad side."
"Still, Lady Ansi used to be so devoted to Lady Lopes."
"Their friendship was so genuine. I was honestly quite envious."
They chattered on as they pleased, pretending to be concerned for Serapina.
Meanwhile, Serapina keenly grasped the hidden meaning woven into their words.
*'I guess their friendship was shallower than we thought, hmm?'*
*'So without Lady Ansi's devotion, Lady Lopes really is nothing, isn't she?'*
…that was more or less the gist of it.
*'Hah, honestly.'*
