Don’t Ask, It’ll Hurt If You Know - Chapter 53

The fabric rustling against her skin was incredibly soft. To think Bianca Lloyd had such nice clothes.

Chloe marveled anew and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Bianca Lloyd, with her cotton-candy-sweet pink hair neatly braided and decorated with a ribbon studded with red rubies, wearing a sky-blue dress adorned with dense lace, looked like a fresh young girl. Just looking at her appearance, she looked younger than her younger sister, Maria.

But why were they decorating her so lavishly? She felt as though she were attending a party, not merely greeting a father who had returned after a long time. She also let out a hollow laugh, recalling that the Bianca Lloyd she had seen in Rumonie was quite squalid.

“Is there anything that makes you uncomfortable or that you don’t like?”

As Chloe stared intently into the mirror, the maid asked cautiously, perhaps thinking she had a complaint. Her attitude was extremely courteous. The other maids were the same. Chloe was puzzled by the sudden change in the maids’ behavior—they had previously acted as if they were the Mistresses—but simultaneously found the answer.

It’s because of Viscount Lloyd. If Bianca were to tell the Viscount, all hell would break loose, so they were clearly being careful.

The reason they were making such a grand fuss and dressing up Bianca must also be because of him.

Is Viscount Lloyd that frightening of a person?

Then why didn’t Bianca tell the Viscount what she had endured all this time? There wasn’t much content about that in the diary either…….

Chloe was deep in thought when she heard the sound of a horse’s hooves and looked out the window. The iron gate opened, and a carriage was seen entering. The crest of the Lloyd Viscounty was largely engraved on the exterior of the carriage.

“The Master has arrived, Young Lady. Let’s go down quickly.”

As expected, it was the carriage carrying Viscount Lloyd. It was a shame to have missed the timing to return to her original body due to his sudden return, but it was fine since she got to see the face of the fellow she was a little curious about.

Shall I see how great a jerk he is? Chloe straightened her slightly crooked hair ribbon and marched out of the bedroom briskly.

Walking down the long corridor and quickly descending the stairs connected to the central hall, Chloe stopped abruptly when she discovered the mother and daughter already waiting in the hall.

Unlike her, who was dressed up gorgeously enough to attend a party immediately, the Viscountess Lloyd and Maria’s attire was plain. Their dresses had no gems whatsoever, and they only wore necklaces as accessories.

If they were normally the type to dress simply, she wouldn’t have thought much of it, but since they weren’t, it seemed strange and puzzling.

Chloe, who stood on the landing, narrowed her eyes, looked down at the mother and daughter, quickly understood the reason, and let out a hollow laugh.

So, they’ve been deceiving the Viscount Lloyd this way all this time.

If she was dressed up as beautifully as a princess and said she was being abused, there was no way the Viscount would believe her. Without a doubt, he would have dismissed it as an overly pampered complaint. Judging by their actions, the Viscountess might have already laid the groundwork.

Honestly, they’re excellent at petty schemes. Chloe tsked openly and descended the remaining stairs. When the head maid, who first noticed her arrival, announced her presence, Ashley Lloyd narrowed her eyes and scanned her stepdaughter up and down as if passing judgment. Maria did the same.

“They say clothes make the man…… but it seems it differs from person to person.”

At Maria’s assessment, not only the Viscountess but also the servants burst out laughing. The sound of open ridicule echoed throughout the large hall like an echo.

‘Bianca Lloyd’ would have burst into tears or fled, unable to endure this situation, but ‘Chloe Elena’ was not. She stood indifferently beside them, as if she hadn’t heard anything.

“…….”

Maria frowned intensely, as if that wasn’t the reaction she wanted. The servants awkwardly stopped laughing, and the Viscountess Lloyd also looked at her stepdaughter with displeasure before opening her lips.

“If you’re thinking of doing anything useless, you’d better stop. As you experienced last time, he trusts my words more than yours.”

“I’ll manage my own business, so Madam should also refrain from doing useless things.”

When Chloe retorted brusquely, the Viscountess’s brow furrowed tightly.

“How dare you speak to your mother like that!”

Maria shouted, eyes wide open as if ready to devour Chloe at any moment. ‘Mother,’ my foot. Chloe scoffed and shrugged her shoulders.

“You……!”

The moment the stepmother was about to say something in a sharper voice, the front door opened. Soon, a middle-aged man wearing a black Sugarloaf hat entered, with the warm sunlight at his back.

