My mother, understanding my signal, asked the servant who brought the box. Inside the box was an enchanting blue satin dress, neatly folded.

“Miss Eloise sent this message: Lea and I are cousins of the same age, but it’s regrettable that we haven’t become close due to various circumstances. Moreover, seeing Lea cook so wonderfully today despite her harsh environment made me reflect on how negligent I’ve been. So how about going to the court banquet together in three days? I want to show others that the Ruargo family’s young ladies have grown into excellent ladies.”

The servant who delivered the message stiffly looked down arrogantly. Most servants in this mansion did not show courtesy to us.

Well, it was the expected treatment. Our position, as determined by the Count, was below that of servants.

“While I appreciate Eloise’s consideration, I must decline the offer. Our child is scheduled to be sick starting tomorrow.”

My father answered, imitating the servant by looking down. The servant glanced at me and asked again.

“Scheduled to be sick?”

“Yes. That’s how it’s supposed to be. Our daughter is supposed to be sick starting tomorrow. Ouch!”

This time, Lou poked my father firmly. He’s always first in class when it comes to acting without tact.

“Then I will convey that message. ‘The person who would receive the dress’ plans to be sick starting tomorrow, so she can’t attend the banquet. Although she looked perfectly fine today.”

Oh? Look at this servant. He calls Eloise “Miss” but refers to me as “the person who would receive the dress.”

The servant briefly mocked me, then closed the box and hoisted it onto his shoulder.

It seems he’s taking the dress back, but why did I want to stop him? I grabbed the departing servant.

“Just leave it.”

“Pardon?”

“Put the box back down. And please convey my thanks to Miss Eloise. Also add that I’ll see her in three days. Tell her I’d like to ride in the same carriage since I don’t have one.”

But the servant ignored my order and snorted.

“Didn’t you say you were scheduled to be sick tomorrow? I cannot follow the orders of someone who reverses their decisions.”

“This person.”

“Let go of this. I am a busy person who must run errands for my master day and night. I don’t have time to delay here…… mmph!”

At that moment, my father stuffed a sandwich into the servant’s mouth. It seemed he had quietly gone to the oven to get a sandwich.

Thanks to this, the servant lost his words. He put down the dress box and began to eat the sandwich in his mouth.

“This is…… this is……”

“This is what?”

“What dish is this? It’s so delicious.”

The servant spoke while stuffing the sandwich into his mouth. Whether he realized it or not, he had erased his previously stiff expression and was smiling broadly.

“Miss Lea.”

“Yes?”

“The food’s name is Miss Lea.”

“Ah…… yes…… what?”

“Would you like more?”

The servant rolled his eyes and answered ambiguously.

“If you offer……”

My father gladly handed over the remaining sandwiches. The servant bowed his previously stiff back and received the food plate.

“Now hurry along.”

At my father’s dismissal, the servant tilted his head. He slowly walked toward the door, then suddenly turned and asked.

“By the way. How do you make it?”

“Make what?”

“Miss Lea. This Miss Lea.”

The servant, holding the plate high, smiled shyly.

It was probably the first time in the past six months that the word “Miss Lea” had come from his mouth.

***

Three days later. Standing in front of Eloise’s carriage, I opened my mouth wide. I was considerably surprised by the carriage’s luxury.

Could Cinderella’s pumpkin carriage have been like this? The fantastical carriage that could only be made with magical power.

The exterior gleamed with meticulously applied white paint. Sophisticated decoration with gold velvet draped over the leather roof. Large bronze wheels finished with gilding to match the roof.

But those were mere peripherals. What completely captured one’s attention upon encountering the carriage was the Ruargo emblem attached to the door.

The family symbol adorned with various jewels on a silver background. A luxury item with too many jewels to count all the types.

Deer antlers in sapphire, leaves in emerald, bear in ruby, and…… I don’t know the rest. Anyway, such a show of wealth.

Eloise’s carriage was openly displaying it.

How prosperous the current Ruargo family is. Also, how much financial power they hold.

“You look good dressed like that.”

Eloise, expressionless, spoke to me inside the swaying carriage.

“I thought blue would suit you since you have white skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes. My choice wasn’t bad, was it?”

Her tone was emotionless but kind. It almost made me mistakenly think she had genuinely decided to get along with me.

