RGBR 07

Chapter 7

Had something changed in her?

Unlike before, when she had treated him warmly, her chilly tone contained not even a trace of warmth. It felt unfamiliar and uncomfortable to Joshua.

Why is she suddenly acting like this?

Even though they weren’t particularly close, ever since Elenor had learned that they were engaged, she had never treated him like a stranger.

She had been fairly friendly with him.

So Joshua couldn’t understand why she was reacting this way today.

Just as he was beginning to feel somewhat frustrated, Joshua suddenly thought of something that could explain the change in her attitude.

He looked at Elenor suspiciously.

Could she have realized that I have feelings for Helena?

After all, no matter how little affection someone had for their fiancé, discovering that their fiancé had feelings for someone else couldn’t possibly feel good.

Joshua somehow felt a little relieved.

Having settled on that conclusion, Joshua silently placed the light-blue shoe he had been holding beside her dress.

Elenor belatedly noticed her shoe and her expression stiffened.

Rather than feeling grateful that he had picked it up for her, she was overwhelmed by the urge to scream at him.

The hand clutching her dress trembled.

She didn’t even want to wear a shoe that Joshua had touched.

But I can’t show hostility toward him right now.

He is quick-witted, so he may already have noticed that something is strange about me. I need to make him think this is nothing more than a temporary mood.

After taking several deep breaths, she stood and politely bowed her head.

Her face had returned to its usual expression, as though it had never stiffened in the first place.

“Thank you, Young Master.”

Joshua’s eyebrow twitched.

But he said nothing and lowered his gaze.

“You’re welcome. But are you really sure you don’t need to have your injury examined by a physician?”

Joshua brought up her injury once again.

Elenor lightly shook her head and moved backward.

At her attitude of deliberately putting distance between them, Joshua felt as though he had somehow become a thug despite having done absolutely nothing.

He couldn’t bring himself to press the matter any further, so he merely stood there with an awkward expression.

“I’m sorry, but I’d like to be alone right now. Is there anything else you wanted to say to me, Young Master?”

“……No. Then I’ll return first. It’s cold outside, so I think you should stay here a little longer before going back inside.”

“Yes. I’ll take care of myself.”

“……”

Joshua was bewildered by Elenor’s attitude, but he showed none of it and turned away.

At that moment, he saw someone turn around the corner and approach them.

Elenor held her breath.

If anyone misunderstood and thought that she and Joshua were secretly meeting together, breaking off their engagement later might become difficult.

As the figure drew closer and Elenor could make out the person’s clothing, she felt relieved.

It was a maid.

Only then did Elenor roughly understand what had happened.

Joshua must have notified a maid before coming to her.

And naturally, the maid would have informed the host and mistress of the estate, the Grand Duchess of Raiwens, that one of the guests had been injured.

Elenor looked coldly at Joshua.

Hmph. He still thinks he’s the smartest person around.

The maid immediately approached Elenor.

“Miss Elenor, let me help you.”

Elenor extended one hand toward the maid and asked,

“Thank you. What’s your name?”

“Jane, Miss.”

“Thank you, Jane. I’ll be in your care.”

“There’s no need to thank me. It’s only natural.”

Perhaps she sensed the sincerity in Elenor’s voice, because Jane smiled warmly.

Elenor gave Joshua a slight bow before leaving with Jane’s support.

Left alone, Joshua narrowed his eyes as he watched Elenor’s retreating figure.

As Jane helped Elenor along, she told her that a physician had already been summoned.

Instead of taking Elenor back to the hall where the banquet was being held, Jane brought her to a small sitting room that could be entered directly from outside.

Elenor was drinking the warm black tea Jane had brought when, before long, the physician arrived.

The middle-aged female physician wore an expressionless face. At a glance, she looked like a woman of few words.

Elenor carefully extended her foot.

The female physician examined the wound once, then quickly disinfected it and applied medicine.

After covering it with a bandage, the physician stood.

“The wound isn’t serious. However, it could become infected, so please be careful not to get your foot wet for the next two days.”

Elenor looked down at her foot once before looking back at the physician.

“Yes. I understand. Thank you, Doctor.”

“It’s nothing.”

The physician nodded expressionlessly and left the sitting room under Jane’s guidance.

The voices of the people in the hall drifted into the room, but they were cut off the moment the door closed.

Elenor glanced at her treated wound before putting on the comfortable shoes the maid had prepared for her.

Soft fur slippers wrapped warmly around her feet.

Once all the treatment was finished, her mind became calm.

Her whole body was no longer trembling as it had earlier, nor did she feel like she was going to throw up.

There was only one thing left.

If she didn’t break off her engagement with Joshua soon, she felt that one day she really might kill him with her own hands.

