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Chapter 11
“Bella!”
With a loud bang, the bedroom door flew open.
Bella was just about to tell them that they should at least knock before entering someone else’s room when—
“You! Just what… have you done?!”
The little fox stormed inside, shouting in fury.
Bella could only stare at her in surprise.
What’s going on?
Normally, the little fox would raise her hand simply because she was in a bad mood. Most of her reasons were petty and ridiculous.
Which also meant Bella had never actually seen her truly furious before.
Yet that was exactly what stood before her now.
The little fox was trembling with rage.
…This is oddly satisfying.
A small smile crept onto Bella’s lips.
Standing beside her, Roxy looked just as stunned, her mouth hanging open.
The commotion had also drawn several servants to the doorway, all equally bewildered.
“You’re smiling? You’re actually smiling?!”
“Calm down first. At least explain what’s going on before—”
“Shut up! Are you making fun of me? Is this funny to you?!”
The little fox screamed again, practically shrieking at the top of her lungs.
Bella sighed.
Reason clearly wasn’t going to work.
Still, she couldn’t simply stand there and take it. She had no idea what this was about.
She was about to ask them to calmly explain the situation—
Smack!
A burning pain exploded across one side of Bella’s face.
“W-What are you—”
She touched her cheek in disbelief.
It was hot.
Before she could even turn her head—
Smack!
Another slap landed on the opposite side.
This one hurt even more.
The second blow had come from the big fox, who had just arrived.
“M-Madam!”
“Move!”
Unable to watch any longer, Roxy stepped between them.
It made no difference.
The enraged mother and daughter grabbed Roxy by the hair and shoved her violently aside.
Only then did Bella snap out of her shock.
“Why are you doing this to me?”
The sudden attack had left her too stunned to react.
But the moment she saw Roxy sprawled on the floor, the blood that had rushed to her head suddenly turned ice cold.
“Have you both gone insane?!”
Bella finally shouted.
The foxes, who had been about to kick Roxy while she lay on the floor, froze.
They slowly turned toward Bella.
“What? You don’t know why?”
“You slapped me without saying a single word! How could I possibly know? At least explain yourselves!”
Bella raised her voice.
She stood up and glared back at them.
Apparently they hadn’t expected her to fight back.
The big fox faltered slightly.
But the hatred in her eyes remained.
Then Bella noticed something.
She shifted her gaze toward the little fox.
Cecile was clinging to her mother, sobbing.
What happened to her?
Her eyes were swollen from crying.
From head to toe she was covered in expensive jewelry and luxurious clothes.
The excessive display almost made Bella laugh.
Then she remembered.
“Weren’t you supposed to visit His Grace the Duke today?”
Since things had already reached this point, Bella smiled openly, her expression laced with mockery.
Cecile had never possessed much fashion sense.
Today she looked even worse.
She always believed piling on more expensive things automatically made her prettier.
Bella clicked her tongue inwardly.
The foxes truly had no sense of moderation.
Did she really cling to the Duke looking like that?
Knowing Cecile…
She absolutely would have.
A laugh nearly escaped Bella.
She hurriedly covered her mouth.
The Ice Duke must have been completely bewildered.
Just imagining his normally expressionless face slowly twisting in disbelief immediately lifted Bella’s gloomy mood.
“So?”
“What did His Grace say?”
“Did he promise to make you his Duchess?”
“I never even got to meet him!”
“…What?”
Bella’s smile vanished instantly.
Before she could respond, the big fox shouted.
“His Grace announced that he would no longer accept marriage proposals! We waited in line since dawn for nothing!”
“…Excuse me?”
“We stood there since sunrise! Can you believe that?!”
The Duke…
Had stopped accepting proposals?
Apparently every noble lady who had lined up since dawn had been sent away, cursing in frustration.
Could it be…
Hope stirred inside Bella once again.
She hurriedly suppressed the excitement pounding in her chest.
She had been given false hope too many times before.
She refused to fall for it again.
But…
She couldn’t stop the thought from returning.
In moments like this, fate truly was cruel.
Bella smiled bitterly.
Still…
That wasn’t the immediate problem.
“So because His Grace stopped accepting proposals…”
“…you came here to take your anger out on me?”
She understood why they were upset.
What she didn’t understand was why that justified slapping her.
Cecile sneered.
“Stop pretending.”
“The whole social circle is already talking about it.”
“…Talking about what?”
“I knew this would happen!”
“I told you, Mother!”
“We should’ve gotten rid of this bitch sooner!”
“I knew it’d end like this!”
“Stop avoiding the question.”
