Chapter 86

Lirel sprang up to her feet, pretending.

“Y-You, how are you here!”

“I was headed to the washroom, but your voice brought me here.”

Selena deliberately walked into the room and sat down on the sofa opposite Lirel. “Sit, we have plenty of time, so let us have a chat.”

Lirel sat back down hesitantly. The way she took her seat without even resting her back on the sofa looked like a child who was scolded because of a mistake she made.

Selena, on the other hand, was seated leisurely with her legs crossed. She gestured to the maid to leave them alone, perhaps because the master’s face was about to be ruined. The maid, confused, went out of the room. It seemed impossible to tell who was the master and who was the guest.

“W-What do we have to chat……?”

“What you just said. It was very interesting. I thought you two were very close, but to think, one of you has been *peeling pumpkin seeds like this.”

[TL/N: *This means talking or doing something behind someone’s back.]

“No, it’s not like that! Who doesn’t swear behind someone’s back! It’s just that it feels upsetting sometimes.” Though she knew it was too late, Lirel insisted. Some people would usually shrink away after that, but Selena was not that kind of person. Rather, she loved to press more.

“Ah—ah.”

She indifferently responded, tucking her loose hair behind her shoulder.

“In that case, I think Miss Rosalyn will be able to hear and understand.”

That shut Lirel’s mouth. She couldn’t let it happen. If this got into Rosalyn’s ears, she would be dead. And that would ultimately ruin the house of Count Hice.

“N-No, hold on. Let’s chat for a while.”

“We are chatting.”

It was a situation where the spectators watched the owner of the house burn in fire. Lirel felt her mouth dry up as Selena relaxed, folding her arms.

“Well, Lady Selena. It’s not just a matter of relationship. Perhaps it’s based on my family interests?”

“Yes, so?”

“It wasn’t like this originally. However, there are times when families cooperate, and there are times when they compete. That’s why I’m cooperating. It’s just like that.”

“Yes, but?”

“But it’s not like my heart follows everything I’m supposed to do. So, uh, it wasn’t my intention to greet Lady Selena coldly. I just wanted to tell you that.”

“Just because it wasn’t your will doesn’t mean it can be forgotten.”

“That’s true! Of course it can’t be! However, in fact, I wanted to be close to you.”

“You wanted to, but you did the exact opposite.”

Selena only snorted at the ridiculous excuses that followed.

“That….! I never wanted to!” Lirel must have thought Selena would be moved by her excuses.

“It was Lady Rosalyn who told you to attack me and flirt with the Duke before anyone else at the Foundation Party, and it was her will that you invited me to a tea party that was laid out to bother me, wasn’t it?”

“T-That’s right. Why else would I torment Lady Selena, whom I don’t even know?”

“Why did she ask Lady Lirel to do that?”

“I-I don’t know about that…. I just did what Lady Rosalyn wanted me to do…..”

Selena sighed, “So Lady Lirel wanted to get along with me, but she was forced to pick on me because Rosalyn asked her to, is that right?”

“Yes, yes, yes, yes! That’s it!”

Selena smiled at Lirel, who kept nodding frantically. At this rate, her hairstyle would be a mess. Seeing the girl—who was most likely sensitive about a strand of hair sticking out of place—making a fuss, Selena went straight to the point.

“So, what is it you have that needs Rosalyn’s support?”

“T-That…..”

“You said you wanted to get along with me. Then let us be friends from now on. Can’t we chat about that when we’re close? I heard you’re allowed to swear at people you don’t like in front of your close friend.”

Selena said in a friendly voice, but the threats hidden underneath were not friendly at all. If Selena told Rosalyn the truth, Lirel would be the only one to suffer. It wouldn’t matter even if Lirel was her partner, suspicions would arise as soon as Selena relayed the information.

Rosalyn had no reason to hold on to noisy people for nothing. It would be a pity for Count Hice, not Marquis Thiolan. Rosalyn had already beaten people to death, no matter how much they were her ‘friends’. She could slice them off mercilessly if they showed the slightest rude behavior. Even if it was her first love hugging her knee, she would never turn around. Everyone feared Rosalyn and Marquis Thiolan, even if they cursed them badly behind their backs.

