13.
“I agree.”
“If anything, she’s been much better than the other guests.”
Thanks to the consensus among her colleagues, Mother Catherine felt at ease calling for Harriet.
Harriet, who had been on her way to the soap workshop after breakfast, found herself sitting before Mother Catherine and Sister Agnes without even knowing the reason.
“Sister. I would like to thank you for your diligent work at the soap workshop, despite how strenuous it must have been.”
“It was nothing.”
Harriet’s modesty lacked that “condescending air” found in other young ladies. Yet, she did not seem servile, either.
Every time Mother Catherine saw this side of Harriet, she felt conflicted. She would repeat to herself not to be deceived by hypocrisy and intentionally acted colder.
Now that she had confirmed Harriet appeared upright in others’ eyes as well, she felt a pang of guilt, imagining how much she must have hurt her with her own coldness.
*‘I judged a person without experiencing it for myself… I still have a long way to go.’*
Regretting her hasty prejudice, Mother Catherine decided to set things right.
“We believe you have sufficiently reflected on your actions, Sister. Therefore, you do not have to assist with the soap production starting today.”
“Pardon? Am I being sent to a different workshop?”
“No. I mean that you do not have to work at all.”
At those words, Harriet’s eyes flickered.
“Then… what should I do?”
“You may use your time as freely as the others.”
For Harriet, that was not welcome news. She still had to spend another nine months here, and there was nothing to do to kill time besides reading.
*‘Reading books is something I can do plenty of after my daily chores are done!’*
If her entire routine consisted only of eating three meals a day and reading, the remaining time would undoubtedly crawl by.
“Mother! If it wouldn’t be a burden, I would like to continue assisting Sister Sophia. I don’t mind running errands!”
“What?”
This time, both Mother Catherine and Sister Agnes wore puzzled expressions.
“You… you want to continue working at the soap workshop?”
“It doesn’t have to be the soap workshop. I’m a bit scared of the apiary, but the herb garden or the olive grove would be fine…!”
It took Mother Catherine and Sister Agnes a moment to process what Harriet had said.
A noble lady was begging to do manual labor. Why on earth? Was she being sarcastic?
“Are you perhaps angry that we made you assist in the workshops when you first arrived?”
“No? Oh, I think you misunderstood me… I said I wanted to continue working, Mother…”
Looking at the way she was nervously gauging their reactions, it seemed she was truly sincere.
Shaking off her bewilderment, Mother Catherine asked earnestly again.
“May I ask why?”
“That is…”
Harriet touched her earlobes with a somewhat shy expression before speaking.
“I find making things fun, and for the first time, I felt like I was doing something of value, instead of just draining the wealth of my uncle’s house.”
At those words, Mother Catherine’s face stiffened. Fearing she had made the convent’s work sound trivial, Harriet hurried to add.
“The monastery’s products are truly excellent. I suffered from acne and hives for seven or eight years, but after using the monastery’s soap and toner for just three months, it’s almost all cleared up.”
She also used their herbal oils and ointments often. Even the Listerwell family physician had said, “This is a condition you will have for the rest of your life,” yet the hives had disappeared faster than the acne.
No one looking at Harriet’s face now would ever imagine it had been plagued by red, bumpy acne or flaky hives.
Harriet felt she owed a great debt to the monastery for that alone.
“Honestly, when I first came to the monastery, I felt very aggrieved and didn’t know how I would get by, so I cried. But looking back now, I feel as though Yawar might have taken my hand to help me cure my illness.”
Mother Catherine’s eyes lowered pensively.
Harriet wasn’t just spouting empty words to get out of the situation. She could tell that much immediately.
Above all, those sparkling eyes were showing her sincerity.
For the first time since the convent had become a place of exile for young noblewomen, Mother Catherine felt a sense of fulfillment, and simultaneously, pity for Harriet.
*‘Felt like I was doing something of value for the first time, she said…’*
She had also said she was a being who only drained her uncle’s house of money.
