Chapter 36
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 36
“Oh, no, that’s not what I meant at all. I only meant that if you had given us even a hint—as family, I mean—we wouldn’t have been caught so off guard.”
Lauren’s bravado withered quickly, though the resentment in her eyes remained plain to see. Her sharp gaze shifted toward Harriet.
“But it is strange. Your face looks familiar, and I feel as though I’ve heard your name somewhere before…”
Harriet answered the unspoken question herself.
“Perhaps you’ve heard my name alongside titles like ‘the Listerwell family troublemaker’ or ‘the scandal maker.’”
“Yes, that’s it! Harriet Listerwell! The one with that stunningly beautiful cousin…!”
Trisha looked at Harriet, her expression one of feigned surprise.
“Truly, everyone knows you! I’ll say it again, Harriet—this is no ordinary coincidence. You might actually have your uncle to thank for this.”
“No. Even if I gained a grand reputation because of him, I would never thank my uncle.”
Trisha’s eyes shifted slightly at the blunt reply, but Lauren wasn’t listening to their exchange at all.
Is this old woman really letting a grandniece with such a foul reputation live in her house? It makes no sense. What is she actually planning?
Clutching her trembling hands, Lauren tried to gauge the relationship between the two women. Her greatest fear was that Harriet might become Trisha’s adopted daughter.
If Trisha adopted someone, as she had threatened to do in the past, that person would become the legal heir. Everyone knew this, which was why countless people had spent years fawning over Trisha to win her favor.
She wasn’t swayed by all those gifts and years of devotion, so I thought she’d eventually pass the title to my Jaden… Could she have changed her mind?
That could never happen. Never!
Lauren was the child of an affair, born to the previous Count Fellon after Oster’s mother could no longer bear children. Because the family had so few heirs, the Count had only managed to produce Lauren from his many mistresses.
Lauren had been allowed to carry the Fellon name, but her mother had been forced to live in the shadows her entire life. Despite her name, everyone knew Lauren was illegitimate. Because of her birth, she had been forced to marry a provincial noble far beneath the Fellon family’s status—a slight that had deeply wounded her pride.
She could not afford to miss this opportunity to seize the Fellon earldom once Trisha died.
Through Jaden, I will become the master of House Fellon!
Was that not why she had endured Trisha—a woman she wanted to tear apart—for the last ten years?
Unless she’s gone senile, she wouldn’t adopt a girl like that. But I must remain wary, just in case.
Lauren managed to force a smile back onto her face as she scrutinized Harriet from head to toe.
“As the Countess said, everyone knows Lady Harriet. They say you started scandals in your beautiful cousin’s name just to drag her down, didn’t you? My goodness, how wicked…”
Her children, sensing their mother’s intent, began to chime in.
“I heard your cousin, Lady Bella, nearly suffered a terrible fate because of it. Didn’t you feel any remorse?”
“My friends told me as well. They said you chased after men, yet every single one of them only had eyes for Lady Bella. How ugly can a woman’s jealousy get?”
They expected Harriet to be mortified and at a loss for words, but she simply listened to them with a calm, detached expression. If anything, it was Trisha’s eyebrows that rose higher and higher with every word.
Lauren snapped at Harriet.
“What exactly are you after, clinging to the Countess like this? Speak up.”
“I am not ‘after’ anything. It is simply that…” Harriet looked at Lauren with serene eyes and replied, “My guardianship was severed without me receiving a single penny of my inheritance. I simply needed a guardian until I was ready to be independent. I sent a letter to my great-aunt first, but had she refused, I would have reached out to my other relatives as well.”
“What I mean is, what nerve did you have to ask for guardianship in the first place?!”
“Then do you believe I should have wandered the streets and died in misery, Madam?”
Her tone was so flat, as if asking, Is that the extent of your pity? Lauren was momentarily flustered.
“Who said that? Independence means standing on your own two feet. You’re young; surely you can manage on your own!”
“Do you truly believe a young woman born and raised in a noble house—who hasn’t learned the first thing about earning a living—can become independent when her status, reputation, and finances are at rock bottom? Do you honestly believe that?”
