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Chapter 35
For a moment, Rene’s puffed sleeves looked like the tiny wings of a cute fairy, and Katarina quickly shook her head.
With that innocent face of hers. She still looked as bright and clueless as ever.
‘W-who would fall for that?’
Hurriedly unfolding her fan, Katarina hid her face behind it and pretended to fan herself.
Just making eye contact was enough to put strain on her heart… There was no doubt that Zenos had fallen for tricks like this too.
‘Rene Blanche… I don’t know what you did, but I’m not like Zenos. I’m not someone who’ll be so easily swayed!’
But despite her resolve, Katarina’s face had already turned rather red.
“Th-then shall we go?”
“Mm!”
Whether Katarina was flustered or not,
Rene answered brightly and climbed into the prepared carriage first.
And so, the peculiar picnic began.
After rolling diligently for about ten minutes, the carriage wheels came to a stop by the riverside.
Rene’s eyes widened.
“Huh? Why are we stopping already?”
“Lady Rene, is there a problem?”
“No. Last time, I think we rode the carriage for quite a while…”
“Last time—when was that?”
“At the spring festival.”
Ah. Right, the two of them had gone to the spring festival together so amicably, hadn’t they?
Katarina felt her insides start to boil again.
She must never forget that the woman in front of her was someone to be defeated!
Like the well-trained count’s daughter of high society that she was, Katarina kept her expression perfectly composed and offered a polite explanation.
“That time, you probably passed through the village square where the festival was held. The village is upstream where the river begins, and where we’re going is downstream, behind the Grand Duke’s castle. The dock is there.”
As Katarina said, today’s boating spot was right behind the Grand Duke’s castle, so it didn’t take long.
The Celeste River was fairly large, but for boating, the downstream area behind the castle was far more suitable than the village upstream.
Listening, Rene tilted her head.
“Then couldn’t we just walk?”
“My goodness. Are you serious? We’re nobles!”
She’d heard that Rene hadn’t been treated particularly well in the Blanche household, but surely not to this extent?
Just as disbelief showed on Katarina’s face—
“Ah… I see. I understand. That’s how it is, being a noble lady…”
Despite Katarina’s surprise, Rene nodded with strangely hollow eyes,
murmuring something only she seemed to understand.
Even that only reinforced Katarina’s impression that she was a completely unfathomable woman.
Steadying her increasingly dazed mind, Katarina fixed her smile.
“Your Grace, we’ve arrived.”
Right on cue, the plain-looking coachman personally opened the carriage door.
“Thank you!”
As if she had completely forgotten what just happened, Rene rose without hesitation.
Stepping outside, the midday spring sunlight warmed the air to just the right temperature.
Under the dazzling sun, a gentle spring breeze tickled their hair.
“The weather is so nice!”
The moment she stepped down, Rene dashed off like an excited pony.
Her bouncing steps were light, utterly lacking in decorum.
“Lady Rene! Let’s go together!”
But dark clouds filled Katarina’s heart as she followed.
‘Do you think I brought you here because I like you? Hmph!’
Under the shimmering light reflected on the distant water, Rene looked lovable to anyone who saw her.
“She’s like a baby rabbit, our lady…”
“She’s so cute. That headdress was a stroke of genius.”
“I knew it would suit her, but not to this extent…”
“Ahhh! A painting is calling to me! Capture this scene on canvas immediately!”
Rene’s maids grinned foolishly without a hint of shame.
For some reason, even that irritated Katarina.
‘Hmph. Do you think anyone will find you cute just because you hop around like a rabbit?!’
Afraid she might accidentally smile, she bit her lip.
“Katarina! It’s so pretty here!”
“Y-yes, isn’t it? Lady Rene, let’s find a place to settle down!”
“Okay!”
The small woman, her voluminous dress fluttering, toddled up the hill once more.
‘Th-this isn’t the time.’
Accepting a wide-brimmed hat from a maid and placing it on her head, Katarina’s expression turned sly for a moment.
