Chapter 71
Isabelle looked confused as to why she had suddenly been dragged in front of Valentin. Valentin stared at her repulsive face and asked,
“Why are you here so early today?”
“Well, milady, that girl told me to head in early today, so I came in first.”
Isabelle had been excited, thinking it was rare to be let off early, but now that she was being questioned, she faltered and explained. Valentin scoffed.
“Not because you had some rat-like tale to snitch?”
Isabelle didn’t immediately understand what Valentin meant. Of course, she had intended to report Nerys’s activities to Delma again today. She had always done so.
Even Valentin used to enjoy hearing those reports—so why was she using that kind of language today?
There was no one present to kindly answer Isabelle’s question. Valentin twisted her small lips into a vicious sneer.
“You know, I find it hilarious when girls like you pretend to be righteous or act like you know anything. What do you think you know? Do you even understand the burden of leadership, the noble duty to rule that you’re born with?”
“Exactly right, milady.”
Delma chimed in with an air of righteous agreement. Isabelle was stunned that someone so young could show such malice in her eyes. What on earth was happening here…?
“Things like you are no different from the mutts raised outside. When one dies, just get another. As long as there’s something in that spot, who cares what its name is or what color its fur is? So if a mutt bites its master, unaware of its place… there’s no reason to spare it.”
Valentin raised her chin with pride, her sky-blue eyes narrowing in contempt.
Delma looked at the small girl she had raised with eyes full of warm affection. Seeing that, Isabelle suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.
She had grown up in the countryside and seen plenty of dogs raised outside.
While the relationship between master and dog could sometimes be harsh, it was usually based on some degree of affection.
Even if it started out for no reason or for practical purposes, people generally grew attached to living creatures that followed them.
But to speak of taking in and discarding a person with such cold eyes…
And Delma, watching her with such love, was not normal either. Wasn’t she the one who had raised Valentin to be like this?
Isabelle suddenly realized just how deranged the people she was entangled with were.
If she stayed like this, she’d be discarded too. Though the silent pressure felt suffocating, Isabelle hurried to piece together words.
“Milady, I don’t know why you’re saying that to me. I’ve always told you the truth! If something went wrong, it must be because Nerys lied!”
Based on everything Valentin had said, Isabelle concluded that there must have been some false report.
After all, the only thing she had ever “snitched” about at the academy was Nerys’s daily life, which she reported to Delma and Valentin. It was a logical deduction.
But Valentin scoffed again.
“Sure, right. And I suppose Nerys knew my invitation was fake the moment she saw it? So she went to my brother and tattled?”
“What?”
Valentin’s sarcastic remark was dangerously close to the truth, but no one present was aware of that.
Isabelle was at a loss from the sudden accusation. Delma didn’t give her any time to explain.
“Milady, you don’t need to keep dealing with trash like this. Hey!”
Delma, having sweetly consoled Valentin, now shouted in a booming voice and clapped her hands. A servant, who had been lingering nearby trying to eavesdrop, rushed in.
Delma jerked her chin toward Isabelle.
“Bring this one’s belongings! And beat her within an inch of her life, then toss her out of Carten with her baggage. We have no use for a lowborn who dares betray her master and act above her station!”
The servant immediately dashed up to the third-floor attic where the maids’ rooms were.
Valentin smiled with satisfaction. Now, things couldn’t be undone. Isabelle instantly changed her attitude, growling with a face twisted in resentment.
“You’re lowborn too!”
Delma scoffed.
“What will you do, Isabelle? I promise not to chase you out until your things arrive. If you run now, you might avoid a beating. But if you stay, I won’t go easy on you.”
Crazy, deranged woman!
Isabelle turned to Valentin with a last pleading look. But Valentin only watched her with interest, examining every part of her.
This twisted master and servant didn’t see people as people. Realizing this made Isabelle’s blood run cold.
She looked at Delma and Valentin with eyes full of murderous rage. But there was nothing someone of her status could do.
Valentin scoffed as she watched Isabelle flee in a panic.
“You’re not going to let her off, are you?”
“Of course not, milady.”
Isabelle had to pay for her wrongdoing.
Delma called another nearby servant and instructed them to report to the lord who governed Carten that Isabelle had been caught trying to steal Valentin’s jewels and had fled.
Valentin was pleased with even that instruction. Then she drank the tea Delma brought over, fussing over how startled her precious young lady must have been.
Valentin’s lips, briefly curved in a smile, soon twisted again with renewed fury.
Sitting beside the girl, Delma gently asked,
“What shall we do about the invitation, milady…?”
“I’ve already sent it, and since it was a fake, I can’t exactly tell Nerys not to come. If I did, brother Nell would get angry again.”
