“You must have become really close with the Lady.”
“I always thought the Lady was intimidating and unapproachable, but seeing how she treats Lady Brensia, maybe there’s no need to be scared after all.”
“I’ve never seen Lady Periose treat anyone this kindly.”
“Doesn’t that just mean she’s taken a liking to Lady Brensia?”
While Periose was briefly occupied with the Marquis’s daughter, the young ladies attending the tea party surrounded me, eager to learn about the nature of our relationship.
Some were curious about my connection to Theor, but for now, they seemed more enthralled by the fact that I had managed to secure the Duke’s personal designer for a mere tea party.
It made sense; the Mackenzie family’s personal designer was rumored to be the most famous in the Empire, and there was no shortage of noblewomen dying to wear her dresses.
Even the Empress and the Princesses borrowed her for official events, which spoke volumes about her incredible skill.
The reason she chose to be the personal dressmaker for the Duke of Mackenzie, despite her fame, was simply because he had been her first love.
As one could tell from Periose’s stunning beauty, the Duke had been incredibly popular since he was young, and it was said that many women were so smitten with his looks that they would have given him anything he asked for.
Madame Endiewon must have been one of them, which was likely why she remained unmarried to this day.
Since Periose’s mother had passed away early and the position of Duchess remained vacant, Madame Endiewon’s efforts to curry favor with the young lady were bound to continue.
Her intentions might be self-serving, but knowing she was immensely talented and adored Periose—who looked exactly like the Duke—as much as I did, I knew her patronage would continue to serve Periose well.
I put on the most sincere and harmless expression I could muster for the ladies surrounding me and said:
“Actually, I haven’t mentioned this before, but Periose is truly wonderful to me. It’s not just because it’s me; it’s simply her personality. Once she considers someone ‘her person,’ she pours unconditional love onto them without a second thought.”
“Really? The Lady does?”
“I always found her intimidating because of her stern expression.”
At my words, they all seemed to start thinking that Periose was, in fact, a kind and approachable person.
I added a bit more weight to it with a small, fabricated, heartwarming anecdote. It was barely a lie, more like adding seasoning to the truth.
“You all saw the papers today, right? The article about me meeting the Crown Prince and Archduke Theor?”
“We were so curious about that!”
“Did the Lady arrange that for you?”
“Had you been harboring feelings for the Archduke, Lady Brensia?”
As expected, once Theor’s name came up, the look in the ladies’ eyes changed instantly.
Under their curious gazes, I boasted about how, thanks to Periose, I was able to give Theor my handkerchief and even gain the time to talk to him at a café afterward.
I turned everything I had done into something Periose had facilitated, and I even framed the meeting she had asked me to arrange just so she could see Lloyd as if it were a seat she had specially prepared for me.
My listeners marveled, saying they never expected the Lady to be so kind and thoughtful toward a commoner-turned-parvenu Viscount’s daughter, and that she truly was the type to give unstintingly to her own people.
I pointed my index finger at the lady who had said it first and nodded vigorously.
“Exactly! That’s it! She may seem foul-tempered and fierce to others, but to those she considers ‘her people,’ she is endlessly gentle and kind!”
“Who is gentle and kind?”
Just then, Periose, who had finished talking to the Marquis’s daughter, strode over to rescue me from the circle of young ladies. Her expression turned flabbergasted at my unexpected comment.
The moment they saw Periose, the ladies scattered like an outgoing tide.
“Sister!”
“So you’ve allowed Lady Brensia to use informal titles? My Lady.”
The Marquis’s daughter asked, looking at Periose regarding the way I addressed her.
Periose, afraid I might be put in an awkward position, answered on my behalf:
“I told her to call me that. I cherish Ellie enough that I’d be happy if she were my own younger sister.”
“……Ah.”
At Periose’s words, the Marquis’s daughter wore a somewhat bitter expression, but she didn’t add anything else.
Since the Marquis’s daughter was just as nasty as Periose, if I had said anything myself, she would have definitely picked a fight over it.
My sister really is too kind.
I looked at Periose, who had stepped in for me, with a gaze full of admiration.
“So, what were you all talking about, keeping one girl trapped and surrounded like this?”
Periose asked, scanning the ladies with a cool gaze.
I quickly explained that I was telling them about the newspaper article to ensure she wouldn’t misunderstand.
At the mention of the newspaper article, Periose’s face stiffened slightly, but I grabbed her arm to let her know she had nothing to worry about.
“I was bragging about how you arranged for me to meet Archduke Theor.”
Periose’s eyes widened slightly, but as the most perceptive person in the world, she smoothed out her expression immediately and chimed in with, “Ah, that?”
I cheered internally at her quick-witted response.
To be so perfectly in sync—this had to be destiny.
It was my destiny to become Periose’s right hand and pave a flower-strewn path for her future.
If I tried my best and Periose didn’t play along, I would just end up looking like a liar and her bad reputation would remain unchanged.
Feeling more convinced than ever that the path I had chosen was the right one, I pulled Periose’s arm, which I was holding, a little closer.
Just then.
“Ellie.”
A calm voice from behind made me turn around instinctively.
“Caroline.”
Caroline had arrived, apparently late to the tea party for some reason. She looked down at my arm, which was clinging to Periose’s, and her face hardened slightly.
“You’re late, Lady Caroline.”
As one of the ladies said this to Caroline, her follower immediately retorted on her behalf:
“The protagonist always appears last. Our Lady Caroline had to visit the Crown Prince’s palace from this morning at the Prince’s request.”
Ah, that was supposed to be my line.
I glanced at the lady acting as Caroline’s shield in my place in the original story, then looked back at Caroline.
She was always like this—as if she didn’t have a mouth of her own to use. She made others say everything that might be disadvantageous to her.
To call this ‘female lead luck’ would be an understatement; there were just too many things about it that rubbed me the wrong way.
If the female lead were truly a kind and righteous character, wouldn’t she step in herself or stop the ladies who were causing trouble?
But Caroline didn’t stop her spokesperson from proudly bragging about her morning appointment with Lloyd.
She just stared blankly, wearing a look of trouble.
No wonder this body, before I possessed it, had taken slaps on her behalf.
Recalling the first day I possessed this body, I felt a strange sense of irritation.
“I saw the paper. You’ve had your eyes on the Archduke, haven’t you?”
Caroline approached me and said with her signature sweet smile.
“Oh, well. I had given him my handkerchief beforehand.”
I felt an inexplicable urge to tell Caroline that I had given the handkerchief to Theor, and when I did, Caroline’s face stiffened subtly before returning to her usual kind expression.
“I see. I didn’t know that, so when you took the Crown Prince—whom I had an appointment with—away that day, I actually thought you had feelings for His Highness.”
At Caroline’s words, the gazes of all the young ladies shifted toward me in unison.
In other words, she was talking about what happened at the café that day.
And she was doing it by craftily framing me, implying I had selfishly dragged Lloyd away while he was talking to Caroline.
“Still, I’m relieved. I’ve been so bothered by that day. I mean, you and I are friends, aren’t we? And between friends, over a single man……”
“Will you stop with the nonsense, Young Lady?”
Just then, Periose said this while looking at Caroline with a terrifyingly cold gaze. Simultaneously, the gazes of the young ladies shifted toward Periose in unison.