Then she quickly began scanning her surroundings.
‘They were supposed to arrive around this time…’
Of course, Katarina hadn’t arranged this outing to grow closer to Rene.
She couldn’t openly hit her, so she planned to humiliate her in front of everyone instead.
The young ladies she usually associated with pitied Katarina’s situation.
They had long known of her unwavering devotion to Zenos.
To Katarina, who inwardly regarded them more as subordinates than friends, even that pity bruised her pride.
But one must use whatever can be used.
Last evening, Katarina had swiftly sent out a carrier pigeon.
As it happened, the count’s daughter from a territory adjacent to Celeste had readily agreed to join the plan.
It was possible because Rene Blanche’s marquis family had many enemies.
Though Rene herself was completely unaware.
‘We can’t just do some boating and leave like this…’
Growing impatient, Katarina’s eyes darted around quickly.
And then—
“My goodness! Lady Katarina!”
Before long, a familiar voice sounded from behind them.
Only then did Katarina let out a silent sigh of relief.
‘They came on time.’
Snap!
Closing her fan, Katarina turned as if surprised and looked toward the source of the voice.
Naturally, Rene, who stood close by, turned her head as well.
“My goodness? Lady Lillian! And Lady Julie and Lady Serena too? What brings you here?”
As she said, three finely dressed noble ladies were waving brightly from afar.
“Eh?”
Rene let out a confused sound, her eyes trembling for a moment.
It seemed she was quite startled by the sudden encounter with strangers.
“Katarina, are they acquaintances of yours?”
Rene asked in a slightly trembling voice.
‘Hmph, do you think I’m a loner like you?’
Katarina replied in a gentle tone completely at odds with her thorny thoughts.
“Yes, we debuted together. We’ve kept in touch ever since.”
While the two exchanged a brief conversation, the three ladies fluttered closer, their eyes shining.
“To meet Lady Katarina here of all places!”
“Exactly. What brings you all the way to Celeste?”
Katarina asked, feigning surprise.
As if on cue, the brown-haired girl gave a plausible answer as though she had been waiting for it.
“The Celeste River is famous for its beauty in spring, you know. So we came for a picnic.”
“Our territory, Siern, is quite close to Celeste by carriage, so we came with friends. But Lady Katarina, if it isn’t too rude, who might the young lady with you be…?”
The girl with green eyes tilted her head.
“Ah!”
Clapping her hands as if she had just remembered, Katarina gestured toward Rene.
Rene approached hesitantly, blinking awkwardly.
Regardless,
in a strangely excited voice, Katarina introduced them.
“This is Her Grace, Grand Duchess Rene Celeste. Lady Rene, allow me to introduce them. This is Lady Lillian of the County of Siern, Lady Julie of the Viscounty of Monteville, and lastly Lady Serena of the Viscounty of Florence.”
“H-hello…”
With pink cheeks, Rene shyly lifted her skirt and bent her knees.
“……”
The three ladies exchanged glances at her action, then returned the greeting.
“My goodness! So you are Her Grace the Grand Duchess!”
“We didn’t realize and may have been discourteous…”
“We greet Your Grace.”
At their polite greetings, Rene’s eyes curved into crescents as she smiled brightly.
Her radiant face was as delicate as a rain-kissed silver bellflower.
Between her silver hair swaying in the spring breeze, her red eyes sparkled like ripe pomegranate seeds.
“Please take care of me!”
At that pure and pristine greeting—
“Oh my…”
The three ladies’ gazes wavered for a moment.
They were quite flustered, seeing that Rene’s impression was nothing like the ominous rumors about curses and such.
The Rene they met in person was smaller and more delicate than expected, and…
‘She’s way too cute!’
The ladies nearly gasped aloud, hastily opening their fans to hide their flushed faces.
‘Ha… What are these girls?’
For a fleeting moment, irritation crossed Katarina’s previously flawless, gentle expression.
