Three days after having tea at the Ducal Palace, Madeleine entered the Ducal Palace accompanied by the young ladies and nobles from the noble families with whom she usually interacted.
“Where did you say the tea party was going to be held?”
“It will be in the conservatory,” Madeleine replied, smiling to one of the young ladies.
An elegantly dressed servant approached them.
“You must be Madeleine and her friends.
Come in.
Let me accompany you.”
They followed the servant into the conservatory, and as soon as they entered, they were immediately astonished.
The transparent greenhouse, about sixty square meters in area, was filled with various fruit trees and beautiful flowers.
However, it was not chaotic; A skilled landscape architect beautifully arranged it and created walkways, making visitors feel as if they were in paradise.
What added to the beauty of this scene was the lighting using mirrors.
The young ladies laughed as they ran their hands along the path of light.
“Oh my God, is this the place that the Duke gave to the Duchess?
It is beautifully decorated.”
“If the Duchess had been more active in society, this could have become a trend.”
At that moment,
“Oh, it feels great to receive compliments from all of you.”
They turned their heads simultaneously and saw Cornelia elegantly adorned, standing gracefully.
Usually, they would make fun of Cornelia's heavily made-up appearance.
Her expensive clothes and excessive accessories made Cornelia look very glamorous.
But they couldn't make fun of her now.
As the party's hostess, she wore a gorgeous, elegant navy dress with accessories that highlighted rather than overshadowed her beauty.
Honestly, the Duchess was perfect and beautiful in everyone's eyes.
Even her black hair, often considered a flaw, seemed like an advantage.
'Honestly, she's too pretty to be called a crow.
Honestly, I prefer her to Madeleine...'
One of Madeleine's friends thought as she stared blankly.
"Um, why is no one talking?
You were staring at me.
Do you have something to say?"
Only then did she realize her mistake, and her face turned white as she lowered her head.
“I didn't mean anything else; you look so beautiful today...”
At that moment, laughter rang out.
When she looked up, Cornelia was smiling at her.
“Honestly, it was the first time I was complimented directly, so I laughed because I felt embarrassed.”
The embarrassment at her words faded, leaving behind an inexplicable excitement.
Moreover…
“Thank you for saying that.
Mrs.
Schultz.”
Contrary to the rumors that she was always condescending and cruel to the subordinates, she suddenly remembered their names.
“It's an honor that you remember me!”
“Oh no, the honor is mine.”
Contrary to what they had heard about Cornelia, they felt a natural attraction to her easy, fresh style.
Unconsciously, they found themselves interacting with Cornelia, forgetting the original purpose of their visit.
“Hello, Duchess.
I...”
“Mrs.
Devane, it's been a long time.”
As she greeted each guest by name, the guests surrounded the Duchess with warmth and admiration.
Cornelia had unwittingly become the center of attention at the party.
Meanwhile, Madeleine's eyes darkened as she watched her.
'These worthless people!'
Although she recommended that they show a friendly attitude towards Cornelia, hearing their praise made Madeleine feel upset.
The reason was...
'This was meant to be mine from the beginning!'
The beautiful conservatory, the position of duchess, the admiration of the people - all of this should have been hers.
But that thief crow had stolen everything that belonged to her, so it was natural for her to feel angry.
'Dammit, just wait and see.
After this is over and Eric and the Emperor are out of sight, I will definitely get rid of you...'
At that moment, Madeleine gasped.
It was because Cornelia suddenly turned her gaze towards her.
'Was my expression okay?'
Did she show any hostility on her face?
While Madeleine was shaking with worry, Cornelia smiled and called to her, “Maddy, come here.”
‘Huh?’
Medellin clenched her fists.
She never expected to be named after her childhood in a place like this.
Sure enough, laughter mixed with sarcasm was heard.
“Isn't that her nickname when she was little?”
“Well, it's still cute, isn't it?”
The gossipers were Cornelia's guests as well as her own.
However, since she needed to show that she and her cousin got along, calling Cornelia by her childhood nickname was an excellent idea.
Forcing herself to smile, Madeleine replied, “Yes, I’m coming!”
ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
Cornelia had three guests, while Madeleine had five.
However, they sat around the table and talked comfortably without any embarrassment.
