CH 46

They paused because Ophelia, the person involved, was not embarrassed, nor was she fed up. Rather, she was quite indifferent.

Soon, Ophelia leaned slightly toward Catherine.

“Catherine.”

“Yes?”

At Ophelia’s glance, Catherine finally turned her gaze toward the servant who had come to her side, unable to hide his nervousness.

“Excuse me, my lady.”

“What else?”

The servant lowered his voice and whispered so softly that only Catherine could hear.

Hearing the whispers, the corners of Catherine’s lips began to twitch in great displeasure.

Her energy was so ferocious that Ophelia, as well as Iris, took a step back.

By the time everyone swallowed their saliva at the expression of Catherine, which made them feel on edge…

“There’s nothing we can do, I’m sorry.”

The servant silently bowed, and Catherine glanced lightly at Ophelia and Iris, her eyes glinting through the snake mask.

But unfortunately, ‘speaking with the eyes’ did not work between them.

Catherine let out a short sigh before saying,

“Tell that person to come in.”

At her words, a question mark floated above everyone’s heads.

Come in? Who?

The minds of those gathered there began to roll violently.

Seeing how Catherine hated it so much… But there were too many people under that category, so they couldn’t infer from that.

Aside from that, the servant who appeared to be in a difficult situation eventually allowed the person to enter, even though Catherine showed signs of disliking it

Judging by their reaction, it must have been a party crasher.

Even if it was an uninvited guest, if it was someone that Catherine had to let in, there were only a limited number.

This time, the young ladies’ eyes started to sparkle.

A figure was floating in the minds of those with shiny eyes, akin to that of a beast hunting for food.

Lawrence Sheffield.

Catherine’s brother and the next Marquis of Sheffield.

However, one person thought of someone completely different.

The fine hair on Ophelia’s back stood up.

Without blinking, she stared at the entrance to the garden and nudged the inside of her mouth.

She had a feeling.

She could tell.

This masquerade was a stage to find out whether any other licence of the festival had been transferred to the Marquisate of Neir or if there was such an attempt with the ladies of each family.

But it wasn’t just for that reason, there was one more thing Ophelia was aiming for.

“Let’s not invite the Marquis of Neir?”

“Yes.”

“Is there a reason behind this?”

Catherine and Iris expressed curiosity.

“With Lady Neir around, we’ll be able to extract more quality information from the other ladies’ subtle gazes and gestures.”

“Understandably so. That’s why we shouldn’t invite her.”

Ophelia nodded with certainty, but the other two still looked dumbfounded.

At that, Ophelia put on an ‘oops’ face.

Since the back-and-forth ‘talking with the eyes’ conversations worked with Richard, she habitually expected such things from others.

So she added an explanation.

“People tend to covet what they don’t have.”

“So you’re saying that if Lady Neir wasn’t invited, she would definitely come?”

“Yes. If an invitation is given, she might choose not to attend, suspecting that there is an ulterior motive. However…”

“If we don’t invite her, she’ll come even if she suspects there’s an ulterior motive!”

A faint smile spread across Ophelia’s lips as she recalled Catherine’s cheerful voice.

And not long after, the one who had greatly annoyed Catherine appeared in a brilliant light.

The moment a woman with gray eyes appeared at the entrance of the garden, wearing a mask even more dazzling than Catherine’s.

Ophelia let out her long-held breath.

She came.

The one they had been waiting for finally appeared.

Wearing a white lion mask, Raisa’s mask changed color whenever she walked.

This was because diamonds densely filled the mask, so the light reflection went according to the party venue’s different colored lighting.

Those who saw her were both awestruck yet peeved by her great splendor, but not Ophelia.

Just like when she met Marchioness Neir, Lady Neir made her senses sound an alarm as well.

Raisa’s mask was a lion.

A lion, nothing else.

The symbol of the empire and the symbol of the imperial family.

If she had come wearing a golden lion mask, it wouldn’t have been strange for her to be immediately accused of treason.

This was because the golden messenger could only be used by those who inherited royal blood.

As a matter of course, nobles rarely used the symbol of ‘lion’ at all.

It was to avoid being caught and entangled in precarious situations, since even the second cousin of the in-laws could start a rebellion.

Since it was that serious, nobles avoided yellow, which was close to golden, even for small lion ornaments, an item only for young girls who wish to become the crown princess.

The Marquisate of Neir was no exception, but Raisa appeared here wearing a lion mask.

