“Duchess……!”
Daisy could no longer approach Rose. Blocked by a dense wall of people.
Her face was full of confusion as she looked at Rose. It was apparent she couldn't believe how her and her older sister's positions had suddenly switched.
‘You're going too far……. Unni, you didn't have to go this far.’
Daisy had played the part of the pitiful younger sister being bullied outside the household,
‘Ahaha! Unni, you ate that? Wow, you're tough, so tough.’
But inside the household, she showed a contrasting side, tormenting Rose alongside her stepmother.
Rose had been so terrified of Daisy back then. But not anymore.
Seuk.
Rose gently brushed her hand over the bracelet on her wrist.
‘It suits you well.’
She recalled the moment Dane had personally clasped the bracelet onto her wrist.
I was not alone.
Rose no longer feared Daisy. No, Daisy no longer held any meaning to her.
Syuk.
Rose turned her face away from Daisy.
She didn't even think to mock or despise her younger sister. She didn't want to waste time or emotion on such a thing.
That foolish half-sister was no longer her obstacle.
‘I wish His Grace would arrive soon.’
She had to boast to him. How wonderfully she had done, how confidently she had walked.
She missed a short word of praise from Dane so much. Thinking of him made her want to hurry home.
‘…Home.’
Rose was slightly startled to realize she had begun calling the Schmaichel estate home.
Bill the butler, always kind to her, Selma the head maid, Fabri the head chef who welcomed her warmly. All the people who treated her with goodwill.
And…….
‘Madam.’
Even Dane, who reached out his hand with a faint smile as if he couldn't help it.
Schmaichel was now her home.
‘Just one year…….’
At first, she had thought even that was long, but now it felt short. She suddenly wondered if she could extend the contract.
“Ho ho, today was truly fun. Winter tea parties are usually boring by nature.”
“There was certainly a lot to see, wasn't there? I want to go tell my husband right away.”
People were coming and going, making the atmosphere somewhat chaotic. Laughter grew louder, and maids bustled about refilling tea and refreshments.
That was when it happened.
“I've caused you a lot of trouble. Duchess.”
Daisy smoothed out her dress as if about to rise from the table. With a gloomy face, she bit her lip hard.
“I'll be taking my leave now.”
“Alright.”
Has she given up already? Rose took her eyes off Daisy.
But that wasn't the case. The next moment, Daisy jumped up from her seat,
Tuk.
and naturally struck the teacup on the table. Making the teacup tilt toward Rose.
“Oh my!”
Along with a feigned scream from Daisy, the tea in the cup was about to spill.
“…Ah.”
Just as Rose flinched and stiffened her body.
Tak.
Someone's hand unexpectedly shot out from the side. It hit the teacup precisely, changing its trajectory.
Jjaenggeurang!
The deflected teacup fell to the floor and shattered into pieces.
It happened in an instant.
“Oh my.”
“What was that sound?”
People jumped in surprise and turned to look their way.
They spotted a startled-looking Daisy standing there, and Rose sitting with her body stiff as a board.
And beneath them, the broken teacup shards and the wet carpet scattered about.
“…….”
Daisy stared behind Rose with wildly shaking eyes.
Rose followed her gaze and turned around. She found Helena pretending to space out as if nothing had happened.
Jjing-git.
Helena winked at Rose. With a cute smile that seemed to say 'trust me.'
‘Helena!’
If not for Helena's quick wit, her dress might have been completely soaked.
This must have been part of Dane's intention when he assigned Helena as her maid. To protect her where his eyes couldn't reach.
‘As expected of Helena.’
She served impeccably at her side, and even parried her master's crisis. It would have been impossible for Sonya.
Rose turned back and glared at Daisy with a cold face.
‘You never change, do you.’
A similar incident happened in the past.
Along with the image of a malicious older sister who ruined her younger sister's dress out of jealousy.
“No, well……”
It seemed she tried to ruin Rose's dress this time, figuring the old trick wouldn't work anymore.
She truly was a foolish and wicked sister.
‘I would have just let it go if you left quietly.’
Rose had no intention of letting Daisy play the victim any longer.
Syuk.
Rose quietly stood from her seat.
“It's a relief no one got hurt.”
Then she stared intently at Daisy. That gaze alone was enough for everyone to notice something suspicious.
“My, the teacup……”
“Surely it wasn't on purpose, right?”
People muttered softly, looking back and forth between Rose and Daisy.
As suspicious gazes flew over,
“It was an accident!”
Daisy hastily raised her voice.
“Really, I didn't do it on purpose-”
“Of course.”
Rose fiddled with her gloves as if she didn't need to hear any more. It was a signal that she was leaving now.
“I think this is where we'll end it for today.”
