The Radiant Young Lady of the Dark Family - Chapter 3
“I knew that exactly. When I was young, I was really afraid of being alone, so I was cautious of my aunt and the servants, but not anymore.”
Hartbisa picked up the spoon from the tray she was holding and stirred the stew that looked fit for animal feed.
Neglected old meat and cold stew, with oil congealing on its surface. Who would think this was a meal for a noble lady?
Hartbisa dropped the spoon on the floor with a clatter and asked gently.
“Did my aunt order this too?”
Her voice was infinitely calm, but an inexplicable chill flowed through it. Although she had been small and frail from long-term malnutrition and neglect, even smaller than the servants, the maids couldn’t easily move their lips in front of Hartbisa, who had suddenly donned an aura of intimidation.
“…Well.”
In the long silence, Hartbisa stroked the nape of her neck.
I wonder if it matters.
She hadn’t come back just to catch a mere maid. She could return this humiliation as much as she wanted later. There was another face she wanted to see most right now.
Hartbisa turned her gaze to the corridor beyond them with emotionless eyes.
“I need to see my aunt right now.”
As she tried to pass by the maids, the maid holding the tray urgently opened her mouth.
“You’re being punished right now!”
The maid blocked Hartbisa’s path.
‘There’s nothing to fear. After all, she’s just an abandoned noble lady, and if we send her to the Madam like this, how will we deal with the aftermath!’
At the end of that thought, the maid concluded that she should forcibly drag Hartbisa and lock her in the room.
She thought that was the right place for everyone’s happiness. But contrary to her thoughts, the maid couldn’t lay a finger on her body.
Hartbisa’s red eyes that met hers were fierce. Hartbisa spoke to the maid with eyes that seemed to contain hellfire.
“Who do you think you’re blocking right now?”
She was no longer the girl they had been tormenting by throwing stones at until now.
The maid, overwhelmed by her aura, stepped back as if retreating.
Hartbisa dragged the tapestry with the Cellie family crest as she walked down the corridor.
There was no need to wait for someone’s care anymore. The broken window of the Duke’s mansion that her mother had loved could be replaced by her own hands.
***
The interior of the drawing room was splendid.
Among the generally gloomy and dark rooms of the Cellie mansion, it was the brightest and had chandeliers studded with jewels. It was a space that greedily reflected the taste of her aunt, Helena.
Helena sat elegantly at a table in the center. The Cellie territory was located in a high area with few visitors. Even the art dealer who visited once a month wouldn’t have dared to come without her summons.
The art dealer, with an excited face, continued his passionate explanation about the painting on the easel.
“Speaking of this painting, it’s Andrio’s 7th work, depicting a brilliant spring day.”
Cherry blossoms and bright sunlight, rare in the Cellie territory where fierce blizzards blow and the sun is hidden behind clouds all four seasons, were spread out on a large canvas.
Seeing the painting, she smiled with satisfaction. Between her fingers stroking her upturned lips were rings with large stones.
Just as the greedy lady’s face was spreading with satisfaction, a commotion was heard from outside the door.
The noisy voices were gradually getting closer, too loud to ignore. Who would dare cause such a disturbance inside the Duke’s mansion?
Soon, the lady glared at the servant standing guard at the door with an irritated face.
“What’s all this noise about?”
The startled guard immediately said he would check and opened the door, and a maid tumbled in, looking flustered.
“You shouldn’t do this, I’m telling you.”
Despite the servants’ attempts to stop her, it was Hartbisa, covered in dust, who entered the splendid drawing room.
She walked in boldly, holding the tapestry.
***
Hartbisa carefully looked around the drawing room. The inside was incomparably brighter and more splendid than the attic room where she had been confined.
Unlike her immediate entry, Hartbisa stood blankly as if looking around a space she hadn’t seen in a long time, and Helena opened her mouth with an incredulous face.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
At the sharp voice, Hartbisa turned her gaze to her. Then, looking at the art dealer who was standing between her and Helena with a troubled expression, she spoke calmly.
