“Oh, I’m tired.” All the accessories that were put on her brown hair went back to the dressing table one by one. Since meeting her half-sister in the library earlier, Florre hasn’t had a good look.
“Miss Florre, don’t you miss where you lived before?” said the maid, Bibi, combing her hair.
“What?” Florre, on the other hand, snorted. Florre’s mother was a woman who long ago worked as a maid in Count Videl’s mansion. He accidentally spent the night with the mother, and she had a baby, but she was driven faraway to a territory that did not tolerate illegitimate children.
As a result, she lived a poor life, and even when Florre just came to this world, the situation was not very good. “I don’t really miss it.” Florre face crumpled, recalling the smell of manure and the cry of insects as soon as she opened her eyes. A barn like room and a woman with a sour smell, who pretended to be friendly. How terrible she felt when she found out that the woman who was holding her face with her wrinkled hands was her mother.
“I’ve sold things to make money and packed up and left, I do not regret it.” Bibi felt embarrassed after seeing Florre’s crumpled expression, so she kept her mouth shut.
“That was a useless question. Tell me about that girl. Her name was Dahlia?” Bibi rolled her eyes because she couldn’t adapt to Florre’s change in tones. Apparently, a few months ago, when she was found by the Count, she was a gentle, naïve girl. It felt like she was seeing a person with two personalities, she was only kind in front of people with a high authority.
“Her name is Dahlia Margaret. She is two years older than you.”
“Is that so?” Florre recalled the appearance of Dahlia. She was hoping to treat her nicely, but it started getting hard after she saw the back of my hand. “What else?”
“It’s been said that she is adored by His Majesty, the Emperor. It is rumored that she will be escorted by His Majesty at the debutant ball that will be held.”
“Emperor?” Florre asked back eyes widening in surprise. ‘Yes, there must be an emperor as well in this world where counts exist. Why didn’t she think about that?’ Green eyes sparkled. “What kind of person is His Majesty, the Emperor?”
“He is handsome and a very good person.”
“And?” Florre raised the question she thought most important. “Is he married?”
“No, it hasn’t been long since he has been crowned, so the empress’s seat is still empty.”
“Is that so?”
“Of course, I guess this means Lady Dahlia will rise to the position of Empress.”
Except for the last part, the rest of the explanation Florre liked.
“Can I go out to that debutant ball?”
“Yes, that is why the Count brought you here”
“Okay, Bibi. I’m going to sleep for a little bit. I’m so tired from riding in the wagon for a long time,” Florre smiled at the satisfying answer. If you saw that smile, if could have been mistaken for a sleeping angel’s smile.
“Yes. Milady. Have a nice rest.” Bibi said bowing her head and exiting the room. As soon as she left Florre laid comfortably on the spacious bed.
‘I can finally sleep with both feet stretched out.’
Compared to the barn she used to live in, it was very satisfying. “I thought I died unfairly……”
Florre looked up at the roof and laughed. She ran because she was scared of Cha Min-ju committing suicide, but she didn’t know they would fall together. When she opened her eyes again, she was unhappy and didn’t know what to do, so she had burst into tears.
She was surrounded by people she didn’t know, and to make matters worse, her eyes were blurry, but when she looked into the mirror, she almost felt amazed at her face. It was because Florre Margaret’s face was that beautiful.
She couldn’t resist the grin after imagining herself ascending to the highest point of her life.
Several days have passed since Florre officially joined the Margaret family. From the day she met her, Dahlia harassed Florre without skipping a day. Sometimes, with this courtesy, she also blatantly disclosed the reason for the bullying, saying how could she attend the debutant ball. But every time, Count Videl’s answer was the same. “Somehow, you made it as a person’s pretext, so even if you stand still with your mouth shut, the others will line up. It’s okay to do it.” Then Dahlia realized It means that no matter how hard you intervene in the fact that your existence is just one device in a novel, you cannot change the narrative of the protagonist, “Florre”. Since then, Dahlia has been sick in bed.
