Chapter 24
***
It had been two days since her meeting with Khaled Karnus. Aubrey, who'd been lying in the corner of her room like a living corpse, had woken up. Nothing was resolved, but she felt better than before.
"I'd appreciate it if you could think of something other than that.”
On second thought, she was confident in the moment. Despite the color of her face, her voice didn't tremble, and she didn't stutter, which caused the man's expression to subtly harden.
The feeling that she had taken a little of the initiative, that he had brought it to her, revitalized Aubrey. And she vowed that she would make a new life for herself.
She would be a decent lady, find a good man, and build a happy life. And just as she was beginning to visualize the right man, Aubrey received news she hadn't expected.
"Trin! Where are you?"
Aubrey came to the kitchen looking for Trin and found the chef, Chubby, kneading cookie dough, and Trin watching from the sidelines. She walked over to them and told them the news.
"I'm going to the masquerade ball."
"What?"
Trin's mouth dropped open.
"You're going to a masquerade ball, my God!"
Trin covered her mouth with her hands and exclaimed in delight. The Masquerade Ball was a royally organized ball that had been held since last year.
Trin had heard of all the romances that had blossomed at the secretive, fancy balls, and she knew this was her chance. A chance to bring Nicholas and Aubrey together.
"The Duchess of Karnus has offered her help, and I know she'll hate me for it......."
Aubrey was still dumbfounded.
This morning, Barbara had told her about the masquerade ball, explaining that she had called in a tutor to teach her to dance. It would never have happened without the Duchess of Karnus' help.
"Something's wrong, isn't it?"
Aubrey asked, and Chubby, rolling out the dough with a rolling pin, shook her head.
"Which is weird, because it means they've accepted you as part of the family now."
"But......."
"I think we all want the young lady to find a good match, and I don't think lady Emily wants it out of the goodness of her heart, but whatever."
Chubby was right. For better or for worse, Emily would want Aubrey to marry and get out of this house as soon as possible. But what was the Duchess thinking, why had she allowed Aubrey to be taken to a royal function?
"I suppose she's trying to win the master's favor, for he dislikes the Count of Lavonne very much."
Chubby lowered her voice a little. Their eyes met, and Trin and Aubrey nodded in unison. The last time they'd overheard together, Jeffrik’s inner thoughts had been filled with contempt for Khaled.
"He's probably just making sure now, it's not every day that the Count of Lavonne comes to the capital. Perhaps we should start preparing for an engagement soon."
Chubby said casually, tearing off a small piece of cookie dough and pressing it into a round shape. Aubrey looked at the cute little balls of dough forming in rows and thought.
Emily and Khaled's engagement was a foregone conclusion. It would bring them closer together, and they would have nothing to hide. Perhaps they could skip the engagement and become husband and wife right away.
For a moment, she imagined Khaled glancing at her with an arrogant, easygoing expression and whispering to Emily, "I'm not going to let her get away with it. I'm going to let you in on the dirty little secret of that lady who lives in your house without a care in the world.” Aubrey pursed her lips tightly.
"A masquerade ball, by the way. Oh, my God, why am I so nervous!"
"......."
"And the madam has even gotten a teacher to teach you to dance, so you'll really enjoy it this time, Miss."
Twirling in place like a dancer, Trin grinned at her. Trin paused as he watched Aubrey, deep in thought. Her brilliant green eyes stared down into the cookie dough like they could kill.
"......?"
Aubrey paused in thought, then smiled. It was an odd change of expression.
"Oh, yeah. That sounds like a lot of fun."
At this point, there was only one answer: to find her match before they got engaged or married, and to leave this house with dignity.
* * *
The next day, the tutor who came to visit the Countess was a slightly older woman. The thin pink coat she wore was form-fitting, accentuating her voluptuous figure.
A long purple feather was tucked into the pink hat on her head. She introduced herself as Koppen. Madame Koppen. It had been ten minutes since she had entered Aubrey's room.
She sat in a chair, sipping coffee and studying Aubrey. Her blue eyes, blue and withered, rested once again on Aubrey's face.
"Are you always so nervous?"
"What? Ah......."
She made her nervous first. Aubrey smiled sheepishly, unsure of what to say. Then Madame Koppen set her teacup down with a clatter and stood up, coming up to her.
"You're not going to dance with a body that tight."
"No, wait!"
Madame Koppen hesitantly placed her hands on both of Aubrey's shoulders. She was wearing a brown dress, but the woman's touch was unmistakable. Five fingers pinched her hard shoulders. Koppen squeezed lightly, not even a hard, and Aubrey's entire body squirmed, threatening to fall off her chair.
"Oh, it hurts, it hurts so much!"
"I didn't know there were such hard shoulders. They're like rocks."