“Thank you. It’s a beautiful dress. Too good for me.”

Eloise nodded her dry face at my thanks. Whether she was affirming the gratitude or agreeing that the dress was too good for me, I couldn’t tell.

I changed the subject to avoid awkwardness.

“It’s just the two of us in the carriage. Is another carriage moving separately?”

“No, there’s only one carriage. Only the two of us are going to the banquet.”

“Why? I’m fine, but what about you? Will you be alright without a maid?”

Suddenly, Eloise’s lips twisted unexpectedly. My attractive cousin with red hair and brown eyes raised her eyes disdainfully.

“Why wouldn’t I have a maid? The place we’re going is the court banquet hall. It’s a place where non-nobles can’t even set foot. We can’t bring the household servants to such a place, can we?”

Then Eloise smirked and tapped my forehead with her index finger.

“Ah…… I forgot. Actually, you were also a household servant in our home, weren’t you? You keep speaking casually to me, which makes me confused like this.”

The kind tone was nowhere to be found. Eloise was being sarcastic to the point where coldness would have been better.

“I was really shortsighted. Choosing you as an errand girl for the court banquet. Someone more suited to the washing place.”

“I see. You called me because you needed a maid to use at the banquet.”

“What’s with that tone? As if you expected something else. Sorry, but you’re still too much even to be called a lady-in-waiting. There will be many eyes watching. There are no low-level ladies who employ fallen nobles as ladies-in-waiting.”

Eloise brushed her dress. She was wearing a snow-white dress and a brightly shining tiara.

Anyone seeing her might mistake her for a bride on her way to a wedding.

Thud.

After adjusting her clothes, Eloise’s hand moved to the side seat. Simultaneously, the bouquet on the seat fell down.

Eloise, who had deliberately pushed away the bouquet, commanded dryly. Her eyes were fixed directly on me.

“Pick it up.”

“Pick it up? Not ‘Could you please pick it up?'”

“What kind of lady asks a maid for a favor? To be precise, the maid should have picked it up before the lady ordered.”

I faced Eloise without even furrowing my brow. Soon, I bent down and grabbed the bouquet.

Well, what’s the big deal about doing this? The more dignified my attitude, the more it burns the other person inside. After all, humiliation is the share of the person who feels it.

“What else can I do for you? A little earlier, I should have brushed your dress too. Sorry.”

Eloise had no response to my blunt apology for a long time. Glaring at me was the only action she took.

Eloise soon cast her gaze out the window. Then, like a grandmother telling an old tale, she monologued in a low voice.

“I hate this. No matter what happens, you’re composed and I’m impatient. It’s been that way since the moment we were born. As if our roles were predetermined.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“You’ve never even thought about it, have you? Why my family is so desperate about everything? You’ve never even briefly considered it. Because the real has no reason to examine the mind of the fake.”

I remained silent, and Eloise continued slowly.

“The wealth accumulated by the previous Count Ruargo wasn’t achieved solely through luck. It was thanks to the person who informed him that controlling the capital’s trade routes would bring in numerous tolls. That person was my grandfather. Although he passed away at a young age, leaving my father an orphan.”

“So the late Count Ruargo didn’t forget the favor. He took your father in as an adopted son.”

“Yes. He took him in as an adopted son. And then he discriminated against him.”

“That’s a terrible misunderstanding. Grandfather and grandmother treated you and us the same. They loved us equally.”

“You can say that because you’re the real one. I can have this terrible misunderstanding because I’m the fake one, filled with inferiority.”

“I really don’t understand. What you’re dissatisfied with.”

“We always watched grandfather’s mood. Because we never knew when we’d be abandoned. Finally, grandfather revealed his true nature one year before his death. By making a will that would appoint you as Count and us as Viscount. The conclusion is this: the real ones get all of Ruargo’s property, and the fake ones become the real ones’ underlings again. Since what a Viscount does is be a Count’s underling.”

Eloise eventually snorted.

“It’s not even funny. Ruargo’s wealth was created together by your grandfather and our grandfather. Why must we eternally act as your appendages? Not even dividing the property?”

“So?”

“So we became the masters instead of the underlings. If it won’t be divided, it’s better for us to have it.”

“Then you should release the eldest son’s family now. The current eldest son is neither Count nor master nor anything, right?”