The Stolen Ring
Donghee stared at Aileen with wide, round eyes and smiled brightly as she asked,
“Why? Do you like it?”
Her tone was as innocent as a child’s.
“⋯⋯Yeah. Wait, no. I just think it suits you really well.”
Aileen pretended otherwise, but she couldn’t tear her gaze away from the bracelet and necklace for a long time.
She had so many of these things that giving them away wouldn’t matter in the slightest, yet Donghee had no desire to hand over even a single dural from the Grace territory to either of them.
“Thanks.”
Donghee casually shook off Aileen’s hand from her arm and answered as if nothing had happened.
For a moment, Aileen felt as if she had been pushed aside by Chloe. This had never happened before.
Confusion flickered across Aileen’s face, but she quickly returned to her usual relaxed, affectionate expression.
She made a deliberate effort not to look at the jewels Chloe was wearing. Given Chloe’s soft personality, if Aileen coaxed her just right, the girl would hand over anything she was wearing. Just like the ring Aileen now wore.
Aileen was toying with the ring, trying to recapture her fading sense of victory, when it happened.
Donghee’s gaze naturally followed Aileen’s movement and landed on her hand. There, she spotted a familiar ring. It was unmistakably the one the woman in the portrait had been wearing.
“That ring⋯⋯.”
“Oh, this? You lent it to me, remember? You told me to wear it to my birthday party.”
Aileen, who had been thirsting for any taste of victory, spread her fingers wide and answered with smug triumph.
See? You’re the idiot who does whatever I tell you—laugh when I say laugh, jump when I say jump.
The ring set with a blue gem sparkled on Aileen’s slender, elegant finger.
Sunlight streaming into the drawing room caught the blue stone and scattered brilliant light. In that instant, memories of Chloe that had been floating like dust in the air suddenly flooded into Donghee’s mind.
“Chloe, that ring is so pretty. Can I try it on just once?”
“Huh? Um⋯⋯, this was my mother’s keepsake, so⋯⋯.”
Chloe hesitated and unconsciously closed her hand around the ring. Aileen immediately collapsed onto the bed with a deeply disappointed expression and hung her head.
“Really? I’m sorry. I didn’t know it belonged to your mother.”
Chloe had felt relieved, thinking Aileen was giving up. But then—
“Since it’s your mother’s keepsake, wouldn’t it be even more meaningful if you lent it to me? Anyone who saw us would think we’re the closest cousins in the world.”
“But⋯⋯.”
Stupid Chloe couldn’t even refuse properly. She simply clutched the ring tighter. Meanwhile, Aileen sprang to her feet, strode over, and roughly grabbed Chloe’s hand that wore the ring.
“I just want to try it on once. I’ll give it right back, okay?”
Aileen’s voice sounded desperate, but her eyes gleamed with the confidence of a victor.
“You have to give it back right away.”
Chloe repeated her plea, unable to hide her anxiety.
“Of course. Have you ever seen me break a promise? I give you lots of presents too, don’t I?”
Though reluctant, Chloe carefully slipped the ring off her finger at Aileen’s assurance that she would return it immediately.
The ring, adorned with a delicately crafted blue diamond, was not only her mother’s keepsake but also the symbol of the lady of the Grace family.
It was soon on Aileen’s finger.
“Oh my, it fits me perfectly! Doesn’t it go so well with the dress I’m wearing today?”
Aileen admired herself in the mirror, delighted. Just as she said, it matched the blue dress she wore as if they had been made for each other. Chloe’s anxiety only grew.
“Can you give it back now?”
It was the first time Chloe had ever asked for something back after giving it. That only made Aileen want to keep it more.
With a pouty expression, Aileen looked down at the ring, then smiled sweetly and hid her hand behind her back.
“I’ll just wear it until dinner.”
But after dinner, she put it off until the next morning, and after breakfast the following day, she delayed it again until lunch.
That evening, while Chloe slept, Aileen left behind a single note saying she would borrow it until the birthday party and disappeared while still wearing the ring.
That night, Chloe cried for the first time. Delma asked her over and over what was wrong, but Chloe only shook her head and refused to answer. She was afraid that if she told the truth, Aileen would never come to see her again.
The hot tears Chloe had shed while crying alone in her empty room felt as vivid to Donghee as if they were her own.
The fool couldn’t even say no properly when asked. She had fretted and worried until she fell sick for three whole days.
Even after that, when she received a letter saying Aileen wanted to meet again, she had been overjoyed and spent what little money she had to buy her a present.
Chloe had done everything she possibly could to win even a sliver of affection from Aileen and Patrasche.
And they called themselves family.
Donghee looked at the two of them, decked out from head to toe in expensive finery, and struggled to swallow the rage boiling inside her.
