Hiding the hat didn’t seem like a grand scheme, but Ariella believed this was not the end.
‘Could it be related to Catalina’s sudden invitation?’
It wasn’t impossible. It would be better to prepare just in case.
Thump, thump. My heart raced pleasantly.
The way Ariella had achieved victory against formidable opponents in the social scene, which felt like a war, was mainly by turning the enemy’s schemes against them.
Even the most brilliant strategist cannot create a flawless plan. Ariella enjoyed finding the gaps and pulling her opponents down.
Lizzy was clever and bold, but not a genius. So, when she stirred up trouble, it was inevitable that there would be gaps as well.
Finding those gaps was now Ariella’s task.
“I should have been more vigilant, I’m so sorry, Miss! It’s all my fault. How could I do something so foolish right before the party…!”
Meanwhile, Amira fidgeted, tightly clasping her hands. Her short nails dug painfully into the back of her hands.
Fearing that she might draw blood if left as is, Ariella hurriedly placed her hand over Amira’s.
“Calm down, Amira.”
The comfort from the small contact was significant. Especially since Ariella usually avoided touching others.
The trembling in her body quickly subsided. Amira looked up at her lady. As always, Ariella’s calm face seemed more reassuring than anything else.
“Miss….”
“Yeah. Take your time and tell me.”
Taking a small breath, Amira opened her eyes wide. Yes, now was not the time to tremble. It was time to quickly correct the mistake and find a solution. Punishment could come later.
“The missing items are the hat and accessories I bought yesterday. I’m sure, just thirty minutes ago, when I went to the dressing room to get the shawl, the hat was on the vanity. The jewelry box that contained the accessories was right next to it. But when I returned, the hat was gone. The jewelry box was still there, but just to be sure, I unlocked it and checked inside, and the necklace and earrings I bought yesterday were missing.”
Amira quickly brought the jewelry box and showed it to Ariella. Just as she said, everything she had bought yesterday was nowhere to be found.
“Only the things bought yesterday were taken. Something feels off. If they wanted to avoid being caught, they would have stolen something small and expensive, and if they didn’t care about being caught, they would have taken everything inside. Taking the hat doesn’t make sense either. It’s not that expensive, and it’s bulkier than the other accessories, so it would be easy to notice. This is definitely….”
“Yeah. It feels like a blatant provocation.”
As Ariella agreed, Amira’s complexion darkened further. It seemed like the sound of teeth grinding could be heard from somewhere.
“But it seems like there are a few other things missing besides what was bought yesterday.”
“Oh! That’s right. But those weren’t stolen; I set them aside separately. Just a moment.”
Amira, whose eyes were shining ominously towards the west, returned with a smaller jewelry box. It seemed to be something she had taken from the dressing room, as it was not something Lizzy had seen when she was a maid.
When she opened the jewelry box, Ariella saw what she had been looking for. Along with the large diamond-studded gold earrings, there were expensive gifts from her father and fiancé lined up together.
“…Everything here is a gift. How did you know to set them aside?”
“They looked particularly expensive… and somehow, I thought you might not have chosen the design yourself. So, I kept them separately just in case.”
That made sense. If it were Lizzy, she would have definitely instructed me to bring the gold earrings as well. She had coveted them for a long time.
However, the gold earrings were not in the jewelry box, and it seemed Amira had kept the small jewelry box separately, so she didn’t know its location.
Suddenly, a spark of interest glimmered in Ariella’s lavender eyes.
Thanks to Amira’s caution, it seemed she had found a gap.
“I’ll report this to the head maid right away. Since the hat is bulky, they should be able to catch whoever did it!”
“If Rose finds out, it won’t be easy for you to avoid punishment either. You might get kicked out without a recommendation.”
“I should receive a fitting punishment since I didn’t manage things properly. But more than that, we need to catch the culprit…!”
“No, don’t do that. I know best how hard you’ve worked.”
Catching the culprit wouldn’t change anything. Lizzy was not the type to stir up trouble without some preparation.
The maid used for the theft would be dismissed, and Lizzy would shed innocent tears, creating a public sentiment that Ariella was the one who caught her.
Or she might turn everything into a sordid scheme by Ariella to get rid of Lizzy.
