No.

Nevertheless, she wanted to believe in Anna. There must have been some kind of misunderstanding. Perhaps it was a plot by the maids, who had always disliked her.

Then again, maybe Anna, who was often clumsy and prone to minor accidents, had simply dropped it by mistake while cleaning Cedric’s bedroom. Even though Isabel knew deep down that Anna no longer performed such duties and attended to her exclusively, she couldn’t think clearly.

She refused to let a single accusation shatter the trust they had built up over time.

“I’ll confirm it myself.”

“My lady!”

“I won’t believe it until I do.”

Isabel’s voice was firm.

“So… bring Anna to me.”

And yet, the hand holding the pearl earring trembled, little by little.

❖ ❖ ❖

“My… lady?”

Anna entered with her usual bright smile, but hesitated at the strangely subdued atmosphere.

Isabel, who had been watching her in silence, gestured for her to sit down opposite. Rebecca, who had followed her inside, reluctantly closed the door when Isabel signaled for her to leave.

“Is something… wrong?”

Sitting down cautiously, Anna glanced at Isabel’s expression, her voice careful and uncertain.

“Lady Rebecca looked a bit scary too. Well, she never really likes me, but still… it felt like something more than that…”

“This—this is the earring I gave you, isn’t it?”

Without a word, Isabel placed the earring on the table.

Anna, who had been chattering like a baby bird, suddenly widened her eyes.

“Oh! I’ve been looking for that!”

Delighted, she picked up the earring, her eyes sparkling as she asked.

“Where did you find it? I searched everywhere, but I couldn’t find it at all!”

“I heard it was found in my husband’s bedroom.”

Anna blinked once at Isabel’s words, then broke into a bright smile.

“Oh, so it was there! I thought I’d lost it, I was so upset!”

Her expression was completely innocent.

In fact, she didn’t seem at all afraid or embarrassed when she mentioned finding her earring in his bedroom.

Relief washed over Isabel. As she had expected, Rebecca and Serena must have been mistaken.

Of course.

There was no way Anna would betray her.

Feeling guilty for ever having doubted her, Isabel spoke again.

“Anna, I heard something rather strange.”

“Something strange?”

“That you’ve been going in and out of my husband’s bedroom…”

“…That is—”

Anna blinked once, stealing a glance at Isabel’s face. Fidgeting with her fingers, she spoke carefully.

“It’s true, my lady.”

When the truth that she had refused to believe — convinced that it must be a misunderstanding on Rebecca’s part — revealed itself to be reality, Isabel’s mind went completely blank.

“…So you’re saying it’s true?”

As Isabel’s expression hardened ominously, Anna, frightened, hurried to explain.

“M-My lady, th-that is… there was a reason! There really was, my lady!”

Even then, Isabel’s expression did not soften. Like a child afraid of being scolded, Anna rushed forward and dropped to her knees before her.

“I never intended to have that kind of relationship with the master.”

With trembling hands, Anna clutched the hem of Isabel’s dress and looked up at her with pleading eyes.

“I only did it because I wanted things between you and the master to improve.”

Did she go into his bedroom in an attempt to improve their relationship?

What an absurd idea!

Isabel couldn’t believe those insane words had come from someone she cherished. Standing there, frozen and unable to speak, Isabel watched as Anna became increasingly desperate.

“I thought if I spoke to him on your behalf, things between you would get better! But then—!”

Slap!

“M-My lady…”

Struck sharply, Anna collapsed weakly to the floor and looked up at Isabel in shock.

Isabel clenched her trembling hand into a fist, barely holding back the anger that threatened to explode.

“I cared for you.”

No matter how hard she tried to suppress it, her heart pounded as though it would burst.

“But it seems… as Rebecca said, I made a mistake.”

The fact that the child she had cherished like a sister—no, more than that—had betrayed her was unbearable.

“I—I only did it for you—”

“For me? If it were truly for my benefit, you would never have done such a thing! How dare you claim that you went into my husband’s bedroom for my sake? Do you think these pitiful excuses won’t insult me? You’re just a maid, how dare you treat your mistress so lightly!”

At Isabel’s cold, cutting voice, Anna’s face turned deathly pale.

“If it had been someone else, I might have let it pass!”

Yes, perhaps that was true.

If it had been any other woman, she might have felt bitter, but she wouldn’t have been consumed by such fury.

What enraged Isabel beyond reason was not only that Anna had been in his arms, but also that it was Anna — the person to whom she had opened her heart.

Anna’s claim that she had done it for Isabel’s sake only served to deepen the humiliation.

“The moment you stepped into my husband’s bedroom, you betrayed me, Anna.”

At those words, Anna jerked her head up and shook it frantically.

“B-Betrayed you? No, that’s not it!”

As if she didn’t want to hear another word, Isabel moved to dismiss her.

“I didn’t betray you! The master said your relationship is nothing more than a political marriage, that you didn’t even spend your first night together!”

If only Anna had stopped there—

“What…?”

Isabel turned to her, her face drained of color.

Realizing that Cedric had spoken to Anna about such private matters as their marriage made her feel as though all the blood had drained from her body.