First, she had to get back the ring that had belonged to Chloe’s mother. That much, she wanted to do for her.
“Give it here.”
Donghee held out her palm.
“What?”
“The ring. I want it back now.”
“You said I could borrow it until my birthday?”
Aileen spoke as if she had been wronged, but Donghee didn’t wait for an answer. She grabbed Aileen’s hand.
Then, without hesitation, she roughly yanked the ring off Aileen’s finger.
“Ow!”
“Chloe! What do you think you’re doing?”
Aileen had struggled to keep the ring from being taken and ended up scratching her finger. Viscount Patrasche shot to his feet in alarm and examined his daughter’s wound.
Blood trickled from Aileen’s slender finger. It looked as if the diamond had cut her.
“It’s mine. You took it without permission. I never gave you permission.”
“What are you talking about? I clearly—”
“You wrote a note and left it on your own. While I was asleep, no less. That’s stealing, Aileen.”
“What? Stealing? Are you done talking?”
Aileen couldn’t believe it. Not only had Chloe Grace dared to defy her, but now she was calling her a thief.
And right in front of the servants, too.
The fury rising in her chest was almost unbearable. But she knew that if she threw a tantrum now, her father would scold her severely once they returned to the territory. So she quickly composed herself.
Aileen’s expression swiftly changed to one of sorrow and remorse.
“I didn’t realize you felt that way. I’m sorry. It was my mistake. It must have been especially precious since it was your mother’s keepsake. I was thoughtless.”
Donghee hadn’t expected Aileen to respond like this. She narrowed her eyes. She needed to figure out what that fox-like girl was really after.
Surely her father couldn’t be completely unaware of his daughter’s true nature.
As Donghee observed Aileen closely, she noticed that every time the girl forced out tears, she was also checking the reactions of the servants in the drawing room.
Oh? So you’re even worried about what the servants think of you?
She was more cunning than Donghee had thought—and far more calculating. This was not someone to underestimate. Donghee pressed her lips together, deciding to see how far Aileen would take this.
When she saw that Chloe remained silent, only blinking in confusion, Aileen sighed and continued.
“You’re truly precious to me. That’s why I would give you anything precious to me. So I thought⋯⋯ you felt the same way about me. I’m truly sorry.”
Eventually Aileen even let out a sob, “Hic,” and began to cry.
Her maid rushed over in alarm to check on her mistress. She didn’t forget to shoot Chloe a resentful glare. It was as if she were silently accusing her: How could you torment such a kind person?
Birds of a feather.
Donghee stared at the two—no, three—of them with irritation before deciding to see how far they would go.
In that case, it would be best to play along for now.
“No, Aileen. I was too sensitive. I know how you feel. You’re truly precious to me too.”
Blech!
Swallowing the nausea rising in her throat, she poured every ounce of effort into her performance.
It must have worked, because Aileen instantly wiped away her sorrowful expression and beamed, grabbing both of Chloe’s hands tightly.
“Then we’ve made up, right?”
“Hahaha, of course. When have we ever fought? Hahaha! Still, I can’t lend you the ring.”
“Oh my, of course not. I have plenty of rings myself.”
Aileen’s lips trembled faintly as she forced a smile.
“Really? Then why did you do that? Hahaha.”
— Your score is⋯⋯ 17 out of 100. You show remarkable talent for terrible acting.
Donghee’s eyes widened at the sudden system window’s critique of her performance. She wanted to tell it to disappear immediately, but since she couldn’t say it out loud, she screamed inside her head instead.
Go away. Get lost. Who asked you to rate my acting?
But the status window taunted her by flickering the score back and forth between the high teens and mid-teens before finally displaying an average of 16.5 and vanishing cleanly.
She was thinking about how utterly useless the thing was when—
— An opportunity to upgrade your acting ability.
Even if you have no natural talent, we can provide you with superb acting skills that will fool everyone completely.
Would you like to purchase?
She only had thirty points left. Could she even buy anything with that?
— Do not worry. Point loans are available.
A loan? You want me to go into debt?
— Debt? Not at all. Hidden points are meant to accumulate anyway! This is simply using them in advance.
Given your low credit rating, you may borrow between 100 and 500 points.
But Donghee hated the very idea of debt so much that it could wake her from a dead sleep.
No thanks. I’ll pass.
— Even with extremely low interest?
She was slightly tempted. Maybe she should hear the details?
What’s the percentage?
— An unbeatable 25%! How about it? Right now, you can⋯⋯.
If she could just get her hands on that thing, she would chop it into exactly twenty-five pieces and boil them together with the dural.
As if it had read her thoughts, the status window let out a startled “Whoops!” and split into exactly twenty-five fragments right in front of her, scattering in every direction as if to taunt her.
Each shattered piece was even engraved with the words “Low Credit Rating! 25%.”