222
As soon as the word “control” was mentioned, Alexander’s expression changed and he slammed the table.
“It doesn’t matter what anyone else says. I have no intention of listening to the clueless ramblings of people who don’t know anything.”
Achilles, speaking in a much calmer tone than his older brother, asked.
“We just don’t want Arie to get hurt. Isn’t that the same for the families of the other noble ladies, too?”
But this time, Seraphina responded with a firm expression.
“Even after everything that’s happened, my father was extremely worried when I said I would stay in the capital. But in the end, he respected my decision and agreed, after asking Countess Sharon to act as my chaperone. In life, you inevitably get hurt at some point. What matters is how you grow through those experiences.”
“Don’t speak so lightly of what Arie has gone through, Lady. If you’ve never experienced real pain, then those words are nothing but empty, self-righteous hypocrisy.”
Letticia, who had been silently enduring until now, finally snapped. Letticia slammed the table and shot up to her feet. Everyone was startled, but she didn’t care. Instead, she glared at Alexander.
“You’re unbelievably generous to yourself, aren’t you?* What do you even know about what Lady Eskis has gone through or what kind of pain she’s suffered? You act like your little sister is the only one who’s ever had it hard. Enough with the victim complex.”
“And what about you, Lady Sharon? Do you even know what my sister’s been through, for you to speak so carelessly?”
“I don’t. I’ve never heard anything. And isn’t that the problem? What I do see is the three of you claiming it’s all out of love, while you try to clip Lady Averil’s wings and lock her in a cage just because you’re afraid. Then you act like you’re doing her a favor by pretending to respect her wishes. It’s ridiculous.”
“Th-that’s all because of me, Lady Sharon!”
Ariette finally spoke up, her face on the verge of tears. She had been restless all along but could no longer stay silent.
“When I was little, my governess used to abuse me terribly. I never told anyone about it, and because of that, my family got really worried… It’s all my fault-”
“Arie, that wasn’t your fault!”
All three of those men shouted desperately. But Letticia didn’t even glance at them. She turned to Ariette and asked calmly.
“If the problem was that crazy governess, then don’t blame yourself. Just tell me, how old were you when this happened?”
“I… I was five.”
“So this all happened more than thirteen years ago. I’m not saying time has magically fixed everything… But surely, Lady Averil isn’t still hiding everything the way she used to, right?”
“But I really did hide a lot back then. Like when the governess beat me with a rod and left bruises… or when the maids kept putting strange things in my food, so I went hungry… or when they woke me up every morning by stabbing me with needles or pouring cold water on me…”
They had known the facts, but hearing it spoken aloud was something else entirely. Even if these abuses mirrored the common 'tragic heroine' tropes of romance fantasy novels, it was still horrifying, what kind of monsters would do this to a child?
The expressions on the three men’s faces were filled with anguish. As the weight of their inaction set in, guilt overtook them. They seemed to be reliving Ariette's suffering.
For Seraphina, hearing this for the first time was shocking. She couldn’t hold back her anger and confronted the Duke.
“Your Grace, are you saying you had no idea this was happening? That your daughter was being abused by her governess, and you never even noticed?”
“…It seems all I ever show you ladies are my disgraceful sides. It’s a shameful truth I don’t want to admit—but I truly didn’t know.”
The Duke clenched his fists, as if he couldn’t forgive himself for saying that.
Achilles, perhaps feeling the same as his father, no longer looked angry. Instead, his expression was full of regret as he said
“When it comes to Arie… all of us were bystanders. Neither my brother nor I had any idea what was happening to her.”
“No, right now your guilt isn’t what matters. You can beat yourselves up when it’s just the three of you. What we need to talk about here is the present and the future. So, Lady Averil. Are you still hiding things now, like you did back then? Are you pretending to like things you actually dislike?”
Letticia interrupted to ask Ariette a question. Caught off guard, Arietta quickly shook her head.
“No, not at all. When I had tea with Lady Sharon, I told her exactly what kind of tea I wanted…”
“Really? You did that, Arie?”
“Good girl. That’s how it should be. Just say what you want.”
“What kind of tea did you ask for? I’ll tell the kitchen to stock up on it.”
