“May the goddess’s blessings be with you. Scarlet, what brings you here?”

Though not a particularly welcome figure, Jane greeted her politely. Scarlet smiled brightly and walked up to the door.

“What brings me? I received an invitation from Her Majesty.”

“But isn’t today’s event for Children’s Day?”

It wasn’t a place for Scarlet, who had no children and wasn’t married.

“I simply came because Her Majesty called for me. Regardless of the event’s content. Her Majesty often calls for me, you see.”

Scarlet openly displayed that she had Helena’s trust.

“Don’t just stand there, let’s go inside. Everyone is waiting for Jane.”

Who could be waiting for her? Jane tilted her head puzzled, but instead of asking, she followed Scarlet.

She would find out once she went inside anyway.

“Now, everyone, look who I’ve brought.”

As Scarlet clapped her hands, the ladies inside the reception room one by one raised their heads to look at Jane.

“Oh my.”

“Whitney……”

“Goodness, Her Majesty has shown great generosity.”

Though hidden behind fans, the women’s voices reached Jane’s ears clearly.

They kept glancing at Jane.

“I heard the Duke quite favors her, but he’s really gone all out with the extravagance.”

“Look at that dress. That’s the latest from the Hermès designer……”

The whispering grew more intense.

Are these people here to see me rather than visit a zoo?

It felt like being an animal in a cage. However, Jane didn’t react to their evaluations.

She had no expectations of them to begin with. But she left a small hope.

Hoping they would be people with intelligence. So they would realize how wrong their behavior was and stop.

But the women’s low-quality assessments showed no signs of stopping. Someone had to end it.

Scarlet didn’t seem inclined to help. Left with no choice, Jane took action herself.

“May the goddess’s fortune be with you.”

As she raised her voice louder than usual, people closed their mouths.

The looks directed at Jane were blatant. Curiosity, dismissal, contempt.

The evaluation of Jane seemed to have worsened since her debutante days.

‘Is it because of the rumors about her connection to the Rose Faction?’

They were projecting their antipathy towards the Rose Faction onto Jane.

“Is that seat mine?”

Jane smiled brightly, pointing to an empty chair among where the ladies were seated in a circle. It was clearly the seat of honor.

“That’s my seat.”

Scarlet brushed past Jane and sat in the chair. With that, there was no place left for Jane to sit.

It was a method often used in social circles to ostracize someone. Removing their seat.

A person without a chair was given three choices.

Ask for help from the one who invited them, leave, or endure the disrespect and stay put.

The matter could be easily resolved by calling a servant to bring a chair, but out of stubborn pride, no one would act that way.

They’d rather die than show themselves being disrespected by subordinates.

It was the same for Jane. Of course, not because of pride. She simply didn’t want to play into their hands.

Jane scanned the faces of the people.

Among these people, there must surely be one person. Someone who couldn’t dismiss Jane’s words lightly.

The Hastings family’s influence on the kingdom was so great that it was said one in three nobles had connections to them.

It wasn’t just because Cain dominated the parliament. Rather, the influence of Hays Trading Company was greater.

There wasn’t a single noble who didn’t do business with Hays Trading Company.

Whether luxury goods or necessities, they knew Hays Trading Company’s products were the best.

And some were very closely intertwined in business.

Jane examined the faces of the ladies hiding behind their fans.

Then she found the person who could resolve this situation.

“Lady Aillet, we seem to be short one chair.”

Lady Aillet was the wife of Viscount Aillet, who owned a shipping company.

According to what Jane had studied about Hays Trading Company’s business, Viscount Aillet had been intoxicated by past glory and failed to develop technology.

As a result, ship contracts were cancelled one after another, and the company’s situation became difficult.

If it weren’t for the ship that Cain had contracted out of loyalty recently, the company might have gone bankrupt immediately.

“Why are you telling me this?”

Either unaware of her husband’s situation or lacking in tact, Lady Aillet acted stiffly.

‘Or does she know I’m the contract wife?’

But that couldn’t be.

“Well, Jane. What use is it telling Lady Aillet about the lack of chairs? If you want to complain, you should complain to Her Majesty.”

A woman with a long feather in her hair spoke.

“But would Her Majesty place a chair for Jane in the palace? What if she gives her a chair and Jane thinks it’s her home and overstays her welcome? Shamelessly. Not knowing her place. Ah, Jane. I’m not saying you’re exactly like that.”

It was exactly the kind of thing nobles say when insulting commoners. Help them out of pity and they act like they own the place. Then they even bite the hand that feeds them.

Jane’s eyes narrowed. For subtle ostracism in social circles, the women’s behavior today was excessive.

Even so, she was a duchess in name.

‘To act so fearlessly means…’

Was it the queen’s order?

It made sense why Cain didn’t want her to come to the palace.

He knew the queen would resort to such petty tactics.

Of course, Jane didn’t expect the queen to welcome her warmly either.