And, very cleverly, she wore a translucent diamond.

Among the changing colors, there might be golden light, but that was only the moment when the light was reflected.

It would be a problem if the blood of the imperial family came forward and claimed it was offending, but there was no one who could take issue with Lady Neir on that in a place like this.

Was that highly calculated confidence, or was it recklessness driven by thoughtless greed?

Ophelia swallowed dry saliva.

If she was confident… 

The Marquisate of Neir, or at least Raisa Neir, was aiming for the imperial family.

Treason.

At the thought of that, Ophelia sneered at herself.

Wasn’t that too much of a leap?

Overthrowing the imperial family with just a lion mask.

But the trembling lingered, and it got on her nerves.

It smelled like something.

A very nasty smell that she just couldn’t get over.

Like Ophelia from before, Raisa didn’t care at all even when everyone was staring at her.

Before long, she stood in front of Catherine, slightly tilting her head and saying,

“A snake is unusual.”

“A lion is much more unusual.”

The two esteemed daughters of a marquis family faced each other without saying hello; they just checked each other out.

“I won’t bother asking how you came to know.”

Irritation tinged Catherine’s words. With her arms crossed, Raisa responded.

“I think you should ask.”

“No matter how you say it, I didn’t invite you, so it’s an unchanging fact that you’re an uninvited guest.”

“No. I’m invited.”

“What do you mean? The invitation was prepared only for certain people. And among them, you’re not included.”

The corners of Raisa’s mouth twisted at Catherine’s words, which were mingled with a sneer.

As if they had made a promise beforehand, all those looking upon this scene had their hands clenched, moistening their lips that were dry from tension.

Other than Lady Catherine Sheffield, who could speak so bluntly and explicitly towards Lady Raisa Neir?

—Whatever you say, you’re just an uninvited guest.

However, Raisa did not explode on the spot, contrary to the expectations of Catherine as well as everyone else.

She only handed out a piece of paper.

“Check it out. Be aware. That I have plenty of reasons to be here.”

With her lips twisted into a shady smile, she continued.

“You have to supervise the whole festival, but you’re slow on the uptake of information.”

And likewise, going against Raisa’s assumption, Catherine did not flare up.

She just went through the paperwork and checked the words ‘liquor license’.

Raisa’s gray eyes shook as she looked at Catherine.

The Marquisate of Sheffield… 

It was cumbersome, but she didn’t think it was too threatening.

This evening was a kind of surprise.

“It’s said she’s holding an evening party, inviting the families involved in the festival. A masquerade.”

“Yes.”

The air between the mother and daughter facing each other was so cold that it could freeze the bones.

“What are you going to do?”

“I should go.”

At Raisa’s answer, Marchioness Neir stared at her for a while before handing her an invitation.

“It’s an invitation to the party.”

It was an invitation from Catherine, which had never been sent to the Marquisate of Neir, but Raisa did not bother to inquire how she got it. Instead, she asked something else.

“What did you bring?”

“I don’t think you need to know.”

“I’ll find out when things go on anyway.”

“That means you don’t need to know until then.”

“Let’s just say I don’t know.”

It was something out of context, but Marchioness Neir motioned for Raisa to leave as if she didn’t want to talk any more.

In response, Raisa picked up the invitation with sullen eyes and turned away.

The disapproving voice of Marchioness Neir grabbed Raisa’s ankle as she walked.

“You must know that the opponent is from the Marquisate of Sheffield.”

“Yes.”

“Even at the evening party, remember that your family’s name is Neir.”

Recalling up to this point, Raisa felt bitter.

‘Cynically telling me to go but not make a mistake.’

It had been a while since Raisa stopped causing minor accidents.

Even so, Marchioness Neir still only saw her as her daughter, one that was stupid and greedy and had to be clamped down so that the family name would not be tarnished.

Not knowing that Raisa already knew all the festival rights that Marchioness Neir had secured.

She was really not interested in Raisa, her daughter and heir-apparent.

But for Raisa, it was rather comfortable.

Ame: I’d like to remind everyone that Ophelia and friends still don’t know Raisa’s end goal (owning the empire). Only we, the readers, know. Since we’re privy to Raisa’s pov.

+ legend has it that while the female aides are out partying, Richard and Cooper are dealing with the mountains of paperwork.

Dea: As they should (i’m talking about Richard and Cooper haha), the girls are fighting a war of their own in there, we had fans flying earlier, now it’s a war of words