“The eldest lady made herbal tea as a gift for the pregnancy; it’s really nice.”
"This is correct!"
At first, the conversation revolved around Cornelia as the hostess of the party, but gradually it moved to topics usually discussed between young ladies and noblewomen.
“Oh, that young lady forced a knight to kiss her to practice kissing!”
“Oh my god, really?”
Love, gossip, and bragging.
Among them, showing off was undoubtedly the highlight.
“My dad bought me this ruby bracelet for my birthday!”
“Oh, it's really beautiful!”
At that moment, one of the young ladies who had come with Madeleine mentioned her name.
“Now that I think about it, do you think Miss Arjen would feel upset when she saw the jewels?
She must be used to seeing the best jewels every day, and if she wanted them, she could have them.”
When the attention turned to her, Madeleine smiled, covering her mouth with her hand.
'Yes, it should be like this.'
Public showing off is something only lower class people do.
Being humble but appearing subtly can be helpful in winning over people.
In this aspect, Madeleine was very skilled.
“It's our family business, after all.
Besides, the expensive contracts are managed by my father, so I can't get them whenever I want.”
Hearing Madeleine's words, the young ladies looked disappointed.
But with her next words, they couldn't help but look at Madeleine with envy and admiration.
“However, it's nice to be able to see the new items first.
Sometimes my father gives me the gems I want.”
“Oh, this is really enviable!
By the way, the mining contract that Marquis Arjen signed was quite large, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, we need to have different types of gem mines to stay ahead of the competition.”
Even among the highest-ranking nobles in the empire, there were those who did not own mines.
However, owning various types of mines was a sign of wealth that few in the empire could match, and was typical of Marquis Arjen.
At that moment, Madeleine's eyes sparkled sharply.
“Oh, by the way, our family also owns a gemstone mine that we haven’t fully exploited.”
"Oh?
What is it?"
Madeleine's gaze turned to Cornelia.
'A while ago, you dared to call me something funny, didn't you?'
Then she spoke.
“It's a jade mine.”
At her words, the guests laughed.
“Well, isn’t jade something we can do without?”
“That's right.
Owning something like this isn't even considered a jewel...”
Then, Madeleine's eyes sparkled sharply.
“Oh, it's rude to say that.
Our Duchess Brant is the largest owner of jade mines in the empire.”
In the past, Madeleine didn't care about Cornelia's reaction.
At that time, she had a bad reputation, and was close to being just a superficial duchess who did not receive good treatment even from her husband.
But now, Cornelia was different from then.
Although there were those who pitied her, her reputation was generally good.
She was carrying the heir to the dukedom, and it was a famous story that Duke Brant gave her a greenhouse as a gift to his wife who wanted to eat the fruits.
People apologized to Cornelia cautiously.
“We are sorry.”
“We made a mistake in speaking.”
Even though it was a situation in which she could get angry, Cornelia smiled graciously.
"decent."
Even though she said she was fine, she might be holding a grudge internally, so people kept apologizing.
“We made a mistake.
Please, forgive us if we hurt your feelings.”
In response, Cornelia shook her head.
“I wasn't hurt at all.
In fact, that mine sold for a good price recently.”
Only then did people relax and smile awkwardly.
“Oh, lucky you sold it.”
Cornelia nodded in agreement.
“Well, the Grand Madam didn’t particularly like that jewel, and there was almost no profit.
However, I was happy to sell it for three times the market price.”
At her words, Madeleine's brow twitched.
'To think that I would have made three times the profit from the mine that I should have had from the beginning...'
Before long, Madeline let out a small sigh.
'Yes, now is not the time to get caught up in jealousy.'
To see the effectiveness of the herbal tea, she needed to somehow convince Cornelia to come out after two days.
‘How should I manipulate it?
Should I say I'm giving her a pregnancy gift...?'
At that moment, Madeline trembled again.
It was because she met Cornelia's eyes again.
'What's going on with that woman?
She keeps staring at me like she's watching me!'
While trying to avoid eye contact, Cornelia raised the corner of her mouth.
“Madeleine.”
“N-yes?”
“I'm thinking of going shopping with the grand lady in two days.
Would you like to come with us?”
Madeleine smiled.
She was just wondering how he'd mentioned going out first.
But for her to do it first was perfect.