Cecilia wanted to cry.
Somehow, the party was already started when she arrived. She felt so embarrassed when everyone gave her scornful glances.The tea party was attended by seven people, including herself.
All of them came from among the Count and Viscount families. Only Cecilia who came from the Duke's family, which is higher position than anyone else at the party.Even so, they treated her like she was an invisible creature.
They do occasionally asked her but never include her to their conversation. Sometimes they threw a cynical glances to her.The real Cecilia would usually get angry and walk away from this place.
But now, she didn't even have the courage to get up from her chair.She took another sip of the tea and cast her gaze towards the flower garden. Letting the six people chuckle while looking at her.
Right now, she didn't know who's the real bad guy here.One of the invited guests named Karina Marcello, daughter of Viscount Marcello, said, "I was so shocked when I heard that Miss Lancia was coming to this party."
Ailleen, the party organizer, gave a kind smile despite the glint in her green eyes, "That's absolutely true. I am honored, Miss Lancia.
Cecilia forced a smile.
This was the fifth time, they said the same thing to her and Cecilia continued to give the same response, "Ah, yes. It doesn't matter. Thank you for the invitation, Miss Silver."Somehow Aileen doesn't seem to like her answer. "I heard that the garden at the Lancia family residence is very beautiful."
Cecilia shook her head politely, "N, no. I mean, it's not as pretty as the garden here."
The six people looked at each other. Aileen even raised an eyebrow. She knew for sure that something was wrong. Cecilia was usually give a snappy answer.
Aileen started racking her brain to start provoking her enemy.
As the daughter of a Count, her chances of becoming a crown princess were almost impossible. Because the most strongest candidates is Cecilia.Although Silver's family owned an influential mass media business in the empire, Duke Lancia had an abundant wealth with a long military history with the empire.
The reason for holding this party was, of course, to trap Cecilia.
The worse her reputation can get, the better her chances of winning this election.Because of that she started to gather support from the nobles.
Of course, Aileen's reputation of her flawless act and politeness was beyond reproach.But why is that girl so quiet?The five people around her began to wonder because Cecilia was not as bad as rumored to be. She seems timid, but polite..
"Ah, You think so? Actually, my mother likes flowers a lot. Thats why she arranged everything." Aileen said with her sweet smile.
Cecilia nodded politely, "Countess Silver must have good taste."
Aileen's jaw started to tighten but she quickly smiled pleasantly, "Thank you for your compliment. By the way, without the Duchess, you must face any difficulties too, right?"
All the gazes move to Cecilia's direction as if they waiting for something. The sudden attention embarrassed Cecilia.
"Well, we have a competent buttler,""Isn't it good to continue relying on them? I often heard that many household's head ran away with their master's property," This time it was Antoniette Lance voice
She is Viscount Lance's daughter. Her fake lashes moved up and down every time she spoke."Ah, is that so? But, if I'm not mistaken, he has been working for a long time," She muttered.
"But, it would be better if you learn about family administration," said Aileen with a friendly smile. Then with artificial hospitality, she said, "Ah, sorry. I forgot that you kicked out all your teachers,"
"Eh? Is that true, Miss? Too bad, Duke must be disappointed with you," said a girl she did not know. Her face was so white because of the thick tacky makeup.
"Luckily you are born as a woman. Duke must hand over the title to your husband," said Karina, sipping her tea.
Antoniette nodded, "My father said the same thing. But, aren't you act a little bit reckless? After all, education is a privilege that only nobles families can get. At least you should be grateful,"
"Ouch, Miss Lance. Your words are too much," commented Aileen again with a fake friendly smile. "Of course Miss Lancia doesn't need to think about that. As the only child of Duke Lancia, can't she just act.. arbitrarily?"
Those words made the invited guests whisper to each other. Their voice resembled the hum of the bees. Unconsciously, Cecilia grasped her tea cup tightly.
"Oh, are you all right, Miss Lancia?" Karina asked when she saw Cecilia's pale face.
"Please don't take it personally. We say this, purely, for your own good. We do care about you, Miss Lancia,""Oh, yes. I know," Cecilia lifted her teacup but found it was empty.
Aileen swiftly took the teapot, "I'll fill your glass, Miss Lancia."
"Th, thank yo-Ouch!"