“Lady Dahlia, are you okay?” When she was usually decorating Dahlia’s room, she opened the curtains and asked carefully. Dahlia, who was lying in bed, skipping meals even though it was the afternoon, raised her head belatedly. “You have to eat something.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“But if you skip meals like this, you will hurt your body.” Dahlia raised her head at the friendly voice worrying about her. Although she looked ordinary, the girl in front of her left a cute and warm impression. Her face that looked five years younger than me. “Your name is Anne?” When the name was called, the maid’s cheeks became colored. In the past, she was a cold lady who would never give her a glance, but she didn’t know when she remembered her name.
She heard that Dahlia’s personality has changed a lot these days, but it was just a rumor. But it was a surprise to suddenly seeing her talk like this. Although until recently, she had heard that Florre had been obnoxious, but it didn’t matter much. “Yes, it’s Anne.”
“Did you bring those flowers?” Dahlia raised her hand and pointed to the vase placed in front of the windowsill.
There was a dahlia flower that the maid had obtained and placed there. The light pink petals spreading fascinatingly. “If you don’t like it, I can get rid of it?” the maids face turned pale when she mistakenly thought Dahlia was complaining. She immediately thought Dahlia was going to harass her but instead got a surprising answer back. “Huh? No, the flowers are pretty. I was going to say thank you.”
Dahlia laid back on the bed and looked up at the ceiling, and the praise she gave the maid caused her to stare blankly, it was the first compliment she heard from her after entering the mansion and starting to work there. Dahlia looked at the flowers slackly.
She was in shock, enough to forget the pressure for a while. It was so desperate thing to say that the development did not change no matter what effort was made.
As soon as she opened the door and went out, numerous maids ran around and surrounded Anne. Anne looked at the faces of her colleagues in amazement.
At present, the most important concern in the Margaret mansion was apparently the state of Dahlia. She calmly subsided her astonished heart and told the story with a cough. “The fever has gone down but she is not hungry and wants to skip her meal again.” The maids, who were listening to the story up close, shook their head.
“It is very strange. I though she became kind after she got sick, but in front of Lady Florre she becomes mean again.”
“I understand my lady’s heart” Everyone paid attention to Anne’s words. She expressed her opinion firmly while still receiving the attention of her colleagues. “Honestly, If I had just found out I had a half sibling and they are suddenly living in with me, I would not like the situation either.” Anne’s act of defending Dahlia was unfamiliar, and her colleagues laughed. Just knocking on Dahlia’s door would scare Anne. “Oh, your funny! Not to long ago you would be trembling calling Lady Dahlia scary.”
“Well, that’s in the past! Today, the lady complimented me. She said I brought pretty flowers….”
Those who did a hundred good deeds were familiar. However, the good deeds of a hundred evil deeds were unfamiliar and impressive. It was just that now. Anne eagerly sided with her, drunk with the sweetness of Dahlia’s good deeds. “That’s why Miss Dahlia is more pitiful than Miss Florre.”
“You are also very worried.” But the other maids’ thoughts were different from Anne’s. They shrugged or shook their heads and made simple jokes about Dahlia.
“My lady just suffered a heartache! She would have to attend the ball by herself to get the attention of the Emperor because a useless disturber has arisen.” It was the reason Dahlia suddenly fell ill.
“When will she feel better? I’m worried about my lady.”
“Since when have you been worried about Dahlia?”
“Ah!” One of the maids smacked Anne’s shoulder as if to tell her to look. Anne looked back in surprise. There stood a maid looking at her with harsh eyes.
“Anne, you should really watch what you say. Don’t you know that our Lady Florre will also participate in the debutant ball soon?” It was Florre’s maid, Bibi. “If you have the same time to talk about the same thing, do it quickly.” Even among the maids, there was a minor power struggle. In particular, Bibi who became Florre’s personal maid.
Unlike Anne, who is small and weak-minded, Bibi knew how to harass and break others. “Anne would you like to go outside with me for a minute?” As the maids dispersed, Bibi reached out, revealing her disapproval.