“Th-That’s why I thought it would be all right…!”

“You insolent wretch—how dare you!”

Rebecca, who had been standing rigidly by the door, flung it open and stormed in, grabbing Anna by the hair and throwing her to the ground.

“Ahh!”

Startled, Anna screamed as she fell face-first onto the floor. Trembling with fury, Rebecca seized Anna by the hair, shook her violently, and struck her repeatedly on the face and back.

“To betray the very mistress who cherished you — have you no shame?! You have committed a sin that could never be forgiven, even if you begged on your knees until your feet were worn away. And yet you still dare to stand here so brazenly!”

“M-Madam, please—stop! Please!”

Terrified by Rebecca’s fury, Anna cried out, sobbing as she screamed.

“Leave.”

Until then, Isabel had remained silent. Now, her pale face expressionless, she gave the order.

“Get out of my sight.”

At those words, Anna froze, her face stricken with despair, then hurried forward and clutched the hem of Isabel’s dress.

“My lady! I won’t ever go into the master’s bedroom again!”

She lifted her tearful eyes, pleading desperately.

“I just wanted to stay by your side! You’re the only one I have! It’s true! So please, don’t send me away! My lady…!”

Her small hands, gripping the fabric of the dress, trembled uncontrollably.

“Get her out of here this instant!”

Unable to tolerate it any longer, Rebecca called for the servants.

“No! I don’t want to go!”

The servants rushed in and seized Anna, dragging her out of the drawing room. Even as she was pulled away, Anna struggled desperately, crying out to Isabel until the very end.

“My lady…!”

Left alone, Isabel stood there, staring blankly at the place where Anna had been.

Then her gaze fell upon a glass vase by the window.

“My lady! Isn’t it beautiful? It looks just like your smile!”

It was the same vase that Anna had once given her, filled with fresh, dewy flowers.

In the barren land of Calium, where plants were scarce, picking flowers so carelessly was considered a crime. Yet Isabel had forgiven her simply because of her bright, radiant smile.

Without a word, she reached out and threw the vase out of the window.

Crash!

It shattered into countless pieces the moment it hit the ground below.

“My lady…”

With aching eyes, Rebecca watched Isabel sway as if she might collapse at any moment, barely managing to stay on her feet.

Rebecca had not originally belonged to the Francia family. In fact, she had once been Isabel’s mother, Cherbil von Lewen’s right-hand woman, and had served as Isabel’s nanny.

When Isabel was expelled from the Lewen household, Rebecca followed her without hesitation and never looked back. Even now, she remained steadfastly at her side.

She knew.

From the moment Isabel lost her parents, she lost her smile as well, forcing herself to be perfect and leaving no room for weakness.

And so Rebecca’s heart ached.

How empty her heart must have been to put it in the hands of a child like that.

Because of this, despite how much she cared for Anna, Rebecca had chosen to stay silent.

But she should have stopped it before Isabel gave her heart away. She should never have let Anna in in the first place. If she had, Isabel would not have been hurt like this.

As always, Rebecca swallowed her anger and watched Isabel pretend that nothing was wrong. Tears burned her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.

‘Lady Cherbil… please, I beg you—soothe Lady Isabel’s heart…’

❖ ❖ ❖

“You’re saying you drove her out?”

By the time Cedric had returned and finally learned that Anna had been banished, the world had already descended into darkness. He stormed straight into Isabel’s bedroom.

Isabel was still in the middle of getting dressed and was seated at her vanity when she glanced at Cedric in the mirror. She spoke in a mild tone of reproach, as though nothing had happened.

“You’re busy with the delegation. Should you really be coming here like this?”

Every year on its founding day, the Calium Empire summoned all its vassal states. This was a display of imperial authority, as well as a way of ensuring loyalty.

Ignoring Cedric’s cold stare, Isabel reached for an emerald earring on the dressing table, but then paused. Instead, she picked up a brooch.

A golden brooch adorned with a white rose — the Francia family’s symbol — glimmered softly beneath the warm light.

“Still, it’s fortunate. I heard you left this behind, so I kept it for you. Whatever else may be forgotten, you shouldn’t neglect something bearing your family’s crest.”

“Isabel.”

Cedric approached, his expression tightly restrained. Grabbing her slender shoulders with crushing force, he spun her around. The brooch slipped from her hand and clattered to the floor.

“…Yes. I drove her out.”

Isabel shoved his hand away despite the pressure that had already reddened her skin, then rose to her feet and glared at him.

“Do you have a problem with that?”

At her characteristically arrogant tone, Cedric’s expression twisted in an instant.

“Who gave you the right?!”

His furious shout rang through the chamber, loud enough to tear at the ears.

Isabel looked at him with thinly veiled contempt.

In this situation, the one who had every right to be angry was not him—but her.

“And you, Cedric—!”

Anna was the only person to whom Isabel had ever truly given her heart.

“Why her of all people? You knew how much I cared for her!”

Faced with Cedric’s shameless anger, Isabel’s restraint finally snapped, her fury bursting forth in a sharp, cutting voice.

“Why did it have to be her?! Why her of all people?!”