Second Female Leads' Playbook

The invitation for Lady Florence's celebration party was sent to our estate a week after that. Father thought this would be the perfect opportunity for Rachelle's entrance into the society. He demanded that I brought Rachelle with me now that I had recovered from my severe cold. 

I found this cruel to Lady Florence. Lord Hank falling in love with Rachelle on her own celebration party? But I could not pretend to fall sick again, could I? The same trick again would get old. 

And there was another problem, the crow feather I brought back from the forest really did shimmer in golden when flicked under the sun. This meant the crow I met that night was really that crow. Why was that crow so far away from home? It should be as lazy as its owner. 

It should not be of matter to me, we did not know each other in this life. That's right, I should just pretend I didn't see that crow. I should just burn the feather. 

My contemplation was cut short when Sarah rushed into my room and shouted excitedly, "Guess what, lady, Lady Rachelle was robbed on the street!"

"What? Where are the servants?" That certainly didn't happen in the past few lives. What if they thought it's my doing again? 

"Lady Rachelle saw some orphans on the street, so she bought a loaf of bread with money from her own purse and ordered her maid and the coachman to distribute them. She was also handing out money when she was robbed!" 

"I see." I rubbed my temple with my fingers. That's certainly something Rachelle would do, it's a miracle she was not robbed more often. "Is she injured?"

"Of course not! Here comes the most exciting part, Lord Hank saved her! Lady Rachelle was obviously shocked and frightened, so Lord Hank escorted her back! He was still downstairs in the drawing room!"

Chuckles escaped my throat while Sarah looked at me worriedly. And here I was so worried that the two might ruin Lady Florence's celebration party. The first day I let Rachelle out of the estate, she immediately bumped into Lord Hank. There's really no escaping this. Maybe in a moment, words would spread about how I hired thieves to scare the poor Rachelle. 

I decided to stop caring anymore. Let the words spread. But in this life I had finally changed the fate of Lady Florence, she should not waste her time with this fickle fiance. I did not want another silly girl to turn into an evil villainess just because her fiance betrayed her, just like how I had been in my first life. It's just not worth it. 

If I could save them because I knew exactly where everything was heading, why not? 

That night Rachelle came into my room and told me her great adventure today. When she mentioned Lord Hank, her face blushed as she waved her hand excitedly describing how heroic Lord Hank was. She acted just like a young girl falling in love with someone for the first time. 

That was Rachelle. For every suitor, she acted as if she liked him or even loved him. Every single time it's this blush and look of admiration as well as adoration in her lavender eyes. When I was pretending to be her best sister in my previous life, I asked her if every suitor was to propose who would she choose. And she said she could not choose. 

Sometimes I wonder if she really loved any one of them or if she's actually not capable of love at all.

"Odette, I think I should express my thanks to Lord Hank. He's such a nice gentleman. He knew I was frightened, he even escorted me back! You didn't see how heroic he was at that time! I felt so safe in his embrace!"

All I could do was nod with a fake smile on my face. 

"Do you know what kind of gift he might like?" 

"That I am not sure, I am not really familiar with him. I am sorry, Rachelle." I smiled apologetically. 

"What do you think if I bake some cookies? Do you think he would like it?" 

Whatever you do, I have no doubt he will love it. I muttered beneath my breath. 

"It's your gratitude that's most important," I said with another fake smile. 

"I'll go find a recipe, Lord Hank said he would show me around town tomorrow. That's really nice of him, isn't it?"

"Absolutely." So Lord Hank didn't even pause to think of his betrothed for one second and went on and set up a date?

After Rachelle left my room in a rush, I wrote a note to Lady Florence with sprawled handwriting so that it could not be traced back to me. That night I sneaked out again. When I reached Lady Florence's estate, I realized a huge problem. How could I send this note to Florence without waking up anyone? 

Now I missed Isobel, my cat familiar I kept in my second life. If Isobel was here, the note could be sent out easily. In my third and fourth lives, I had thought of raising Isobel again, but decided against it. I couldn't bear separating with something I liked dearly and then losing them when I had to start over again. Only I remembered the past memories, but not one of them. They were no longer the ones I met in my previous life. Adding to the fact I would not cross path with Isobel with the current path I was taking. I smiled bitterly, I hoped Isobel met a nice owner this life. 

Now I had to sort out the current problem, how could I placed this note in Florence's room without alerting anyone? Using magic was kind of risky. Estates usually had spells placed around the premise to detect unfamiliar magic. 

"You can come out," a voice ranged out in front of me. "I can feel you there. I mean you no harm." 

It's Florence. She was out alone with just a cloak over her night gown. 

"I am a priestess for the goddess of hope. I can feel your intense despair and wish for hope." 

So that's what gave me away. I was careless. But now that she was here, all I had to do was to give her the note. 

I fling the note out like a dart. It landed a few inches from her feet. Then I turned around melting into the darkness. 

Intense despair and wish for hope? Could she feel my intense wish for death? I nearly laughed at my own cruel joke.