Chapter 99
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 99
Despite everything, the Empress hadn't shown any sign of distaste toward her. However, Harriet had long ago resolved never to trust the outward appearances of the high-born, so she readily nodded at Trisha’s assessment.
"I’m grateful, truly, but I wonder if all this is really necessary..."
"Don't be so soft-hearted! Of course I have to take responsibility. Vicious rumors are already swirling around an unmarried young lady!"
"...Well, haven't those been around for a while now?"
"You’re acting as if this is someone else’s problem! You should be focused on clearing your name as quickly as possible, not acting so carefree!"
At the scolding, which was thick with genuine worry, Harriet offered an awkward smile. Contrary to Trisha’s expectations, she was currently preparing to do something dangerous yet again.
Great-aunt, I’ll just do this one last thing, and then I’ll behave.
She couldn't quite understand why she was so invested in Cedric’s affairs, but the mere thought of the brooch being lost forever because she failed to act made her skin crawl with restless anxiety.
Still, she couldn't let the 'chance to restore her reputation' that Cedric had worked so hard to secure go to waste. She would have to be meticulous in concealing her identity when she attended the Angelic Party.
An ornate mask covering two-thirds of her face, a wig in a shade entirely unlike her own hair, and a dress intended to be worn once and then burned. If she simply kept her words to a minimum, no one would recognize her.
Tez Roark knows who I am, but even if he talks, I can simply deny it. No one else will recognize me besides him.
Hadn't Bella survived countless crises exactly like this?
Harriet told herself there was nothing she couldn't handle and strengthened her resolve.
* * *
But as the evening of the masquerade arrived, Harriet couldn't suppress the heavy sighs escaping her lips.
She had been fearless while gathering her disguise with such vigor, but now that the moment to actually meet Tez had come, a sudden wave of terror washed over her.
I must be crazy. I’m definitely losing my mind.
What on earth had she been thinking, promising Tez Roark that she would attend such a scandalous party with him? She hadn't even confirmed his true intentions for approaching her, yet she had agreed to accompany him into the lion's den.
Right, I shouldn't be doing this. If Great-aunt found out, she’d lock me in my room for a year. I know I shouldn't, but...
No matter how many times she turned it over in her mind, it was clear she was overstepping. But at the same time, Albert’s words echoed in her head, holding her back from retreating.
"Ah, yes! We should offer it as a prize at this Angelic Party. It’s the deceased Duke’s memento, so it must be valuable, mustn't it? Guests will flock to it."
Cedric hadn't heard those words.
Michael wasn't likely to tell him either, as there was nothing to be gained from upsetting Albert.
So, should she go to Cedric and confess what she had overheard?
That man would be even more displeased to know I was eavesdropping!
The look in Cedric’s eyes—as if asking, 'Are you one of them too?'—was still vivid in her mind.
He had already refused a chance to retrieve the brooch at a minimal cost. Perhaps the item no longer held any meaning for him. Perhaps she was the only one fixated on it, projecting the image of her own deceased parents onto his loss.
If someone held a memento of my father, I would trade every inch of land in Perilas to get it back...
The reason she felt so strongly was because her uncle, John, had burned every last one of her parents' belongings.
After selling off anything of actual value, of course.
The rosary she had inherited from her mother as a child had been in her possession for so long that it felt more like her own than a memento. Harriet had begged them to leave her at least her father’s fountain pen or her mother’s handkerchief.
But John and Miriam had dismissed her desperate pleas as nothing more than childish sentimentality. They had manipulated her with a hollow story of unknown origin.
"They say that if you keep a dead person’s belongings, their soul cannot reach heaven and must suffer. This is all for your parents' eternal peace."
At the time, it had been agonizing to watch every trace of them vanish, but she had believed her uncle’s lies and endured the pain. By the time she grew up and realized it was all a deception, she had searched for their things, but not a single item remained.
