Fortunately, Pere did not notice my ability.
After leaving the child with her aunt and heading up to the second floor, I found Pere savoring a latte with elegant posture.
I sat across from her and apologized.
“So, what is the reason you called me here?”
Pere stared at me, her expression demanding that I get to the point.
I hesitated for a moment before looking her in the eyes and saying, “Please, make me your right-hand woman!”
At my request to be her subordinate, Pere simply answered with a scoff.
Just then, our coffee and bread arrived, so I set the matter aside for the moment and observed her expression while enjoying the meal.
Perhaps it was because I had drunk the latte while feeling so tense, but I suddenly needed to use the restroom.
Since the cafe’s restroom was only on the first floor, I worried about leaving Pere alone, but I couldn’t hold it any longer.
“Um, excuse me for a moment. I need to use the restroom.”
I had no choice but to stand up abruptly and hurry down to the first floor.
After quickly finishing, I stepped out and was turning the corner to head back to Pere when I heard the whispering of some young ladies who had been forced to leave without a seat because I had rented out the entire second floor.
My feet stopped instinctively.
“Isn’t it just so rude? How can she rent out this whole shop?”
“She’s just an upstart with nothing but money. Since she’s ignorant, she can’t show off her wealth in any other way.”
“Even so, this is too much. Is she really that thoughtless?”
They were all insulting me for renting out the second floor.
I was prepared to be criticized, so I was about to walk past them, but my steps froze when the young ladies started badmouthing my sister.
“I heard this was all orchestrated by Lady Periose?”
“That’s what they say. She couldn’t rent the place herself due to her reputation, so she used an upstart lady.”
“Does Lady Periose even care about her reputation? It’s all just to avoid falling out of favor with His Highness the Crown Prince.”
“No, isn’t that too much? At this rate, the upstart lady will take all the heat, while she enjoys herself and slips away…”
I couldn’t stand the backhanded comments anymore, so I quickly stepped out from the corner and approached the group of young ladies sitting near the wall.
They paused upon seeing me, their expressions shifting to suggest, “So what if you heard us?”
“If it isn’t too much trouble, may I have a word?”
At my words, the young ladies exchanged glances, looking flustered.
I smiled at them and said, “It is your freedom to gossip, but gossip only looks pathetic when it isn’t based on clear facts.”
Their faces distorted at my words.
“What, pathetic…!”
“Hey, Young Lady! Did you just say that? Pathetic? How are we…!”
“I am the one who rented out the second floor to invite Lady Periose. She simply accepted my invitation. Therefore, she has no reason to be insulted by you. And one more thing: to insult Lady Periose, the eldest daughter of the Duke of Mekkenedeji, in a public place like this—if this were to reach the ears of the Duke of Mekkenedeji, do you truly believe those heads of yours would remain attached?”
As I interrupted the agitated lady and spoke point by point in a sharp tone, the mouths of the ladies who had been badmouthing us snapped shut at once.
I smiled at them as politely as I could and said, “Please be careful from now on. Words are light and tend to inflate; no one knows what great misfortune a thoughtless remark might bring.”
After finishing my sentence, I turned around, chin held high with as much arrogance as I could muster.
By the time I climbed back to the second floor, the mouths of all those ladies downstairs were sealed tight, as if they had swallowed honey.
Thinking that the Duke of Mekkenedeji must truly be feared, I laughed and headed upstairs, only to come face-to-face with Pere, who was standing in the middle of the stairs with her arms crossed, looking down at me.
“O-onni…!”
Pere looked at me and the stairs I had just climbed with her usual expressionless face.
“Um, Onni…”
Before I could say anything, she turned on her heel and headed downstairs.
Knowing her personality too well from the original story, I felt uneasy that the ladies might suffer, so I followed her.
Once downstairs, Pere slowly scanned the area, searching for the group I had spoken to.
When the ladies caught Pere’s eye, they shivered in guilt, and she immediately realized they were the ones who had been badmouthing her.
“You were having a rather interesting conversation.”
A chilling, ice-cold voice echoed throughout the first floor.
She possessed such charisma that the bustling room fell silent at her single word, as if cold water had been thrown over it.
As if she didn’t care about their feelings in the slightest, Pere continued toward them with a haughty expression and an icy voice.
“Lady Periose is desperately trying not to fall out of favor with His Highness the Crown Prince… was that it?”
As she repeated exactly what they had said, the ladies turned pale, their faces stiffening in terror.
Pere tilted her head, her eyes slightly narrowed.
She was smiling thinly, but in the gaze looking down at them, one could feel the aura of a predator driving prey into a corner.
Standing next to her, I felt my heart grow cold and my back straighten—I could only imagine how the ladies who had insulted her felt.
“Having a loose mouth is, well, a sign of an empty head, so I suppose I can’t say much about that.”
“……!”
“But if you cannot distinguish between who you should and shouldn’t gossip about, you have no business appearing in high society. The price for moving that tongue of yours incorrectly isn’t just your own standing, but it could drag your entire family down with you.”
‘Wow, she’s threatening them so effectively…’
She was elegantly and chillingly implying that if they crossed her, it wouldn’t just mean they were barred from high society, but that their families would face a crisis.
I felt a fresh sense of admiration for Pere’s charisma as she said everything she wanted with an expressionless face.
“W-we are sorry!”
“We were wrong, My Lady!”
“We’re sorry, it was a slip of the tongue!”
At Pere’s elegant threats, the young ladies trembled and apologized profusely.
One lady even burst into tears, making Pere look even more like a villainess.
“Why are you crying? I haven’t even cut off anyone’s head from your families yet. Go on, enjoy yourselves. I hope you realize how fragile this peaceful day is while you still can, ladies.”
Pere showed them a smile, her lips and eyes crinkling slightly.
It was a smile so chilling it made one’s very bones ache, and I found myself shivering uncontrollably.