Chapter Seventy-two: Tea Party Reveal
If Waltride were to appear, it would completely overshadow the apology. So the plan was for her to arrive right after Rosine’s apology. Rosine’s apology seemed to be largely accepted by the attending young ladies.
To the people of Ehlertt, only the fact that the face powder was poisonous had been made public. Karen, being an outsider, couldn’t understand their interpersonal dynamics.
Among them was Petra, who glared at Rosine with particularly displeased eyes compared to the others. Having once collapsed from the poison, Petra might not feel appeased by a mere apology. Thinking it was no wonder she was still angry, Karen watched Petra—who then noticed Karen’s gaze, glanced beside her, flinched, and quickly gathered her twin tails to hide her face.
It seemed she was trying to avoid Julius’s gaze. It had clearly become a trauma for her.
“Thank you for accepting my apology. I will never forget everyone’s kindness! I will do my best to think about what I can do for everyone who supports the Ehlertt House, so please continue to be kind to me!”
Rosine wiped the tears from her eyes as she spoke. Though she appeared to be such a good girl, Petra continued to glare at Rosine.
Then, through the gap in her hair, Petra mouthed something only Karen could see. Since Karen couldn’t make it out, she approached closer, and Petra whispered:
“That girl, Rosine! She’s still using the poisonous powder!”
“What? Right after apologizing?”
“She intends to keep using it and remain the only beautiful one! How terrible. Should I report her to Master Julius?”
If she was truly continuing to use the poisonous powder, it would indeed be a problem. There were also several young ladies with suspiciously white skin, who might be facing similar issues. But this was something Waltride had anticipated and was planning to address.
“Next, we have a few words from Her Highness the Princess, who has been warning us about the powder and working hard to help us.”
The moment Rosine said that a tense ripple ran through the young ladies.
As Karen looked around, Petra explained:
“They think Her Highness is meddling. That she’s trying to take away their powder.”
“Eh? But Her Highness is doing this for everyone’s health—”
“Health is less important than marriage.”
After saying this unrepentantly, Petra quickly checked Julius’s location. Confirming he was out of earshot, she let out a sigh and continued:
“Some are saying she’s trying to make us ugly because she’s fat herself. Keep this between us. It could be considered lèse-majesté.”
“But Her Highness isn’t like that…”
In fact, she would have been happy to remain fat forever if possible. She harbored no jealousy towards anyone. If Waltride resented anyone, it would probably be Karen.
“That’s irrelevant. If my brother and I were to die, our father’s bloodline would end, so we’d been exempted from fighting duties. But once I have a child, the child will eventually have to fight. I don’t mind fighting myself, but I don’t want any more family members to die, so if I have a child, I want a strong one… That’s why I wanted Master Julius.”
Karen’s eyes widened at Petra’s words as she bit her lower lip.
“Didn’t you want to marry to avoid fighting?”
“Huh? Did you think that? How rude.”
She was pierced with a sharp glare. Karen had assumed this was true because of Waltride, but Petra’s motivations were different.
“Master Julius seems to think the same, so maybe it’s good for you to clear up the misunderstanding…”
“Eh!? …Well, I’m already disliked, so it’s fine to be misunderstood.”
“Why don’t you tell Master Julius?”
Petra raised an eyebrow at Karen’s words.
“If I clarify the misunderstanding, I’d have to explain the real reason. How can I say I wanted to marry to have children? How embarrassing!”
“…That’s true.”
It was indeed so.
“I have to keep up the appearance of being in love with Master Julius. But I hate men who yell at me—even if they’re kings.”
Petra seemed to have given up on Julius. Karen let out a massive sigh of relief and was glared at by Petra.
“Are the other ladies similar?”
Karen tried to disguise her relief by looking around at the other young ladies.
“I don’t know. At least, no one here thinks about avoiding fighting.”
Petra stated this definitively as if the very idea was unthinkable.
Contrary to Karen and Julius’s assumptions, these young ladies might each have their own reasons for being obsessed with beauty. Perhaps there were different circumstances surrounding the dungeon incident once attributed to Julius’s responsibility.
If that were the case, Karen thought it would be good—though she couldn’t tell Julius, who might blame himself for such possibilities. Even so, that might become a reason for Julius to be proud of himself eventually.
“If there are cowards like that in Ehlertt territory, I might just bully them.”
“Be careful, or I’ll call Julius.”
“Eek!”
Petra, looking like a cat stalking prey, gathered her twin tails and hid her face again.
During this time, Waltride’s moment arrived.
“Ah…”
When the princess entered the room, a wave of sighs spread like ripples.
“No way…”
Petra mumbled, dumbfounded.
Karen nervously glanced towards Julius and despaired. His eyes were wide with surprise, staring at Waltride.
Up to this point, it was normal. Probably anyone would react similarly. The problem was what would come next—what expression, what look he would have. Karen couldn’t bear to watch and covered her face. And then she cried.
“Uuu, kuuuu.”
“Why are you crying? Moved? This is your doing, right? Nice job.”
Petra nudged her with her elbow.
Karen’s turn was coming up.
So, while being nudged, she wiped her tears, raised her face, and noticed something. The other young ladies looked like their souls had been sucked out. Seeing that her potion had produced such expressions made her feel a sense of pride even in her dejected state.
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