Chapter 18

“Perhaps you’ve forgotten, but the mistress of House Travil is my mother! From now on, until my brother’s death has been confirmed, you will receive only the bare minimum for your living expenses!”

“…The bare minimum?”

“Ten million perans a month! Considering your origins, even that is more than you deserve.”

Camillia crumpled to the floor.

Only ten million perans!

That was roughly the monthly living expense of a middle-class commoner couple.

But she was a noblewoman.

A lady who employed a personal hairdresser for four million perans a month and retained a personal dressmaker for nine million!

Camillia could not accept that the luxurious life she had enjoyed every day was now over.

Tears filled her eyes.

While she sat there in a daze, Baron Germain left the bedroom.

Then came the heavy thud of his footsteps as he climbed the stairs. For quite some time, loud orders rang out, accompanied by the sounds of luggage being moved and furniture scraping and banging against the floor.

The dowager baroness left the estate without so much as saying goodbye to Camillia.

Left alone, Camillia did not slowly rise to her feet until sunset.

She turned her head listlessly and caught sight of herself in the mirror.

The forlorn face reflected there, its cheeks wet with tears, looked utterly unfamiliar.

She shook her head in a daze. Her half-curled hair swayed softly with the movement.

That only made her feel more miserable.

How was she supposed to live from now on?

Camillia let out a shrill scream.

“This can’t be happening!”

Meanwhile, someone else had been expelled from the glittering fortress of wealth.

It was Gerard’s younger sister, Evelyn Rendel.

“Pay for this, Sister.”

At the unexpected demand, Rowena set down the fork she had just picked up.

Her sister-in-law was brazenly holding out a receipt for an expensive dress.

Rowena shifted her gaze away from the sweet stewed fruit and examined the receipt.

At the top of the paper, the words Bloom Dresses gleamed in gold.

Bloom Dresses was the most exclusive dressmaking establishment for wealthy customers who did not employ personal dressmakers.

“Why are you just staring at it?”

When Rowena showed no particular reaction, Evelyn impatiently pressed her.

In her previous life, Rowena had always accepted the receipts her sister-in-law handed her with a touch as soft as a feather.

This time, however, she used that hand to pick up her napkin.

After wiping the corners of her mouth with impeccable manners, Rowena slowly raised her teacup.

She drank her tea in silence, leaving Evelyn to grow increasingly impatient.

Only after some time did Rowena finally speak.

“I’m afraid I can’t.”

Evelyn scowled.

“Why not?”

“That’s precisely what I’d like to ask you. Why should I buy you a dress?”

“You’ve always bought them for me before.”

“And I’m telling you that I won’t be doing so anymore.”

“But why?”

Rowena shrugged as though it were of no consequence.

Then, in the elegant tone the Rendel siblings so thoroughly despised, she answered,

“Because I don’t want to.”

Evelyn trembled as though she had been personally insulted.

“I need to wear it to the Yellow Ribbon Club’s admission party!”

“So you’ve finally been invited to join that club? Congratulations.”

“Then buy me this dress as a congratulatory gift.”

“No.”

“But you just congratulated me!”

“Yes. I sincerely congratulate you.”

The hand holding the receipt began to shake.

“How stingy! You’re going to get away with just saying it?”

“That’s exactly what I intend to do.”

Rowena merely raised one eyebrow and took another sip of tea, entirely unperturbed.

Privately, she applauded her sister-in-law’s tremendous efforts.

After all, Evelyn had finally managed to gain admission to the Yellow Ribbon Club after three whole years of trying.

The social club accepted only women between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.

It was a gathering frequented by the daughters of Erisvale’s influential wealthy families and nobility, particularly young ladies who cherished fantasies of forming close, enduring friendships with one another.

Being invited to join meant, in short, that a group of wealthy, gossip-loving women had scrutinized her thoroughly and finally agreed to accept her as a friend.

Evelyn had made joining that secretive, exclusive circle her life’s ambition.

Now that her dream had finally come true, how excited must she be?

Indeed, she seemed not merely excited but almost frantic as she snapped,

“If you keep acting like this, I’ll ask my brother to buy it for me!”

So you’re threatening to tell your brother on me.

Rowena wanted to retort that her brother’s fortune had originally belonged to Rowena’s grandfather.

But she suppressed her rising anger.

Instead, she launched an even more effective attack.

She smiled with lofty composure.

