Giselle also guessed his feelings, so she looked at him for a moment before turning her attention back to the under-butler. Fitz wrinkled his nose slightly with a troubled expression and continued.

“Baroness Anticia has come to visit.”

“……Mother?”

Giselle’s brow furrowed involuntarily. She felt embarrassed in front of the employees that it was her own mother who had committed such a breach of etiquette. Even family members weren’t exempt from such behavior.

But she couldn’t simply turn away her mother who had made the effort to visit.

After all, she was her ‘mother.’

Even if she was a stepmother without a drop of shared blood, even if she was someone not at all welcome.

She swallowed a sigh that was about to escape and spoke.

“……Where is she now?”

“We’ve shown her to the reception room.”

“I see.”

Giselle nodded at Fitz’s answer and glanced at her casual appearance.

Her daily dress with almost no decorations and loosely tied hair was certainly not suitable attire for receiving guests.

When she turned her head to look at the head maid, the latter seemed to understand her mistress’s intention and quickly bowed, saying:

“I’ll prepare everything for you to get ready right away, madam.”

“Thank you, head maid.”

Giselle replied with an apologetic expression and swallowed another sigh.

* * *

“Miss, no, madam.”

As soon as Giselle entered the reception room, the nanny who was attending to the baroness hurriedly bowed to her.

“It’s been a while, nanny. Even though we’re in the same house, it’s hard to see your face.”

She smiled and greeted the nanny. Since the nanny had mostly stayed in the kitchen and laundry areas, saying she needed to build relationships with the existing staff, Giselle was genuinely glad to see her.

On second thought, the fact that the nanny had to come out like this could be considered problematic.

The nanny must have guessed that the baroness hadn’t simply visited out of curiosity about her stepdaughter’s newlywed life.

Just then, while Giselle was deliberately speaking to soothe the nanny’s worried heart, her stepmother’s sharp voice reached her ears.

“Giselle, you only pay attention to your nanny even when your mother has come.”

“……That’s not true. Welcome, mother. It would have been better if you had sent word ahead.”

Giselle turned her gaze after responding a beat late. Her eyes met those of her stepmother, who was sitting with her chin raised after removing her coat and gloves.

It was a brief moment, truly what could be called a ‘flash.’

But in that short time, she felt as if she had been thoroughly scrutinized by her stepmother.

Ireina’s eyes gleamed greedily as if she had quickly examined and appraised Giselle’s dress, necklace, earrings, bracelet, and ring.

The envy, jealousy, and greed in that gaze were clearly visible.

She saw all of this but pretended not to as she approached the sofa and sat down. Her gaze unconsciously fell on the coat and gloves her stepmother had removed.

There was a large jewel embedded in what appeared to be newly purchased gloves. And the coat had white fox fur attached to it, indicating it was an expensive item.

It was something that could never be afforded with the financial situation of ‘Anticia.’

‘Surely she hasn’t borrowed money again after barely resolving the debt with his help.’

Giselle wanted to believe that and averted her gaze. She didn’t want to bring up such matters with her stepmother whom she was seeing for the first time since her marriage.

Besides, even if her stepmother was in debt, she no longer wanted to be involved.

At that moment, her stepmother brought up her business first. It was somewhat hasty, even before refreshments were served on the table.

“I heard you’re hosting a tea party? Is that true?”

“……Where did you hear about that?”

Giselle was about to pick up the teacup the head maid had placed in front of her but paused and looked up. Her stepmother retorted as if she were asking something obvious.

“It’s already spread throughout the capital. Most people probably know about it by now. Did you make me hear about the tea party from someone else? I was so embarrassed when I first heard about it.”

As the baroness reproached her and clicked her tongue, there was a clatter.

It was the sound of the head maid’s teacup hitting the table as she set it down in front of the baroness.

“I apologize, Baroness.”

The head maid apologized to her with an expression that wasn’t apologetic at all. It was an attitude that anyone could tell was insincere.