Now was the time to seize Selena and silence her.

“The top of the distribution network that allows us to distribute jewelry belongs to Marquis Thiolan. My family’s large business is at stake, so I have to cooperate.”

That’s what Kalcion figured out. Selena wondered if there was anything else, but the biggest problem was money.

“Then do you have to stay with Rosalyn all your life?”

“That’s impossible! I’m told that we will be able to regain our balance as soon as the amount distributed in Renbird’s mine is determined!” cried Lirel in rage. Prior to the family business, Lirel, like Fionel and Rosalyn, had led the crowd. Now it seemed to have been absorbed under Rosalyn for a while, but she could not live like this forever.

“Aha….. Then we must get along. I don’t know much, but you never know, do you? I wonder if I can ask the Duke for a small favor when my friend is in trouble.”

“Oh my, that would be wonderful.”

Lirel pretending to believe in Selena was very good because she had to agree. That’s why she was the first one to encounter Selena at the grand banquet.

“Yes, but I don’t know what goes on in the business industry. So why don’t you write a letter and let me hand it over to the Duke?”

“Letter?”

The suggestion was sudden, so it was questionable. Selena pressed harder at Lirel’s trembling reaction. “If I hand over the letter, there will be no leak of information and the Duke will consider it, right?”

“Oh……”

Lirel never thought Selena had such an influence on Duke Renbird. He bought all kinds of dresses and accessories for his favorite, but in the end, he was just a dog on a jeweled leash.

“Now that you understand, you should write a letter. Where did the maid go?” While Lirel was muttering, Selena called the maid she had kicked out, telling her to bring a paper and pen. “Now, please write it down quickly so I can leave as early as possible.”

“Um, that……” Lirel couldn’t think of a reason to refuse immediately. Eventually, she was handed the pen.

“I’m sure the Duke will hear about it later how you and Selena became close friends at the tea party. It was a day spent well, and you heard a lot about the Duke. Write this much.”

What Selena said was insignificant. Even if it got leaked, those words would not lead to much of a big deal.

At the end of the letter, which was written in graceful handwriting, Lirel purposefully didn’t mention her name. Since she had no idea how this letter would be used, she tried to avoid anything that might serve as an excuse. She heard Selena was a commoner. If so, it was highly unlikely that Selena could understand what she wrote.

“You forgot to write your name at the end.”

But Selena pointed out the exact mistake. Lirel was very astonished that Selena knew how to read and write.

“Oh my, I must’ve missed it.”

Lirel wrote down her name pretending it was a mistake, but she felt very uncomfortable. She felt like she was captured because she didn’t have a reason to refuse, yet she was leaving something so materialistic.

“Looking back, my writing isn’t very sophisticated. I must write this letter carefully and send it to you next time–”

“No need. This is enough for me.” Selena caught the letter on the table before Lirel could try to sneak it away. “Your words are very sincere, so how could I throw it away? Since it is a sign of our friendship, I shall cherish it.”

With that, the letter disappeared inside Selena’s cloak. It was only then that Lirel came to her senses. She had left evidence written with her own hands to acknowledge her friendship with Selena. She bit her lips in regret. It was no good telling the Duke of Renbird. Her secret with Rosalyn was robbed.

She might have been able to subdue Selena if her maid helped. Although she did some calculations in her head, Lirel had never lifted anything heavier than her teacup. She couldn’t take the stamina of a commoner who was said to have been rescued from the mountains infested with monsters. Even though Lirel thought hard, she could not find a way to take the letter back from Selena’s grip.

“Do not worry. I understand that we both have our positions. Our friendship shall stay a secret between us.”

Selena winked at her. That wink alone could knock down everyone at a fan meeting, but here it was a warning from the envoy to Lirel.

“Oh, and what did you mean when you said she went to see the Crown Prince? Now that I recall, you left the party together.”

Lirel’s face was distorted. ‘She needs to go all the way in, this d*mned b*tch.’

“Where did Lady Rosalyn go?”

Selena’s smile grew wider.

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