Chapter 8

The vicious image of Camillia forcing her mouth open and pouring a suspicious liquid down her throat in her previous life was still vivid before Rowena’s eyes.

After taking that medicine, Rowena had lost more and more of herself with each passing day.

She could not describe how frightened she had been when her arms and legs stopped moving as she wished.

Sometimes her vision would grow dim, and she would cry from anxiety.

After enduring something so cruel, how could she possibly eat that cake?

When Rowena remained silent for a while, Louisa added,

“Actually, Mrs. Beaumont didn’t seem very pleased about it. She said that since it was a gift from a noble lady, I should at least ask whether you wanted it. But then she said she would make your chocolate cakes herself from now on! She said she couldn’t let you eat just anything, my lady.”

Camillia regularly sent cakes as gifts, as though she were some sort of cheese supplier.

Rowena had been receiving them for years, so she was quite surprised that Mrs. Beaumont had made such a decision.

“Mrs. Beaumont is right. Ever since I suffered that concussion, I’ve decided that I should eat only things that are good for my health.”

“Yes, then what shall I do with the cake?”

“Dispose of it discreetly.”

It was, after all, a gift, so refusing it would be awkward, but openly throwing it away would be equally difficult.

Therefore, the only option was to dispose of it in secret.

Louisa nodded. Then she immediately brought out dried fruit and tea.

Rowena moistened her lips with the bitter, delicately fragrant tea and began searching through the pile of letters again.

Before long, Rowena discovered some meaningful sentences among the numerous letters Camillia had sent her.

Mother-in-law fell down the stairs again today, so I called for a physician. I’ll have to look after her for the time being. Unfortunately, we’ll have to postpone our reading club. You understand, don’t you?

I postponed the reading club, but our dowager baroness insisted that she wanted to read a book. So I brought her one, and this time she complained that she couldn’t see the letters properly. Her eyesight is deteriorating because of old age, but she kept whining to me about it.

Impaired balance. Damage to the optic nerves.

Was it simply old age? Or were these symptoms deliberately induced?

Rowena of her previous life would undoubtedly have assumed it was old age, but now suspicion came first.

Surely not. Did Camillia give her mother-in-law that medicine too?

Goosebumps rapidly spread down Rowena’s back.

In fact, Camillia and the dowager Baroness Traville were famous for being as close as a mother and daughter.

That was why all the residents of Erisvale had always praised Camillia.

“Our dowager baroness is so kind to me that I feel as though I’ve been compensated for a lifetime of living without a mother.”

Camillia had once said those words at a tea party.

And afterward, hadn’t she smiled happily?

Had that smile been a lie too?

Letting out a long sigh, Rowena lowered her gaze.

The gold-bordered stationery was remarkably smooth, and the black handwriting adorning it was exceedingly elegant.

Even this letter seemed to perfectly reflect Camillia’s splendid outward appearance.

That must have been how she had deceived everyone.

Because she appeared harmless and perfect.

I need to investigate this properly, right away.

The smooth paper crumpled mercilessly in Rowena’s hand.

She threw the letter into her evidence chest, then immediately sent someone to Camillia’s house.

“Inform the dowager Baroness Traville that I would like to visit her this afternoon. Ask whether she has any other engagements and bring back her reply.”

Several hours later.

Stepping down from her carriage, Rowena hugged a large bouquet of lilies tightly against her chest.

As she climbed the steps of the modest mansion, she reminded herself of the purpose of this visit.

I’m here to visit the dowager Baroness Traville because she is ill.

The dowager Baroness Traville was one of the elderly ladies who had maintained a cordial relationship with her grandfather.

She had often visited the Libroth Count’s residence to drink tea and play chess with him.

It had been three years since Rowena had last been able to see that peaceful scene.

When Baron Traville went missing after going to the battlefield, the dowager baroness began living in seclusion.

That seclusion had continued until now, even though two years had passed since the war ended.

As time went by, all sorts of rumors had begun circulating about the elderly lady.

Rowena had occasionally seen her while visiting Camillia, but she had never thought to examine her condition seriously.

“Don’t go to the second floor. Mother-in-law doesn’t like having visitors.”

That was what Camillia had told her.

Looking back now, it seemed that she might have been deliberately interfering.

I should have noticed sooner.

At last, the butter-colored hem of her skirt swayed gently above her neatly positioned shoes at the top of the final step.

Rowena waited for a maid to come out.

However, when the heavy oak door opened, the person who greeted her was unexpectedly Camillia.