It wasn’t that she was acting arrogantly because she was the head maid of a family that, while not noble, wielded more power than many noble houses.

Nor was she a maid with so little experience that she would make such a mistake while setting down a teacup. Rather, as someone who had overseen many employees, she was not one to commit even minor errors.

So this incident could be considered as the head maid deliberately placing the teacup on the table to make a noise.

……It was likely her way of expressing her inner discontent and protest against the baroness’s attitude of treating the mistress she served so casually.

Giselle guessed the head maid’s intention and wore a troubled expression. She felt embarrassed seeing her stepmother who was trying hard to suppress her anger despite her flushed face.

However, unlike her, the nanny seemed pleased as she twitched the corner of her mouth and arranged other refreshments on the table in place of the head maid.

“Thank you. Both of you may withdraw now.”

Giselle thought that if the head maid and nanny remained here any longer, who knew what else might happen.

‘That’s unexpected. I thought she was a rational person in every way.’

She didn’t dislike it though. It was rather reassuring to have someone who would get angry on her behalf at her stepmother’s reproaches.

Of course, she couldn’t honestly express such feelings in this situation.

At Giselle’s words, both the head maid and nanny quietly bowed and left the reception room.

Left alone, the baroness trembled and began to speak with a face full of anger.

“How dare a mere employee…… How do you manage your staff? Coming from a family without proper roots, you should at least teach them properly when they behave like that!”

“It was just a minor mistake. She didn’t spill the tea or anything. Can’t you forgive her generously?”

She tried to steer the conversation in a positive direction despite her stepmother’s criticism. But the baroness continued, unable to contain her anger even at her stepdaughter’s words.

“Forgive? You’re asking me to forgive when she should have been whipped right here and now?”

Whipped.

Giselle’s expression hardened involuntarily at her stepmother’s violent language.

“Mother, please be respectful. Even though you’re my mother, I can’t overlook you speaking carelessly about people in my household.”

“You don’t care that your mother was insulted, but you defend a mere maid? Ha! Money must be very good to you. Throwing away the name of Anticia that your father left you like an old shoe.”

“……Please stop, mother. You didn’t come here to pick a fight, did you? Didn’t you come because you heard about the tea party?”

She swallowed a sigh, feeling exhausted by the argument with her stepmother. The baroness opened her mouth to retort angrily but closed it, then seemed to remember the purpose of her visit and stated her intention.

“I came to help you prepare for the tea party.”

“……What?”

It was something she hadn’t imagined. Giselle looked at her stepmother and couldn’t help but show a bewildered expression. But the baroness continued as if it were the most natural thing.

“You may be married, but honestly, what do you know? Moreover, you’ve never hosted a tea party before, and you haven’t even attended one.”

“……”

“So what can I do? I can’t just stand by and watch when my daughter is sure to be humiliated. Leave it to me, and you can just relax and watch.”

The baroness imitated the expression of a loving mother while hiding her greedy intentions. But both she and Giselle knew well that her words weren’t spoken with such good intentions.

‘Damn this girl. If she was planning to host a tea party, she should have told me earlier!’

Baroness Ireina was smiling calmly but unconsciously bit her lip. It was because she suddenly remembered the faces of women who had mocked her.

⟨My, you didn’t know about your daughter’s affairs? It’s something every noblewoman in the capital knows about.⟩

A tea party hosted by the new mistress of the Taylor family.

That news had swept through the capital’s social circles for quite a few days, and there was subtle mockery in the face of a certain noblewoman who asked if she had been unaware until now.

⟨Hoho, surely Mrs. Taylor wouldn’t have deliberately not informed her mother? Even if they’re not blood-related mother and daughter, they are still mother and daughter after all, so she must have been planning to tell her soon.⟩

⟨By the way, when will the invitations for the tea party arrive? Have you heard if anyone has received an invitation yet?⟩

Among women whose mockery was directed at her and whose inner desire was to attend the tea party hosted by her stepdaughter, Ireina had to smile calmly while suppressing her humiliation.