Chapter 32

Chapter 32

I maintained a smiling expression as I called Arthur in a low voice.

Perhaps because he was a polite person, he seemed to realize right away that he had made a mistake.

But instead of accepting his apology, I moved close to him and whispered in his ear.

“You’ll tell me what happened on the way back, won’t you? I’m concerned because it sounded as though Mrs. Gottfried isn’t feeling well.”

“Ah, it’s nothing to worry about. I’ll explain on the way back.”

“Thank you.”

Then I pulled away from him, smiled at Briana as well, and picked up my teacup.

She did not apologize to me. She merely smiled in the same way.

Then, as though this were the beginning of her true purpose, she started asking me various questions.

“I’ve also heard about Miss Rosalyn’s unfortunate circumstances. It must be so difficult for you to prepare for your marriage all by yourself.”

“Count Brough, my second cousin once removed, has been helping me in every way he can. It isn’t as difficult a situation as you might think.”

“Oh, right, Count Brough is there, isn’t he? Then I imagine you must have received proposals from many places. Was there a particular reason you chose Arthur among them?”

Then she smiled and placed her hand playfully on Arthur’s forearm.

“Arthur is such a simpleton. I thought a man like him might be a little boring for someone as charming as Miss Rosalyn.”

Honestly, touching a man’s body in front of a woman who might become his fiancée.

By this point, I thought I had a rough idea of Briana’s true feelings. I didn’t know about Arthur, but this woman had feelings for him.

Perhaps this gathering today had been arranged deliberately by Briana so that she could show me those feelings.

‘That’s unfortunate. Unless there’s some major variable, this man is going to be mine.’

What the Gottfried family wanted was a title to give to their second son. And no matter what this woman did, she could not give them that.

Thinking that way, I felt sorry again for Briana, who was the only one getting so worked up over this relationship, and I became more generous toward whatever she said.

Perhaps my composure looked irritating to her. Briana picked another fight with me.

“By the way, your skin looks so good. Is there some secret to it…… Ah! You’re wearing makeup.”

She meant that my skin only looked good because of makeup, didn’t she?

I gave a light scoff.

“I tend to take good care of my skin. If your skin isn’t in good condition, no matter how thickly you apply makeup, it won’t look pretty.”

It would be boring if I stopped here.

“I would recommend rose water or green tea to Miss Briana. Soak gauze in it, place it under your eyes, and leave it there for about ten minutes before removing it. If you do this consistently for about a month, the area beneath your eyes will look brighter.”

“Ah…….”

“And if you cover it with a layer of a light-colored powder and lightly apply powder mixed with pearl powder along your lower lash line, it can immediately make the area look brighter. If you use too much, your eyes may look swollen, so use only a little with a small, short brush.”

A white face without any redness looked clean, to put it kindly, but to put it less kindly, it looked pale and bloodless. Briana, in particular, seemed to have thin skin beneath her eyes, as a purplish tint showed through and made her look tired.

In this country, where rosy cheeks were considered a condition of beauty, a pale and tired-looking face must clearly have been one of Briana’s complexes.

Sure enough, she looked flustered by my words. Judging by how she instinctively started to bring her hand toward the area beneath her eyes before lowering it again.

“P-pearl powder mixed into powder? There’s such a thing, too.”

“A lot of people use it. It is somewhat expensive, but not to the point that the Wells Baron’s daughter would find it burdensome.”

As I examined her face, I offered her some more advice.

“On days when you want to dress up a little more, try applying a little vermilion rouge over coral-colored rouge. It will make your face look more lively.”

“Coral and vermilion…….”

“There’s a coral shade mixed with white, but if you apply something like that, your lips will look like they’re floating on their own, so choose a color that is as clear as possible.”

Briana nodded with an expression that made it difficult to tell whether she had properly understood me or not. It was understandable that she would feel displeased after indirectly being told that her face looked dull in front of the man she was in love with.

Perhaps she realized that I had no intention of meekly backing down, because Briana did not provoke me unnecessarily after that.

After comfortably finishing about an hour and a half of tea time, I heard about the long history between Briana and Arthur as we returned together.

“My father is very interested in practical studies. That’s why he became close to Baron Wells, and I also grew up on good terms with the siblings in that family from a young age.”

“You said Miss Briana has older brothers, but it seems you’re closer to Miss Briana than to them. Is it because you’re around the same age?”

“I suppose so. Briana has also followed me around affectionately since we were young, and I found her cute, as though I had gained a younger sister. Of course, I have never once had any strange feelings toward her.”

I suddenly became curious.

If Briana were to confess to him face-to-face about the unrequited love that had probably begun in childhood, what kind of expression would this man make?

With a strangely bitter taste lingering in my mouth, I returned to the mansion while only half-listening to the anecdote about the day Mrs. Gottfried had danced the polka.

***

After seeing Arthur and Rosalyn off, Briana stared out the window for a long while to calm her mind.

Rosalyn Tessis was far more confident and shameless than she had expected. And as expected, she did not seem to be seeing Arthur because she loved him. It was difficult to list the exact reasons, but that was simply how a woman’s intuition worked.

‘Just by looking at the way she puts down the women around her, you can tell how arrogant and conceited she is.’

In front of Arthur, Rosalyn had belittled her, and in such a low manner, too, by attacking her ‘appearance.’

Solely to make herself stand out and humiliate the other person.

‘If she were a wise woman, she would have asked after Mrs. Gottfried and asked me for advice about Arthur. If she had done that, I would have gladly accepted her.’

Because Arthur was somewhat slow-witted, he probably would not even realize that Rosalyn had insulted his longtime friend. But from now on, he might keep thinking, ‘Briana has dark circles under her eyes.’ It was already a complex of hers that people said she looked pale and unhealthy.

As Arthur’s popular friend, Briana had not been entirely unfamiliar with the jealousy of beautiful noble ladies, but she had never once felt threatened by an opponent as much as she did this time. In fact, among the women who had desired Arthur, there had been no one who could outdo her verbally or anyone as beautiful as Rosalyn.

‘I’m upset…….’

But even so, it was embarrassing to go around talking about this. She might end up getting a bad reputation for clinging to Arthur when he was about to get married.

Unable to do anything about it, Briana had to take deep breaths and calm herself whenever Rosalyn came to mind, and the day she finally could not hold it in any longer was the day she accompanied her father to the Royal Palace.

While waiting for her father, who had entered the audience chamber, Briana wandered through a nearby corridor, admiring the beautiful ceiling murals.

Because of that, she lightly bumped into a man who was walking around the corner.

“Oh my, I’m sorry! I was distracted and……!”

“I’m fine, but are you hurt?”

“Ah, yes! I’m fine.”

The other person was Ash McCallen.

She had heard quite a lot about how he had solved the child disappearance case that had occurred recently and how the Royal Family was also very interested in the case.

Briana assumed that he had probably stopped by because of that, when she suddenly remembered that he was also in charge of the Brough townhouse fire case. It was information she had learned while looking into Rosalyn.

Perhaps that was why she felt reluctant to simply let him go after he had given her a brief greeting and was about to leave.

“I heard that you’re investigating matters related to Miss Rosalyn?”