Chapter 19
In any case, thanks to her, I ended up attending a party I had no desire to go to.
Once I actually arrived, the Dartmouth family turned out to be quite a respectable family, considering they had failed so spectacularly at educating their daughter’s character.
I heard they had built their wealth through the tea trade.
Perhaps because of that, there were no fewer than nine kinds of tea for the guests to choose from.
‘So it’s called a tea party, but this is really a place to introduce their new products, isn’t it?’
They certainly knew how to make the most of things.
After being shown to a table separate from Countess Brough’s, I chose the tea I would drink by smelling the tea leaves in the small glass jars one by one.
When I was living at the bottom of society, I thought there was only one kind of ‘tea’ in the world.
The kind of tea we brewed in an old kettle that never lost its soot when the weather turned cold, with its bitter taste and slightly sweet aroma.
We drank it for a clear purpose.
It warmed our bodies without having to eat anything, and its stimulating effect helped drive away sleepiness.
But nobles did not drink tea with any particular purpose in mind.
If I had to name one, perhaps their purpose was to enjoy their leisure.
‘How extravagant.’
They bought tea at prices more expensive than gold just to enjoy their leisure time a little more, then served it to guests to flaunt their wealth and power.
No matter how much money I had, I don’t think I could buy tea that cost 100,000 guilden per gram.
Honestly, no matter what kind of tea I drank, nothing tasted better to me than that ‘tea’ we used to boil on cold mornings.
As I drank the tea with a hint of orange and reminisced about the past, someone called out to me from behind.
It was a familiar voice.
“You’ve arrived, Lady Tessis.”
“Baroness, you mean. Now.”
I turned around with a faint smile and saw Heather looking at me with a cold smile.
According to what I had learned, in terms of noble rank, the daughter of a count’s family could not be said to rank higher than a hereditary baron.
Of course, she could not treat a count’s daughter carelessly because of the count’s influence.
What mattered was that she must not look down on me as she had when Rosalyn Tessis was the daughter of a baron.
Judging by the irritated expression on her face, Heather seemed to have understood exactly what I was trying to convey.
I thanked her while trying not to show how pleased I was.
“Thank you very much for inviting me. Thanks to you, I even get to taste such precious tea.”
“Precious? It’s just what we normally drink.”
“This is quite excellent, though. The garden is truly beautiful.”
“Thank you. Then, enjoy your time here.”
Heather, who had tried to crush me beneath the wealth and power of her family, and me, who sarcastically brushed off the Dartmouth family’s tea as though it were nothing, were equally childish, but so what?
When someone looks down on you, you have to show them that you’re not an easy target, or they’ll sink their teeth into you.
I felt somewhat relieved thanks to that, but I still had no idea why she had invited me.
‘I need to stay on my guard. She might mobilize her friends again and try to humiliate me.’
The real Rosalyn had fallen for that easily, but I wasn’t nearly that defenseless.
I joined the conversations around me only enough to avoid giving anyone an excuse to find fault with me, and whenever an unfamiliar topic came up, I passed the time by pretending to savor my tea.
Then I tilted my head in confusion when a name I knew began to come up at the table.
“Oh! When do you think Lady Wells and Young Master Gottfried will get engaged? I think it would be about time.”
“Briana and Arthur have been close since they were children, so apparently they don’t feel the need to rush.”
“Even so, they’re at an age where it wouldn’t be strange for either of them to receive a marriage proposal if they don’t hurry.”
“That’s true, but who would think of those two separately? They’ve been together like lovers for so long.”
Hmm.
This sounds like they’re saying it for me to hear.
‘So this is how I finally find out who that childhood friend he kept mentioning in our conversations was.’
The young ladies discussing them seemed to want me to be surprised, but I simply sipped my tea with an indifferent expression.
Honestly, I really wasn’t bothered.
It wasn’t as though I passionately loved that man, nor had I thought that he had never had a woman in his life.
So that was it.
Whoever had been there before, wasn’t the person who ended up with him in the end the winner?
If we were to call this a game, that is.
When I showed no reaction, the young ladies brought up their story again.
“Miss Briana has become so beautiful lately. She also seems very cultured, to the point that she can even have deep conversations with Arthur. I suppose that’s because she’s the daughter of a family of scholars?”