Would someone who truly considered herself as such really go around causing loud scandals?
Could a senseless, selfish person demean herself like that?
Mother Catherine opened her mouth to resolve the doubt that had been creeping up on her for two months.
“Sister. This may be an intrusive question, but I must ask. We believe that you have been forgiven within the embrace of Yawar, so please speak honestly without fear or shame.”
“Yes…”
Perhaps because she was nervous, Harriet’s shoulders tensed. Mother Catherine noted even that detail.
“I heard that you caused numerous scandals, Sister. I am curious as to why.”
A look of bewilderment washed over Harriet’s face.
And then, a wall that seemed almost stubborn began to rise. It felt as though that wall was built from the accumulation of the distrust that no one would believe her, and the sorrow of never being understood.
She took a deep breath before she finally spoke.
“Do you really want to know?”
“Yes. Because I want to understand you truly.”
“Then there is a condition. Even if you don’t believe my story, I won’t resent you. Everyone else did. But instead, please listen until the end.”
“I will listen closely.”
Empowered by Mother Catherine’s sincere attitude, Harriet began to unravel the events that made her stomach churn just to recall.
“To tell my story, I have no choice but to start with my cousin, Bella. She’s famous in high society for her beauty and has been courted by men since she was young… she’s quite different from me in many ways.”
Mother Catherine recalled what Sister Agnes had said before Harriet arrived: that she had impersonated her cousin to seduce men.
“Bella is truly beautiful, but she isn’t the angel the rumors claim she is. This isn’t me being jealous and slandering her. I’m speaking as a victim.”
There was a time when Harriet had been proud that Bella was her cousin.
When the angelically beautiful Bella would link arms with her and act coquettish, Harriet, despite being the same age, felt like she was a cute younger sister, so she would gladly grant her unreasonable requests.
How proud she had been whenever people said, “You two look like such good sisters…”
However, once Harriet’s parents lost their lives in an accident and her uncle John became the Viscount Listerwell, their relationship turned completely upside down.
“Bella loved men. Or perhaps, she just loved being the center of their affection. That’s not something I can’t understand. And it’s not my business.”
But when Bella turned eighteen, John felt the need to manage his daughter’s reputation.
It seemed he had judged that he could marry his daughter off into a very prestigious family.
“One day, my uncle called me in. He said some man was going around blathering that he was Bella’s lover, and that it was putting Bella in a very difficult position, so he asked me to help out.”
The man’s name was Julian Faith.
He was a man who remained popular even now as a handsome gentleman with refined features.
The two had exchanged letters for quite a while, and Harriet had even acted as a courier.
“It seems Bella replied to his letters a few times because she found his pursuit cute. And then, he started acting like he was her fiancé.”
“So, how did you want me to help?”
“Tell everyone that you were the one who wrote those replies. Say that you had feelings for him, and out of jealousy that he was writing to Bella, you intercepted the letters.”
“Pardon?”
For a hastily made-up excuse, it was quite detailed.
Naturally, she said she wouldn’t. Harriet didn’t know the man well, had never liked him, and had even less reason to lie and claim she had committed such a disgraceful act.
“Then he told me that this was how I was repaying them for the grace of raising me, and that he was very disappointed.”
That was when Harriet realized her fate was held in the palm of her uncle’s hand.
“My uncle is my guardian, the one who will preside over my marriage. The dowry and gifts I take when I marry depend entirely on my uncle’s benevolence.”
Harriet looked up at Mother Catherine with miserable eyes.
“How could I have refused my uncle’s demand any further than that?”
Mother Catherine wore a grave expression, and Sister Agnes was covering her mouth with her hands in shock.
But the story didn’t end there.
“The first time was the hardest, but after that, it became bolder. Bella even started pinning the scandals she had with men she met in person on me.”
The masquerade ball was the problem.
A night-time social gathering where one could get away with shameful acts under the excuse of being hidden behind a mask.
For Bella, there was no playground more exciting than that.