Wrapping things up like this would strongly imprint what just happened into everyone's memory.
A rumor that Daisy tried to spill tea on Rose's dress would follow her for a long time to come.
“Duchess Schmaichel.”
Countess Holland approached, unable to hide her bewilderment. Her complexion looked unusually exhausted today.
“The atmosphere grew chaotic because of my matters.”
Rose spoke softly so only Countess Holland could hear.
“I know you were very considerate to me today. Thank you.”
“Duchess, what do you mean.”
Countess Holland shook her head in surprise. She comforted Rose as if telling her not to worry about it.
“It was an honor to have you, Duchess. I will tidy up the place now.”
The Countess turned around and addressed everyone.
“It was a very warm afternoon. It is now time to head home comfortably.”
And so, the tea party came to a close, ending with Daisy's accident.
People began to slowly prepare to leave. Their icy gazes brushed past Daisy as she stood rooted to the spot.
There was no need to deliberately spread a rumor. The witnesses already looked like their mouths were itching to talk.
There could be no greater humiliation than this.
Ttok-tak.
Rose quietly turned around. She turned her back on Daisy, and on the pitiful Rose of the past.
That was when it happened.
“Unni!”
A venomous voice came from behind,
Tak.
Daisy, practically running, stepped in front of Rose and blocked her path.
“Talk to me.”
Daisy's face was stained with defeat.
“Now that you've become the Duchess, you think the world revolves around you, huh?”
As if she didn't care about the surrounding stares, she got right up in Rose's face and growled.
“Have you forgotten who you have to thank for getting that position?”
Rose noticed Daisy's cheek trembling slightly. She could feel the desperate struggle to trample her somehow.
“Yes. ‘Mother’ sent me, didn't she.”
Rose slightly pulled up the corners of her mouth.
“Thanks to that, I'm truly happy these days. Shall I offer you my gratitude?”
She had elegantly rephrased the fact that she became the Duchess thanks to her and her mother.
Sensing that, Daisy's face contorted.
“There's no way someone like you could have won over His Grace the Duke's heart……! That's impossible. I came all this way to see it with my own eyes……”
Daisy muttered to herself, as if she had to believe it, as if hypnotizing herself.
“Ah, right. You were a Magical Scholar major, weren't you?”
A sinister smile crept over Daisy's ghost-pale face.
“Did you perhaps feed him a love potion or something like that?”
“…What?”
“Otherwise, how could someone like you be loved, Unni? Right?”
Rose glared fiercely at Daisy.
The Magical Scholar department did not teach such things. Moreover, Daisy's current remark could have become a threat not only to Rose, but to the Vikander family as well.
How could she be so foolish!
“You, just now-”
Just as Rose was about to open her mouth.
“That's an interesting story.”
A cold voice sounded, as if pouring freezing water in the dead of winter.
Jeobeok.
Along with heavy footsteps, someone stepped into the room.
“…Your Grace.”
Rose shivered as she saw Dane enter the room.
Jeobeok, jeobeok.
A faint winter scent spread with every step Dane took. The ladies along his path froze completely.
Walking with his cloak billowing behind him, he completely dominated this space.
Jeobeok, jeobeok.
Dane walked in a straight line, his gaze fixed solely on Rose.
People blankly followed him with their eyes. Those gazes flowed toward Rose and began to hold a slightly different color.
The colors of jealousy and envy.
“Your Grace.”
“I greet Your Grace.”
The noble ladies finally came to their senses and stood up one after another. Dane gave a light nod, and
“Madam.”
he unhesitatingly approached Rose's side. The gaze fixed on Rose since he entered the room had not strayed for a single moment.
He had said he would come, but she thought he'd wait in the carriage, not that he would come all the way into the room.
“What brings you here.”
Rose asked, hiding her fluster. Instead of answering, Dane reached out and pulled Rose by the waist.
“Because I missed you.”
He replied shortly, and
Chok.
lightly pressed his lips to Rose's forehead.
“Didn't you miss me, Madam?”
Jjaenggang, jjaenggeurang!
The sound of teacups shattering came from all over.
The noble ladies, who valued dignity above all else, couldn't close their hanging mouths. They didn't even seem to notice they had shattered their teacups.
Facing Dane, Rose stiffened completely.
‘Just now, what?’
A large hand wrapping around her waist, the hot body heat radiating from him touching her.
She could only see the deep blue eyes that seemed to suck in everything about her.
Beneath it, drawing a soft curve… that is…….
‘A k-kiss…… You just kissed me…?’
She couldn't believe his lips had just touched her forehead. She wondered if she was dreaming.
For a moment, she almost fumbled for her forehead. It felt as hot as if a spark had landed there.
‘No matter if we are a contract couple…….’
Was there really any need to go this far?