Madam Rachel’s mansion was very pretty, all painted a pale shell pink.
The drawing room was also extravagant, and not just fancy, but also had a good sense of aesthetics.
“The Madam just got up. She is preparing so please wait a little bit.”
“Ah yes.”
Left alone, Mariane looked around her in a state of rapture.
The living room with walls painted pale yellow was lined with decorative items, so there was a lot to see.
Among them, what caught Marianne’s attention was the fan hanging on the wall.
The rib was elaborately cut into a lace shape, and a very thin transparent muslim was attached.
On it was drawn the figure of an angel with gold powder. The angel’s eyes were turquoise and she held a coral lyre.
Marianne was instantly stunned.
It seemed very elegant to talk with that beautiful fan covering her face.
Can she touch it just once?
She’ll only have to hold it once to see if she’ll really look elegant…
Marianne involuntarily reached out her hand. It was then.
“I guess you like that fan, Lady Marianne.”
“!”
Startled, Marianne turned around and saw Madam Rachel standing there with her maid.
Marianne hastily bent her knees.
“M-Marianne, the daughter of Blanchett family, meets Madam Rachel.”
“Ung, I am so surprised.”
With a charming tone and a grin, the Madam moved her heavenly body and sat down first.
However, when you look closely, there’s a small piece of gauze attached to the Madam’s white cheeks and forehead. Even though she had powdered it, the bruises on her cheeks shimmered, so it must have been quite a big wound.
“That…”
Marianne was about to ask what the wound was without realizing it, but the warning from her <Peonia Sorority> seniors barely came to mind.
“Never, never ask Madam Rachel for any cuts or bruises on her body or face.”
Marianne naturally asked why, but they drew the line, saying that they couldn’t tell her that.
“It’s up to you to find out.
Just know. If you see it, you’ll understand it naturally, and you shouldn’t ask questions about the wound and of course, act as if there’s no wound at all.
I mean ignore what you see. Okay?”
When Marianne snapped shut at the thought of their warning, Madam Rachel smiled with only her red lips, her big eyes wide open.
“Please sit down.”
“Thank you, madam.”
“I called Lady Marianne here today because I have something to tell you about Lady Marianne’s behavior.”
“My…behavior?”
It was never a positive nuance. Marianne became anxious.
“I heard that Lady Marianne has been talking a lot lately about the new member of the Imperial family?”
“That, that…”
Marianne was startled. But she soon became puzzled.
From the cirumstances, it was clear that Madam Rachel was talking about Lilian. If so, she didn’t know why she’s talking to her so scoldingly.
Marianne was confused. Madam Rachel is the official mistress of the Emperor. It was no secret that the Emperor regarded Grand Duke Damian Rupenwein as a thorn in his eye. Marianne has come to the point of grasping the situation up to this point.
Marianne was on the side of Madam Rachel and His Imperial Majesty, and denounced the Grand Duchess, so why is Madam Rachel angry with her?
“You look confused.”
“I…”
“I am the woman closest to His Majesty and the Imperial Family.
If I condone the act of defaming the imperial family, and if they’re from a lady of a sorority under my management…then what is my position?”
“I, I was wrong, Madam. I hadn’t even thought of that.”
Madam Rachel stared at the apologetic and timid Marianne, and then suddenly went “Ahahaha!”, bursting into a delightful laugh.
“So cute. You’re so cute when you’re scared, Lady Marianne.”
“Y-yes?”
“You can’t believe what I just said?”
Only then did Marianne realize that Madam Rachel was playing a joke.
She was fooled but she wasn’t angry. It was a pity that she didn’t give a more witty answer because she didn’t notice the prank.
“Madam, I was really surprised.”
“Looks like it. But don’t take everything I say as a joke. No matter how good it is for me, if you openly criticize the Grand Duchess like that, someone might look at Lady Marianne badly, right?”
It’s advice to have fun in moderation and then step out.
Marianne said that she understood and was proud of herself.
“Thank you for the helpful advice, Madam.”
“You’re welcome. It feels good to meet a lady I can talk to after such a long time. Do you know how to enjoy a drink?”
“Well, I know how to drink a little.”
“Betty!”
“Yes, Mistress.”
Once again, Marianne admired the way she treated her lady-in-waiting as if she were her maid. The power of being the Emperor’s mistress seemed really great for her.
A person with common sense would think that Rachel was very careless and would get tired of it, but Marianne’s point of view was a little different from the usual.
The lady-in-waiting poured wine into a beautiful cup and handed it to Marianne. Marianne drank a little and found it to be fragrant but also quite strong.
“Can’t drink it? You have to drink this much to live a social life.”
