CH 32

At Cooper’s words, Ophelia nonchalantly handed the invitation to him.

After scrutinizing the invitation, he said,

“I don’t think there’s a strange device.”

“I don’t think she will do something to this invitation just because I broke a fan…”

Iris and Cooper answered firmly at the same time before Ophelia even finished her words.

“No.”

“No.”

“…No?”

“If it’s Lady Sheffield, she’s not a person who can only say uncomfortable things in front of your face.”

Iris nodded, when Cooper added,

“Her ability to do things behind the scenes is tremendous. If it’s that lady, she would be in the same position even if she wasn’t part of her family. Nobody wants to touch a beehive.”

“Uh. Okay, I see.”

Ophelia flinched as Cooper shoved the invitation towards her.

“There’s no device here.”

When Cooper shook the invitation with a kind smile, Ophelia grabbed it slightly with her thumb and index finger and quickly dropped it off onto the desk.

‘What the hell did I do to get such a huge amount of attention?’

‘It’s been so long that it’s vague, but I don’t think I’ve done anything except to ruin the fan.’

Ah… Was the fan breaking itself a problem?

“Should I buy a fan?”

“What?”

“A fan, the same fan that I smashed…”

“That’s not the problem. I think you really don’t remember, so I’ll tell you briefly about what happened last time.”

At the mention of the past and seeing Iris shaking her head, Ophelia felt awkward.

“I was just saying.”

“She was right.”

“It was cool.”

Both Iris and Cooper placed their hands on Ophelia’s rounded shoulders and nodded to her.

‘What on earth was my past self thinking? Daring to poke the giant beehive of the social world?’

Cursing her past self, Ophelia looked down at the invitation and raised her head.

Her eyes met Cooper’s, and he shook his head.

“If you’re not planning on accepting the invitation, it’s better to put it aside.”

Iris added onto his words.

“If you don’t respond, she’ll keep coming back until you do. She’s an annoying and persistent woman, but the Marquisate of Sheffield can be your greatest ally, so you can’t ignore her.”

“And she’s also a clever young lady who keeps the line well until just before it’s bad.”

To Iris’ words, Cooper supplemented a slur of compliments towards Catherine.

“By ‘bad’, you mean…”

“Harassing the aides or interfering with their work to such an extent that even the power of the Marquisate of Sheffield couldn’t help her.”

“I think she’s already bothering and disturbing us enough.”

“It’s not serious enough to wipe out the Marquisate of Sheffield.”

Iris, seemingly wanting to deny it at first glance, only chewed her lips. Ophelia then pondered the relationship between Catherine and Iris, who were like a snake and a mongoose. Contrary to Catherine’s bold and reckless appearance, it was unmistakable that she was clever and good at measuring lines.

“Then I should go.”

“I’ll go with you…”

“You have to work.”

Iris’ words were snipped off by Cooper.

Ophelia also shook her head, like a wooden doll on the verge of breaking.

“Cooper is right. Work… You have to work. The festival is right around the corner.”

Strictly speaking, there was still about a month left, but the paperwork for the festival to be held safely was pouring in to the point where there was literally no room to breathe, like it was in front of their noses.

After exchanging glances, the three comrades returned to their respective seats, sharing a long sigh of camaraderie.

Ophelia fiddled with the invitation, the intention of which was still unknown, and soon stuck her nose into the papers.

.

Two days after that, Ophelia was sitting in what could be the most glamorous drawing room in the world.

To be precise, it was the best drawing room she had ever visited.

She might be working in the Imperial Palace, but she was stuck in the aide’s office in the palace of the crown prince… only smelling the faint scent of ink and dry paper, having absolutely no reason to go to the drawing room of the Imperial Palace.

“Ahh…”

Ophelia let out a weak groan as she stroked her back.

‘My back hurt a little from the jewels in the sofa, but where would I go to experience something like this?’

It was not a bad feeling if you consider it an experience to have your back sore by jewels.

Rather, just getting off the hellish paper mountain range for a while would make everything look beautiful.

Ophelia’s dry smile spread and crumbled as she stared into the distance with cloudy eyes.

She was about to take a sip of tea, enduring the gentle pain of soreness, when she heard a knock.

—Tok tok.

Putting the teacup down, Ophelia gave permission without thinking much.

“Come in.”

Naturally, she expected a servant to come in, but it was none other than Catherine who appeared behind the silently open door.

“You’re here!”

An extremely dazzling outfit and a scent that numbed the nose.

