After the servant finished speaking, Mrs. Jenkins said with an apologetic look,
“I suddenly have something urgent to take care of, so I’ll step out for a moment.”
Everyone nodded and smiled. Mrs. Jenkins quietly said sorry to me and left the drawing room. I didn’t feel anything special. In fact, I felt more comfortable with one less person in the room.
At that moment, a noblewoman sitting next to me spoke carefully.
“Did you hear? Count Jenkins’s business is suddenly having trouble.”
“Why?”
The noblewoman glanced at me. When I looked at her, she smiled slightly and spoke carefully.
“Miss Revril, did you know?”
“No.”
The noblewoman laughed awkwardly.
“I thought Miss Revril would know.”
“What happened?”
“The Duke of Jedburgh completely stopped in Bestine in Count Jenkins’s crystal mine. So I heard they’re having a hard time building the mine now.”
Then a noblewoman sitting across from us widened her eyes and said,
“Oh, so that’s why she seemed so tense?”
Everyone smiled and looked at me. I felt uncomfortable with the subtle attention. I just wanted to be here quietly and leave without being noticed.
I roughly knew what kind of work Cedric did, but I didn’t want to say it, so I made something up.
“I didn’t know. I don’t really know what Cedric does.”
The noblewoman next to me blinked as if surprised.
“Miss Revril, then you probably don’t know the rumors about the Duke of Jedburgh either.”
“What rumors?”
When I asked, the noblewoman across from me answered.
“The rumor that he had a mistress is false. And the woman who was rumored to be the mistress was actually a criminal. She committed a terrible crime and even tried to scam people in this social circle, and that’s how she got caught.”
Everyone cleared their throats and drank their tea.
I wondered if that was the truth Cedric wanted me to believe. At that moment, one of the noblewomen spoke.
“I heard that the Crown Prince purposely let that woman go.”
A noblewoman in a fancy dress asked with interest,
“Then does that mean she was involved with the Crown Prince?”
“No one knows. But one thing is certain — she was related to the Crown Prince.”
Some people looked at me. I couldn’t understand why they were looking at me. When I looked puzzled, the noblewoman sitting next to me opened her mouth.
“Miss Revril, you know the Duke of Jedburgh doesn’t get along with the Crown Prince, right?”
I nodded since I had heard about that roughly.
“Then you probably also know this — the Crown Prince has disliked the Duke of Jedburgh for a long time.”
As I listened quietly, several noblewomen began to speak.
“As far as I know, the Crown Prince always hated him, didn’t he?”
“They say the Duke of Jedburgh is so strong-willed that the two of them just don’t get along. That’s why they still have conflicts.”
“Oh, I was so surprised at that dinner party. I didn’t expect the Duke of Jedburgh to act like that.”
“Me too. Honestly, I found it satisfying.”
At those words, the other noblewomen turned to look at her. Enjoying the attention, she quickly continued.
“The Duke of Jedburgh is the only one who can speak like that in front of the Crown Prince. Everyone else is afraid of him.”
A few noblewomen glanced at me and nodded.
“That’s true. Only the Duke of Jedburgh can do that.”
I had nothing to say. It seemed like they all knew sides of Cedric that I didn’t. I sighed inside.
I liked Cedric, but I hardly knew anything about him.
‘Should I start learning now?’
Everyone in high society knew these things, and I was the only one who didn’t. It hurt my pride a little.
I decided that as soon as I returned to the mansion, I would find out more about Cedric. As I thought that and lifted my teacup—
Mrs. Jenkins returned. She briefly touched my shoulder and whispered sorry before sitting down. The other noblewomen greeted her with smiles.
“Did you take care of your urgent matter?”
“Yes, thank you for understanding. By the way, Miss Revril, do you like the tea?”
I hadn’t even drunk the tea yet, so I was a little flustered. I nodded without thinking. Mrs. Jenkins smiled brightly.
“I’m glad. Strangely, I didn’t know much about Miss Revril. So it was quite hard preparing for this.”
“Well, it’s been a while since Miss Revril visited here.”
The noblewomen repeated what they had said earlier and tried to lighten the mood again. I just nodded and quietly listened to their conversation.
The talk moved from rumors to the year-end donations.
These social gatherings were also meant to support the royal ball held at the palace at the end of the year.
I wasn’t really interested, but for the noblewomen, attending such gatherings seemed like a kind of power.
Mrs. Jenkins especially kept asking if I liked the tea or if I felt uncomfortable, saying to let her know at any time.
A few noblewomen glanced at me and smiled.
Their subtle attitude made me even more uncomfortable. Mrs. Jenkins’s special attention and the noblewomen’s glances as they smiled at me bothered me.
Feeling stifled, I stood up. Mrs. Jenkins looked at me in surprise.
“Miss Revril, is something wrong? If you need anything, just let me know. I’ll get it right away.”
“No, I just need to use the restroom.”
Mrs. Jenkins immediately called a maid. I followed the maid to the bathroom. I didn’t really need to go, but the drawing room felt so suffocating that I couldn’t stay.
I leaned against the wall for a long time before returning to the drawing room. Just as I arrived—
Mrs. Jenkins’s voice rang louder than usual.
“I’m dying here. I already hate serving someone from a lower-ranking family, but if I don’t do this, my husband’s business could collapse.”
“My husband will help. He…”
“No, that’s probably not going to work either. I heard the Jedburgh family has decided to completely stop in Bestine in the crystal mine.”
“Then what will happen?”
“For now, we won’t even be able to host parties like this.”
“But Miss Revril seemed to know nothing about the Jedburgh family’s matters. So even if we treat her well, she probably won’t understand anything.”
“No, my husband said the Duke of Jedburgh pays a lot of attention to his wife. So we figured it would be faster to ask Miss Revril. Since she knows nothing, she might naively agree to everything.”
A small laugh was heard.
“That’s true. If we treat her a little nicely, she won’t even realize we’re mocking her and will thank us instead.”
“Still, I didn’t expect the Jedburgh family to go that far.”
Mrs. Jenkins shook her head.
“Haven’t you heard the rumors about Mr. Cedric? He’s a truly dangerous man — cruel and without mercy.”
“I heard that too. People in the back alleys run away just hearing his name.”
“If we get on his bad side, we’re the ones who’ll suffer. I don’t even know what I did wrong…”
Mrs. Jenkins held her forehead and sighed.
Then one noblewoman asked quietly,
“Did you talk to Miss Revril about the mistress?”
“Of course. I really thought it was true. No matter what my husband said about the Duke caring for Revril, I thought it was just because he had a mistress and was pretending to be kind to her.”
“But why would he care so much about a woman from such a poor family? If it were me, I’d prefer someone from a decent family.”
“Right. Her face is pretty, but the rest… she’s not impressive at all. Her father’s the same.”
They shook their heads as if disgusted.
I couldn’t move. I knew they didn’t like me, but I didn’t expect them to hate me this openly.
To them, I was just an outsider. Just because I came from a poor family, they never accepted me.
It felt like I would never be truly accepted.