Watching the three of them treat Ariette like she was six years old, Letticia’s expression twisted in discomfort. Seraphina, too, looked at them as if she were witnessing something bizarre.
“I’m not sure if you’re treating her like this to compensate for her lost childhood, but Lady Averil is an adult now. Don’t you think you should treat her accordingly? From what I’ve heard so far, it seems like you’re being overly protective because of the abuse she suffered as a child but that kind of protection should end when someone becomes an adult. It’s time she started standing on her own two feet.”
“But Arie is still only 18.”
Ariette stood up with a resolute expression. She walked over to Letticia and Seraphina, across from her father and brothers, and faced them directly before speaking.
“Father, brothers… I know how much you’ve cared about me and worried for me all this time. I know you let me live as a child for the past thirteen years. But now, I want to take responsibility as an adult.”
“Arie…!”
The Duke called his daughter’s name in surprise. But Ariette, gripping her skirt tightly, continued with determination.
“Even if all of you say it’s okay, I just can’t feel at peace anymore. I can’t keep hiding behind the excuse of being a child forever.”
“…We just wanted you to live comfortably like that a little longer.”
“I know, Dad. I know how much you’ve always cherished and protected me, and I’m truly grateful. But I want to grow into an adult too. I don’t want to keep causing you worry. So please… let me do this. Okay?”
Her last words had the tone of a pleading child, almost like a sweet little act but her trembling hands and the desperation visible on her face revealed how serious she was.
'Is this that ‘survival aegyo’ (cute pleading) they say tragic heroines do in regretful-family stories?'
Letticia thought to herself. What looked a bit silly in writing felt downright chilling in reality.
Why does she have to act cutesy like that just to be taken seriously by her own family? If she enjoyed it, maybe, but it didn’t seem like she did.
Letticia struggled not to frown at the bizarre scene. Meanwhile, the Duke looked at his daughter with a heavy expression, then closed his eyes and placed a hand to his forehead, not the response of a man charmed by his daughter’s sweet behavior.
Letticia narrowed her eyes slightly, suspicious.
Then the Duke reopened his eyes and asked Letticia and Seraphina.
“How far do you intend to take this etiquette training? If you're trying to change every gesture, every word she speaks... I won’t allow it. I don’t want my daughter to be tightly bound and controlled like she’s being laced into a corset.”
“Nothing that extreme. We’re mainly focusing on proper manners for visiting other noble households or receiving guests. Of course, we’ll start by evaluating her current etiquette level and then tailor the lessons accordingly.”
“And how exactly are you planning to evaluate her? Don’t tell me you’re going to balance five thick books on her head and make her walk around the room?”
Alexander immediately jumped in with a sharp tone. His hostility was laid bare, all pretense gone. Seeing his open aggression, Letticia clicked her tongue slightly and answered in Seraphina’s stead.
“We’ve also received education from private tutors and finishing schools. So we just plan to ask questions to gauge how much she already knows, based on that curriculum. It’ll mostly be Q&A. And even if she gets something wrong, we’re not going to mock her.”
“Lady Sharon, have you heard anything about my wife from the Countess?”
Everyone flinched at the Duke’s words. The duchess was the greatest wound the ducal family had ever endured.
Letticia responded carefully.
“According to my mother, their paths never aligned, so she only met the duchess once, at her own wedding to my father. Other than that, she only heard stories passed down from others.”
“I don’t know how much the Countess truly knows, but my wife was deeply hurt by the capital’s social circles. The unspoken rules meant to exclude outsiders and newcomers, the blatant ostracism, all of it caused her great pain.”
His face, as he recalled those times, was filled with a complex mixture of anger, sorrow, regret, and guilt.
Letticia couldn’t help but wonder if the Duke, on some level, was aware that he too had played a part in the suffering the duchess endured.
“I don’t want my daughter to go through the same thing. That’s why I’ve never allowed Ariette to step into the capital’s social world. But… if she truly wishes to study proper etiquette, then I won’t oppose her any longer. Please… guide her well.”
🍓; *Easily excuses or justifies their own behavior, as if they’re always in the right.
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
1 Comments
FINALLYYYYY A BREAKTHROUGH!!! MAYBE THERE'S HOPE AFTER ALL!!
ReplyDelete