“Welcome home, dear.”

The Viscountess Lloyd greeted her husband with a wide smile, as if she had never frowned. A delicate smile also spread across Maria’s face as she daintily grabbed her skirt hem and greeted her stepfather. The servants all bowed their waists in unison, welcoming the Master’s return.

Chloe, on the other hand, stood a few steps away from the group, observing Viscount Lloyd as he took off his hat and coat and handed them to his wife.

He looked to be in his mid-40s, and his appearance was ordinary. His hair and eye color were a common light brown, and he didn’t resemble Bianca in any way.

Of course, Bianca might take after her maternal side, but it was still a little strange that she didn’t resemble her birth father at all.

Could Bianca Lloyd also be a stepdaughter, like Maria? Is that why he doesn’t pay any attention to Bianca either?

As her reasonable suspicions deepened, Viscount Lloyd looked at her. Their eyes met unexpectedly, but Chloe faced him calmly, not at all flustered. At that, the Viscount’s eyebrows arched slightly, as if surprised.

“You haven’t had lunch yet, have you? I’ve had it prepared, so let’s go to the dining room, dear.”

The Viscountess Lloyd, apparently disliking her husband’s attention being taken by Bianca, pulled his arm and spoke in a cooing voice. In response, Viscount Lloyd nodded silently and headed toward the dining room with her.

Maria and the servants followed them, but Chloe didn’t move and watched from a distance like an audience member.

“Aren’t you going to have lunch, Young Lady?”

Then Emily approached and asked cautiously.

“……Is there no option of not going?”

“Pardon?”

“It’s nothing.”

It was clear that if she sat across from those people and ate, she would get indigestion, but since there seemed to be no option of not going, Chloe trudged forward.

* * *

Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve ever entered the dining room at the Lloyd estate.

She had eaten every meal in her room, so she never had a reason to come to the dining room. Chloe chuckled softly, finding this belated realization somewhat amusing.

The seat of honor was naturally for Viscount Lloyd, and the seats beside him were taken by the Viscountess and Maria, respectively. The stepmother’s seat was one thing, but Bianca was older than Maria, and yet Maria was sitting next to the father, despite Bianca being his birth daughter—it was absurd.

What was even more astonishing was that Viscount Lloyd said nothing about it. A man of his rank couldn’t possibly be unaware that this was wrong; he simply must not care. Or perhaps he was like her and didn’t want to get involved because it was a bother.

That’s why the stepmother and Maria act so recklessly. Chloe tsked under her breath but didn’t intervene. If the Viscount was staying silent, what good would coming forward do? She would only end up looking like a fool. She also just felt too lazy to step in.

The food was served in order, starting with the appetizer. It had been a long time since she’d eaten delicious food in Bianca Lloyd’s body, and even as Chloe Elena, she had only eaten unappetizing things, so her appetite absolutely exploded.

“It’s good to dress up, but I think it would be better to keep your extravagance in check.”

Chloe, who had been focused on eating, put down her fork and looked at Viscount Lloyd at his abrupt remark. The stepmother and Maria did the same. Viscount Lloyd looked at her with blatant displeasure and continued.

“Looking at the ledger, you buy clothes and accessories every week; not even the Imperial Princess of the Empire is as extravagant as you are.”

It takes her an age to worry in front of her closet because she has hardly any decent clothes to wear right now, and yet he says she buys clothes and accessories every week?

Chloe frowned and looked at the stepmother at the ridiculous accusation. Their eyes met, and the stepmother smiled, tilting the corner of her lips. She had suspected it was the stepmother’s doing, as the Mistress usually managed the ledger, and it seemed her guess was correct.

“It’s just because she’s at the age where she loves to dress up, so please don’t be too hard on her, dear. I’ll talk some sense into her.”

As if she had never ridiculed her, the Viscountess spoke in a cooing voice, taking her stepdaughter’s side. It was extremely repulsive and astonishing that she would frame her and then act this way, but Chloe remained silent. It wasn’t that she had no rebuttal. Even in that brief moment, dozens of ways to expose the Viscountess and Maria’s atrocities came to mind.

“Yes. I’ll be mindful.”

However, since they hadn’t directly harmed her, and she didn’t want to go out of her way to interfere in another person’s family affairs, Chloe answered vaguely and just focused on her meal.