Chapter 69

Chapter 69

The next moment…

“Lady Aberyt!”

“Are you okay?!”

In the wake of pushing the plate, white whipped cream was smeared on Liliana’s sleeve.

Astonished students took out handkerchiefs, cleaned up the broken plates. However, the person who was surprised the most was Anita herself.

“Ah, that. That’s—”

“….”

Anita, who was trying to make excuses, bit her lips tightly. She didn’t mean to do it that badly. It was just that, for a moment, anger had struck her…

‘Well, I’m sure she’d be angry.’

It was the perfect situation to nitpick.

If Liliana had made such a mistake to her by changing their position, Anita herself would have gone wild.

With that thought, Anita glanced at Liliana in a nervous mood.

Then…

“It’s okay.”

…It was okay?

Anita’s face turned blank for a moment. Instead of getting angry, Liliana smiled softly as if trying to appease her.

“…Lady Aberyt.”

“I’ll go to the bathroom for a moment.”

Wiping her sleeves with the handkerchief, Liliana left the place. It was to wipe off the whipped cream.

At the same time, the students glanced at Anita sneakily.

“This time, Lady Tornian did too much.”

“What if Lady Aberyt is really angry…?”

“Everyone, be quiet!”

Anita screamed.

It was because she couldn’t overcome the embarrassment.

Meanwhile, even though the students were quiet, they couldn’t help but hide their dissatisfied eyes.

‘No, do you think we can be your maids?’

‘No matter how noble you are and we are commoners…!’

‘We’re the same students in the academy, is it okay to say something like that to keep our mouth shut?’

In an instant, the atmosphere became cold.

After all, they weren’t just commoners.

The academy accepts incoming students strictly based on ability. Academy graduates were one of the top talents in the Empire, and they are sometimes recruited into important national positions. This meant that students who entered the academy were treated like nobility, regardless of their status.

Anita’s present attitude was clearly inappropriate.

Just at that moment, Zenith gently got her body up.

“Where are you going, Baron Rondini?”

“Ah, I’m going to go to the bathroom for a while.”

Zenith, who left a smooth smile, headed to the bathroom with a quick step.

To fulfill her real purpose of attending today’s tea ceremony, she had to meet Liliana alone.

“…What to do.”

She wet her handkerchief with water and tried to wipe the cream off her sleeve.

Though the more the water came in contact with the cream, the more the cream spread, and she didn’t seem to be able to wipe it off properly.

‘It’s a dress that my mother chose for me…’

Of course, mother would tell her not to care if the dress got dirty, but she still cherished it. Because of that, she wanted to fix it.

Just when Liliana dangled her shoulders.

“Liliana.”

“….”

In an instant, Liliana’s expression turned cold.

At that moment, the owner of that voice was someone she never wanted to meet alone.

“Lady Londini.”

Zenith shrugged her shoulders and smiled.

“You can call me Sister Zenith?”

“No, it’s not like we’re going to call each other that friendly, are we?”

At that firm answer, Zenith’s face hardened and she spoke.

“…You’re really funny. You used to beg at me without even saying a word?”

“Well. Even if it was like that in the past, there is no reason to continue living like that in the future.”

Zenith, who had been staring at Liliana for a while, sighed deeply and shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, okay. I didn’t come here to wrestle with you like this.”

Having said that, she took a step closer to Liliana.

“I wanted to talk to the two of us alone, but now I have a chance.”

“I have nothing to share with Lady Londini.”

“What did you say?”

Zenith flashed her eyes and glared at her. At that, Liliana reflexively stiffened her shoulders.

‘Are you attacking me now?!’

She knew, of course, that she did not have to obey Zenith’s orders now. However, her experience of being bullied by Zenith for a long time inevitably made Liliana shrink.

Meanwhile, Zenith faced the frozen Liliana, with a contented face.

‘Yes, that’s it.’

Liliana suited the best that way—being scared and afraid, and trembling like a mouse in front of a wild beast.

Zenith continued speaking in a relaxed voice.

“Honestly, I was really surprised when the Duchess of Valois took you.”

