Translator: Nox

Chapter 3

~Chapter 03~

She thought he wouldn’t even glance her way, but unexpectedly, he turned his head and met Harriet’s eyes briefly. His gaze was so sharp that Harriet clenched her molars and lifted her chin, refusing to back down. It had probably only been two or three seconds, but to her, it felt like an eternity.

The moment she thought his eyes had softened just a little, John spoke up solemnly.

“I want to sincerely apologize. I will send my niece to the convent to reflect on her actions, and I will provide whatever compensation you desire.”

Harriet’s eyes widened at his words.

“U-Uncle! The convent?”

But no one paid any attention to Harriet’s confusion. Cedric looked down at the bowing John and clicked his tongue briefly.

“That won’t be necessary. From what I’ve heard, it seems there was no true intent to insult me or my late father…”

His eyes flicked over Harriet once more.

“I may have overreacted a bit.”

John’s shoulders relaxed slightly in relief. Cedric turned away as if he had lost all interest in Harriet or the Listerwell family.

“I only hope we never cross paths in a situation like this again.”

“Of course. Thank you for your leniency.”

John bowed deeply once more, but Cedric didn’t even glance at him as he returned to his original spot. With the spectacle over, the gathered crowd dispersed with murmurs, and the banquet resumed as if nothing had happened.

But Harriet’s nightmare was far from over.

“Harriet! Go home right now. Don’t say a word to anyone, no matter what they ask!”

“Uncle, but I…!”

“Do you want to argue about this here? How much more embarrassment do you need to heap on me before you’re satisfied?”

Harriet shrank back at the angry shout from John, the man who held her fate in his hands. He was her guardian, her only reliable family member. It wasn’t wise to anger him further.

“…I’ll go now.”

Harriet lowered her head and retreated slowly. She had achieved her original goal of leaving the banquet early, but not in this manner.

The spring breeze carrying the scent of flowers brushed against the back of her neck, but she felt nothing.

“Stay at Saint Clarissa Convent for exactly one year.”

“Pardon?”

Harriet’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“It’s all for your own good. By then, everyone will have forgotten about this incident.”

“U-Uncle!”

“Harriet, you need to get married too. In your current situation, no one will propose to you, and you won’t even receive invitations to parties!”

John was deciding to erase an entire year from her life as if it were nothing.

Harriet shook her head.

“Uncle, I explained everything earlier. I didn’t steal Duke Kailas’s brooch. I never even found it. It was pinned to my dress, and I only wore it on my chest as Bella suggested. There were plenty of witnesses!”

When she had calmly explained the events at the banquet hall and John had nodded while listening quietly, she thought the misunderstanding had been cleared up.

So why was the conclusion still that she had to go to the convent? For a whole year, no less!

Harriet clung to the hope that she could change his mind and tried to persuade him once more. But John slammed his palm on the desk with a frustrated noise.

“The truth doesn’t matter! Defying the ducal family at this point would ruin us. Of all things, it had to be the late duke’s heirloom…!”

“I told you it wasn’t my fault!”

“Sigh, Harriet.”

John’s voice softened. Harriet knew what always happened when he called her name like that. It was never anything good.

“Can you go to the Kailas Ducal Mansion right now and soothe Duke Kailas’s anger? Can you stay in the capital and quash all the bad rumors about you?”

“Well…”

“One year is a small price to pay. If you disappear from sight, people will lose interest in you, and once the rumors die down, you might even receive proposals. It’s entirely possible.”

His kind, coaxing tone weighed heavily on Harriet’s shoulders. If she refused even when her uncle was speaking so gently, she would feel like the selfish one, overcome with guilt.

“So, Harriet, do as I say. I understand your grievance, and we bear some responsibility too, so when you marry, I’ll provide a generous dowry. Not just the dowry—I’ll have the most famous designer make your dress, and you’ll have plenty of jewels.”

“You… really mean it?”

“Of course! Do you think I’ve forgotten everything you’ve done for Bella?”

John laughed heartily with a benevolent expression. Where had the man gone who had slammed the desk in anger?

Harriet let her shoulders slump and nodded.

‘In the end, I can’t refuse what Uncle has decided. And I’ve secured promises for the dowry and wedding jewels, so maybe this isn’t so bad.’

Sweat beaded in her tightly clenched fists, but she tried to console herself.

“…I understand.”

“Wise decision. A notice from the convent will come soon, so don’t go anywhere in the meantime and pack your things. You’ll wear a nun’s habit there, so you don’t need to bring much clothing or jewelry.”

Harriet didn’t argue with his indifferent instructions. Adding more despair to the despair already overwhelming her would be pointless.

“What did Harriet say?”

“What could she say? She’ll do as she’s told.”

As John answered Bella, he speared a thick piece of meat with his fork. But before bringing it to his mouth, he shot his daughter a sharp look.

“Still, Bella, you went too far this time. We almost got caught up in the fallout ourselves.”

“How was I supposed to know it was the late duke’s heirloom? Anyway, we’ve successfully gotten rid of Harriet, so the goal is achieved.”

“Father, it’s actually for the best. Since it was such an important item, no one will think it’s strange that she’s being sent to the convent.”

With Aston siding with Bella too, John no longer reproached her. After all, this entire plan had been devised by him and Bella together from the start.

“Daddy! Bring Harriet to this banquet.”

“Her? Why?”

“You said you wanted to get rid of her, right?”

“Then why bring her to the banquet? This one is very important!”

“I have a plan. You might feel a bit embarrassed, Daddy, but in the end, people will sympathize with you, so you’ll have to bear it.”

When his beloved daughter said it might make him “a bit embarrassed,” John hesitated at first, but the plan to use the trendy ‘confession brooch’ as an excuse to send Harriet to the convent sounded quite plausible.

‘It’s about time to get rid of Harriet anyway.’

Bella was already twenty-one. Thanks to her beautiful looks and sweet, kind personality, decent marriage proposals had started coming in for her recently.

Of course, John wasn’t entirely satisfied with them, but it was time to seriously prepare for her wedding.

That was why Harriet, who always handled Bella’s ‘messes,’ needed to disappear from the capital.

“If only she had been on that boat that day.”

John sighed and muttered. Harriet was the only child of his brother and sister-in-law, who had died in the boat accident. He had always acted the part of a kind uncle, but he had never once felt any affection for her.

If his brother and sister-in-law hadn’t treated him so well, or if abandoning his orphaned niece hadn’t looked bad publicly, he would have sent Harriet to an orphanage long ago.

“You’re right. Then we wouldn’t be dealing with this headache now.”

As Bella replied, her mother Miriam, sitting beside her, let out a soft laugh.

“Still, you should be a little grateful to her. Thanks to her, you’ve escaped trouble several times.”

“Mom, are you serious?”

“I mean, be careful from now on. Now it’s time to focus on marrying you off to a good place.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve even made a connection with Duke Kailas because of this. Who knows? I might become the duchess.”

There wasn’t a trace of regret in Bella’s voice, but the Listerwell couple simply gazed at their daughter with loving eyes. To them, Bella was a precious gem who would elevate them one step higher in society.

“Exactly! Who could be prettier than our Bella!”

“That’s right. Duke Kailas must have fallen for Bella too! Oh, we need to find parties where the duke attends and make sure Bella gets invited.”

The couple smiled, imagining a future where Bella became the duke’s lover. ‘In-laws to the duke’—what a sweet dream!

“But how on earth did you get your hands on that brooch? You’re still not telling me?”