Chapter 65
“How dare someone like you! What do you even know about manners and etiquette!”
“Miss! You should be ashamed of yourself!”
Countess Rinne rebuked her sharply. She was displeased that Helena still refused to back down even after Baroness Linier had accurately pointed out her rudeness.
“Baroness Linier is under the patronage of the prestigious House of Aphis and is protected by the Duchy of Lanas. Someone from a family no one has even heard of…”
She paused for a moment and slowly looked Helena up and down. The glance was openly mocking and heavy with meaning.
“…is not someone who may insult her so carelessly.”
“What do you even know to interfere?!”
Helena shouted, her face flushed. Startled, Countess Rinne gently took hold of Ephinia’s arm, and Ephinia supported her in return.
“Countess, are you alright?”
“My goodness… how dreadful. Someone call the knights of the imperial guard!”
Ladies and young noblewomen who were acquainted with Countess Rinne gathered around, and among the nobles, voices began to circulate that perhaps that young lady should be dragged out of the ballroom.
“Y-You…! How insolent!”
Unable to accept being dragged out without at least grabbing Ephinia’s hair once, Helena lunged at her. When Helena shouted earlier, Countess Rinne had staggered, and her legs had weakened, so she couldn’t step in front to block her.
Ephinia, who had already entrusted the Countess’s support to another young lady, lifted the corners of her eyes. Her overall impression was gentle, but with her eyes raised, she looked properly angry. It was like the eyes of a rabbit or a hamster when they were furious.
Smack!
Avoiding the hand reaching for her hair, Ephinia struck Helena’s cheek without hesitation. Helena’s eyes widened in shock.
“You hit me? You hit me?!”
SMACK!
When Helena rushed at her again in fury, an even harsher blow landed on her cheek. Helena had often hit others but had never been hit herself. She felt as if she would die of rage.
Her anger rose to the top of her head, but every time she tried to grab Ephinia’s hair, another slap landed hard enough to make her head ring, leaving her no chance to seize it.
“AAAGH! How dare you! How DARE you hit me!!”
While several nobles hesitated, unable to step in to restrain Helena, some of the stronger maids of the Marquisate approached.
Someone among the nobles had informed Marchioness Deacon of the disturbance. Startled, the Marchioness had quickly ordered an attendant to bring maids from the kitchen who were strong enough for such work, and she pointed at Helena and gave the order.
“Remove that young lady at once. Honestly…”
Helena, who had been slapped every time she lunged at Ephinia, was screaming with half her hair coming loose. Even her feet, hidden beneath her dress, were stomping in place, like a child throwing a tantrum when things didn’t go her way.
As the maids surrounded her all at once, Helena forgot her disgrace and panicked.
“What is this? Why, why are you doing this?!”
“Please come quietly, Miss.”
The head maid spoke with proper courtesy, but Helena cried out in protest. Pointing at Ephinia, she shouted at the top of her lungs.
“I’m the victim! I’m the one who was hit! The one who should be dragged out is that bi— AAAH!”
“Cover her mouth as well. Which household is she even from.”
Marchioness Deacon clicked her tongue and pressed a handkerchief to her lips. Of all times, such a disturbance had occurred in the presence of the Crown Prince and his Guide, and sweat had formed above her lip.
At her order, the maids quickly seized Helena, covered her mouth, and dragged her out of the ballroom. As Helena was hauled away, the tension that had been pounding in Ephinia’s chest began to settle.
I won.
‘Ah. I shouldn’t think like that…’
But she was happy. Throughout her childhood, Helena had been the one hitting her.
Ephinia had been three years younger than her, yet whenever something displeased Helena, she would slap her on sight. Pushing her from behind while she walked was routine, and she would grab her hair and kick her legs.
When she grew a little older, Helena even used other maids to torment her. In truth, when Helena had rushed at her just now, Ephinia had thought she wouldn’t be able to dodge.
For a long time, whenever Helena hit her, she had to endure it without avoiding it. If she tried to dodge, the punishment became worse. Learned helplessness had made her shrink back.
But her heart had screamed.
Why? How long do I have to keep being hit?
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