Chapter 64
‘But, was her face always like that?’
To Helena Caneze, Ephinia had once been nothing more than a maid without even a family name, someone to be feared. But to Ephinia, who had become Baroness Linier, Helena no longer seemed like anything remarkable.
From the moment she had been identified as a Guide, she had been surrounded by many high-ranking nobles and had grown accustomed to them. She had met Empress Yekaterina several times, and she occasionally had tea with Duchess Lanas.
On top of that, she had learned culture and etiquette from the many tutors Count Aphis had arranged for her, and by the Empress’s order to follow the capital’s latest fashions, she now had several ladies-in-waiting to assist her. Even the dress she was wearing now was something difficult to obtain unless one belonged to the imperial family.
It had been a little over half a year since she last saw Helena. Since Viscount Caneze had been sentenced to about four months, she assumed he had been released from prison recently.
‘Seeing her again after so long…’
She looked provincial. And unlike a noble, her entire face was thickly covered with ill-tempered malice. Ephinia had known even during her days as a maid that Helena lacked refinement.
Whenever an etiquette tutor said something that displeased her, she would throw tea and drive them away, so there had been no helping it. Ephinia had heard that Viscount Caneze had paid a large sum to silence the tutor.
“You’re telling me, someone like you is seriously a Baroness?”
Helena raised her voice as if she wanted everyone to hear, drawing the attention of those nearby. His Highness the Crown Prince had stepped away at Marquis Deacon’s call, and only a Countess remained beside Ephinia.
At the sudden attack, Countess Rinne, who had been told by the Crown Prince to ‘Please take care of my Guide,’ looked at Helena with visible displeasure.
Ephinia’s expression was unreadable. Expecting her to look frightened and immediately apologize and beg for forgiveness, a crack appeared in Helena’s confident expression.
“Hey, Ephinia! You idiotic thing! Can’t you hear me?!”
At the shout, the surrounding nobles’ attention turned toward Ephinia and Helena.
“Miss! Just what is the meaning of this…!”
Sensing a crisis, Countess Rinne flushed red and raised her voice. The Crown Prince had entrusted his Guide to her, and any trouble the Guide encountered while he was away would fall entirely on her shoulders.
Being chosen among many noblewomen had been an honor, but with such a nuisance suddenly appearing, cold sweat ran down her back.
“Countess. She seems to know me, so please allow me to handle this.”
At Ephinia’s gentle voice, Countess Rinne’s expression relaxed. She knew this wasn’t the time to be listening to such things, but the Guide’s voice was truly beautiful.
Since Baroness Linier didn’t speak much when she was beside the Crown Prince, everyone pricked up their ears to hear her words.
Helena Caneze, seeing this, looked triumphant.
“That’s right! Go on, tell them. What kind of filthy tricks you used—”
“Miss Helena Caneze.”
Her words were cut off by a voice filled with utter disdain. Helena’s face flushed bright red. She had already shown a vicious side, and she didn’t want her name to spread in a place like this.
Even if the area where she lived had little connection to the capital’s high society, rumors might still spread there. If that happened, her prospects for marriage would be completely ruined.
“No, that’s not me!”
“A Baronial title is not something to be mocked by a mere lady without a title. Or do you perhaps believe that you stand above His Majesty the Emperor himself?”
“W-What?”
For a moment, Helena was speechless. On their way to the capital, the thing her father had warned her about most was the imperial family. Especially regarding His Majesty the Emperor, he had told her not to even mention him, and not to speak a single word about him.
If they were accused of lèse-majesté, minor nobles like them would be brought to ruin.
“You’ve just proven through your own words and behavior that you lack any education, but this is truly severe. Did your father teach you nothing?”
“Y-You! How dare you…!”
“I stayed at many inns and hotels on my way up from the provinces, but even the bellboys there were more polite than you, Miss.”
Helena had planned to accuse Ephinia in front of everyone of committing adultery with a married man or a stablehand. Even in a world where contraceptive magic tools were well developed, she believed such scandals were still effective in bringing a woman down.
The conservative imperial family would never accept such a woman as Crown Princess.
But as the nobles who heard Ephinia’s words began whispering that Helena was vulgar, her face grew hot.
‘This is ridiculous! I’m the one being humiliated like this?!’
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