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Chapter 13
“Thank you very much.”
“You must come to the equestrian club as well. It will be far more enjoyable than the imperial palace parties.”
At that moment, a maid replacing the drinks at our table accidentally spilled wine onto the Grand Duke’s clothes.
Fortunately, it was only a small amount since it came from a used glass, but the maid turned pale and desperately begged for forgiveness.
Oh! This situation wasn’t intentional, but it works perfectly for me. I can leave a strong impression on the Grand Duke.
I removed the emerald brooch attached to my dress.
“Your Grace, may I help you for a moment?”
Matteo looked at me with curiosity but did not refuse, so I acted immediately.
I fastened the brooch over the wine stain, covering it flawlessly.
“Waaah!”
The surrounding nobles looked at me with admiration.
Grand Duke Matteo reassured the trembling maid before sending her away.
With coincidence added to inevitability, my debut turned out to be quite successful.
By the end of the party, Grand Duke Matteo escorted me all the way to the carriage.
Madam Cecilia, who had come out to return home with me, maintained her composure and reacted gracefully, but Rosaline stared at me in utter shock.
I thought she only knew how to glare blankly, but her eyes are surprisingly lively. Full of fighting spirit too. I look forward to working with you.
Rosaline looked so furious that it seemed she could kill several people with her glare alone, and I loved it.
“Though it’s spring, it’s still rather chilly, Your Grace.”
“Indeed.”
“Ah!”
As we walked, I deliberately pretended to stumble lightly over a stone.
Grand Duke Matteo caught my hand immediately, and at the same time, I dropped the pouch hanging from my arm and lightly nudged it away with my foot.
So that Matteo would not notice it right now.
“Thank you.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m fine. Other than being embarrassed for showing such an unsightly side of myself.”
At my response, Matteo burst into laughter.
“You truly are an unusual person, my lady.”
I merely lowered my gaze shyly.
Although I had walked at the very front beside Matteo, once we reached the carriage, I slightly turned my body aside.
With a pitiful expression that silently implied someone like me could never dare board first.
I did not say it aloud, but I believed a clever man like Grand Duke Matteo would understand the meaning.
Of course, Madam Cecilia seemed to realize that I was intentionally trying to appear pitiable in front of the Grand Duke.
But that did not matter.
Rosaline had not noticed my intentions at all.
As if to show off, Rosaline shoved past my shoulder and climbed into the carriage first.
Thanks to her, my performance became even more believable.
Her behavior was irritating, yet somehow adorable at the same time.
Thaaank you, Rosaline.
I quickly concealed my true thoughts and looked at Grand Duke Matteo with shining eyes.
“Your Grace, thank you for escorting me today. Thanks to you, I was able to enter high society safely.”
Grand Duke Matteo smiled lazily—a smile that looked as though it had made many women cry before.
“I shall see you at the equestrian club, Lady Lewin.”
Holding the hem of my dress, I bent my knees slightly in a graceful curtsey.
Then, deliberately glancing nervously at Cecilia and Rosaline so Matteo could see, I climbed into the carriage.
After entering, I should have given the signal for the carriage to depart.
But I intentionally did not.
Instead, I immediately dismissed the gentle and delicate expression I had worn so diligently throughout the party.
Because I needed to provoke Rosaline, who was already glaring at me as if she wanted to kill me.
So without making a sound, I mouthed the words deliberately.
What? Why are you staring?
Rosaline’s face flushed red and blue with fury.
Finally, unable to contain herself any longer, she shouted loudly,
“How insolent!”
At Rosaline’s shrill voice, Madam Cecilia—who had been looking out the window—turned toward us, though she made no effort to stop her.
She likely found me unpleasant to look at as well.
I stared at Rosaline with an innocent expression, speaking so sweetly that even I found myself disgustingly fake.
“Sister, why are you suddenly acting like this? Did something upset you?”
“Why would I be your sister?! How dare someone like you!”
Rosaline glared at me as if I were a cockroach.
“Just because a bastard like you received an escort from His Grace, do you think you’ve suddenly forgotten your place? Do you think the label of illegitimate child disappears just because the Grand Duke escorted you?”
By now, Grand Duke Matteo had probably found the pouch I had dropped and returned with it.