“What rumor?”
Cecile muttered almost hysterically.
Whatever had happened, it was clearly serious.
Then she glared at Bella with bloodshot eyes.
“You sly little witch!”
“Everyone’s saying the Eaton family’s daughter caught the Duke’s eye!”
“…What?”
Bella’s mind went blank.
Meanwhile, the big fox, who had been comforting her sobbing daughter, continued furiously.
“After one particular young lady visited the Duke’s estate yesterday, His Grace turned every other woman away!”
“And that’s not all!”
“This morning every noble family that had proposed marriage received formal letters of rejection!”
“…”
“And today he refused to see anyone at all, throwing every last suitor out!”
The two foxes shouted over each other.
Bella barely heard any of it.
She was too shocked.
According to them…
The Duke’s sudden actions had thrown high society into complete chaos.
Naturally, everyone wanted to know the identity of the mysterious young woman who had captured his attention.
Who was the last woman His Grace met?
People became obsessed with finding out.
The young ladies who had been present yesterday began sharing everything they had seen.
Several of them recognized Bella’s face.
The words “the Eaton Count’s daughter” spread through society like wildfire.
Soon the rumor became:
“The daughter of Count Eaton defeated every other noble lady in the race to win Duke Avalan’s heart!”
“Do you know what you’ve done?!”
“Because of you, look what’s happened to me!”
Cecile screamed.
Bella was speechless.
In fact…
She almost wanted to laugh.
Ironically, when people heard “the Eaton Count’s daughter,” they naturally assumed they were talking about Cecile—not Bella.
Without meaning to, Cecile had become the enemy of every unmarried noblewoman.
The target of everyone’s jealousy and resentment.
Serves you right.
Bella smiled faintly.
After all…
Cecile herself was nothing more than another rejected woman who had failed to become the Duke’s wife.
“Then tell everyone that woman was me.”
“…What?”
“Are you out of your mind?! If we did that—”
The big fox suddenly stopped herself.
Of course she did.
Because admitting that the woman was me would destroy everything they’ve spent thirteen years trying to erase.
The title “the Eaton Count’s daughter who captured the Duke’s heart” carried enormous influence.
Everyone would naturally ask:
Who is she?
And once they started investigating this unknown daughter of the Eaton family…
The truth about everything the foxes had done might come to light.
Then everyone would discover that the woman the Duke had noticed wasn’t Cecile.
It was Bella.
That was the big fox’s greatest fear.
This is getting interesting.
Bella smiled.
She hadn’t planned any of this.
But somehow…
Things had become wonderfully entertaining.
Unlike her mother, however, Cecile didn’t seem to understand the real danger they were facing.
“It was you, wasn’t it?”
“You met His Grace!”
“Yes.”
“I met him yesterday.”
Bella admitted it without hesitation.
Cecile’s face twisted with rage.
Then she lunged.
“How dare you!”
“How dare someone like you—!”
She wrapped both hands around Bella’s throat.
“L-Let go…!”
Caught completely off guard, Bella desperately clawed at Cecile’s hands as they tightened around her neck.
Fortunately, Roxy rushed in and managed to pull Cecile away.
“Miss Bella!”
“Cough…”
Her throat burned.
She felt something warm running down her skin.
When she wiped it away with the back of her hand…
Blood stained her fingers.
Cecile’s fingernails had left deep scratches across her neck.
What else should I expect from a fox…?
The pain stung.
But seeing the little fox so furious was even more satisfying.
“You bragged about finding yourself a husband…”
“And now you dare—”
“Dare?”
“I don’t think you’re in any position to say that to me.”
Perhaps Bella had gone half mad herself.
Despite the scratches covering her neck…
She had never felt so exhilarated.
“Who’s the one who stole someone else’s life in the first place?”
Bella refused to back down.
After all…
They were the ones who had stolen the Eaton name from her.
So she had no reason to quietly endure their insults.
“Shut up!”
“You think this means you’ll escape us?”
“Keep dreaming!”
Cecile bared her sharp nails again and lunged threateningly.
The servants surrounding them finally stepped forward.
Enough was enough.
As the servants struggled to restrain Cecile while she continued trying to attack Bella…
The room descended into complete chaos.
How much time passed like that?
“Enough!”
A sharp voice cut through the disorder.
The big fox, who had remained strangely silent until now, finally shouted.
Bella turned toward her.
The woman who had been screaming only moments earlier now stood perfectly still.
Her face had gone deathly cold.
Like a ghost drained of all blood.
Seeing that expression, Bella frowned.
A very bad feeling settled in her chest.
