Chapter 42: Chapter 42

what’s with that ‘have a good day’? she sabotaged a loving couple and made them walk all the way to the mansion, and now she’s smiling and welcoming?

she’d never seen such audacity before.

while she wanted to lash out and leave, she couldn’t.

‘how hard it was to get invited to this event…! why her of all people?’

the group that karen, flory’s friend, was part of consisted of wealthy, renowned, and distinguished young nobles.

despite knowing her shortcomings, she had persuaded karen incessantly to attend this event. she couldn’t just leave now.

but that didn’t mean she wanted to get along with that wicked woman. once everyone gathered, she planned to subtly expose her true nature.

with two wishes still owed, she couldn’t directly confront her but thought of using karen.

“…yes.”

determined, flory tersely responded and clung to karen. her cold demeanor made karen awkwardly laugh while trying to explain her friend’s behavior.

“she seems nervous. we’ll rest a bit before the party starts.”

claiming it was nerves seemed a stretch given flory’s sour expression, but luna graciously laughed it off.

“please do. a servant will guide you.”

on their way to the glass garden led by a servant, karen, with flory still clinging to her arm, asked:

“flory, did something upset you?”

more than an inquiry, it sounded like a reproach. keeping a distance from the servant, flory gritted her teeth and replied:

“karen, do you know who that woman is?”

“come to think of it, we didn’t properly introduce ourselves.”

rosemary, who had sent the invitation, only mentioned she would introduce her friend, the new owner of the rose mansion, so karen didn’t know her name.

if flory hadn’t been so upset earlier, they would’ve shared names.

“i’ve told you several times! there’s a woman tormenting my friend, young lady seira. she’s the childhood friend of young lord rodrian.”

“oh, right, you did mention that.”

mentioning such an unrelated person out of the blue perplexed karen. seeing her confused face, flory burst out:

“that woman is the wicked one! it’s luna peils!”

“…what?”

karen stopped in her tracks, showing the reaction flory had anticipated. flory hurriedly continued to explain.

“even once, she made me walk all the way from the boutique to the mansion! she’s really an incredible woman, isn’t she?”

“how on earth did that happen?”

“that woman proposed a bet. she said if she won, i’d have to do whatever she wanted, so to prevent her from tormenting seira any longer, i agreed. i’ll tell you about the bet later. it’s a bit complicated.”

flory explained the situation, conveniently omitting details that cast her in a negative light.

“so, after losing the bet, you walked to the mansion as per her wish?”

“yes! how could she even make such a wish? she’s utterly mad, isn’t she? how could one keep a straight face in front of someone like that?”

unbelievable. how could she do such a thing.

hearing that she not only interfered with seira and fersen’s relationship but also tormented flory, her longtime friend, karen frowned.

“you must never allow that woman into this gathering.”

upon flory’s plea, karen nodded in agreement. she had already made up her mind even before flory’s request.

“don’t worry. everyone would oppose her joining even before i make a decision.”

why would rosemary ever introduce someone like that as a friend? she’s usually discerning like a proud cat.

though suspicious, if the woman truly was the rumored luna peils, they needed to expel her from the group, regardless of the reason.

* * *

after karen and flory disappeared into the glass garden, for some reason, rosemary’s expression seemed off.

she stared at the direction of the glass garden for a moment, then turned to luna with a slightly disappointed face.

“do you know flory flora? are you close?”

“…yes?”

what kind of out-of-the-blue question is this? luna, who inadvertently giggled, shook her head.

“no, not really.”

“it seemed like you’ve done various things together.”

“well, yes.”

but not in a good way. it was quarreling, or warnings and threats, or betting with the intent to finish off the opponent.

upon luna’s reply, rosemary, with a gloomy face, stared out the window before cautiously asking again.

“you’ve known her longer, so you’re closer, right?”

“if just knowing someone for a long time means closeness, then fersen would be my closest friend.”

“ah.”

that simple and clear answer seemed to give rosemary profound insight.

“also, you, lady rosemary, are my only friend. so, you’re the closest one.”

antes wasn’t a friend, emma and laura were family. so, luna was indeed closest to rosemary.

there wasn’t even a comparison. luna, being a homebody, barely knew anyone.

“really!?”

hearing that she was the sole and closest friend, rosemary’s eyes sparkled, wiping away her earlier gloominess.

“i also feel that i’m closest to lady luna! although we haven’t known each other for long, i felt that way. i hope we get even closer, so close that we’d even enter our graves hand in hand!”

