“What… are you saying?”

Elena’s gaze wavered unintentionally. This time, it was genuine agitation, not an act.

Ariana glanced at Adolf once before speaking.

“‘That’ is not a good choice.”

Elena momentarily stiffened her shoulders. But soon she thrust out her chest proudly.

Adolf Schmidt.

The eldest son of the Schmidt family, though his family’s status wasn’t high, he was now one of the wealthiest men in the empire thanks to successive successful investments.

He also ardently loved Elena, and above all…

‘If I coax him a little and give him some hope, he’ll drool like an idiot and give me even his gallbladder.’

He was exactly the type Elena found easiest to manipulate.

Feeling as if she could read Elena’s thoughts, Ariana swallowed a sigh.

To Elena, Adolf would seem like quite a good second choice.

But he had a fatal flaw.

‘Illegal herb cultivation and distribution. Stalking. Attempted kidnapping.’

He would soon be imprisoned as a series of serious crimes were revealed.

Moreover, Baron Schmidt would soon go bankrupt when it was revealed that the maritime trading company he had invested in was a group of notorious fraudsters.

Unable to even pay his son’s bail due to the bankruptcy, Adolf withered away in prison.

‘You have a talent for grasping only rotten ropes, Elena.’

First a man with sexual dysfunction. Now a criminal.

Ariana unwittingly looked at Elena with pitying eyes.

As if that were a signal, Elena grasped Adolf’s hand even more firmly.

“I thought you wouldn’t believe me, Sister.”

Elena murmured, lowering her gaze.

Her voice trembled pitifully, as if revealing something distressing.

“You were always… concerned. You said that men, especially the Duke, seemed too kind to me even when they were with you.”

The expressions of those who heard the trembling voice became strange, but Elena, fluttering her eyelashes sorrowfully, didn’t notice.

“On days when the Duke was coming, you told me not to wear makeup and to wear only old clothes… But Sister, I truly had no intention of seducing the Duke. I’m sincere. I hope you can believe at least this much…!”

At this point, a tear rolled down.

Elena secretly looked with satisfaction at the tear that fell at just the right moment.

As the tear performance was added, the surrounding whispers grew a bit louder.

Elena was familiar with this situation.

It was a method she had often used since she was young.

“Elena! I told you important guests were coming today. Why are you wearing such ragged clothes?”

“Well… Sister said not to wear a dress, so…”

“What? Ariana, is that true?”

“What? No, it’s not. Elena, I…”

“Ah, no, Sister. I understand. I was raised as a commoner until recently… How could a dress worn by noble ladies suit someone like me?”

“No, Elena. I didn’t mean it that way. Brother, the dress Elena was going to wear was a keepsake from Mother. She can wear anything else-”

“You could just wear it and wash it later, can’t you make one concession without causing a fuss in the household? Tsk!”

“No, no. It’s my fault for coveting a dress when I’m a commoner. Sister did nothing wrong.”

“Ariana! Have Elena put on the best dress right away! The guests will be here soon, hurry!”

Elena had learned from a very young age how to gain the upper hand over Ariana.

It was by using her position as a late-coming half-sister.

If she pretended to be pitiful and miserable and made whining noises, Edward would quickly become exasperated and shout at Ariana to do as Elena wanted.

With the head of the family taking such an attitude, the servants also gradually began to coddle Elena.

As this continued, Ariana’s standing in the mansion diminished.

Nothing changed even after they grew up.

The one who first evokes sympathy and stimulates protective instincts wins.

Ariana didn’t know this, and Elena did, so the result was always the same.

So this was a very familiar structure for Elena.

“…”

But something was strange.

Glancing up at Ariana, Elena was inwardly surprised.

Ariana was smiling.

When Elena came out like this, Ariana was always flustered and busy denying it.

The more people believed Elena and didn’t believe Ariana’s words, the greater her confusion grew, often leading to an even bigger backlash.

But now, there was no trace of wavering in Ariana’s expression.