I widened my eyes and answered with the most innocent expression possible.
“Sister—no, Lady Rosaline. Are you perhaps insulting His Grace? He only escorted me because of His Majesty the Emperor’s orders. It’s not because he particularly likes me. You may insult me all you wish, but please do not speak that way about His Grace. He is part of the imperial—”
I deliberately cut myself off and let tears fall from my eyes like droplets of rain.
“Hey! Why are you crying?! What did you even do right? Bastards like you know nothing of manners. Coming to a party with someone like you is disgusting enough already!”
“Sister, I’m truly sorry.”
“Hey! Bastard! I told you, why would I ever be your sister?!”
Knock knock!
At that moment, someone knocked on the carriage door, stopping Rosaline from continuing her tantrum.
When I opened the door, Grand Duke Matteo stood there exactly as expected.
Of course, his expression showed no sign that he had overheard anything.
The ones startled by his completely unexpected appearance were Cecilia and Rosaline.
Cecilia recovered first and smiled gently.
“Your Grace, what brings you here?”
“I came to return the young lady’s belongings.”
Grand Duke Matteo held out my pouch to me.
“Oh my! I deeply apologize, Your Grace.”
“There is no need. Travel safely.”
As expected, he heard everything. He definitely heard it.
Grand Duke Matteo was not an unkind man, but he was always someone who maintained an unreachable boundary.
Yet the way he treated me now felt noticeably more familiar than before.
“Yes. Thank you.”
The moment Matteo turned away and the carriage door closed, Cecilia glared sharply at me.
But I simply wore an innocent expression as though I had no idea why.
After staring at me coldly, Madam Cecilia knocked against the carriage ceiling to signal the coachman.
The carriage departed immediately.
Of course, Rosaline’s nonsense continued the entire ride home.
I barely listened, though the noise itself was irritating.
The afternoon after successfully finishing the debutante ball, Duke Isco returned home.
It was my first meeting with the biological father who had used Arabella and eventually killed her.
Cecilia greeted her husband first after seeing him for the first time in a long while.
The two looked less like a loving married couple and more like business partners.
Apparently, they only pretended to be affectionate in front of others.
“You’ve returned?”
“Have you been well?”
“Yes. I prepared tea in the reception room.”
“Father!”
At that moment, Rosaline threw herself into Duke Isco’s arms.
Unlike the way he looked at his wife, the Duke embraced his daughter warmly and stroked her hair with genuine affection in his eyes.
“I missed you!”
“Yes. You’ve become even more beautiful, my daughter.”
His gaze overflowed with tenderness sweet enough to drip honey.
He truly cherished his legitimate bloodline.
Except for the illegitimate child who stained the family’s honor.
What a cowardly man. He made the mistake himself and pushes the blame onto others.
Arabella, standing nearby to welcome him, lightly lifted the hem of her dress and curtsied.
“Welcome home.”
Coldness settled into Isco’s eyes as he looked at the stain upon his perfect life.
A perfectionist.
The only blemish in the life of Isco Lewin, a man who could not tolerate flaws.
Instead of quietly remaining crushed in a corner, I had suddenly begun making moves—and he clearly hated that.
For someone who rarely revealed his emotions, the anger and disgust in his expression were unusually obvious.
He really must despise me. Then why did you do such a thing in the first place? Anyone watching would think you weren’t even my father. You were the one who made the mistake, so why vent your anger on someone else?
Arabella met his icy gaze without backing down.
Ten years in the entertainment industry—more if including trainee years.
When it came to surviving society, she was practically a veteran.
She had faced endless jealousy, hatred, and hostility throughout her life, yet she had never once lost.
At Arabella’s confident stare, Duke Isco’s eyebrow twitched.
“Father, let’s go to the reception room.”
At that moment, Rosaline deliberately linked arms with Isco and guided him away.
The Duke’s rigid expression softened at his daughter’s affection.
However, once he entered the reception room and sat down, his face turned cold again.
Because Arabella followed them inside with a bright smile.
Cecilia and Rosaline’s expressions hardened as well.
But Arabella simply sat across from Isco with a radiant smile.
“It’s family tradition to drink tea together whenever Father returns home, isn’t it?”
“Who said you were family?”
