Betrayal of Dignity

Episode 6

TL: Jasmine

“The second thing is brought up by the Duke himself.”

“What is that?”

“If the father had praised his child to the Duke, it would have been a pure father’s heart. Even Hedgehogs are bound to adore it’s children.”

Ignoring the snorting duke, Chloe continued.

“Apart from my father’s love for his two daughters, it’s not so realistic that he forgot that Verdier is not a family to dare to compare to the Duke. Also…”

Chloe swallowed her dry saliva once and said the next words.

“It’s not only with the Duke that I don’t want to get involved with, it’s with all the other men.”

The duke’s eyes gleamed with dissatisfaction and elongated slenderly.

“I would’ve told you to be self-deprecating.”

Chloe felt a sense of exhilaration without reason. Her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to pop out of her throat. The fact that the opponent was a duke also felt unimportant. She just wanted to let him know that he was wrong.

“It is not demeaning to tell the truth as it is. The Duke has compassion for me, but he cannot define my life as unhappy.”

“Of course. Are you happy to live like that? Nothing will change in your life.”

“Yes, I’m happy.”

Chloe did not hesitate to nod. Watching Damian’s smile disappear very slowly, Chloe once again said,

“It is my happiness to live like this for the rest of my life, in this land where I was born, without changing anything and in peace. Duke.”

“Is it like that?”

“Yes. This is how it’s supposed to be.”

Tears formed in Chloe’s eyes, but never flowed down. It was fortunate that the cold wind blew. Looking at her trying to hold back her tears with all her might and greet him politely until the end, the young duke smiled slowly. With the most beautiful and cruel face in the world.

The day after Chloe fell after returning from a walk with soil and fallen leaves on her body when she came back after breakfast time, the army led by Duke Tisse regrouped and set out on the road. Groaning from her fever and chills, Chloe was grateful for one thing that she was ill and didn’t have to see him off.

The problem was that Chloe was seriously sick. Although grateful for the diagnosis that she did not have pneumonia, her father stayed up all night with

tears every day, and Alice, who was studying at the monastery, had to go back without seeing her sister’s face.

It was from that winter that bad luck began in Verdier.

Chapter 3: Reunion at Rose Castle

Dakduk. Dakduk.

Alice held Chloe’s hand slightly in the carriage where the sound of horseshoe rang out.

“Sister. We’re almost there”

She seemed to have fallen asleep without realizing it.

When Chloe opened her eyes, and smiled lightly at Alice as if she was going to see her errands.

“Wow. Sister must not be nervous at all. Right. Surprisingly, sister is much stronger than I am.”

It was something she could say because she had no idea that Chloe had a nightmare last night. Chloe recalled the face that had been bothering her. The Duke’s eyes, which were staring at her and smiling, were vivid. Somehow, she couldn’t remember the Duke’s face, and only the fragmentary image was clear.

The red lips that smiled crookedly while looking at her, and the narrowed eyes that shone like the dawn sky. Things like the angle at which the golden eyebrows, which looked cold and arrogant, went up sharply were vivid.

Chloe shook her head once to shake off the ominous image and looked at Alice. “There’s nothing to be nervous about. After today, there will be a line of nice gentlemen who want to marry my pretty little sister.”

“Are you trying to immobilize people by saying this?”

“It’s impossible. Miss Alice.”

While she was arranging Alice’s hair, who was looking outside, the carriage pulled into the Birch forest road. A beautiful castle appeared in front of them after traveling for a long time on a brightly shining forest road with a lamp lit on branches. The doors decorated with vine roses opened wide for them.

“I can’t believe this is a castle that is used only for a season solely for entertainment of the duke.”

When Alice sighed and laminated, Chloe warned Alice in case the coachman might hear it.

“Alice.”

Alice closed her mouth with an expression that she knew. The carriages that had already arrived were guided one after another, and their turn finally came After taking a small deep breath, Chloe got out of the carriage where the door was open and clenched her cane.

“The two daughters of the Verdier family are entering.”