“Welcome. I’ve been waiting for you. There are other guests here too. You don’t mind, do you?”

Camillia smiled brightly and took hold of Rowena’s wrist, pulling her inside.

Rowena shook off her hand while pretending to adjust the bouquet.

Then she nodded as though nothing had happened.

“I don’t mind.”

After all, this was not a formal occasion, and she was merely a visitor who had come to pay an unexpected sick call.

But the moment she discovered Gerard drinking tea in the drawing room, Rowena was no longer all right.

“……Gerard, what are you doing here?”

How was she supposed to interpret the sight of her husband, who had spent the night away from home, sitting so confidently in her friend’s house drinking tea?

Gerard put down his teacup and guided Rowena toward the tea table.

Once she sat down, he courteously pushed her chair in for her.

Then he offered a flimsy excuse.

“By the time yesterday’s gathering ended, it was so late that I slept at my family home. I happened to be nearby. I intended to go straight to the count’s residence as soon as day broke, but Eveline suggested that we stop here for a while.”

“Eveline is in the study right now, Rowena. She went to get the Royal Gazette.”

Camillia, seated across from them, added those words.

“I see.”

Rowena nodded, pretending to accept their explanation.

They probably believed they had thoroughly deceived her.

Gerard doted on his younger sister Eveline, and Eveline admired Camillia to an excessive degree.

Therefore, it was perfectly natural for Eveline to bring her older brother along when visiting Camillia.

The problem was that Gerard’s attire was also somewhat disheveled.

Rowena stared at the dark brown hair falling slightly over the left side of Gerard’s forehead and the wrinkles in the sleeves of his white shirt.

If he had stopped by his family home, he would have changed into fresh clothes before coming here.

So Eveline was in on it too.

Just as a bitter smile appeared on Rowena’s lips, the drawing room door opened softly, and a woman with dark chestnut hair approached with quick little steps.

It was Eveline.

Eveline, who had turned eighteen this year, resembled Gerard as though they had been printed from the same copper engraving.

Unlike her older brother, however, she did not know how to conceal her cunning nature.

The first words Eveline blurted out upon discovering Rowena were proof of that.

“Well, what a surprise. To think someone as distinguished as you, Sister, would actually come here.”

“She came to visit our dowager baroness because she’s ill. Rowena is very diligent about maintaining her connections, you know.”

Camillia explained the situation in a voice tinged with laughter.

“First, Eveline, sit here. Rowena, our dowager baroness is in her bedroom on the second floor. She should be preparing to meet you around now, but we ought to give our shy dowager baroness enough time. Have a cup of tea before you go upstairs.”

“All right.”

Camillia rang a small bell and instructed a maid to bring tea and cake.

Meanwhile, Gerard loosely crossed his legs and drank his tea.

Eveline settled herself right beside her older brother and opened the Royal Gazette.

The Royal Gazette mainly covered light topics such as fashionable clothing, gossip about celebrities, and schedules for plays and banquets, so it was extremely popular among young ladies.

“Look, Brother. Apparently, pale pink dresses are going to be fashionable this spring.”

Eveline seemed to be speaking to Gerard, but in reality, she intended for Rowena to hear.

From experience, Rowena knew that a subtle insult would follow shortly.

“Come to think of it, the dress Camillia is wearing right now is pale pink too! It suits her so well. Don’t you think so, Sister?”

The words that would follow were as obvious as daylight, but Rowena willingly answered.

“It certainly does.”

“That’s because she’s slim. If fat people like us wore dresses like that, we’d look even bigger.”

Eveline attacked Rowena whenever she had the opportunity.

“People like us, whose skin is dirty because of acne, have to cover it with heavy makeup.”

“Women with fuller figures, like you and me, Sister, should wear the darkest clothes possible.”

That was the sort of thing she would say.

Rowena Evenwell, the easygoing fool, would always smile gently at those words.

She would swallow her tears inwardly but never reveal her sadness.

Even now, her thoughts on that had not changed.

Rowena would not show her sadness.

However, she did not want to smile and pretend that everything was fine either.

Raising her head, Rowena looked Eveline straight in the eyes.

Then, in an even voice, she spoke clearly and deliberately.

“Would you leave me out of that ‘us’?”

“……What did you say?”

Eveline’s eyes widened at the unexpected reply.

“If that’s how you regard yourself, I won’t try to stop you. But please leave me out of that ‘us.’ I’m asking you.”