The queen had a clear reason to dislike Jane. So she was prepared to hear harsh words from her. She just didn’t expect such childish tactics.

Jane inwardly smirked.

Did they think I would run away crying from just this level of bullying?

If the situation where getting a chair becomes a problem, then change it.

Jane suddenly covered her mouth with her hand and shouted.

“Eek, a mouse, a mouse, it’s a mouse!”

“Oh my? Where! Eek, where did it go?”

The noble ladies caused an uproar.

“It went under the table!”

Jane shouted, pointing under the table.

Everyone was momentarily fooled by the convincing act. They all grabbed their dress hems and backed away, causing quite a commotion.

Even with all the commotion, no one entered the reception room.

It was because orders had been given not to enter unless called by the court servants.

It was an order given to comfortably bully Jane, but it ended up tormenting themselves instead.

“What do we do! A mouse, to think that disgusting animal is here…”

Jane had shouted for them to make a fuss, but she found the ladies, who had turned pale and were trembling uncontrollably, pathetic.

They shuddered, staying far away from the table.

Meanwhile, Jane approached the table and picked up the teapot. Not long after the tea had been brought out, the pot was quite heavy.

“Are, are you going to hit it with the teapot?”

Someone asked in an expectant voice. Jane snorted and poured the tea onto the chair.

“Jane! What are you doing?”

Jane ignored whatever they were saying and soaked all the chairs. Then she put the empty teapot back on the table.

Jane looked at the ladies with a dignified and elegant posture.

A situation where new chairs had to be brought was created. Now no one could stop or criticize anyone who called for chairs to be brought out.

“Oh dear, all the chairs are unusable now. Will you drink tea standing up?”

A deep look of dismay spread across the ladies’ faces. For them, standing to drink tea was unthinkable unless it was a reception.

“We’ll have to call for more chairs to be brought.”

Jane pulled the bell cord with a relaxed smile.

“You called?”

“All the chairs have become unusable. Bring six new chairs.”

Six including one for Jane.

Jane didn’t stoop to the same childish act of taking someone else’s chair.

While the ladies were caught off guard with their mouths hanging open, the court servants replaced all the chairs.

Jane sat in the seat of honor and looked at the ladies who were still huddled together trembling.

“What are you doing, not sitting? Do you not intend to eat the refreshments Her Majesty has provided?”

“That’s not it, but… the mouse…”

Jane smiled brightly as she placed a glossy, appetizing-looking tart on her plate.

“Mouse? I must have seen wrong. There’s no way there could be a mouse in the palace, right?”

Only then did the noble ladies realize they had been tricked by Jane.

But none of them could protest. It was they who had started the malicious prank first.

And there would be plenty of opportunities to flatten Jane’s high nose in the future.

They exchanged glances and quietly took their seats.

* * *

“If we’re done eating, let’s head outside soon. We shouldn’t keep our husbands waiting with their necks stretched out.”

It was Lady Giovanni, wasn’t it? The woman with the feather in her hair spoke.

“It’s already this late. The gentlemen must have caught up after not seeing each other for a long time too. Let’s get up. I’m looking forward to seeing Baron Giovanni after so long.”

“Is that so? I can’t wait to see Duke Hastings. I wonder how splendidly he’ll dress up today? It’s a couples gathering after all. Duchess, is the Duke coming too?”

Lady Giovanni asked. Jane, who had been letting their meaningless chatter flow past her ears, raised her eyes.

Scarlet intercepted Jane’s question.

“Duke Hastings is so busy, you know. He probably doesn’t have the capacity to worry about this too. Today he went to the police station on Her Majesty’s orders regarding the Rose Faction…”

She paused for a moment and turned to look at Jane. She seemed to be gauging Jane’s reaction, but from Jane’s perspective, it looked like she was making a declaration of war before attacking.

Scarlet finished her sentence with a soft smile.

“…You knew that, right Jane?”

Jane found it hilarious that the situation was turning into her and Scarlet crossing swords over Cain.

‘Does this young, pretty lady want to be Cain’s concubine or something?’

Jane felt sorry for her. And she became curious to see how far Scarlet would go.

“No, so the Duke went to the police station. I didn’t know that.”

The noble ladies immediately covered their mouths with their fans. And they whispered among themselves.

Jane became curious about how much they would tear into her.

“Then, he can’t come. My husband was really looking forward to having a conversation with Duke Hastings after so long.”

Lady Aillet showed her disappointment. Seeing her expression and words, it seemed she was aware of her husband’s shipping company’s difficulties.

So she probably wanted to have a serious conversation with Cain.

‘And yet she treated me so rudely?’

Jane found it absurd. Then she realized why people considered her to be even less than Cain’s concubine.

“I asked him… but he seemed to be in a difficult position.”

Scarlet put on a sorrowful expression.

“What could be troubling him?”

Lady Aillet asked the question Jane wanted to ask.