No, that couldn’t be. That cunning little girl must have used her wits to predict this and called someone for help.
Coincidences only happened in the fairy tales Lizzy had stolen and read as a child. Ariella, who had been ousted from her princess position, was no longer the protagonist of the story. Therefore, fateful encounters and coincidences should belong to her, not Ariella.
‘So she’s already found a man, huh?’
Ha, Lizzy smirked. The man that dull and boring girl meets must be someone worthless. It was obvious that a guy who only showed interest after she became a fake wouldn’t be worth her time.
However, aside from that, it would be quite amusing to see Ariella’s face when she was betrayed by the only man she trusted.
“Aurora.”
“Yes, yes! Miss Lizzy.”
“It seems our Elly has found a man. But I don’t think she’ll introduce him to me, so as a sister, I’m worried.”
“W-Would that be the case, Miss?”
Aurora, who had heard all the ruckus outside, forced a smile, trying to act nonchalant. She instinctively felt that if she answered incorrectly, her face might end up scratched instead of the table.
Lizzy smiled sweetly at her. It was a lovely smile as usual, which made it all the more chilling.
“So, tell me… do you know which maid has been getting close to Elly lately?”
On a warm afternoon of a certain day.
“Courtney, come here and try some cookies.”
Ariella, who was enjoying tea time in the garden, kindly suggested.
Then, a maid who had been idly hanging around in an inconspicuous spot peeked her head out. The gray-haired maid, Courtney, rushed over, panting as if she had been busy working.
Ariella smiled at her and handed her a cookie loaded with butter.
“Thank you, Miss.”
Courtney naturally reached out to accept the cookie.
After hearing Amira’s words about the difficulty of having a shortage of attendants, she quickly seized the opportunity, and it had already been a week since she started working beside Miss Arrie. On the first day, the lady, who seemed to be surrounded by a cold wind, gradually opened up to Courtney as the days went by.
The time spent talking increased, and as they worked closer together, Courtney realized that the lady was more emotionally vulnerable than she had expected.
‘To be precise, she seems to be quite hungry for affection.’
She had only been a little kind to maintain a good relationship, yet Ariella showed a touched expression over trivial matters. And then, she easily opened her heart.
At first, it felt good. Seeing her maintain a blank expression in front of other servants while smiling at Courtney gave her a strange sense of superiority.
Of course, it wasn’t as if she liked her more than Amira, but considering the time they had spent together, it seemed that the lady liked her more than she thought.
“Thank you so much for taking care of me, Courtney. Even knowing that I’m a fake… I’ve never seen such a kind girl like you.”
Ariella even said such things.
As she belittled herself by calling herself a fake and praised Courtney, it naturally made Courtney’s pride swell over the days.
After hearing it repeatedly, was she brainwashed? At some point, Courtney began to genuinely think as Ariella had said.
‘In fact, the lady should be grateful to me. Who else would want to serve a fake lady? Someone whose background is unknown and who might be kicked out at any moment.’
Even though Ariella had gained a greater foothold in the Duke’s residence after the theft incident, Courtney felt as if she had personally taken on a troublesome burden.
As she thought that way, dissatisfaction began to grow.
‘I thought being friendly would yield more benefits. Is this all I get, just a piece of cookie?’
She heard from other maids that Aurora had received jewelry from Lady Lizzy. Ariella only expressed her gratitude in words, but there was no substance to it.
Someone who only knows how to receive but doesn’t know how to give. That was exactly Ariella. Looking at the way Amira, who was practically her right-hand maid, dressed, the answer was clear.
‘How foolish of me. I didn’t even realize I was grabbing onto a rotten rope!’
It was laughable that just a few days ago, she had been happy to serve a good lady, and now she was filled with regret.
And around the time she had repeated such regrets about twenty times, a new opportunity was presented to her.
“Courtney. Are you busy right now?”
Aurora, who had become quite confident after being officially appointed as Lady Lizzy, came to her first to request a conversation, something she rarely did with ordinary servants.
“Nati! No, I’m not busy at all!”
Instinctively recognizing this as an opportunity, Courtney quickly responded, even calling Aurora by her nickname. Although Aurora’s complexion had seemed dark lately, Courtney’s eyes, filled with vanity, only reflected the sparkling jewelry.
