Chapter 46

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: A Decisive Blow
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As the two beautiful daughters of Cardinal de Mare faced off, glaring at each other, people couldn't tear their eyes away. And naturally, judgments about their appearances followed.

- ‘Isabella de Mare… She must have been too ambitious. She really missed the mark today. They say even monkeys fall from trees.’

- ‘Why is she so over-the-top? It's not like her. And why is her dress white?’

- ‘The younger sister looks effortlessly elegant, which is actually better, don't you think?’

Such were the ladies' impressions upon seeing Isabella, whose dress, makeup, and hair were all excessive.

- ‘She's all covered up, but her figure is practically bursting out of that dress!’

- ‘Why did I miss that moment earlier?!’

- ‘The second daughter is better than the first, no?’

These were the gentlemen's exclamations of admiration for Ariadne. A subtle tension sparked between Ariadne and Isabella as they looked at each other. They hardly looked like the ‘loving sisters’ Isabella had boasted about. Seeing the two in a standoff, the crowd's gossip exploded.

- “But why is Isabella wearing white?”

- “I heard they're so close that the younger sister asked her to, so they agreed to dress that way.”

- “Are they really on good terms? The atmosphere is unbelievably tense.”

With the crowd's murmuring as a backdrop, Ariadne asked the sniffling Isabella in a low voice.

“Sister, why are you crying?”

Isabella instinctively clung to Ariadne. Although Ariadne's expression seemed anything but friendly, Isabella had a deep-seated conviction. That girl was weaker than her, and if she pushed hard, she would yield. And to Isabella, the eyes of the San Carlo socialites watching from behind were far more important than Ariadne's feelings.

“Aria—! You see, the prince and Countess Marquez misunderstood our relationship. They thought I was speaking ill of you.”

To appease the expectant gazes of the people behind them, Isabella deliberately approached her younger sister joyfully, as if overjoyed to see her, and clasped her hands.

“I was just saying that despite the dress incident—no, that the dress incident was a blessing in disguise that made you look even more beautiful! Your figure is just wonderful!”

Prince Alfonso, dumbfounded, flushed red.

“No, that wasn't it at all—.”

Just then, Ariadne calmly took the tip of Prince Alfonso's hand to stop him. Her expression was placid, but inwardly, she was smiling triumphantly. The moment Isabella called her ‘Aria,’ a nickname she had never heard in her life, she immediately understood what tactic Isabella was using. In her past life, throughout her childhood and even after becoming an adult, Isabella had often done the exact same thing. Acting friendly in public toward a victim she had just been bad-mouthing, right after getting caught, to squash any rumors—that was Isabella's signature move. People would see Isabella being friendly with the victim and assume the victim must have allowed her to say such things, and they would let it go. It also had the side effect of building Isabella's reputation as ‘easygoing and direct, but friendly with everyone.’ When she was very young, she had been too afraid of Isabella to refute her when she put on such an act in public and would just get dragged along. Isabella, ever so kind in public, would do a complete one-eighty once the situation was resolved thanks to Ariadne's goodwill. She'd either ignore Ariadne or frame her, rationalizing that the problem was Ariadne's fault to begin with, so it was only right for her to fix it. After suffering this endlessly, once she had grown up and become the Prince Regent's fiancée, she decided she couldn't take it anymore. She had waited for her chance, caught Isabella red-handed, and become furious. She had shouted, ‘You blatant liar!’ and then, intending to make her feel ashamed, angrily laid out only the facts of Isabella's wrongdoing. But when she woke up the next morning, she had become the wicked half-sister who used her power to bully the poor, pitiful Isabella. It happened because she didn't know how to control the intensity of her anger. Humans don't use their heads unless money or personal interests are at stake. Grasping the facts and making a rational judgment requires intellectual labor. Since laziness is human nature, even the most intelligent people judge right and wrong based on emotion and feeling when it comes to matters of mere interest. Ariadne was now beginning to faintly understand how the human world worked. Lying in bed as a child, twisting in resentment after being wronged by Isabella, she had replayed the scenes a hundred, a thousand times, wondering, ‘Would things have been different if I'd said something else?’ Now was the time to use the perfect answer, one that only the passage of years had revealed to her. The moment Isabella clasped her hands, Ariadne flinched as if startled and took a step back. It was a gesture of someone utterly terrified of Isabella. Ariadne summoned all her emotions to put on a frightened and pained expression. Her acting skills were too poor to produce tears, but she could manage an expression that looked like she was on the verge of crying.

“Sister! How could you go around commenting on my body like that…?”

This was a battle of momentum. Victory depended on who could first seize the position of the more pitiful one.

“I really hate talk like that…. You know I'm scared of it. I don't even like compliments about it. I wish it wouldn't be mentioned at all….”

Isabella had absolutely no idea that Ariadne hated such talk. And it was only natural that she didn't know. After all, Isabella tormenting Ariadne by mentioning her breast size was something that had happened in her past life—and would happen in the future. By Isabella's standards, she hadn't even properly tormented Ariadne yet. But there was no need to indulge Isabella's flimsy sense of injustice. Ariadne dramatically covered her chest with both arms and added in a tearful voice.