She scream at pain when the tea spilled on her bare wrist."Ah, I'm sorry! How stupid of me!"
Cecilia didn't reply. Her hands were shaking. Not because of anger but the hot tea had already burned her skin.
She hid her injured hand behind her back, "I'm sorry, but it looks like I have to go now. Thank you for the party. I bid you farewell,"
The girls were shocked when they saw Cecilia who was holding back her tears. Not even a single person said anything as the girl turned away.
One of the girls asked, "What did I just saw? Miss Lancia is crying, isn't she?"
Karina threw her suspicious gaze at Aileen, "You didn't do it on purpose, right?"
Aileen shook her head, "Of course, no! It's just an accident!"
But no one bothered."I feel guilty." Said Antoniette with wary smile.
Another girls nodded in agreement, "That's right. Maybe our actions have gone too far .."
"I feel the same way. It seems, Miss Lancia is different from the rumors I heard."
"Ah, I thought so. She looks polite and calm."
Aileen's hands clenched tightly when she heard that, 'That damn kid. How dare you ruin my party! Damn it! Just watch, I will repay you!'
***
Cecilia wiped the tears with her index finger. Her skin still felt sore even though she already smeared it with the ointment from his doctor.Mary continues to grumble when she finds out what happened at the party. Her anger and worry were mixed together. Especially when Cecilia was skipping her dinner.
At first she insisted on accompanying her employer to sleep, but she refused because she wanted to be alone.
Mary looked so sad. And then, she said,
"Then, I will guard at the front door, Miss. If you need me, just call my name,"The sky had darkened and she couldn't sleep. She was absolutely sure that Aileen do it on purpose.
If only she can, she don't want to meet Aileen or girls from the nobility.
But, of course, this is impossible. She still has to attend birthday parties, weddings, hunting events and even debutante.They can even smirk in an elegant way, she thought sadly.
While she was being Ji Eun, harsh curses or painful beatings are a part of her daily life.
But who would have thought that her new life was not that different.
Although not beaten by physically, there are times when the words can gave a more painful effect.
"It might be easier if I could pretend to be deaf like I used to be."
She sighed again. The first day had failed. And yet, she still have long a way to go.The moon shone so brightly tonight. As if it try to cheer her up.She smiled when think about it. Well, it too soon to give up, she said to herself. I have to find a way to deal with this."Remember the river of fire. The river of fire," she muttered over and over until she fell asleep.
"Albert, I want you to send this letter to Father." Said Cecilia to Albert Constance, the loyal buttler. Albert is almost fifty years old.His hair was dyed black to hide his gray hair. His body was still upright and his brain was as sharp as ever."Yes, miss. I'll get a courier." Albert answered swiftly. He didn't even seem curious about Cecilia, who was sending a letter to her father for the first time.Cecilia looked at Albert with a big smile. Even in his previous memories, Albert was one of her trusted people. The Constance family already worked at the residence of the Duke of Lancia since a long time ago.Albert himself is the 9th generation. His eldest son, Christo, has become a personal assistant to the Duke of Lancia and preparing to take over Albert's duties when he retires. And so on.The history of the Lancia and Constance will continue to be woven forever. "Is
"Are you serious?" Asked Duke Armano Lancia when Cecilia came into his study room. He sat with his legs crossed and hold a glass of champagne. The man looked as same as in her memory.He still handsome, tall and athletic stature at the age of 40 years. He looked just like Cecilia except for his gray eyes. Or the lenght of their hair. Their genetic sure isn't a joke. "Welcome back, Father," she said, while bowing for greeting. "Sit down," Cecilia nodded and took the seat opposite of Armano. The Duke's study is surprisingly simple. There are only a work table, several shelves filled with thick books, and four chairs with a round wooden table to greet the guests. No plants, paintings or photographs. The only decoration is the tapestry of the family's emblem which is hanging in the wall behind the desk. "I repeat the question. Are you really serious about the contents of your letter? I immediat
"You didn't sell the chilli pepper? Why?" Cecilia asked with full of curiosity at the market seller. "Because it didn't sold well. There no one who like spicy food here, Miss," Impossible, she thought to herself. No one hate the spicy food. "Aah, darn it!" she left the market with empty handed. Now, she has to think another plan since her korean food restaurant plan is failed. "Ouch!", said a woman who bumped with her. "Ah, I'm sorry, Maam. I.. eh? Miss Jenkin?" Miss Jenkin is a woman who used to be her teacher. In her past, Cecilia threw an ink bottle, which made with thick glass, to her To make it worse, Cecilia ruined her reputation by saying that the poor teacher is incompetent and lack of manners to the noble society. It didn't take a long time when Jenkin's name is removed from the job market since many nobles refused her service. Jenkin's face gotten pale. She look like she was met with a ghost, "Oh, no!"