“By all means.”

“…”

“Gerard should be at the archery range with his business partners by now. You can go there and pester him.”

Evelyn glared at Rowena for some time, breathing furiously, before turning on her heel and storming out.

Rowena set down her half-empty teacup.

The stewed fruit beside it remained untouched.

She had hardly had an appetite to begin with, and now she had even less.

So she rose from her seat and headed straight for her husband’s study.

The rhythmic clicking of her shoes echoed across the polished wooden floor.

With every step, Rowena’s heart pounded harder.

It was an unmistakable sign of anger.

It’s the fortune Grandfather worked so hard to build.

Rowena no longer wanted to watch that precious inheritance being squandered.

Evelyn’s dresses, the jewelry bought for Camillia, and every other little extravagance—she resolved not to tolerate any of it.

With that determination, she opened Gerard’s desk drawer.

She intended to take the receipts for the jewelry Gerard had given Camillia.

But no matter how thoroughly she searched, she could not find them.

Did he burn them?

Perhaps he had.

Hadn’t Camillia, who had enjoyed subtly flaunting her affair, once said something like this?

“I went into your husband’s study to leave a receipt on his desk, and I found this in the fireplace. The recipient’s name was burned away, so I couldn’t check who it was addressed to, but it’s definitely a love letter.”

Rowena’s eyes narrowed.

After staring at the fireplace, she slowly surveyed the room.

Her gaze traveled along the old-fashioned wooden walls before stopping at a large bookcase near the window.

On its bottom shelf was a collection of Rodems’s poetry.

Rowena’s small, plump white hand seized the book and pulled it out sharply.

She opened it wide.

Several letters fluttered from between its pages and fell to the floor.

I received “The Smile of the Sea,” my love! To think you would give me such a beautiful necklace. Could there be another gentleman in this world as kind as you?

Neither the sender’s nor the recipient’s name was written on the letter.

But the handwriting was unmistakably Camillia’s.

Leaving out your name doesn’t hide who you are.

In any case, this letter was another valuable find.

Rowena tossed it into a chest she had named the Pit of Evidence Against the Corrupt Traitors, then locked the chest securely with a key.

That evening, a maid from the dowager Baroness Travil’s household came to see Rowena.

It was Melissa, the young maid.

After bowing deeply, Melissa carefully delivered the dowager baroness’s message.

Rowena listened attentively and nodded.

“The dowager baroness intends to stay at Baron Germain’s home until she recovers her health? That’s wonderful news.”

“My lady asked me to thank you for all the care you’ve shown her. She also said that once she recovers, she would like to play chess with you.”

“Yes. I hope that day comes soon.”

Melissa gazed at Rowena’s eyes in a daze, her own round eyes shining.

When Rowena gave her a gentle smile, Melissa seemed to startle and abruptly lowered her head.

The sight was so endearing that Rowena smiled again.

“By the way, are you going with the dowager baroness?”

“I’ve decided to stay here. I’m a servant of House Travil, after all.”

“I see. And Camillia? Is she doing well?”

Melissa suddenly pursed her lips.

Her brows drew together as though she were troubled, and she hesitated before answering.

“My lady… hasn’t been feeling well.”

“Oh dear. What’s wrong with her?”

“I’m not entirely sure… I think I heard that she has a headache.”

“Then I suppose her personal dressmaker’s visits have been postponed as well?”

“The head maid said the dressmaker wouldn’t be coming for a while, so there was no need to prepare for her arrival.”

Camillia’s dressmaker was quite famous in Erisvale.

She was exceptionally skilled at combining colors to suit each individual’s complexion, and other noble households coveted her talents.

Camillia paid an enormous sum to retain such a sophisticated dressmaker exclusively.

Having gone to so much trouble to secure her services, Camillia summoned her constantly.

Unless something unavoidable intervened, the dressmaker visited Camillia every day to select the clothes she would wear the following day.

It seemed that something unavoidable had finally occurred.

It was not difficult to guess what.

Rowena’s lips were just beginning to curve upward when Melissa spoke cautiously.

“I think I should be going now. The coachman is waiting for me outside.”

“Of course, Melissa. Come visit the Livros estate from time to time. Louisa would be happy to see you.”

“Thank you.”

After Melissa left, Rowena returned to her desk.

While Camillia suffered from the dreadful headache of financial ruin, Rowena needed to prepare her next attack.