“But you don’t want someone of her standing at your party, do you?”
“I don’t, but there’s no helping it. It’s the only way to handle things now.”
Others might think she was immature, but Valentin wasn’t stupid.
Delma was delighted by that rational decision. If things continued like this, maybe Nellusion wouldn’t scold her as much anymore.
Valentin frowned as she looked in the direction of Nellusion’s room. Hmph, for whose sake, really?
All the things men said were so transparent. Pretending to be rational and meaningful, when in truth, they were just interested in that filthy, lowborn thing.
But the face her brother had shown earlier had been resolute. No matter how he usually gave in when she pouted—
‘When he makes that face, he doesn’t let things slide.’
Yes, there was no helping it. Valentin swallowed her anger and accepted the fact.
* * *
Time passed quickly, and the day of Valentin’s “famous party” finally arrived.
The entrance of the dormitory where the Elandria siblings were staying was decorated so extravagantly that, if it had been in the imperial capital, it could have rivaled the main house of a lower-ranking noble.
Renowned sculptors’ lifelike statues were placed throughout the garden, and white branches of birch trees, just beginning to turn with the season, were adorned with glass jars holding candles, softly glowing in the early autumn evening.
The white mansion, crowned with a bluish-grey roof, had all its windows and doors wide open, ready to receive guests. A handsome footman dressed in a splendid uniform of yellow and blue stood guarding the entrance.
Upon seeing Diane and Nerys’s invitations, he bowed his head.
“Welcome, ladies, to the Elandria household. Our young lady has been expecting you.”
Nerys recognized the footman well. In fact, not just him.
The sculptures adorning the mansion, the way the glass jars were tied to the birch branches, even the face of the maid who occasionally peeked out from inside—it was all familiar to her.
Familiar, but never fond.
All things owned by the Elandria family.
Things that had never once welcomed ‘Nerys Elandria.’
As they walked through the garden toward the hall, Diane couldn’t help but marvel at the dreamlike scenery.
“This is really amazing.”
The party Diane had thrown last year had been impressive, but it couldn’t compare to the one Valentin had arranged today.
Diane’s party had aimed to entertain the children. Valentin’s party, on the other hand, was all about flaunting power.
A proper ceremonial event of the noble elite.
A ritual meant to build an invisible wall between those who were invited and those who weren’t.
As the two girls stepped into the mansion, a string quartet began playing a stately melody. Valentin was just coming down from the second floor.
The diamond buckles on her pointed shoes and the pearls stitched into the hem of her sky-blue skirt made Valentin shine as if she were radiating light even before she fully descended the stairs.
When her eyes met Nerys’s, Valentin showed a fleeting expression of displeasure, but quickly hid it. She then greeted her with a look of innocence.
“Sister Nerys, welcome. You’re early.”
“Valentin, you even suggested we greet the guests together. How could I be late? Since I was coming anyway, I brought Diane along too. I know it’s poor manners to arrive before the appointed time, but since I’m ‘family,’ it should be okay, right? Hm? I believe sweet Valentin will forgive me.”
Valentin ground her teeth internally. Family? Who’s calling themselves family? And in that arrogant tone—for everyone to hear!
The invitation to ‘greet guests together’ had, of course, been a jab meant to provoke Nerys when she’d believed she wouldn’t dare show her face at the party.
Who would’ve imagined she’d actually have to go through the humiliation of greeting noble guests with this pauper at her side?
But at this point, she had no choice but to answer differently.
“If you say so, then so be it. That makes senior Diane our first guest today. Please rest in the drawing room. Sister Nerys and I need to welcome the other guests now.”
Diane followed an Elandria maid to the drawing room. Nerys exchanged a glance with Diane, then followed Valentin further into the mansion.
Once they were out of sight, Valentin spoke with an openly indifferent tone.
“You’ve probably never welcomed someone of higher status before, but it’s not hard. Just quietly stand behind me. No one will be interested in you anyway, so just keep your mouth shut. When I tell you to go, you can join senior Diane.”
She was basically saying, ‘Act like you’re not here and disappear quickly.’
After all, this party was a calculated move by Valentin to showcase her ambitions and connections by inviting only the most prestigious guests.
While the title of ‘high-ranking noble’ usually applied to heirs of count-ranked families or higher, Valentin had only invited children from families with truly deep lineage, even if their father was a count.
As a result, children from lesser influential families—like Alecto Isalani—had not been invited.
Given that, it was no wonder she didn’t like the presence of Nerys and Diane. That truth delighted Nerys, who smiled brightly, pretending not to understand a word Valentin had said.
“Thanks for explaining so kindly.”
With that, Valentin was left throwing punches at the air, her insides twisting in frustration.