If Ophelia had been holding the teacup, she would have reflexively thrown it.

She rose from her seat, slightly frowning at the strong dazzle.

Considering the lady’s past behavior, Ophelia thought she would just kick the door open and enter, not knock.

There was one more difference from what was expected.

Catherine welcomed Ophelia so warmly, like she was welcoming the best friend she had met after 10 years.

When the lady had abruptly pushed into the aide’s office the other day, she didn’t hide her liking for Ophelia, but it was a new burden.

Smiling broadly, Catherine waved her hand.

“You don’t have to get up. I’m sorry I’m a little late. I was so excited to meet you that I was a little delayed because I didn’t like how I looked.”

“Ah yes.”

“Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t wake up in a hurry an hour or two ago. I’ve dressed up and been waiting for you to come since dawn. And yet I look like this.”

The finely ground pearls shone brilliantly in five colors on Catherine’s eyelids as she sighed and lowered her eyes.

Ophelia struggled with what to say.

No matter how she heard it, wasn’t it something to say to someone you loved beyond liking?

Beyond the burden, it was now a bit scary.

And Ophelia couldn’t afford to bear that kind of fear or burden right now.

Plus, she didn’t have the energy to fight with someone who didn’t seem to have invited her with good intentions.

As a matter of course, Ophelia made no courtesy greetings toward Catherine, nor made any social remarks to ascertain her intentions.

What Ophelia threw was a fastball.

It was also a stone ball that went in a straight, straight, very straight, straight line.

“Why did you invite me?”

And Catherine was not at all taken aback by Ophelia’s direct words.

Rather, she gave the answer at once, as though she wanted her to ask.

“Let’s be friends!”

“Frie… what?”

‘Friendship? You and I?’

Ophelia asked about the impossible again.

(TL/N: I’ve adjusted to make it smoother/easily understandable. For the curious, the original phrase used is ‘holding onto the fish that was about to fly over the sky’ basically referring to ‘something impossible’ or ‘something out of reach’.)

“Friendship. I want to be very, very close with you.”

“Lady Sheffield, I appreciate your feelings, but I can’t afford to be in a relationship right now.”

“Oh, it’s not like that.”

As Catherine lifted the teacup gracefully, light emitted from the thick jewels on her fingers.

‘If she strikes with her fist, she’ll probably knock out a tooth or two.’

Ophelia waited silently for Catherine’s reply, picking up the teacup, about to take a sip, but had promptly put it down again when she continued speaking.

“Could you speak more comfortably than that? You’re an aide. I’m just a lady.”

‘That’s true in principle, but no one has ever done that.’

Didn’t Catherine even say that they weren’t on the same level last time?

No matter how much Iris hated Catherine, she was not one to make up things that didn’t exist.

“This way is comfortable.”

Catherine did not back down despite Ophelia’s words that were akin to cutting a sweet pumpkin with a single slash.

If she would step down merely at this extent, she would weep and hide because of the notoriety she had built up.

“Then I should try to make it easier for you to speak comfortably.”

It was unknown what kind of effort it was, but seeing Catherine’s eyes shining, it would never be comfortable for Ophelia.

“I’ll drop the formal speech then.”

In life, there were often times when giving up quickly was the answer.

And Ophelia willingly decided to admit that now was such a time.

Whether she spoke formally or not wouldn’t have much of an impact on her relationship with Catherine.

“Thank you.”

Ophelia, looking at her smiling Catherine, remembered Cooper’s words.

‘A clever young lady who keeps the line well.’

‘I don’t think there are any lines…’

Who the hell would urge you to speak comfortably after only seeing you two or three times while keeping the line?

Ophelia picked up the teacup and discreetly glanced over Catherine.

Judging from her words and attitude so far, it was unlikely that she had called her here to pursue the fan issue.

It was hard to believe, but the lady in front of her seemed to be genuinely interested in her.

Why? Aside from asking this question, she should know what the purpose of this invitation was.

Perhaps the desire for friendship that she mentioned earlier was not all there was to it.

This time, when Ophelia picked up the teacup and took a sip, the tea that was strangely perfect for her taste wrapped around her dry tongue that was starting to feel like a desert.

‘I didn’t think she was calling to harass me, but I didn’t know she would prepare tea so well.’

‘The Marquisate of Sheffield Marquis has dignity! You can’t give low-grade tea to guests who visit the mansion! Something like that?’

The lady of the Marquisate of Sheffield… 

Iris and Cooper’s voices crossed Ophelia’s ears behind her stupid thoughts.