“I hear the two of them meet quite often. I don’t understand why they hide the fact that they’re lovers.”
I nearly burst out laughing at that.
‘Why would you need extensive culture to have a conversation with a man? Do you really think men are that lofty?’
And what they expected from women wasn’t particularly impressive either.
They merely wanted someone to comfort their feelings, satisfy their lust, or, in the worst case, become a decoration by their side.
Besides, if they met that often and he avoided answering when asked whether they were lovers, I think it would be better to kick such a man to the curb quickly, Miss Briana Wells.
As I continued to show no reaction and merely broke apart cookies, someone eventually couldn’t stand it any longer and turned the arrow of attention toward me under the pretense of asking about how I had been doing.
“But how have you been lately, Miss Rosalyn?”
It couldn’t be a question about whether I was eating properly.
I did feel a slight urge to pretend not to understand and ramble about something irrelevant just to make them frustrated, but I didn’t want to waste my time and energy on these people.
So I casually blurted out.
“I went on a blind date. I thought it would be extremely awkward since it was my first time, but surprisingly, it was quite nice.”
“Oh my! You went on a blind date……. Who was it?”
“Young Master Arthur Gottfried. Though it seems everyone already knows.”
The atmosphere instantly turned cold.
Wasn’t this what they wanted me to notice?
Why couldn’t they even keep their expressions under control?
“I’m sorry. We didn’t know, so I suppose we were talking about things we shouldn’t have.”
“Hm? What are you referring to……?”
“Ah, no, I mean, about Miss Briana and Arthur…….”
“It’s all right. It’s not as though you said anything inappropriate. I hear the two of them aren’t lovers?”
Everyone awkwardly nodded their heads reluctantly.
“Just because I happen to be seeing him for a while doesn’t mean our marriage has already been decided either.”
“Th-That’s right.”
“Of course, I do hope that my relationship with him bears good fruit. But that doesn’t mean I have any reason to stake everything on it.”
Having said that, I smiled brightly and picked up my tea again.
I noticed a couple of the young ladies who had been talking about Miss Briana and Arthur until just moments ago stealing glances at Heather, but I did not openly pretend to notice.
‘To think you would attempt something like this and call it an attack. I’m disappointed, Lady Heather Dartmouth.’
I didn’t understand why the world of sheltered young ladies was so delicate and timid.
If you were going to fight, you should at least have the guts to grab your opponent by the hair and shake them.
Clicking my tongue inwardly, I picked up the last remaining cookie and broke it in half.
There were many things about Heather Dartmouth that I disliked, but the tea foods served at today’s tea party were truly fantastic.
I was even determined that if I made a little more money, I would improve the quality of the cookies at the Tessis baronial residence.
***
“Annoying.”
Heather glared at Rosalyn, who was casually eating cookies with an unconcerned expression, and ground her teeth.
‘She doesn’t have a damn thing, yet she dares……!’
Heather was one of the flowers of Herona’s high society.
The wealth of the Dartmouth family, which was said to be enough to buy the royal palace, a mother who led public opinion among middle-aged noblewomen, good friends from respectable families whom she had known since childhood, and an appearance that, while not that of a conventional beauty, was attractive enough.
Heather believed there was nothing she lacked.
Perhaps because of that, everyone treated her favorably, and Heather was equally proud and haughty.
So much so that she would mercilessly drive out newcomers to high society who did not meet her standards.
That was why she had humiliated Rosalyn Tessis.
What an insufferable country bumpkin, walking around shamelessly with her chin held high without even knowing her place.
It had been unbearable to look at.
And then that woman, who didn’t even know her place, had dared to spill wine on Heather’s skirt.
Right in front of the man she liked, no less.
“You saw it today, didn’t you? She tried to pin the wine she spilled on my dress on a maid. I don’t think any of my friends would invite someone of such low caliber to a party.”
It was simple to drive Rosalyn out of high society.
All Heather had to do was let her friends know that she disliked her.
Then her friends would tell their other friends, and in that way, anyone who ‘damaged the dignity of high society’ would disappear from Herona’s social circles.
That was how it should have gone, but the fire at the Brough townhouse ruined her plan.
