Harriet rushed over and hid Donna behind her. Elizabeth frowned and shook her head.

“Step aside.”

“Grandmother! There must be some misunderstanding. Donna would never do such a thing!”

“I said step aside!”

Slap! Elizabeth struck Harriet’s cheek. Harriet cupped her burning cheek with trembling hands.

“This is all your fault! You couldn’t control one maid, and now this little thing runs wild?”

Elizabeth, who had been seething, suddenly bit her lip as a thought occurred to her.

“Did you perhaps order her to ruin my indoor garden?”

Shocked, Harriet shook her head.

“H-How could I ever order such a thing?”

“Then why did she do it? She wouldn’t have done such a crazy thing without reason!”

“Donna truly didn’t do it! Please believe me!”

Harriet pleaded desperately. Elizabeth’s face twisted into a menacing expression.

“How dare you raise your voice at me!”

Elizabeth struck Harriet’s cheek hard again.

“So you did order it, didn’t you? It’s obvious—you didn’t like that I, who am not the lady of the house, was hosting a party! How dare you, not knowing your place…”

“I never said such a thing!”

“Don’t talk back!”

Elizabeth continued to strike Harriet’s cheek mercilessly.

Unable to bear the sight any longer, Donna knelt on the floor and cried out desperately:

“I did it alone!”

Elizabeth’s hand stopped. Harriet looked down at Donna in shock.

“I was annoyed at the other maids who always look down on me, and I wanted to teach them a lesson. I ended up doing something I shouldn’t have.”

“You did this on your own?”

“Yes! Madam truly had nothing to do with it. So please…!”

Donna sobbed and begged repeatedly. Harriet felt dazed.

‘Did Donna really…?’

Could a child who knew that even a slip of the tongue could cause serious problems for herself and Harriet have committed such a grave mistake?

‘No. Donna couldn’t have done this!’

Just then, Elizabeth, cooling her hand with a cold towel brought by a maid, said:

“Throw this one out immediately! Don’t give her any letter of recommendation. And take the Countess to her room. Don’t let her come out until the guests leave.”

Following Elizabeth’s orders, the maids grabbed Harriet and headed toward her room.

Even as she was being dragged away, Harriet kept looking back at Donna’s pitiful figure as she walked away crying. She kept watching until that small figure was no longer visible.

As time passed, peace returned to the Earl’s house as if the recent commotion had been just a dream. Nevertheless, Harriet couldn’t forget that day and stayed confined to her room.

“Madam! Your handwriting is so pretty! Do you think I could write like you if I practice?”

Everywhere in this room was filled with memories of Donna. That’s why it hurt, yet at the same time, she didn’t want to leave.

‘But I can’t keep living like this.’

Harriet forced herself to get up. Her entire body felt heavy, like cotton soaked in water.

‘Some fresh air might make me feel better.’

Harriet finally made it to the corridor. After walking for a while, she heard maids giggling at the end of the corridor. Harriet stopped in her tracks.

“Ha, it feels so good without that Donna around.”

“Stupid Donna. She should have ignored that woman like we do. Siding with that woman…”

The maids’ voices gradually faded away. Harriet collapsed to the floor. It felt as if an enormous weight was pressing down on her entire body.

“…”

Harriet’s pupils trembled as she recalled that incident.

Eugene’s eyes distorted.

“Ha! This is absurd. How dare they, not knowing their place! What was Pendleton doing?”

Eugene walked past Harriet, fuming. At that moment, Harriet clenched her fists and said:

“Don’t blame innocent people. There’s no one in the mansion making me miserable now.”

“Forget it. I’ll check for myself.”

“Do you want to make me look like a strange person when everything’s already over? Would that satisfy you?”

Eugene’s feet seemed glued to the marble floor. He covered his distorted face in despair.

“Why are we ending things, Harriet? Hmm? Why are we ending things?”

His tearful voice dripped onto the floor. Harriet was bewildered.

‘Why is he acting like this?’

This wasn’t the reaction Harriet had imagined from Eugene. She thought he would be momentarily perplexed but would soon grant her request.