“graves?”

suddenly, it turned into a confession of their closeness. luna was grateful but found the description a bit overwhelming, making her laugh awkwardly.

fortunately, before anything more could be said, carriages arrived. not one, but three.

the ladies disembarked, giggling, and exchanged warm greetings with rosemary.

and naturally, luna, whom they were meeting for the first time, was introduced.

“this is luna, the star of today’s party and the owner of the rose mansion from the peils family.”

“…”

as soon as rosemary finished, the three ladies froze, their faces questioning if they just heard some nonsense.

anticipating this, luna smiled wryly, gathered her dress, and greeted them as gracefully as possible.

“my name is luna peils. i was hesitant to meet others because of the baseless rumors, but i’ve heard that you all are understanding individuals who wouldn’t be swayed by gossip. so, i gathered the courage to host this event.”

hoping to clear any misunderstandings first, she concluded her introduction, and fortunately, the ladies seemed to understand her intentions, though they appeared a bit embarrassed.

that didn’t mean their doubts were cleared, however. one of them couldn’t contain her curiosity and directly asked luna.

“so, you’re saying the rumors are false?”

“yes. absolutely. i’d stake my entire fortune on it.”

she had to stake her fortune because if she staked her life, the genre of the story might change. another lady asked luna.

“then why did you call young lord rordrian all the time?”

“i’ve never done that. it’s impossible to call him all the time. unfortunately, our impoverished family had only one carriage, and that carriage was used by my father for commuting.”

“so, you didn’t walk?”

“how could one walk a distance that takes an hour even by carriage? even running would take several hours.”

“oh…! i see.”

the ladies realized the illogical nature of the rumor and covered their surprised mouths with their fans.

while it was sad, luna’s impoverished past proved her innocence.

they seemed to have many more questions about luna. so many, in fact, that they had countless suspicions about her.

“we can talk about misunderstandings later. i can vouch that she has been falsely accused. when have i ever lied? so, i hope you see luna for who she truly is. she’s a wonderful person.”

given the mood, it seemed they would keep questioning, but rosemary intervened.

they would gather all in one place and everything would be explained then.

“it must’ve been a hard experience for you, thank you for kindly answering.”

“i’m sorry for being rude out of excessive curiosity during our first meeting.”

accepting and apologizing immediately was typical of rosemary’s friends. luna smiled and accepted their apologies.

“as for rudeness, i’m actually thankful you spoke up.”

“your mansion is beautiful. could we request a tour?”

“actually, i was about to ask you the same.”

thanks to rosemary, they had already visited the mansion several times. their request was a form of friendly gesture.

“of course,” luna willingly agreed.

“starting from this hall. it’s built higher than typical mansion halls, making it feel spacious in comparison to its size. the lighting is designed to reduce eye fatigue to the maximum.”

“…?”

that wasn’t the kind of tour they were expecting.

they just wanted to casually share their admiration for the mansion, but luna suddenly began explaining architectural techniques and lighting materials, which left them wide-eyed.

still, they weren’t displeased. watching luna passionately explain the mansion was somehow endearing.

although they weren’t interested in the technical details, they listened intently as luna led them to the glass garden.

* * *

“and this is the glass garden. it’s made entirely of glass up to the ceiling, so you can enjoy the scenery regardless of the weather.”

“oh my. it’s so beautiful.”

even after several visits, the glass garden was still breathtaking.

luna, satisfied with their reaction, began another detailed explanation.

“the garden’s ceiling height is five meters, taller than most indoor gardens. it was constructed using a glass-making technique devised by artisans from croix…”

although the content was technical and luna seemed to be reciting memorized information, the ladies listened without complaint. except for two of them.

“what’s going on? does she still not know who they are?”

karen asked, puzzled. flory answered with a determined look.

“impossible. she must’ve heard their names by now. it’s that.”

“that?”

“that woman is surely lying. she must have interfered between young lord rodrian and young lady seira in this manner before.”

it was clear that she had always caused trouble, stirring up misunderstandings and creating rifts.

karen, fully convinced, bit her lip.

“what should we do? i actually have two more wishes i need to grant, but i can’t bring myself to say it. that woman is just too terrifying.”

flory held karen’s hand with a face full of fear, looking pitiable.

holding flory’s hand tightly, karen stood up, determined not to let anything ruin her precious gathering anymore.

“wait, everyone, don’t be deceived!”