Cecilia feeling so tired after her fake possesed performance. Mary combed her hair and keep complaining about her dissapearance. Cecilia know that her servant is worried about her. When they met at the market, Mary was cried and hugged her so tightly. "You have to promise me that you will never doing that again, Young Miss. Now, your hair is done and let's go to the dining room. I heard Lord was waiting there." Her eyes widen, "Father?" "Yes! You must be happy, right, Miss?" Mary said with a big smile on her eyes. "It's strange," she said and start walked to the dining room. Armano closed his eyes. He looked like thinking about something. But his eyes was opened when one of his servant said, "My Lord, Young Miss is here," "Good evening, Father," Cecilia elegantly bowed to greet him. "I'm sorry to made you wait." "It's okay." he said while raised his right hand as a sign for the servants to serve the foods. Even after on
"Albert, are you secretly help her?" "No, My Lord," Armano and Albert are in the study room. The Duke reading the proposal with corcerned look. Of course, the proposal which made by Cecilia is far from perfect. It lacked from research and the side effect impact from her projects. She wrote about fifteen different bussines plans. Including a request to do a building construction. But still, it better than his expectation. It's been a year since Cecilia refused to study with her teacher and just busy to wasting her family's fortune. But the fact that she is staying up late to wrote fifty pages of her businness plan, is still amazed him. "Is she secretly being a genius, Albert?" "She is your daughter, My Lord," "You are right, Albert. It is explain everything," "Are you going to accept the proposal?" "No. Eventhough she is the part of Lancia's, she have to be smarter than me." "Are you
Jenkin was peeled the onion while her employer called her out from the kitchen. He said that there is a costumer want to meet her in person.Jenkin, who now works as cook at the small restaurant, wondered why. Is it something wrong with the food? She thought to herself. But, it impossible since I always follow the recipe.She rubbed her hand to the kitchen's towel twice. Just to make sure that she is clean enough to met the costumer.Her employer pointed at someone on the corner of the room. The costumer's figure look like a middle aged man. She can't see his face clearly because he wear a black long coat with hood. He stirred the soup without showing any interest."Is there anything wrong with the soup, Sir?" She asked.But the man didn't answer."If you dont have anything to say, I will go back to the kitchen, Sir.""Are you Adeline Jenkin?""Yes. That what's written on my birth certificate,"The mysterious man slowly
Cecilia sit on the chair, waiting that man to wake up. There is no clue about his identity. The most reasonable reason she can thought is that maybe this man is just a poor beggar and passed out due of the exhaustment.The doctor told her that the patient isn't in the critical condition anymore. Malnutrion and dehydration was the main cause of his unconsciousness. But, it doesn't change a fact that her carriage took a part to worsen his condition."Fortunately, your carriage was stop at the perfect moment, Miss," The doctor said while he write something on his paper. "He will be awake in no time.""Is that so? Thank you, Doctor. Please treat his condition throrougly. Do not worry about the payment."The doctor, whose name is Abraham Grande, nodded. Even a commoner like him know about the rumoured Cecilia Lancia.Beautiful woman with nasty and despicable traits. He just agree on
Armano was massaging his temple. A plan to conquer the Cadia Kingdom was the main reason of his headache.Cadia is just a small kingdom located in accross of the continent. Having several gold mines and coal mines led them into prosperity.But, the current king was so greedy, set the high taxes and doing so many nepotism or corruption in his reign.This make the Emperror of Atrazal mad and planned to take over that kingdom. Then, Armano Lancia was choosen as the high comander in that quest.The problem is a pandemic that infected the kingdom's citizen for this past five years. An antidote is still under development. But because of the nepotism, the project got slowed and faced the dealock.Atrazal's emperror then secretly asked the most knowledgeable scholar to conduct the experiment of making antidote.This is a difficult task. But, we are talking about a gen