Juliet Iris Kiellini
–
Isolated from the outside world, Juliet's education began immediately after the first day.
The number of times she was attacked by a fan was considerable due to her habit of shrugging her shoulders for three days.
When Juliet rubbed her shoulders, thinking that she would be lucky if she wasn't hurt, Vera silently approached and placed a cold water towel dipped in herbal water over her.
Mrs.
Marquise issued an impetuous order when Juliet pouted at the thought of giving her medicine.
“It's only been a few minutes since you were scolded, and now you're pouting.
I don’t know where to start.”
Julieta raised her mouth slightly, pouting.
“I will be careful, ma'am.”
The marchioness turned away as if satisfied with his kind apology.
“I hope you will get rid of this vulgar habit when we leave for the Kiellini Territory.
Now that the risk of this job has increased because of the prince, call me Viscountess Simone for now.
Vera, I want you to put a wig on her so that the blonde hair is not visible now.
* * * * *
“Your Highness.”
A week has passed since Juliet disappeared.
Killian, who tentatively concluded that the maid who hitched a ride with Duke Kiellini was Juliet after confirming that there were no other blonde maidens in the castle, and began searching Ricaren for a girl with blonde or red hair.
However, the search had not gone as well as expected, as more and more guests were attending the hunt, and there could be useless scandals, so they could not look for Juliet in public.
Count Valerian came to Killian with a tired face, exhausted from dealing with Lady Anais who came here with useless excuses.
Frustrated with his dark mood, Killian asked brusquely, “What’s the matter?”
Valerian hesitated for a moment and finally opened his mouth, saying, “I don’t know what to say… The body of a young girl was found in the Dewai River.”
Killian jumped up, slamming into the table.
“Tell me again!”
“It’s a woman with red hair.”
Oswald and Adam were at a loss for words and looked at Valerian, who nodded.
“It was difficult to recognize her face because she was soaked in water and wore glasses as usual, but I couldn't mistake the unusual color of her skin and the way she wore clothes that were larger than her body.”
Killian's face hardened at the contents of the grim report.
“Where is it?”
“I brought the body back.
Want to check?”
Valerian was about to say, “It’s not a good thing to see as a noble,” but he shut up.
Killian's coldly sunken eyes left him unable to speak.
“Bring it up.”
Valerian opened the door to the Oval Office to retrieve the body of a woman that he had placed in front of the door, after a long time of firm command that had been made.
* * * * *
Three days before the body emerged from the Dewai River, Mrs.
Raban called Juliet.
“The search for the Prince has not yet stopped.
I will have to go ahead with the plan.”
Simone looked at the girl in the black wig with bright green eyes.
Her blonde hair, similar to that of her niece, Iris, was covered, and she felt like she could now breathe.
Simone, who was widowed soon after her marriage, lived for her sick niece all her life, refusing to remarry.
If it weren't for her niece's business, she would never have intervened.
Iris's future was the same as hers.
When her brother, Duke Kiellini, said he wanted to look for a replacement to make a debut in society for Iris who was ill, Simone objected, saying it was absurd.
But the words of Iris, who came and spoke to her, moved her, and now she was here to raise the child who would replace her niece.
“Auntie, please stay seated.”
Glamorous blonde hair that was very dry from long-term illness and malnutrition, and the beautiful turquoise eyes, which moved between blue and green according to the light, had long since lost their light, like stained glass windows falling to the floor with a crack.
“I don't want to be expelled from the Linden Territory where I have lived all my life, like my aunt who was forced out of the Raban mansion by her nephew who became the new marquis after his uncle died childless.
I've been in this territory all my life.
Please don't let me be taken away from this, as I had to give up everything for my health.Don’t forget that I have to be the lady of the duke’s family, so that security for his later years can be guaranteed.”
Nowadays, going for a walk once a day was too much for Iris.
Iris's favorite place was the garden that she could see from her room.
“I know my dad has been preparing for this for years.
Getting a lot of people out of the mansion must have been part of the preparation.”
It was true.
Now she knew why, but in the past, Simone couldn't understand her brother's behavior.
A few years ago, his brother had started taking the servants and maids out of Kiellini's southern mansion one by one.
Simone expressed discomfort to her brother when he refused to hire new people to replace those who had been kicked out with heavy compensation with reasonable excuses.
At that time, the Duke only said a harsh word:
“Iris's health is getting worse.
You don’t want gossip about the child’s health to spread, do you?”
Upon hearing this, Simone closed her mouth.
There were only a few servants and maids left in the spacious mansion, who had been loyal to the Kiellini family for decades, including a butler who had served for generations and a maid who had been Duke Kiellini's nanny.
The workers needed to run the grand mansion were people hired from the local population of the Territory, and they did not stay at the mansion long enough to meet Lady Kiellini.
“Please train the child who will replace me.
No one should know that Iris Kiellini is weak.
Make her the perfect Kiellini princess.
I want to keep my place, even if I have to take the child’s life as security for life.”
Simone saw Iris's bony hand gripping the arm of the chair as if she would never let go.
* * * * *
Now she was in Bertino for Iris and her future.
“What was planned before?”
When Juliet tilted her head without knowing why, Simone's eyes became frightening.
“Someone with noble status never behaves in this vulgar way.
How many times do I have to tell you?
Do not move your head when asked and try to answer accurately and clearly.
Do you understand?”
‘I won’t move, as if I have a cast on my neck.’
With her back straight and her head rigid, Juliet, grunting inwardly, asked, only with her eyes slightly lowered.
“What do you mean, what did you plan to do before?”
Simone looked at Julieta's attitude as if she was making a statement and gestured to Vera, who was waiting at her side.
Upon receiving instructions, Vera left the room and soon entered with a worn brown bag.
When Juliet saw the little bag, she jumped.
“That’s my baggage.”
“Sit down.”
“Did you search my room?”
“I said, sit down.”
“No matter how much I receive in the name of Lady Iris, my personality will not disappear.
I can't believe you're going through my luggage.
If that's the case, I can't work even if you give me ten million terns.
Julieta took off the wig she was wearing, threw it on the floor and picked up Vera's luggage.
It was his entire fortune.
It might look shabby and tacky to others, but they were the only items with memories that could prove that she was herself.
Simone laughed coldly at Juliet's back, as she moved towards the door, as if she was really leaving, “Do you think you will be safe knowing this big secret?
I just needed a suitable body to avoid the Prince, and that’s all.”
At Simone's words, Julieta stopped walking.
“What do you mean by a suitable body?”
“We need to make him give up the search, because the pursuit of the prince is still ongoing.”
Sa-chan
Sa-chan
Thanks for reading.
^-^