Since that day, there had been no contact from Cheston. Whitney also had many questions for him, but didn’t know how to start, so she wrote and discarded several letters.

“Why is His Highness Cheston doing this?”

Whitney opened the drawer and looked at the jewelry. She took out the diamond ring and emerald necklace he had given her and placed them on a handkerchief.

‘It’s really soon.’

About a week left?

Whitney leaned on the desk and fiddled with the ring. Then she gently slipped it on her finger, and it sparkled in the sunlight, making her keep staring at it.

“My lady, someone has come from the Duke of Orlean’s mansion.”

“…From the Duke’s mansion?”

She sighed deeply and put the ring back in the drawer. Then she went down to the reception room. Sure enough, Melissa appeared.

‘Could she have already heard the news?’

She must have rushed over after hearing that Karl’s fiancée had been chosen as the princess of Petontra. Melissa, upon seeing Whitney, jumped up from her seat and stood in front of her.

With trembling hands and a face full of betrayal, she glared at Whitney.

“Explain. Why I had to hear such words.”

“Elder sister, if you suddenly come and say such things, how can I know? What explanation are you looking for?”

“…What explanation am I looking for? Don’t you know why I came here?”

Whitney nodded. Then she sat down and asked the maid to bring some warm tea. Melissa, unable to calm her excitement, slammed her hand on the table.

“Rumors are spreading that Prince Karl has a fiancée! Did you really not know?!”

“How could I know every detail of royal affairs?”

“Didn’t you go to the palace last month? Someone said they saw you. It seems you’re under some delusion that you’ve become something because you’ve changed a bit.”

Melissa picked up the teacup on the table and suddenly splashed the hot tea towards Whitney.

“Lord Harwin!”

However, Harwin, who was standing behind Whitney, quickly blocked the tea that was being splashed towards her face. Melissa covered her mouth and, with a surprised expression, asked the maid to bring some ice.

“My hand slipped. Oh no! I’ve been like this lately, often spilling tea due to lack of strength in my hands.”

“Since elder sister says she’s returning to the mansion, please see her off.”

Whitney ignored Melissa’s words and ordered coldly with icy eyes.

“Please follow me. I will see you off.”

“Are you kicking me out now?”

“Elder sister. This is not the Duke of Orlean’s mansion, and these people are not your people. Don’t forget they belong to the Rubeness family. You will be held responsible for this.”

“What?!”

“Since elder sister seems unwell, please escort her back to the mansion quickly.”

Melissa shook off the hands of those grabbing her arms. Then she warned Whitney.

“You’d better be careful. Whitney, this is the central capital, not the territory of the Rubeness family.”

Whitney furrowed her brow and stared at Melissa’s retreating figure as she left the mansion.

Soon after, the maids brought ice, and Harwin took off his jacket soaked with hot water. When he took off his shirt as well, reddened skin was visible. Whitney asked him to wait a moment and went up to her room.

She found and took out some herbs, then went to Lord Harwin and placed them on his reddened wounds.

“You should rest for a while. I’m sorry because of me…”

“Please don’t say such things. However, I think I should report today’s incident to the Marquis of Vareng.”

“Please do so. Elder sister should also be held responsible, so please report everything.”

Harwin nodded. Sonia and the other maids checked if Whitney had any injuries. She had no wounds at all. She just couldn’t raise her head, feeling sorry for Lord Harwin who was injured because of her.

“My lady, please raise your head. There’s no need to bow. It wasn’t your fault, but Lady Melissa’s, wasn’t it?”

At Harwin’s words, Whitney slowly raised her head. Seeing Melissa’s already vanished figure, her anger boiled over, unable to contain it.

‘I will never let elder sister get what she wants.’

As soon as Melissa returned to the mansion, she threw everything around. Her anger was not subsiding.

“Aaaargh! Whitney!”

“Calm down, Melissa. So, is that rumor true?”

“Would that girl say so? She pretended not to know about going to the castle! She must have known!”

Melissa gritted her teeth. She had acted as if she would give her what she wanted, but it was all a lie. She was furious at being deceived by Whitney.

“It’s not even decided yet. Since you kissed Prince Karl, he won’t be able to pretend not to know.”

“What if they announce the engagement?! A scandal can be easily ignored. There were no witnesses! That girl won’t testify that she saw it!”