“Oh, no. It smells so good.”
Marianne sipped, drinking heavily. As she drank, it started to smell quite nice. She came to her senses after inhaling a fairly large amount.
Madam Rachel grinned at Marianne, her cheeks burning red.
“But I heard that Lady Marianne originally came from the same sorority as Her Highness the Grand Duchess?”
“It’s now just a shameful past. For me, <Peonia>, which the Madam pays more attention to, is…”
“Haam.”
Madam Rachel broke down and gave a big yawn.
“Why does a young person say such boring and obvious things like a parrot? It’s boring, so tell me what I’m asking. It’s more fun.”
“Pardon? Of course…”
Startled by her boredom, Marianne tried to wittily relate what happened to Lilian in the May Lily Sorority.
As she was also drunk, the story became more and more exaggerated. In her desire to defend herself, Lilian’s behavior also took on a bad turn.
Madam Rachel didn’t look very interested, but she also didn’t interrupt.
“So, I’m very fortunate to have been expelled so unfairly, and to belong in such a great sorority like the Madam which saved me…”
“Oh, stop, stop. From there, it’s a story I knew.”
Madam Rachel shook her hand to end the conversation and sipped the rest of her drink. All the while, Marianne only touched the hem of her dress, embarrassing herself.
“Come to think of it, Lady Marianne, you seem to like that fan.”
“That’s…”
“If you like it, take it. I’ll give it to you as a gift.”
“Pardon? Really?”
“Oh, I never lied to you, have I?”
Marianne hurriedly explained that she didn’t mean it, but Madam Rachel didn’t seem to be listening.
“You told a bored person a funny story so I should reward you.”
“Thank you. Thank you, Madam!”
Rachel’s handmaid reached the wall and lowered the fan.
“Here you go. Take it.”
The handmaid was blunt, as if she didn’t want to hand over expensive items, but Marianne, who was overjoyed at receiving the favor, didn’t care.
When she finally held it in her hand, the fan was really pretty. It seemed that her hands were whiter and more noble.
Rachel, who was watching the ecstatic Marianne, yawned at her.
“Well then, would you like to go? I need to go back to sleep now.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you very much again, Madam. I will treasure it!”
It was a bit rude, but Marianne jumped up because she wanted to go home and put the new fan against her face.
“Once again, today’s story was very interesting. You know what I mean, right, Lady Marianne?”
Holding her fan, Marianne calculated.
That meant that if she told the stories about Lilian, she might receive another reward like this.
“I’ll keep that in mind, Madam.”
Rachel’s smile deepened.
“This favor, plese use it well.”
***
After Marianne went back in a good mood.
“Ahh, seriously.”
Rachel sighed as she leaned back on the long sofa.
“It’s insignificant because she doesn’t know much more than I thought. Besides, she doesn’t have any sense, so I have to spoonfeed her so she understood what people are saying! I really hate a girl who is stupid with such self-consciousness.”
“Why did you give her the playing angel’s fan when it doesn’t seem like she helped? You liked it so much.”
“Still, isn’t her ardent enmity toward the Grand Duchess seem worthwhile?”
“I don’t know.”
The maid was blunt. As a confidant, she coveted it but someone else had taken the fan she had never even touched, so her heart was deeply hurt.
Well, it’s good that she’s greedy. Because it’s easy to use.
“Who else will give me an accident of pushing the Grand Duchess off the balcony in a fit of rage.”
“…”
“If that’s the case, I’ll give her any amount of favor from over there. Even if she had already been executed and buried in a coffin.”
Rachel had a little more girlishness than Marianne’s, giggling as she talked about creepy things.
“Let’s see, shall we nominate a lover for the lovely couple?”
“It’s not like they got married because they liked each other, so will making a lover for each of them really get in the way?”
“Oh my, what have you learned being next to me all this time?”
Madam Rachel murmured as she hummed a song.
“There is something strange about the marriage, my dear. Even if they don’t have much feelings for each other, once the facade of husband and wife is used, they became strangely special, you know? Look at my ex-husband. Didn’t that person you used to go out with get mad at me when I started having a tryst?”
“Well…”
“There’s no better place for discord to intervene than a relationship between a man and a woman.
If you’re not familiar with it, take a look.”
“But His Highness the Grand Duke didn’t have any scandals. Wouldn’t there be no possibility even if you gave her some kind of woman?”
“They don’t really have to fall in love. It’s enough for the Grand Duchess to see a moderately suspicious scene. It’s probably going to upset her stomach a little.”
Madam Rachel hummed, as she smiled confidently.
“Now then, what kind of people should I attach…”
Her cheeks, dreaming of discord, were flushed like a girl’s.
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