“I have something to say.”
Despite her bizarre appearance, when Hartbisa spoke in a calm tone, Helena frowned one eyebrow.
Wasn’t she always like a frightened dog in front of her, curling her tail and stuttering her words?
Had she finally gone mad after being locked up in solitary confinement longer than usual? Otherwise, she wouldn’t have come here in such a state.
Helena looked Hartbisa up and down and clicked her tongue audibly.
“Go back to where you belong. What kind of manners are these? Aren’t you ashamed?”
She thought Hartbisa would immediately blush and run away. As always, Hartbisa had been an easy target for Helena.
But contrary to her expectation, Hartbisa calmly glanced at the painting of cherry blossoms on the easel. Then, as if speaking to a child, she said in a kind tone.
“I guess it can’t be helped if you’re busy. As you said, Aunt, I was going to say something embarrassing for others to hear.”
“……”
“Is that okay?”
At Hartbisa’s question, Helena froze in her seat.
She had no choice. Because the corners of Hartbisa’s mouth, who asked like that, slightly turned up. She had clearly smiled in front of her.
Not only talking back clearly but also daring to smile without fear in front of her.
Helena unconsciously stood up in surprise.
Even the art dealer and the servants standing around stiffened as if surprised at that sight. As the silence lengthened, the lady, who had barely composed her expression, said to the art dealer with a pale face.
“Let’s end it here for today. My niece says she has something urgent to say.”
***
“So what is it that you want to say?”
After the art dealer left, her aunt leaned back on the chaise lounge and put a pipe with a cigarette in its mouthpiece to her lips.
As soon as the pipe touched the lady’s lips, a maid quickly approached and lit it. Then, a hazy smoke rose. Helena took a puff and then blew it towards Hartbisa.
Hartbisa waved away the strong scent of the cigarette spreading over her face with one hand. Helena giggled at the sight and asked quietly.
“You look a mess. You’ve come out looking like a sewer rat. Without even knowing to be ashamed. My foolish niece, have you reflected at all?”
She sat with one leg crossed and twisted her lips into a smile.
The splendid drawing room from just a moment ago had instantly changed into something like a brothel. She had sent the art dealer away, but she had made sure to keep the maid and other servants. The reason was simple.
It was to show everyone the sight of scolding the grown Hartbisa like a child. It was a very simple method to teach the hierarchy.
This was why they all looked down on Hartbisa. Treating her worse than even a young maid.
But Hartbisa had to swallow the laughter rising from the deepest part of her body.
It was because she thought it was rather fortunate. She had worried that her aunt might be a better person than in her memories, but to her relief, the woman was exactly as she remembered.
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
Hartbisa could just change the atmosphere in the same way.
Hartbisa looked down at her dissolute aunt, who was taking a deep breath buried in smoke, and opened her mouth.
“Reflection? For what?”
“What?”
Helena widened her eyes as if dumbfounded that Hartbisa, far from prostrating herself flat, was questioning her from earlier. She immediately scolded her.
“After ruining the charity party, for what? How much more do I have to put up with you? There’s a limit to being pathetic.”
At Helena’s barrage of words, Hartbisa finally realized why she had been locked in the attic.
The charity party she was talking about was an event held from the beginning to humiliate Hartbisa, and as her aunt intended, Hartbisa, wearing an old dress and showing clumsy etiquette, was made to stand at the charity party all afternoon like a child being punished.
“This is why maternal lineage is important, what could she have learned under a mother of unknown origin?”
“It’s fortunate that Madam Winblad is here. At least now she can give proper teachings.”
In front of those blatant verbal abuses, Hartbisa had left her seat, and after returning from the party, Helena had locked Hartbisa in that attic room for her impolite behavior.
If it were the Hartbisa of her past life, she would still be locked in that room.