“You fool! That’s why you should have coaxed her gently! Fix that hot-tempered personality of yours first! That’s why you ruin things every time.”

Cecilia clicked her tongue at Melissa and furrowed her brow. At that time, it was still too early for the Duke to die. Unfortunately, the coachman who was waiting for an opportunity to get rid of Whitney didn’t see the Duke and charged straight ahead, causing a major accident.

If they had known how much the Duke cherished his daughter, they would have acted more cautiously. Melissa was frustrated that she couldn’t even change the will. If Melissa had yielded and soothed Whitney a little, she could have gained much more.

“If you act foolishly again this time, you won’t get anything, so be careful with your actions. The debutante is coming soon, don’t you have to cause trouble again?”

“Please don’t let Whitney go there. Mother, I don’t want to see that child being recognized by the Queen! I am the Orlean! Why does everyone recognize only that child as Orlean?!”

“Are you asking while knowing? It’s because you don’t inherit the Duke’s blood, that’s why everyone thinks so. There’s also a problem with your behavior, please act gracefully. To cause such mischief, I’m worried others might find out. Do you know how much money is spent on hush money because of you?”

“You seem to have forgotten whose daughter I am, Mother. I must have taken after you.”

Melissa glared with eyes like axes and stormed into her room. Cecilia held her head with her hands and returned to the study, sending a letter somewhere.

“It wouldn’t be bad to get rid of her if she doesn’t move as we want, whatever happens.”

Cecilia was bothered by Whitney, who would soon come of age. Although she said it was fine for her to keep the position of head of the family, her recent behavior was unsettling. It wouldn’t be strange if she asked for her things back at any time.

With the upcoming debutante and social season, Cecilia was already complicated enough. She thought of marrying her off quickly to a place that would pay a lot of money, as the right to the family head would disappear if she got married.

That way, the Duke of Orlean’s mansion would become hers, and the annoying Whitney could be removed, so it would be killing two birds with one stone.

Whitney couldn’t sleep, perhaps because of the debutante tomorrow.

Time passed quickly, and her mother and elder sister were quiet. Although a letter came from the butler saying their movements were strange, she wasn’t worried thanks to the knights being reinforced by the Rubeness family.

“Tomorrow is finally the debutante. I didn’t think this day would come.”

She lay in bed but couldn’t easily fall asleep. Her aunt was greatly angered by Melissa’s behavior and said she would hold the Duke of Orlean’s mansion responsible. She threatened to inform Her Majesty the Queen of this fact, and a reply soon came from her mother.

It was an apology without a trace of sincerity, but there was nothing she could do for now. Whitney covered herself with the blanket and tried to sleep.

At some point she must have fallen asleep, because she opened her eyes feeling a cold wind entering the room.

“Mmph!”

Whitney, startled awake, discovered men wearing black masks and tried to scream. But her mouth was covered, and her struggling body was lifted by someone.

‘Who is it? Who… is doing this!’

Whitney immediately thought of her mother. It seemed they had decided not to let her go to the debutante since she wasn’t moving according to their thoughts. Besides, didn’t the butler say their movements were strange?

She struggled as best she could, but the man picked her up and opened the window. Outside the window, a battle continued between the Rubeness family’s knights and the intruders.

The agile men immediately tried to carry her out the window. Whitney, thinking it would be more dangerous once she left the mansion, struggled even harder than before to break free.

“Mmph! Mph!”

“How persistent, that’s why I said we should knock her out and take her! The longer we delay, the more exposed we become.”

“Escape first. We must get that woman out of here somehow.”

Whitney twisted her body, trying to fall from the man’s shoulder. The more she did so, the tighter the grip on her hair became.

“My lady!”

Sonia’s voice urgently knocking on the door was desperate. Whitney reached out and grabbed the intruder’s hair, pulling it hard.

“Argh! This wench!”

The man momentarily pushed Whitney’s hand away from the intense pain as if his hair was being pulled out. At that moment, she lost her balance and her body fell to the floor.

Thud!

With a loud noise, Whitney’s vision turned to darkness.

“Whitney Orlean!”

Someone called her name. Due to her blurred vision, she couldn’t see the figure of the person entering through the door, but Whitney was relieved by the scent carried on the wind.