Chapter 44

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‘I have to meet Ines right now!’

It was important to convince Ines to quickly improve this shameful situation.

As Charlotte strode towards the front door, a guard guarding the townhouse stopped her.

“Who are you?”

“Let Baroness Wickham know that Charlotte Jason has visited.”

Charlotte raised her chin and gave the command to the guard arrogantly.

“Tell her I’m here to see the Countess of Brierton.”

“Did you come with an appointment?”

The guard asked Charlotte in a questionable voice.

But she said Charlotte was still a brazen face.

“No?”

“….”

The guard was at a loss for words.

Then Charlotte got very nervous and began to complain.

“What are you doing without going to report right away?!”

“No, but…… .”

“Well, do whatever you want.”

Charlotte crossed her arms and glared at the guard.

“I will wait here until you tell Baroness Wickham.”

“…”

The guard could not hide his troubled face.

After all, Charlotte was a noble.

A noble with a similar status to Baroness Wickham.

It was too burdensome to treat Charlotte based on his own judgment, so eventually, the guard went to report the situation.

So the answer came back..… .

“You’re allowed to come in.”

“Yes, it should!”

In response to the unexpected reply, Charlotte burst into laughter. 

‘No matter how proud Ines is, she can’t live without me!’

Perhaps by now Ines was attending tea time.

There’s no way that timid girl could get along well with the other ladies.

So Ines must have finally realized the importance of Charlotte.

“Guide me.”

Charlotte raised her chin and gave orders to the guard. In this way, she was guided into the elegant parlor.

The eyes of the ladies turned to Charlotte in an instant. Facing those unfriendly gazes, Charlotte hesitated for a moment without realizing it.

“Ines!”

As soon as she found Ines sitting among the ladies, Charlotte became excited and walked towards Ines.

She added in a cheerful voice.

“Thank you so much for finding me like this, I… !” 

“You have to be straight. I never looked for you, Lady Jason.” 

But Ines coldly drew the line.

“What?”

At that cold reaction, Charlotte blinked blankly.

Ines looked up at Charlotte with a cold gaze.

“The current situation is that Lady Jason broke into tea time at will. Isn’t that right?”

Speechless, Charlotte bit her lips.

Towards Charlotte, Ines curved her eyes like a half moon.

She had a smile as cold as ice.

“You chased me from the Brierton townhouse?”

“Yes, but … !”

“I was embarrassed to see you following me in a hurry, but I hope you don’t pretend to be friendly.”

“Ines!”

“Also, if your opponent is a noble with a title, it is polite to call him by that title.”

Ines’ smirk grew a little darker.

“You shouldn’t call someone else’s name recklessly.”

“What…… !” 

Enraged, Charlotte tried to protest, but she was interrupted by Baroness Wickham, who was just watching the situation.

“Baron Jason’s Young Lady, stop and sit down.”

“Ha, Baroness Wickham!”

“You wanted to attend this tea time, that’s why you stood in front of the house, right?”

Baroness Wickham glanced at Charlotte with her wretched gaze. 

“Then just drink your tea and go. Don’t stir up trouble for nothing.” 

So the Baroness openly gave her a scolding, but Charlotte did not open her mouth. It was because Baroness Wickham, as well as the other ladies, showed signs of displeasure.

Charlotte had no choice but to sit down awkwardly in the end. Then Baroness Wickham smiled broadly and spoke to Ines.

“By the way, Countess, now that you have received your title back, will you be more busy in the future?” 

“I think so. There are limits to what a person can do.”

“Thank you so much for attending our tea time even though you are so busy.” 

The Baroness secretly showed off her acquaintance with Ines.

Then the other ladies eagerly joined in.

“You don’t know how nice it is to see you like this.”

“Right. I hope to see you more often in the future.”

“I hope so, too.”

Ines smiled softly at the ladies.

Charlotte, meanwhile, felt a subtle sense of deprivation as she faced the amicable atmosphere.

Not to mention, the way the ladies treated Ines and Charlotte was completely different. …

‘It’s as if I became an invisible person.’

Charlotte clenched her fists.

No one wanted to talk to her.

They were all busy trying to talk to Ines.

‘That seat was originally mine!’

The center of conversation, a position that receives everyone’s attention.

But now it was Ines who took that position.

Charlotte felt her stomach simmer. Just then, Ines gently switched the topic.

“Ah, Viscountess Fildette. I heard that your husband is in the business of importing ceramics recently?”

“Oh, did the Countess know?”

The lady with her eyes wide open quickly nodded.

“Yes, that’s why he is so busy these days.” 

“It will definitely work out. So, if you give Brierton a chance to invest a little bit, I’d be happy…”

“Oh my God, if the Countess invests in us, we are only grateful!”

At that suggestion, Viscountess Fildette’s face turned brightly.

Ines had a friendly conversation with the other ladies like that.

She didn’t even give a glance to Charlotte. 

An hour passed like that.

And in the meantime, Charlotte couldn’t even say a single word.

It was because Ines was naturally taking the lead in the conversation. Charlotte tried to force herself into the conversation, but she couldn’t. Because the content of the conversation between Ines and the ladies was very unfamiliar to Charlotte.

For example.

“The wheat crop this year has been pretty good, hasn’t it? So His Majesty had established a policy of stockpiling wheat for famine in advance… ”

It was related to national projects; or

“Did you hear that the Duke of Sussex recently participated in the nobility meeting?”

Anecdotes from the financial world,

“This time, my brother opened a restaurant, and he says that the profits are very good.”

Or, business operations that could only be done with enormous financial power. They were all topics that only the upper class could talk about naturally. Charlotte’s usual interest in fancy dresses and jewelry, parties, meetings with nice gentlemen, and weddings were not even mentioned at all.

‘What the hell am I?!’

Eventually Charlotte’s patience with which she was barely holding back was shattered.

‘It wasn’t like this usually, I’ve never been so alienated!’

In fact, the reason Charlotte hasn’t been alienated was all thanks to Ines. It was because Ines gave her such consideration from the beginning so that Charlotte could participate in the conversation as well. But now that Ines has turned away from Charlotte. The situation has changed completely.

“So, this time…”

“Oh my, did that happen?”

All the ladies who attended the tea time acted as if they had forgotten the very existence of Charlotte.

Everyone seemed happy except Charlotte.

And for Charlotte, to hear the laughter and chatter of the ladies bursting out cheerfully was unbearably unpleasant.

“What are you doing now?!”

Impatient, Charlotte raised her voice.

“….”

“…..”

The atmosphere became silent as if cold water had poured over.

The ladies were surprised and looked back at Charlotte with wide eyes.

But among them, there was only one person with an indifferent face. It was Ines. 

“What disrespect is this, Baron Jason’s Young Lady?”

That calm voice rather touched Charlotte’s nerves. The expression made her feel horrible. She wanted to mess up that calm face right away.

Charlotte jumped up from her seat and pointed at Ines.

“What rudeness! What you are doing is rude!”

Then, unable to overcome her anger, she gasped as she glared at Ines.

“Don’t you treat people like they are invisible!”

“What do you mean invisible people?”

“Now don’t even think about denying it! Everyone is ignoring me, don’t you think I don’t know?!”

Charlotte exclaimed loudly. 

“You ordered all this!”

Ines looked at Charlotte with a look of triumph.