“I see. This is your answer. To my advice.”

Ariana said calmly, smiling.

Elena almost frowned at the unexpected response.

“I understand clearly.”

“What do you…”

As Elena was about to argue, she heard whispering voices.

“What has that woman been saying all this time?”

“That the Duchess tried to keep her in check by telling her not to wear makeup and only wear old clothes?”

“Hmm… The Duchess did that to her? Why bother?”

Gazes that looked her up and down as if appraising her.

Elena clenched her fist tightly as it began to tremble.

“How can sisters be so different? The younger one is much more charming!”

“Hehe, really?”

“My, my, you must be delighted to have such a lovely younger sister, Lord Edward.”

Modest and quiet Ariana, and flashy and outgoing Elena. Between the two, Elena was always the one who attracted attention.

It was the first time in her life she had received this kind of evaluation.

‘It’s because Sister has become a Duchess now. That’s why they’re all trying to flatter her.’

Though she tried hard to think that way, the sense of humiliation didn’t go away.

Only one person showed the reaction Elena wanted.

“Oh, Elena… It can’t be helped. Your beauty is selfish, after all.”

Adolf patted Elena’s hand, comforting her.

At that, the surrounding whispers grew even louder.

“My goodness, the couple has gone mad in pairs.”

“Why are they acting like this after coming all the way here?”

Elena felt a rising sense of unease.

This wasn’t right.

When she confessed and showed a pitiful appearance, saying she was just a victim, everyone should have been shocked and appalled.

But now, though they seemed surprised, that was all. No one was responding to Elena’s miserable appearance.

They were just watching, as if observing monkeys in a zoo.

However, there was one more person who showed the reaction Elena wanted.

“Is what you said really true, Elena?”

It was Ariana who asked with a serious face.

“Were all those things Lucas did by force? …Even what happened between the two of you in my dressing room?”

A stir.

The part that caused the most controversy in the lyrics of “The Adulterer’s Aria” was undoubtedly the part where the two made love even in the dressing room.

Everyone wondered if even that might have been based on a true story.

When Ariana directly mentioned that part, people held their breath.

Elena secretly bit the inside of her cheek. Seeing how she kept bringing up the dressing room, she must have known since that day they had a secret meeting in Ariana’s dressing room.

‘And you didn’t show any sign of knowing… It’s chilling.’

Even those who had shown curiosity at Elena’s tears changed their expressions once again at the single word “dressing room”.

Feeling that the atmosphere wasn’t flowing as she had intended, Elena struggled to continue speaking.

“…I don’t remember if it happened in the dressing room, but it’s as you say, Sister. It was all done by force by Duke Fedegrin.”

“If what you say is really all true,”

Ariana bit her lower lip once before continuing.

“Then the Duke was a far more wicked man than I thought.”

…Could it be that she really believes it?

Elena hid her uncertain gaze as she observed Ariana’s demeanor.

In the past, she would have thought she had certainly been deceived.

But now that she knew all of Ariana’s chilling aspects, she couldn’t be sure.

Before Elena could observe further, Ariana took a step forward.

“Then he must be punished immediately. Have you reported it to the security forces?”

“I wanted to do that too, Sister. But as you know, the Duke is a nobleman of too high rank… and there’s also the immunity privilege.”

Immunity privilege.

A special right that prevents even investigation, let alone arrest, for private offenses.

At those words, Ariana shook her head.

“Elena. If you really suffered such an unjust thing, I can’t just let it go. He must pay for his crimes.”

“But the immunity privilege…”

“The immunity privilege isn’t invincible.”

Elena was inwardly flustered at the calm voice.

Ariana turned to look at the guests and said,

“Report Lucas, Elena. The people here might agree to the petition.”

There was one way to break the immunity privilege.

If ten people listed in the nobility yearbook submitted the same petition, even a high-ranking nobleman with immunity privilege could be investigated by the security forces.

Ariana looked around at the guests and said,

“Will you do that, everyone?”