“O-of course!”
“Then would the wise Madam please enlighten a foolish girl like me? If you were in my situation, what would you have done? I have no roof over my head, and all I possess is five thousand dirham in cash and a few pieces of gold.”
Lauren found Harriet’s gaze strangely unsettling. The girl wasn’t agitated, crying, or angry, yet her eyes were more piercing than any Lauren had ever seen.
Who does this commoner-like girl think she is, staring me down?
In the end, it was Lauren’s temper that flared. Intending to put Harriet in her place, she spat out venomous words.
“Well, I would never find myself in such a pathetic state. But a girl like you? You’d have to sell your body. What else could you do? I’ve heard you could fetch a fair price in the back alleys if you claim to be a noble.”
It was Trisha who finally snapped.
“Lauren! Have you lost your mind?”
“C-Countess!”
“I was waiting to see how far you would go, and what? You tell a Listerwell by blood to sell her body? Was that perhaps what you’ve been wanting to say to me all this time?”
“Of course not!”
“You were the one who told me to leave this house the moment Oster died. How did you manage to hold back from saying those words to me then?”
Trisha’s tightly clenched fists trembled with rage. Only then did Lauren remember that Trisha was also a Listerwell by birth. She had called her ‘Countess Fellon’ for so long that she had forgotten the woman’s origins.
“You are as ill-mannered as ever. I clearly stated that I am her guardian and that she is a guest in my home, yet you insult her based on rumors you barely understand? My face burns with shame just looking at you!”
“I—I only thought that girl might be trying to charm and manipulate you…!”
“Hahaha! That is a needless worry. You know very well that I can spot a parasite from a mile away, don’t you? And you know I haven’t lost a single sant to any of them.”
At that moment, Lauren realized that Trisha had no intention of handing House Fellon over to Jaden.
Because they were the only collateral branch, they hadn’t always put in their utmost effort, but they had still visited every summer, showering her with gifts and flattery. Lauren had believed that, by now, Trisha would have buried the hatchet and named Jaden the heir, as was only proper.
But seeing Trisha’s fury now, it was clear she hadn’t forgotten the quarrel that had erupted when Oster died—not for a single moment.
Think of all the gifts I bought her! If this was how it was going to be, she shouldn’t have pretended to move past it!
Lauren was livid. From the start, she had hated Trisha, who wielded more power than she did despite Lauren being a Fellon by blood. She had hated Oster so much she wanted to dig him out of his coffin and crush his bones.
And now, to be scolded like a child in front of a grandniece Trisha had never even met—there was nothing more to expect from this woman.
I need to find another way for Jaden to inherit the title.
Lauren clenched her jaw, then stood up abruptly.
“I am truly disappointed that you can only interpret my concern in such a way, Countess. I still considered us family, but it seems you only see me as a scavenger.”
As she flicked the hem of her dress, Baron Marshall and their children followed suit, looking bewildered.
“We’ll be leaving now. Enjoy your meal with that grandniece of yours—the one infamous for being a loose woman. I’ll see you next time.”
“I won’t see you out. Come back when you’ve reflected on your rudeness. Though I suspect you might never return.”
Lauren engaged in a brief, silent staring contest with Trisha, who refused to back down. Finally, Lauren clicked her tongue softly before turning and storming out of the drawing room.
Feeling as if a whirlwind had just passed through the room, Harriet let out a quiet sigh. Trisha stared in the direction the Marshall family had gone before speaking.
“This is your reputation right now. A scandal maker consumed by jealousy; a loose woman who deserves to be scorned. How do you plan to overturn this?”
There was a faint trace of genuine worry in her voice. It was a shock to witness such blatant prejudice firsthand.
But Harriet, strangely, felt a surge of strength. Compared to a year ago, when not a single soul believed in her, she now had someone by her side who actually cared.
She felt a twinge of guilt that she couldn't give the answer Trisha expected.
“I don’t really plan to overturn that reputation.”
Trisha’s eyes narrowed as she looked at Harriet.