“…I really hate it when people give me strange looks…!”

With a wounded expression, Ariadne backed away, moving further from Isabella with each step. The people of San Carlo were thoroughly enjoying the exciting spectacle.

- “Oh my, she must have been stared at like an animal. The poor thing…!”

- “Where in San Carlo are there such ill-mannered people! The gentlemen of San Carlo would never do such a thing!”

- “Didn't they say that girl grew up on a farm before coming here? Uncouth farmhands might do something like that.”

- “Ahem. If that's the case, then it's understandable.”

- “But her own sister did that? Even if she's a half-sister, that's just too cruel.”

Flustered at the prospect of being cast as the villain who had critiqued the body of her half-sister—a sister traumatized by being objectified—Isabella reached out a hand.

“Ah, Aria. That's not it….”

Ariadne delivered a decisive blow to the hesitating Isabella.

“Do you even care about me, Sister? I'm ‘Ari,’ not ‘Aria’!”

Speechless, Isabella's mouth moved silently. She seemed to be struggling to find an excuse. Ariadne gave Isabella no time to escape and immediately pressed her advantage.

“I know I'm just your new half-sister, but this is too much. I did my best to be a good sister to you.”

After delivering the finishing blow, Ariadne pushed through the crowd with a wounded expression and ran off. Isabella was left branded as an aggressor who had triggered her sister's trauma with comments about her body, a cold-hearted woman devoid of familial love who didn't even know her sister's nickname, and an unreasonable bigot who discriminated against her own half-sister. Not wanting to be trapped in the crowd as the villain, Isabella escaped the stage under the pretext of comforting her sister.

“Aria! Aria! It's a misunderstanding! Wait!”

She didn't forget to stubbornly stick to the original nickname. She had to be blameless. Imperfection was unacceptable. The guests remaining where Ariadne and Isabella had run off erupted into noise all at once. Even though they were all whispering, because everyone spoke at the same time, it felt as if the volume had gone up a notch.

“They matched their white dresses because they're close? That was a complete lie, wasn't it?”

“Do you know what Isabella said earlier? That her sister probably opened her dress on purpose because she enjoys the attention! Wow, I had my doubts then, but now!”

“Her character is truly rotten!”

It seemed the San Carlo social scene would not be bored for a while. * * * Isabella, chasing after the fleeing Ariadne, caught up to her on the staircase leading from the main hall to the second floor.

“Hey! Stop right there!”

Ariadne was no fool to stop just because she was told, but Isabella rushed at her with almost superhuman strength and snatched her sleeve, forcing Ariadne to a halt at the bottom of the stairs.

“What? ‘You know I hate it when you talk about my chest’? Hey, you despicable bitch! When did you ever say anything like that!”

The staircase where Isabella had grabbed Ariadne was the very same landing where, on Ariadne's first day, Arabella had pushed Isabella, earning herself confinement. This central staircase was strangely high and narrow. Standing on that narrow landing, Isabella fiercely cornered Ariadne.

“You're really good at pinning things on people, aren't you?”

Ariadne said nothing, simply enduring Isabella's physical assault. As Ariadne didn't actively resist, Isabella grew bolder and lunged as if to rip out all of Ariadne's hair.

“You worthless thing! I was nice to you, and now you dare to challenge me!”

Unable to contain her rage, the rampaging Isabella finally raised her hand high to slap Ariadne.

“You think I can't bury you in San Carlo's high society?!”

Isabella tried to land a full swing, but her wrist suddenly wouldn't move, and she twisted her body. Ariadne, taller than Isabella by half a handspan, was gripping her wrist tightly.

“Let go! You fucking bitch!”

But Ariadne's tightened grip, though it might tremble, showed no intention of letting Isabella go. Holding Isabella's wrist high above her head, Ariadne brought her lips to Isabella's ear and whispered.

“You fucking bitch. I’ll end you.”

Isabella froze, standing stock-still. To hear such unimaginably harsh words from an opponent she never imagined could defy her…! Ariadne warned Isabella in a low, rapid-fire voice.

“You think you're the only one who knows how to curse?”

Ariadne flung Isabella's wrist away as if throwing it down. Physically overpowered, Isabella flinched from the pain in her wrist, losing even more of her nerve. Isabella took a step back. Backed into a corner on the tiny landing, Isabella found herself standing precariously, as if dangling over the steep stairs. Ariadne pushed her face right up to Isabella's and glared, like a predator eyeing its prey.

“You'd better be careful when you sleep at night. Don't forget we live in the same house. I just have to cross one wooden plank in the hallway to get to your room.”

Spitting out the words, Ariadne turned and left the shocked Isabella behind. Wasting any more time on someone like Isabella was a waste. It was time to return to the party floor, now empty of its main attractions, and show everyone who truly owned the stage.