Chapter 35 - Should I Make a Move On The Duke? (2/2)

I blinked. “…Me?”

“Yes.” Countess Cornohen smiled brightly then turned to Countess Bellafleur next to her. “Countess Bellafleur, if it’s alright with you, may I speak to your daughter?”

“That’s fine, but…please also consider her doctor’s opinion.” Countess Bellafleur turned towards me with a serious expression. “Is that alright with you, Marie? I’m worried about your physical condition.”

“…”

Really, my mental state was worse than my physical one. In any case, it would be undignified to refuse Countess Cornohen, so I smiled awkwardly and nodded.

“I think I’ll be fine, Mother. I’m much better now.”

Countess Cornohen smiled. “I’m glad to hear that, Lady Maristella. Then, shall we go to the parlor room?”

“Of course, Countess,” Countess Bellafleur said, then she addressed Florinda. “Florinda, take the two to the parlor room. The Young Lady Cornohen can come into the house with me. Just in time too—we have some rare tea.”

“Rare tea?” Dorothea said, her eyes suddenly sparking with interest, and Countess Bellafleur answered with a slightly happier tone.

“Yes. His Highness the Crown Prince sent it in hopes of Marie’s recovery.”

“…”

Dorothea’s face visibly stiffened. That was to be expected, so I wasn’t surprised. This time, however, I glanced at Countess Cornohen as well, and saw that her face was equally as hard. Like mother, like daughter I supposed. Was Countess Cornohen just as displeased that Maristella was close to Xavier?

‘The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.’

There were some exceptions to the rule, but in my experience, the saying largely held true. In the novel, Countess Cornohen wasn’t described as a bad character; Rather, she was introduced as a good mother who cared deeply about her daughter’s comfort and safety. However, I didn’t trust the original novel all that much, and it turned out that she didn’t seem that much different from Dorothea after all.

I decided to poke the two a little further. “His Highness the Crown Prince is such a benevolent man. I didn’t know that he’d be so kind to me.”

Their faces simultaneously hardened further.

‘This is really worth seeing.’

Let’s do it one more time.

“The Duke dropped by three days ago, and said the tea was delicious too,” I continued.

“The Duke, Lady Maristella?”

“Duke Escliffe,” I replied in a slightly pompous voice. “He often visits.”

“Often?”

“He visits every day!” Martina piped up helpfully from my side. It watched in real time as faces of the mother and daughter became even more rotten, and I uttered just a few more words.

“But he’s not visiting today. He’ll come tomorrow.”

“R-really?” Countess Cornohen stammered.

“Why does the Duke visit so often?” Dorothea asked with an unhappy voice.

My smile was bright and broad across my face. “No reason.”

“He comes every day even though you don’t have any business?”

“What’s wrong with that?” I said casually. “We’re friends.”

“Friends?” she repeated.

“Mm. Friends.” As I smiled at Dorothea, I could see that her face was growing harder. At this point, I wondered how she could control her expressions beneath that mask.

“He said yesterday that he wanted to be friends,” I said.

“…The Duke?”

“He said it first.”

The words ‘To you?’ remained unspoken, but I couldn’t help but laugh in my mind.

In the original novel, Dorothea didn’t care much about Claude, and he naturally remained on the sidelines as a supporting character. However, one would have to be a fool now to ignore someone with the title as high as a duke. Countess Cornohen seemed to think the same.

“I was surprised,” I added lightly.

“So am I. Friends with the Duke?” Dorothea pressed her lips in a disagreeable manner. “Is it possible for a man and woman to be friends?”

“…Then do you think should I take the opportunity to make a move on Duke?” I said with a savage smile, and Dorothea suddenly became mute. After a moment, I slightly lifted an eyelid. “Well, you automatically came to that conclusion because you don’t have experience with interactions.”

“What?”

“Even if it’s not for the purpose of dating, there are plenty of people to interact with.”

“Now, you’re taking up a lot of time with that story, Marie,” Countess Bellafleur suddenly interrupted. She must have noticed that the mood was gradually turning foul. “It’s not polite to keep a guest standing for too long. Florinda, please take those two to the parlor room.”

“Yes, My Lady,” Florinda said with a bow, and then turned to me. “Miss, do you need help?”

“Thank you, Florinda. I’m fine.” I turned to Countess Cornohen with a thin smile around my mouth. “Shall we go, Countess?”