Chapter 76 - There’s Trouble (2) (2/2)
“Of course. I was worried that Lady Selby was going to do something, but I didn’t know what. If I didn’t remember what I suffered under her I might’ve been fooled by the rumors too.”
While anyone might have been fooled by the rumors, Margaret had judged it to be a lie in one stroke. Elena thought back to the day of the tea party.
“I should have said back then that you were not the one who put the salt in the tea.”
At the time it didn’t matter to her who was the real culprit. Helen, Sarah and Margaret all planned to give Elena the salty tea, which was Mirabelle almost drank. Elena could not stand that fact. She was even less forgiving then because in her previous life it was Elena who really did end up drinking it.
Margaret waved her hands in protest.
“No! Though Lady Selby was the leader, I followed her as an accomplice. If I were you I would never have forgiven me, but you have a generous heart and for that I am thankful.”
The word “friend” suddenly came to Elena’s mind. In his last life, she had never given this word even to the comrades she fought with. She had no room left in her heart for it after she lost her family, and before that she never left the castle much, thus her relationships never went deeper than perfunctory greetings. She had never been friends with a woman her own age before. Elena’s present situation was not the worst she had experienced, but this emerging connection in her life brought a new warmth.
“Lady Lawrence.”
Elena wore a rare smile that she did not often show to others. Margaret’s eyes widened at the sight. Elena continued in a gentle voice.
“…Thank you.”
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Elena saw Margaret off when she finished speaking. Elena didn’t want to spend too long with her when her present situation was still difficult. However, no matter how hard Elena tried, she couldn’t think of a way to put the rumors to rest. There was only one way.
‘An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.’
The way to fight a rumor…was with another rumor. Elena’s red eyes shone like blood.
“Don’t blame me for this, Lady Selby.”
It was she who touched the nose of a sleeping lioness.