Aubrey gritted her teeth, because she had to learn to dance, and she didn't want to be humiliated again. By the time Koppen pulled her hands away and returned to her seat, Aubrey's eyes were welling up with tears. Her cheeks were flushed with heat.
"Now that's a good look."
Koppen smirked, as if she liked the look. Aubrey rubbed her still throbbing shoulder with one hand.
"Didn't you come here to teach me to dance?"
"I did, but your body isn't fit enough to dance."
Koppen covered her mouth and chuckled, then unbuttoned her coat and handed it to Trin, who stepped forward.
"You can't do anything with your body so tightly wound. You may have been sore for a moment, but you should be able to move more easily than you were earlier, don't you think?"
At her question, Aubrey felt her body again. Her feverish body was definitely more flexible than it had been when she'd been frozen with tension. As she stood there, bewildered, Koppen stepped forward.
"Shall we begin now? We're running out of time, so let's hurry."
Aubrey blinked back the tears that had been building up and took her hand.
* * *
The conservatory garden at Atherton Manor was filled with merry voices and laughter.
"That's not why they ran away."
"I thought making eyes with the servant was just a rumor my mother told me. Oh well."
"Honey, there's more to it than you think. Our parents are secretive people, we just don't hear about it."
The conversation in Emily's group was always the same. Embarrassing stories of infidelity in one family, a seemingly innocent noblewoman's infidelity, the fact that a quiet gentleman's main playground was a bar full of prostitutes. Jenny Delove, who had been rambling on for a while, suddenly glanced at Emily, who was quiet.
"What's wrong?"
Emily finally spoke, as if she had been waiting.
"It's nothing, I was just thinking about the upcoming masquerade ball."
One of them added, like fish to water when Emily tossed them a rice cake.
"By the way, I hear that the Count of Lavonne is to be present at that ball, is it true?"
At last, the long-awaited topic. Emily smiled sheepishly and nodded gravely.
"Oh, my God. The Count of Lavonne is attending the ball?"
"I'm a little puzzled myself, but he replied to my letter a few days ago. He said he would be attending, and that he would see me there."
The messy topic of conversation quickly faded away, and the assembled ladies let out a collective gasp of envy. To the adults, the Count of Lavonne was a rare headache with a complicated birth story, but to them, the Count of Lavonne was different.
His superior physique and handsome appearance more than made up for any disadvantages. Moreover, he was an accomplished man who had built a business with his own hands. The lucky ones whose futures were promised to such a man at an early age. Among them, Emily was one of them.
"Is it this year that the Count will propose to you?"
"There is no need to delay; Emily was too young before, but not now."
"I wonder if she's planning something at the ball, or else she wouldn't be attended by a man who's supposed to be a socialite."
Each of the ladies' comments struck a chord with Emily, because that's exactly what she'd been thinking. When she'd written to Khaled asking him to the ball, she hadn't expected a reply.
So it goes without saying how excited she was when the letter arrived a few days later. His handwriting was so neat and polished.
"I suppose you will soon be the Duchess of Karnus, Miss Emily Ravant?"
Jenny Delove smirked. Emily waved her hand dismissively, but she couldn't help but chuckle inside.
"Are you coming out together this time?"
The lady who had been listening for a while asked. Emily looked at her, still smiling. It was Jessica Argent, a woman with auburn blond hair and tons of curls.
"So, the sponsored lady will be going too?”
The conversation quickly turned to Aubrey Sandalwood. The topic of conversation in this group tended to shift around a lot, and Emily didn't like it.
"She looks pretty."
There was a brief silence after Jessica said that, and then, as if by promise, everyone began to talk about the mistakes Aubrey had made.
"Did you guys see the way she was dancing, how many times she stepped on Lord Paddingham's feet. I felt like dying of embarrassment."
"Well, she didn't learn anything. Pity."
That's what they all said, but it was still shocking to see Aubrey's face, so different from the rumors. Aubrey Sandalwood was not an ugly woman to look at, in fact it was the opposite.
"Well, there you go."
Emily said, trying to quiet the commotion.
"The Duchess of Karnus helped her. I think she's bothered by the fact that she’s your mother's niece, and your mother is like a sister to the Duchess."
Once again, the ladies were unanimous in their admiration of the Duchess of Karnus' generosity of spirit, except for one, Jessica Argent, who seemed to sense something was amiss. As the room began to fill up and the ladies left one by one, Jessica grabbed Emily and said,
"You better be careful, Emily."
"What do you mean?"
"Didn't you see Aubrey was surrounded by gentlemen at the last dinner?"
Emily recalled a scene she'd forgotten. Aubrey Sandalwood, flanked on either side by Nicholas and Patrick, gushing with excitement. And in front of her was her potential fiancé, Khaled.
"I don't know who Aubrey has her eye on, but don't you think you’d better be careful?"
Jessica's words stirred the anxiety Emily had been trying to ignore.
****
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