Of course, a man like him wouldn’t have anything to complain about even if he died ten million times over.

But I can’t dirty my hands.

Elenor scoffed inwardly as she thought of Joshua.

She would never be foolish enough to let herself be victimized like that again in this life.

Elenor set down her teacup and fell into thought.

Come to think of it, breaking off my engagement with Joshua shouldn’t be difficult.

Joshua already has Helena.

Helena was the youngest and most beloved daughter of the Duke of Demera.

The Duke of Demera cherished his youngest daughter, who had been born late in his life, more than anything.

In her previous life, the Duke had noticed that his precious youngest daughter had feelings for Joshua and had supported his struggle for the throne for Helena’s sake.

Elenor had never been interested in becoming Empress.

She had simply wanted to see the world Joshua dreamed of become reality.

Because her father understood her wishes, the Grand Duke of Frihosen had not opposed the Duke of Demera over the position of Empress.

But the Duke of Demera went around telling everyone that my father and I hadn’t given up the position of Empress willingly.

He claimed we simply didn’t have the ability to take it.

If he had criticized only Elenor, she could have laughed it off.

But the Duke of Demera was always dragging her father into it.

He treated her father as though he were dealing with a dog that mistakenly believed itself to be a tiger, picking fights with him over every little thing.

How could someone like that possibly have raised someone as kind-hearted as Helena?

At that moment, the door to the sitting room quietly opened.

Elenor raised her head to see who it was, then froze.

It was Helena—the very person she had been thinking about just moments ago.

Helena seemed to have known that Elenor was inside, because she wasn’t surprised.

She simply checked Elenor’s condition with a serious expression and, upon seeing that she was all right, visibly relaxed.

Then their eyes met.

Helena gave an embarrassed smile and lightly walked over.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it, El? I saw you being helped inside by a maid earlier.”

“Ah…… Helena.”

Helena smiled brightly and sat beside Elenor.

At that moment, an image of Helena from her previous life flashed through Elenor’s mind.

Helena had gotten into a fierce argument with Joshua a few days before she was poisoned.

Afterward, she barely ate and hardly slept.

Even when Elenor asked what they had fought about, Helena would only cry and never give her a clear answer.

Then, a few days before Helena was poisoned, she suddenly began eating proper meals again, her face noticeably brighter.

Rather than feeling relieved, Elenor’s heart had dropped.

The sudden change had somehow felt ominous.

Elenor had become convinced that something was going to happen to Helena.

So she explained Helena’s condition to Joshua.

But all she received in return was his dismissal and scorn.

[You’re worried about Helena? Your acting really is impressive. How disgusting.]

“……El?”

Elenor suddenly snapped back to reality.

Helena was looking at her with a worried expression.

“Yes, Helena.”

“Are you all right? You looked dazed. If you’re feeling ill, I’ll call the physician again.”

“No. I’m fine. I just felt a little dizzy for a moment.”

Helena looked over Elenor’s face as though checking her condition.

Seeing Helena behave exactly as she had in her previous life, Elenor suppressed the smile that threatened to escape.

Helena let out a relieved sigh.

“That’s a relief. I was worried that something might have happened, so I couldn’t just stay still. I hope I didn’t disturb you while you were resting?”

“No. Of course not. Ren.”

“Hmm?”

“……Ah.”

Without realizing it, Elenor had called Helena by her familiar nickname.

Both Elenor and Helena were startled.

Their eyes widened.

“Oh my! This is the first time you’ve called me by my nickname, El! When I asked you to call me that before, you wouldn’t even pretend to hear me!”

“……”

Helena covered her mouth with both hands and laughed happily.

There was warmth in Elenor’s eyes as she looked at her.

Joshua seemed to think that Elenor might somehow harm Helena whenever the two of them were together, and he had always hated seeing them around each other.

But the truth was that their relationship had never been bad—not from the beginning, all the way to the very end.

When Elenor was young, there had been a day when she overheard the maids of the estate whispering among themselves.

That was how she learned that she was an illegitimate child.

She was the only daughter of the Grand Duke of Frihosen, the Emperor’s close friend.

But in high society, where people were filled with pride and arrogance over their birth and status, an illegitimate child was treated as little more than an outcast—a mutation to be rejected.

A lowly, half-blooded child whose mother was unknown.

Elenor knew what people called her.

And because of that, she had always been ostracized by high society.

Helena was the only person who had ever looked after her.

Some people gossiped that the Duke of Demera’s daughter only showed charity because she cared about what others thought of her, or that she was merely helping one pitiful person out of charity.

But Elenor, the person directly involved, knew that Helena had no ulterior motives whatsoever.

She was a good person.

Helena Demera was genuinely kind.

And that was why Elenor sincerely loved her, too.