‘Could it be that Eugene…’

Just as Harriet’s resolve began to waver, her eyes fell on a white upright piano.

That piano had been in the east room, which had been used by all the Countesses of Usra before Harriet’s marriage.

“Wow, it’s so beautiful! Is this room really going to be mine?”

Harriet’s eyes widened. The windows that reached the ceiling were fascinating, and the carpeted floor looked impressive.

“I said I’d prepare it, but let me know if you need anything else.”

Eugene spoke in a somewhat tired voice. Harriet felt a pang of guilt. The wedding was approaching, and with his grandmother still opposing, Eugene had taken on all the preparations that should have been the bride’s responsibility.

Feeling embarrassed for her lack of consideration, Harriet’s cheeks flushed as she nodded and said:

“Thank you for your thoughtfulness.”

“It’s nothing. It’s what I should do.”

When Eugene closed his mouth, a sudden silence fell.

Harriet clearly remembered the day when young Eugene came to her, saying he respected the Desher family that had shed blood for the Usra Earl’s family, and the moment he first extended his hand in friendship. In all those moments, Eugene had been the one to speak to Harriet first. That’s why this silence felt awkward.

As she was wondering how to break this atmosphere, Harriet’s eyes fell on the white upright piano.

“What’s this? Is it a piano?”

Harriet pointed at the piano, trying to make conversation.

“Huh? Uh…”

Eugene answered, flustered.

“Wow, how fascinating. This is my first time seeing a real piano. Before, my mother…”

As Harriet’s hand was about to touch the piano, Eugene spoke in a sharp voice:

“Don’t touch it!”

Startled, Harriet’s body stiffened, and she withdrew her hand a beat late.

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

To Harriet, who was apologizing with a red face, Eugene let out a deep sigh.

“I should be the one apologizing. It’s my mother’s keepsake, so I reacted sensitively without realizing it. It’s so precious to me that I even clean it myself.”

“Oh, I see. I’ll be careful from now on.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

Eugene gave Harriet a smile full of apology. And the very next day, Eugene ordered the servants to move the piano to this study.

“I’ve commissioned a piano for you from a craftsman. It’s a grand piano, much better than this one.”

Eugene added this explanation, worried that Harriet might feel disappointed. Harriet deliberately smiled brightly and nodded.

“Yes, thank you.”

Not long after that conversation, Harriet overheard talk about the moved piano.

“He used to cover it with cloth when he wasn’t around because he hated others touching it. Why would he go through the trouble of moving it?”

Harriet quickly hid behind a wall when she heard a maid’s voice from the end of the corridor.

“Why move it? Because someone else will be living in that room now.”

“Sigh. Is he really going to marry that woman? Honestly, how is she any different from us? I heard she lived in a crumbling house without even a housekeeper, working in the fields.”

“I thought the Earl would become the husband of the Princess.”

Harriet’s fidgeting fingers stopped.

“Remember when the Princess visited occasionally? Remember when she played the piano? I never knew such a beautiful sound could come from an upright piano.”

“That’s because the Princess was skilled at playing. The Earl said so too.”

“Ah, the Princess should have been the mistress of that room. Honestly, even that green carpet was laid to match the Princess’s taste.”

“Not just the carpet. All the furniture and decorations are to the Princess’s taste.”

The maids’ voices faded into the distance. The two who had walked away would still be speaking ill of Harriet.

Harriet quietly looked up at the ceiling. Shame, embarrassment, everything mixed together, disturbing her heart. Yet her face remained calm. A single thought kept her from blushing with heat.

‘I thought even that Princess couldn’t touch that piano, but that wasn’t the case…’

After that day, Harriet never saw the white upright piano again. Did Eugene know? That today was the first time Harriet had set foot in this study? Would he remember that whenever Harriet came looking for him, the response was always, “If it’s not urgent, I’ll come find you later. Sorry”?

And did he know this? That Harriet had never once placed her fingers on the black grand piano he had provided for her since their marriage.

‘Does he know that I can’t play the piano?’

He wouldn’t know. Absolutely not.