Why her uncle had been so thorough in erasing every trace of her parents, she still did not know.
"..."
Harriet fiddled with the flamboyant mask.
She still felt like she was doing something foolish, but the phantom ache of losing her parents' mementos—things she had never even been allowed to hold—wouldn't fade.
I can't get my mother and father’s things back, but I can get his father’s back, can't I?
Her fingertips slid over the velvet surface of the mask.
She had never attended a masquerade before, so she had never worn such a thing and knew nothing of the art of disguise. Consequently, she had chosen the one that covered the most of her face and was the least to her personal taste. Looking at it now, however, it was exactly the style Bella often favored.
Only her lips and jawline would be visible. Decorated with velvet, artificial jewels, and feathers, it would be nearly impossible for anyone to remember the wearer’s true face.
"I just can't get caught."
Harriet sat before the mirror and donned the wig. When she bought it, she had tried to choose a color as far from her own as possible, but now that she saw it, the shade was strikingly similar to Bella’s blonde hair.
She meticulously tucked away every strand of her dark chestnut hair and secured it with a flamboyant pin. Finally, she picked up the mask.
"They say that with this, even the Golden Rose of Genoa can become plain Harriet. Surely the reverse is also true."
Harriet pressed the mask to her face and stared straight at the woman in the mirror.
Between the different hair color and the dark rouge she had applied, she looked like a complete stranger.
Finally, she opened a box of 'beauty marks' she had purchased for the first time in her life. Using tweezers, she placed one on her chin—a spot said to signify 'taciturnity' or 'the keeping of secrets.'
She took another and carefully placed it on the left side of her neck, and a third on her upper chest. Both were the exact locations of Bella’s moles.
If someone mistakes me for Bella, so be it. If not, it doesn't matter.
Harriet stood up. She had to leave now to meet Tez at the harbor at the appointed time.
* * *
To avoid being tracked by Trisha, she changed carriages twice. The area in front of the innermost warehouse at El Mare Port was eerily deserted when she arrived.
In the dim harbor, the only sound was the rhythmic lapping of waves, which felt unusually loud in the silence.
Did I come to the wrong place?
Harriet hesitated to leave the carriage, craning her neck out the window to scan the area. Suddenly, a figure emerged from the deep shadows of the warehouse and approached her.
One might have expected him to find her masked appearance strange, but he spoke with unsettling calm.
"Why have you come?"
His voice was grating and gravelly, sending a chill down her spine.
"I’ve come to meet Ray of Everfoot. I am Liez of Montmare."
When she gave the password Tez had provided, the man held a ledger-like object under the glow of a harbor streetlight and nodded.
"This way, please. He is waiting."
Her stomach twisted into a tight knot, but Harriet maintained a haughty facade as she followed him into the warehouse.
Despite its weathered exterior, the inside was a shock to the senses. It was so lavishly decorated it could have passed for a high noble’s drawing room.
There were ornate electric lights, animal fur rugs, velvet sofas, crystal wine glasses, and the heavy, sweet smoke of exotic tobacco.
The people filling the space were clearly nobles waiting to board a ship. Fortunately, the masks ensured no one could be identified, and everyone maintained a veneer of common decency.
The man who had guided Harriet spoke from the doorway.
"Mr. Ray, your partner, Ms. Liez, has arrived."
At the introduction, a man who had been smoking in the corner stood and approached.
A black mask, shaped like a crow’s beak, covered his upper face and cheekbones, but it wasn't difficult to recognize him as Tez.
"I’ve been waiting. I was worried you wouldn't come."
"How could I miss an opportunity like this?"
Harriet smiled sweetly and placed her hand on the arm he offered.
Before they could take a step, the guide pulled a stamp from his pocket and pressed it onto the back of Harriet’s hand.
"What is this?"
"It’s a very expensive mark," the man said, grinning to reveal a row of repulsive teeth. "And it can only be used once."
With those cryptic words, he turned and exited the warehouse.