At the guidance of the butler dressed up in a neat suit, Chloe carefully moved her feet with Alice. Following the luxurious red carpet, there was a banquet hall decorated with colorful marble that reflected her face The chandeliers stretched on luxurious walls and ceilings showed how luxurious the castle was. Each sparkling chandelier looked as if there were at least

hundreds of candles in it. The voices of aristocats wearing the best dresses and tuxedos laughing and chatting was heard mixed with the band’s performance.

“Ah, I feel like I’m already losing my mind.”

As soon as Alice whispered to Chloe, covering her face with a fan, someone approached and pretended to know her.

“Aren’t you young lady Alice Verdier?”

Alice slightly nodded as she learned, and then smiled and lightly gathered her eyebrows. She barely remembered the name of the familiar man pretending to know her, she sighed and smiled broadly.

“Count Cromwell. It’s been a while.”

“Can I ask you to dance to the next song?”

The other person didn’t seem to remember the bad memories of Alice. Alice nodded after giving Chloe a slight wink.

“Of course. This is my sister Chloe.”

“It’s an honor to meet you, Count Cromwell.”

“I am honored to meet Miss Alice’s sister. If you can dance on a song with me later….”

Count Cromwell lost his words as he looked down and watched Chloe, who took courtesy, holding her balance with a cane. Seeing him in a difficult situation, Chloe smiled at him.

“It’s fun enough to see beautiful people dancing. Thank you so much for thinking about me.”

As the music began just in time, Alice and Count Cromwell walked to the center of the banquet hall holding hands. Chloe sighed in relief as she watched them slide and dance. Alice’s commotion in the last social circle seemed to have faded in people’s minds.

She thought Alice, who was doing her first dance safely, would not be in trouble because she had other people to dance with. This is because she could already feel the eyes on them. Alice, who danced with her cheeks blushed in a dress, was lovely and beautiful enough to attract attention everywhere.

Anyway, should she thank the Duke?

After Chloe took her lemonade from a passing attendant, she began to organize the thoughts that had been running through her head. It was a matter of reunion with the duke.

The best scenario Chloe could think of so far was that she didn’t run into the castle’s owner in this spacious banquet hall.

“It doesn’t make sense.’

It was customary for the person who hosted the party to be greeted by the guest at least once. If the position of the invited person was higher than the position of the invited person, it was polite for Chloe to unconditionally visit him and express her gratitude.

The second scenario was that Duke Tisse did not remember her, but unfortunately, it seemed unlikely It was even more clear when she saw her name on the invitation. Chloe breathed heavily, feeling her hands sweating on their own.

Now she had no choice but to bet on the last remaining possibility. That the Duke wanted to express his sincerity purely to the Verdier family who supported supplies and food in the difficult battle. For that, Chloe was fully ready to bow to him.

Chloe straightened her back and lifted her rocketshaped watch to check time. The party was already ripening, and it was approaching midnight. Alice had been away for a while with her permission after dancing for the second time with Count Cromwell. Count Cromwell’s eyes, which asked if it was okay to talk to Alice for a while, were shining with favor.

“There were no bad rumors, and people seemed to be sincere.’

Recalling his shy red cheeks, Chloe sighed softly. Even if it wasn’t Count Cromwell, Alice danced with many men. It was easy to guess that the Talbot family would be busy welcoming guests from tomorrow.

‘I must say I’m happy.

Alice didn’t have the same crazy accident as last year and responded to men’s leads with perfect manners. Above all, the owner of the castle, who made Chloe nervous throughout, was not showing up until the end of the party, whether it was unfortunate or fortunate. According to what she heard while staying in her seat for a long time, the duke usually didn’t leave the room because he spent ‘secret’ time with women at parties held so far. Anyway, it was really, really fortunate for Chloe. It was when she relaxed a little and rubbed her stiff legs in a non-trivial way..

“Oh my, he’s the duke.”

An unwelcome name rang in her ears, along with the murmur of the people.

“Your Excellency Duke.”

“Sir Duke.”

Chloe’s movement paused. She instinctively got up from her waiting seaf with a cane. The voices of the murmuring people seemed to be getting closer, and she heard a sharp voice that she could not forget even in her dream.

“If you can excuse me, may I ask you to dance?”