🔊 TTS Settings
~Chapter 30~
Camilla had no idea why her little sister was here.
Nina was dusty all over, her dress wrinkled and pressed like she’d been in a tight, dirty space.
“What’s going on, Nina? How did you…?”
But the question disappeared as Nina ran and threw herself into Camilla’s arms.
Camilla stroked Nina’s trembling shoulders.
“I… I missed you, sister…”
After a long time comforting Nina, she finally pulled away and whispered,
“I—I ran away from home.”
“What?”
Camilla felt a headache coming on.
‘Wait, it wasn’t supposed to be now that you ran away…’
Just then, the orange-haired noble girl jumped between them and shouted,
“How can you wander around leaving your little sister like this? You’re not even an adult and you’re already behaving badly!”
‘Who is this…?’
Camilla tried to remember the girl’s name—she thought maybe the character was from the original story.
That’s when Dane grabbed the girl’s shoulder.
“Enough nonsense, Eugenia.”
With that, Dane settled the whole room’s confusion with one whisper.
‘Ah, Eugenia.’
She was a character from the original, too—Nina’s friend and Dane’s cousin. Dane looked at Eugenia coldly.
“How did you two come here together? And what’s this about me being ‘crazy for girls’?”
Eugenia pointed at Camilla.
“Because of that girl! You’re caught up in terrible gossip because of her!”
Eugenia Dunburton was from a branch of the Escalus family.
When the Grand Duchess became pregnant and couldn’t take care of social life, Eugenia was given the job. She quickly became the rising star of society.
‘Miss Dunburton? She’s clever, right? Not quite as much as Baroness Mowin, though.’
Eugenia clenched her fan in frustration as she heard people whisper.
‘If only the Grand Duchess was here, no one would dare say these things!’
The Grand Duchess was usually too busy with research to care about social life, but when she was around, everyone paid attention to her and respected the Escalus family’s authority.
But with the Grand Duchess staying home, Baroness Mowin was making a scene in society.
Eugenia loved swords and action more than dresses, but she had to take on this job because the Grand Duchess herself asked her.
Just as she was starting to enjoy her power, Baroness Mowin suddenly stopped showing up.
‘This is my chance! I’ll take over society once and for all!’
But then, new rumors started spreading:
‘I heard Lady Camilla locked up Baroness Mowin in her room!’
‘She did that to her own mother?’
‘Yes! And after ruining the Mowin family, she seduced the Duke and moved into the ducal house.’
‘Before marriage?’
‘What a wicked woman!’
‘What?!’
She didn’t care about the rumors against Baroness Mowin, but hearing her cousin’s name made Eugenia furious.
“Can you take responsibility for those rumors?”
She tried to shut people up, but the gossip only grew.
In the rumors, Camilla was a wicked temptress, and Dane was a lovesick fool.
Worse, Eugenia confirmed that Dane really had brought Camilla to the ducal house.
‘At this rate, the Escalus family’s honor will be destroyed!’
Grinding her teeth, Eugenia hurried to the ducal house. When she got out of the carriage, she saw a pretty but dirty girl at the gate.
“Who are you?”
“I… I’m…”
The girl burst into tears, saying she came to see her sister who never came home. Eugenia soon realized she was the other Mowin daughter.
‘So you left your little sister behind, too?’
She knew it was normal not to travel together, but her opinion of Camilla dropped even lower.
When Eugenia finished her story, she crossed her arms and glared at Dane.
“I thought I’d see you at your birthday banquet, but I just couldn’t stand your behavior anymore!”
“You misunderstand. She’s my friend,” Dane said firmly.
Eugenia scoffed, noticing how Dane looked at Camilla.
‘Who looks at a friend like that?’
Her cousin was unbothered even as people talked about their family’s reputation, and for the first time, she saw Dane looking at someone with warmth.
“Dane, you—”
“And, Eugenia.”
Dane put down his teacup and interrupted coldly.
“Does the Escalus family have to care about filthy rumors like that?”
His perfect, cold face left Eugenia speechless—it was arrogant but true. Who could disrespect the family that ruled the city?
But Eugenia felt a surge of rebellion.
‘Still…!’
“How can I just ignore it when your name is dragged through the mud?”
“If it’s not true, there’s no reason to care. Go home, Eugenia.”
Eugenia bit her lip, hurt.
‘He never looked at me like that.’
“No, I’m not leaving.”
“Eugenia.”
“If I get the Grand Duchess’s permission, I’ll stay here until your birthday and watch both you and that girl!”
She turned to glare at Camilla.
“I can’t accept someone like you!”
“D-don’t point at my sister!”
It was chaos.
‘I’m tired.’
Camilla looked at Dane, who met her eyes, both of them silently agreeing how exhausting this was.
Dane sighed and whispered,
“For now, Camilla, I’ll send a letter to Baron Mowin’s house to let them know your sister is here. You should spend time with her.”
After a warm bath, Camilla and Nina entered their room together. As Camilla dried Nina’s hair, she asked,
“So how did you get here, Nina?”
“Um, I took a commercial carriage—the kind commoners use…”
“A commercial carriage?”
How did a noble girl even figure that out?
“D-Dicky… I mean, I found out myself!”
“Hm.”
Camilla narrowed her eyes at the unfamiliar name, but let it go.
“Did something happen?”
Nina’s eyes filled with tears at the question.
“It was… Ares.”
Nina remembered that day:
From the day her sister left for the ducal house, Nina was so lonely she could hardly stand it.
Their mother stayed in her room, cursing Camilla every time Nina visited.
Mrs. Milliam, almost kicked out herself, also badmouthed Camilla’s character.
Hearing all those insults about her beloved sister, Nina felt weaker and weaker.
‘When will sister come back?’
Ares watched Nina with a strange look, then whispered,
“She’s not coming back.”
Lately, Ares had been delivering letters from Baroness Mowin to important society people, spreading bad rumors about Camilla.
He smiled darkly as his rumors grew.
“Everyone in society says your sister seduced the Duke and moved into the ducal house.”
“My sister isn’t like that! She’ll come back!”
Nina yelled, desperate to believe her sister would return.
Ares sneered.
“Why would she come back to you? You’re always crying and bothering her.”
Nina was left speechless.
“That’s why Camilla dumped you and ran off to the Duke.”
“M-my sister…”
She wanted to deny it, but her words faded away.
Ares grinned and whispered to crying Nina,
“If you want to prove it’s not true, why don’t you go see her yourself? I’ll even help you.”
