CH 13

The following day, I woke up refreshed. 

My body, which had been as heavy as lead the day before, now felt light as a feather. It had been a while since I had woken up feeling so refreshed.

The soft light filtered through the curtains, and I felt relieved to see that it was a sunny day. It seemed that I had been sleeping since yesterday afternoon until now.

Perhaps I had been sleeping too soundly to notice, or maybe no one had called me, but because I had slept through dinner time last night, I was now feeling extremely hungry.

(Well, Mother was in a bad mood, so she probably didn't bother to call me.)

In the past, I would have tried to please my mother to avoid being disliked, but I had decided to stop living that way.

Ilvis had said he would come later than he did yesterday, so I had plenty of time.

I called the maid with a handbell, told her about today's schedule, and had her help me get dressed. As I watched the maids pick out dresses for me to wear outside, I found something unpleasant.

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"Emma, dispose of that green and navy dress. Oh, and those other two that Mira is holding now."

"Eh!? B-but, these dresses are all gifts from William-sama..."

None of those dresses were of colors suitable for a young lady to wear, and all of them were given to me by my fiancé as birthday presents. Some obviously didn't suit my style, so he probably just sent me whatever was in fashion.

"That's right. Besides, you all know better than anyone that they don't suit me at all, right?"

"..."

"..."

The maids averted their eyes and fell silent all at once. That attitude was the best proof of all.

When I received dresses from my fiance, I was excited and wanted to wear them to the party. They were the ones who had tried their best to stop me from doing so. I had doubted their decision at the time, but now I want to thank them with all my heart.

If I had worn that dress to the party, I would have undoubtedly become the laughingstock of high society. Love clouds one's judgment, after all.

"Well, if you're really hesitant to throw them away... How about sending them to Olivia? She likes to show off her body, doesn't she? William-sama would be pleased if Olivia wore them."

I couldn't understand my family, but I had a good relationship with the staff.

I had developed trust with them by taking care of the maid who had been hit with a teacup and nursing the gardener who had been punished.

I didn't want to see young boys and girls of my age living with painful wounds.

My mother and sister would punish them for small things, but they were indifferent to what happened afterward. Those two probably didn't even remember the face of a single servant.

So that's why nothing had been discovered until now.

"That's certainly a good idea!"

"Olivia-sama has a lot of outfits, so I don't think she knows everything. I'll sneakily put it in later."

The efficient maids immediately understood what I wanted to say and quickly gathered the dresses given by my fiancé.

As there were only six dresses, the task was quickly completed. The two of them happily started preparing again after choosing their outfits.

"But seriously, what kind of change in mindset is this? I never thought I would hear such words from Amalia-sama!"

"What are you talking about, Emma? It's no doubt thanks to Duke Lambert. Didn't you see how he was yesterday?"

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"Indeed! He's completely different from William! I couldn't say it before, but I didn't think that spineless guy could make the young lady happy!"

Emma proceeded with the preparations efficiently, though she was visibly expressing her anger. Each time she spoke, I regretted why I had ever liked him for real.

Wait, did he occasionally look at my sister from before? I really wanted to get more details about that.

"Anyway, have you seen Lady Olivia's face?"

"Olivia's face?"

"The young lady was sound asleep yesterday, so you probably don't know, but she was causing a big commotion after the duke left."

"All the servants were chasing after her, so they couldn't even deliver her dinner."

I see, so that's why no one tried to wake me up. According to the story, there was no one to stop her during the daytime because Mother wasn't there.

All the furnishings in the room that Ilvis and I used were apparently smashed to pieces. I wonder how she went on a rampage like that.

"Come to think of it, she calmed down after going wild and then went out somewhere."

"She got on a carriage with the family crest, so she might have gone to some nobleman's mansion."

"To a nobleman's mansion? Without any prior notice?"

Even Ilvis, a duke, sent a letter to his servant before coming. It was strange for my sister to make such a breach of etiquette to visit someone's house without prior notice.

"She came back before dinner, which is unusual, and seemed quite satisfied."

"She spent all night choosing a dress, so maybe she's going out with some young man."

My sister? At this timing...?

Certainly, that was not an unnatural action for my usual sister.

However, there was no way my sister would go somewhere when she knew Ilvis was coming. Especially after causing such a commotion last night.

(She must be up to something.)

With a bad premonition, I asked Emma and the others to speed up the preparations.