<Chapter 6> Her Place (Part 1)

‘I can’t leave right away. If the Duke finds out, he might chase after you and me. Men naturally want to catch what tries to escape. Unless they discard it first.’

‘So when do you plan to leave?’

‘One month. I’ll try to sort everything out within a month.’

Stella asked for time to arrange things. Elizabeth also thought it was impossible to leave suddenly, so she agreed.

At least Stella had decided to leave, which was fortunate. If she insisted on staying, Elizabeth planned to speak with the Duke, asking him to let her and her mother go.

Elizabeth bit her lower lip, recalling the Duke’s promise to find her a suitable marriage.

It was still unbelievable that he pretended to be a devoted husband while doing such things with her mother behind the scenes.

The more she recalled the Duke’s past actions, which she thought were due to his inability to forget his deceased wife, the more disgusted she felt.

At the same time, she was shocked that her mother felt no guilt after committing such an unforgivable sin.

‘Oh my, Ellie! My wonderful daughter.’

Only now did she fully understand the meaning behind Stella’s exclamation when she found out about her kiss with Kiern.

Stella knew she couldn’t secure the position of Duchess and secretly hoped for Elizabeth and Kiern to end up together.

The fact that she tried to keep Elizabeth close to Kiern for such impure intentions. Perhaps Kiern knew this and that’s why he was cold to her.

How disgusting it must have been for him to have the enemy push her daughter onto him. How pathetic and foolish Elizabeth must have seemed, liking him without knowing any of this.

If she couldn’t stop her mother’s vanity, the only way was to physically prevent it. To Kiern, who would become the Duke, Stella and Elizabeth were nothing but useless parasites.

* * *

Elizabeth headed to the meeting place Abigail mentioned, holding the invitation. To avoid any potential pitfalls, she made sure to comply with the meeting’s rules and bring the necessary flowers.

Even so, she couldn’t completely fend off the scorn that would rain down like thorns, but it was the least she could do to protect herself. She wanted to clear up Abigail’s misunderstanding before leaving. No, she wanted to reassure her.

So she planned to lie. Contrary to what Abigail thought, there was nothing between her and Kiern.

Nothing happened with Kiern at the ball that day. So, she wished Abigail wouldn’t misunderstand and hoped she would be happy with Kiern.

She planned to tell her that she intended to leave before they even held their engagement ceremony, so she should just endure until then. With that in mind, she was on her way to meet Abigail.

Elizabeth decided to consider that day’s events as if they never happened. Kiern might secretly wish for the same.

Adding one more lie to a relationship already piled with lies wasn’t such a strange thing.

“Welcome.”

The attendant greeted her and led Elizabeth to the glass garden where the meeting was held. As they neared the garden, the cheerful laughter grew louder.

“Lady Elizabeth Lua is entering.”

And as the doorman announced Elizabeth’s arrival, the noise inside abruptly ceased. The doorman opened the door and politely gestured for her to enter.

As Elizabeth calmly walked in, she saw Abigail sitting at the head seat. Unlike Elizabeth, Abigail, surrounded by flowers, looked radiant, innocent, and even beautiful.

“Thank you for inviting me, Lady Prairie.”

“Welcome, Lady Lua. I’ve been eagerly waiting for you.”

Abigail welcomed her with a bright smile. Just as Elizabeth was about to smile and bow before taking a seat,

“That seat is taken.”

The lady next to her placed her clutch on the empty seat and said.

“Oh, my apologies.”

Elizabeth calmly moved to sit in another empty seat, but it seemed that wasn’t her seat either.

“What to do? This seat is also taken.”

Elizabeth found no seat she could sit in after circling all the empty ones. With no more seats to ask if she could sit, she stood there blankly.

Was I supposed to stand for the entire meeting? 

As she was taken aback, Abigail spoke.

“You all are too much. Playing such a prank on her initiation. Look, Lady Lua is troubled.”

“Is that so?”

At Abigail’s rebuke, the ladies laughed and bantered.

Then Abigail whispered to her maid. The maid brought a temporary chair next to Abigail.

It was visibly of much lower quality than the others were sitting on. At a glance, it looked like a resting chair for servants to use briefly.

Was I really expected to sit there?

Elizabeth didn’t know how to respond to this bullying that went a step further than the other members. Abigail stroked the chair as if it were a throne and said,

“Since you’re a distinguished guest, the seat next to me is the best. That’s probably why no one offered it. Right?”

“Of course.”

“Oh my, with such consideration, we seem so lacking.”

“You’re too kind.”

The surrounding ladies agreed with Abigail’s words, and she responded as if it were only natural. Soon after, the ladies all gestured to Elizabeth.

To go ahead and sit in that seat.

Elizabeth had no choice but to sit next to Abigail, the seat they claimed was the best, but in reality, it was a seat for maids.

Well, it was a perfect fit for the daughter of a Duke’s maid who didn’t belong in such a place.

She knew this would happen, but it still stung when it actually did.

Once Elizabeth was seated, the flower arrangement meeting began. Flower arranging was just an excuse; it was actually a gathering to discuss stories circulating in society.

Whatever Abigail said, people responded enthusiastically. In contrast, no one reacted to Elizabeth’s words until Abigail did.

It was a ridiculous game. Abigail treated her like a scarecrow out of spite.

Even though she knew this would happen, the humiliation was hard to bear. It felt increasingly difficult to stay in this place.

Still, she didn’t storm out because she had something to say to Abigail. Elizabeth endured the gathering until she had a chance to speak with Abigail alone. And soon, an unexpected event occurred at the meeting.

“So that’s where all the flowers went?”

“Oh my, Sir James!”

With a cocky voice, a face she never wanted to see again barged into the garden.

The ladies’ voices grew more excited upon seeing James. No, to be precise, it was due to the men who followed him.

Beside James were Austin, Kiern, and other young men from influential families. It seemed there was a regular meeting, and coincidentally, the location overlapped.

Elizabeth was troubled to meet Kiern here of all places. With him present, there would be no opportunity to speak with Abigail alone. Even if there were, it wasn’t something she could say in front of him.

Kiern had told Elizabeth not to run away, but all she thought about was escaping. For his sake, it was better for her to disappear entirely.

“May we join you?”

James asked as he sat in an empty seat. It seemed those seats were only unavailable to Elizabeth, as a lady blushed shyly.

“Please sit wherever you like.”

Elizabeth found it even harder to maintain her composure as they even encouraged him like that.

But she kept smiling firmly. She wasn’t here to fight with them. She wanted to talk to Abigail.

Just as everyone found their seats, the area around her darkened. Someone’s shadow fell over her.

What is this?

Elizabeth looked up and was surprised. Kiern was staring down at her.

She was flustered to see Kiern in front of her. His blue eyes seemed filled with discontent.

With everyone else seated, his standing was even more noticeable.

“Kiern, come sit here.”

Then Austin patted the seat next to him. Kiern glanced at the seat but looked back at Elizabeth and asked,

“Why are you sitting here?”

“…….”

“There are plenty of seats.”

He seemed to be asking why her chair was so shabby.

No matter what she said, it would target Abigail, so Elizabeth remained silent. Then Kiern spoke in a dry tone.

“Get up.”

“What?”

“Get up.”

Kiern ordered and reached out as if he would lift her himself. Abigail’s expression visibly hardened.

Elizabeth, unable to do anything, awkwardly stood up. Kiern took the seat she had been in and pointed to the seat Austin indicated.

“Sit there.”

“No, I…….”

“Didn’t you hear? This is my seat now, so go to your seat.”

He coldly ordered with a nod. His voice sounded angry. Elizabeth couldn’t resist further and moved to sit next to Austin.