Julia felt about half relieved and half disappointed when Camellia entered the reception room as the door opened. One of the people she invited to today’s tea party refused the invitation and did not attend.

It was Lady Leticia of Baron Leonati. It was right for her not to come as she was close friends with Isabella. And strictly speaking, it would have been right not to invite her at all.

But Julia wanted an excuse to visit Leticia’s house once more, even though she didn’t particularly like her.

‘…Francois.’

The face of the domestic whom she had only seen once wouldn’t leave her mind.

The roses sent by Count Cesare were driven out of Ariadne’s room and ended up in the girls’ reception room.

It was a space used jointly by the three sisters, but ever since Ariadne moved to her suite on the western end, she didn’t use this room much after getting her private reception room.

“Wow!”

Arabella was excitedly examining the vibrant red roses in the vase.

Lately, Arabella was having a blast. Her hobby was rummaging through her sister’s belongings, regardless of the consequences.

However, Isabella was a strict supervisor and merciless gossip. She made a fuss if she found traces of anyone touching her things. It went without saying that she rushed to tell their mother, Lucrezia.

But her new little sister was generous, shared a lot, and didn’t scold her much when caught. The only downside was that she didn’t have many interesting items, but recently, that shortcoming was quickly being made up for.

“I’ve never seen such large roses before!”

At her youngest sister’s admiration for the red rose as big as a small teacup, Isabella got very angry.

“Can you be quiet! You’re making my ears ring!”

Even after seeing Arabella flinch and cower, Isabella’s anger did not subside.

“I don’t like this or that!”

Due to Letitia’s gossip, Isabella was already aware that Julia de Valdesar had excluded her from the tea party.

There was no doubt that her younger sister Ariadne, who was dressed in her goingout clothes today, also went to the tea party.

Lately, she had been carefully applying the chest growth promoting cream that she had bought for a big price from a peddler, which was said to be used in the Moore Empire, but instead of her breasts growing, it seemed like her body hair was getting thicker.

She couldn’t bear to throw it away because it was a waste, but she felt gross applying it, and Isabella was stuck in a situation where she couldn’t do anything.

“Ah! It’s so annoying!”

Isabella, who lost her temper, went outside and wandered around the garden. Nothing had gone right since the appearance of her bastard younger sister.

Of all the things, the fact that she was recognized as a gossipy child in society by the Countess of Marquez, especially when talking about her sister, was unbearable.

‘I was Isabella de Mare, the prettiest and loveliest princess of San Carlo!’

Her position was quickly being encroached upon by her ugly halfyounger sister.

“She’s not even pretty!”

“Huh? Who’s not pretty?”

The one who heard Isabella’s mutter was her cousin Janobi.

Isabella was startled, remembering that the young girls were shocked when she said harsh words at their gathering, but Janobi was less sophisticated than a monk, a southerner, and especially the offspring of knights who commonly spoke harshly.

“Brother Janobi.”

“Why would our beautiful Isabella be so upset?”

For Janobi, the situation of trying to strike up a conversation with Isabella, the beautiful lady of San Carlo, was thrilling. It would be something to brag about for at least a month when he returned to his hometown.

Janobi didn’t care whether it was useless to look well upon Isabella because she was a cousin, or that he shouldn’t look at his cousin in such a way due to moral consciousness. At that moment, pursuing peripheral pleasure was most important.

Isabella, who was dispirited, began to pour out her complaints as if she found a place to confide in Janobi’s words.

“Brother! I’m so upset!”

As Isabella made one round of the Cardinal de Mare’s residence garden, she began to tell Janobi everything, such as how Ariadne insulted her, how Ariadne played the good person in front of others and slandered Isabella with lies, and how Ariadne was sticking to the prince and flirting.

Of course, these were stories that were heavily seasoned and modified from Isabella’s point of view.

“That girl is really no good!”

“Right, right?”

For Isabella, who was shivering from the injustice of not even being believed by her mother, Janobi’s agreement was a very welcome and joyful thing. No matter what Isabella said, Janobi did not argue and listened to everything.

For Janobi, this opportunity was as good as it got. In his position, having a close conversation with such a beautiful and precious lady was fundamentally a dream that could not be dreamt of.

If this dreamlike situation could continue, he could even sell his own mother. Just believing the story about his cousin sister, who usually kept her mouth shut and was stern, slandering was as easy as eating a rice cake lying down.

“Isabella, trust me! I’ll give that girl a piece of my mind!”

“Yeah! Yeah!”

No matter what, he had to get into Isabella’s eyes. Then wouldn’t Isabella also look at him?

In response to Janobi’s considerations, the king’s regular autumn hunting event was just around the corner.

The sky was high, and it was a perfect day to scare a delicate girl.