“….”

“Even though it’s an engagement in the womb, who will keep the promise to a girl like you who has a ruined family?”

Saying so, she shrugged her shoulders as if to show off. Then, Zenith scanned Liliana up and down as though looking at the delicious prey.

“Though, well, you really became the fiancee of the Small Duke of Valois…”

There was a sinister look in Zenith’s eyes.

“Isn’t it time to repay the grace I’ve given you by feeding you?”

“…Grace?”

“Yes. Do you know that our family was retaliated against by the Dukes of Valois because of you?”

At the first time hearing that, Liliana’s eyes widened.

Zenith crossed her arms and spoke.

“There is a tax investigation from the Imperial Family.”

“Ta, tax audit?”

“Yes! Really, the taxes were exorbitant. Do you know how hard it was for us?”

Even though Liliana didn’t know much about tax audits, she knew at least that Baron Londini would have been very difficult. Even so, the thing that Baron Rondini feared the most was the tax audit in the orphanage.

“How unreasonable it is to move even the imperial tax officers because of you alone…”

“Wait.”

But then, Liliana asked, narrowing her brow.

“Why did they retaliate?”

“What? It’s because of you…”

“Please tell me the clear reason, not the vague reason that it is because of me.”

Zenith bit her teeth tightly.

‘Really, she’s a needlessly sharp girl…!’

It was precisely because she was swindling the living expenses that were supposed to go back to Liliana, though she can’t tell her straight away.

“That, that. The Duchess said.”

“What did she say?”

“She said she didn’t like the fact that you were raised in our humble family, so…”

“…Mother said that?” Liliana asked questioningly.

Seeing her expression, Zenith raised her voice.

“Yes, I told you?! So, she said she would teach my family our place and did a tax audit…!”

“Lies.”

Liliana shook her head resolutely and opened her mouth.

“My mother is not like that.”

“How are you sure about that?”

Asking back, Zenith lifted the tip of her chin.

“The Duchess of Valois’ personality is very famous in the world, isn’t it?”

“Famous in the world, what is that…”

“Taking anger out on our family, isn’t it very easy for her?”

“Lady, please don’t talk recklessly about my mother.”

Then, Liliana looked at Zenith with fierce eyes and continued, “My mother is the kindest person in the world.”

“….”

Hearing that firm voice, Zenith felt speechless for a moment.

As she takes Liliana from the orphanage, the Duchess of Valois, who looked back at the Londini mother and daughter, came to mind again. Even thinking about it back then, it didn’t seem right for the Duchess to be called ‘the kindest person in the world’?

“…Anyway! Because of you, we suffered. Shouldn’t you pay us back?”

“It is not clear if the damage is caused by me, so why should I compensate you?”

“Don’t nitpick me! It’s really annoying!”

Zenith raised her voice.

Meanwhile, Liliana stared at her with a vigilant face.

“Well, I don’t expect anything huge.”

Zenith pushed up the tip of her lips and said, “The family is very difficult because of the tax investigation we received because of you, so I want you to help with that.”

“How could I do that…”

“You idiot, don’t you know that the Duchy of Valois is the richest in the Empire?”

In a voice that said Zenith would die of frustration, she threatened Liliana.

“My family runs an orphanage!”

“So?”

“Donate, donate!”

Zenith proudly stretched out her chest and added a cold word, “Besides, there’s a price for raising you so far, right? That’s pretty cheap.”

Then, she tilted her head meanly and turned to Liliana.

“Besides, you will get in trouble if you don’t listen to my offer?”

“…What else do you mean by that?”

“Isn’t that right? After all, you are the child who will become Valois’ next mistress.”

Zenith took a step towards Liliana, and she pressed her lips to Liliana’s ear.

“You don’t even know the grace who raised you so far, and it seems ungrateful enough to have us undergo a tax audit.”

“…Lady.”

“And, if rumors spread that you even refused to donate…”

Zenith lowered her voice and whispered.

“Isn’t the reputation of the Duchy of Valois going to be very bad?”

“….”

Liliana bit her lips tightly.

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