If they had been somewhat quiet after Rowena's commanding speech, they were now truly silent. Just by entering the room, the Grand Duchess had done what Rowena couldn't even do with her best impression of the Grand Duke.

It made her a little envious, as it could have saved her some effort, but ultimately she wasn't of the same standing and didn't command the same respect. In a way, she was grateful that they had listened to her at all, now that she thought about it.

Her stepmother's slow but strong gait was straight to the nose, utterly flawless, Rowena was sure she could balance a book on her head with ease.

'A true noble,' were the first words that came to her mind upon seeing a person like Beatrice van Varnhagen.

But none of that mattered as she stepped up to her blood daughter, who finally looked up, tears still glistening in her eyes as she easily jumped to hug her mother's waist. There was not much grace in her actions, but the angelic Arabella still managed to draw a few pitiful looks.

Many of the people in the room were still unsure what to make of this incident. Was she at fault? Was she not? Or, if in doubt, could they still blame it on the other young mistress?

Would that be fair? It was at least fair to say that Rowena had never cared for any of her servants before.

Not when they were ridiculed by the staff of the main building for looking after the Duchy's scraps; not when they were accused of abuse for her refusing food and care - for making herself look sick.

They couldn't understand the level of pettiness it took for her to accept their demise so easily. They could never forget the unjust way their initial loyalty was paid for by Rowena.

The servants of the Annex changed frequently as a result - not in exchange with the main building servants, but simply by leaving and being replaced by new hires.

This meant that not many within the annex knew much about the mistress, but her bad reputation extended far beyond the walls of her family's estate. That made her fairly infamous, and people seemed to get to know her better as time went on, even without ever seeing her in person.

The weeping, which had subsided during Liza's iterations, was now very audible again. As Beatrice gently stroked her daughter's back, the lavender-haired girl felt like the spare wheel on a Humvee: Mostly unused and inadequate help in a genuine emergency.

She scratched her head as she turned. "In that case, I will take my leave now." If Arabella didn't need to maintain proper etiquette, neither did Rowena.

"Rowena," her stepmother called, "I must ask you to stay a little longer."

With some regret, she stopped where she was standing and turned back to Beatrice who wasn't facing her. "Of course I must, if you ask me to stay."

Clearing her throat to gloss over her stepdaughter's answer, she finally turned to her own daughter. Arabella was still busy crying, wondering how long they would have to stand in the foyer like this, for she was getting tired.

"Dear mother, it really wasn't my fault. You believe me, right?" The Grand Duchess gave her a stern look, but she always did, so that didn't mean much.

Compared to her father, she had always been the one who set the rules and limited her with restrictions. In return, she would let a lot of things slide. It had always been that way, even when her father was gone and the Grand Duke came into the picture.

Now her new father gave her everything she needed. Even her brothers treated her like a princess.

'I didn't do anything wrong anyway. She just got new clothes, she won't miss a single dress,' she said, 'and she never cared about what she looked like either. Why bother now? I'm not the bad one. I also need to dress well for the Victory Banquet.'

But when her mother didn't move, she had to blink and analyze her facial expression. There was nothing out of the ordinary, right? Then why didn't she reassure her?

"I'm very sorry," she finally said, making Arabella smile innocently in relieve, "of course she won't be allowed to wear the dress at the upcoming banquet, I assure you."

As soon as the smile had shown, it had fallen again. Wide eyed, Arabella couldn't speak, nor form any thoughts in order to do so. Her mother's words were still busy ringing loudly in her head.

Rowena, on the other hand, tilted her head in contemplation. "Are you talking to me, Your Grace?"

"Indeed. I don't want to keep you too long from your duties," she said, knowing that she didn't have many duties, "there are just a few words I would like to say to you in private, but first I need to speak with my daughter. Can you wait?"

As the mistress of the household, she oversaw everything within the estate, so of course she was always informed about what the young lady was up to. Not only because she had to report to the Duke, but also because she felt the need to make sure that her health didn't deteriorate any further, even if she couldn't do much about it if it did.

It pleased her to hear that she was finally ready to take on her role as a young noblewoman, to learn and act as a lady should. A worry that had weighed heavily on her shoulders for half a decade had just recently been lifted.

It all came a rather unexpectedly for Rowena. Then again, she couldn't expect anything from someone she'd never met and knew practically nothing about.

Nudging her daughter Arabella to let go and stand up straight in front of her, the Grand Duchess sighed an unseemly sigh.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"I heard the commotion on arrival, but I did not interfere as I remained unnoticed," she explained herself, "though that may be true, I do not know everything that has happened here today. Will you enlighten me, Arabella?"

"I..." She couldn't really say anything because her words didn't make it clear how much she had seen and heard. "I don't know, it's too much, mother! I don't even know what's going on!"

'Exactly, how should she know?' thought one of the maids of the main building, 'It was that horrible annex maid who dragged our lady down like that.'

'What else is to be expected of a servant to such an indifferent and foolish master?'

It might not have been Rowena who did it, but in their eyes it might as well have been her.

She was the victim in this case, but a victim of her own behavior. Making enemies of people was, after all, what Rowena excelled at.

A few spiteful glances hit said lady as if she had asked for it. 'How annoying, I can tell I'm on my own without anyone saying it.' Then she turned around. 'No, maybe not all alone.'

She saw two orphaned siblings, seething with anger, greeting anyone who dared to look in their direction with a fierce glare. It might not seem like much, but it was all they could do if they didn't want to escalate the situation any further.

Another sigh was audible, drawing her attention back to the mother-daughter duo. Now, from her perspective, Rowena could only see a small part of the side of Beatrice's face, so she couldn't make any assumptions based solely on the posture of her back.

What she could see, however, was her "sister's" face. And that was very telling, even for someone who was no good when it came to reading people.

"I can't tell if you did it on purpose or not, but coercing a servant of another family member to do your bidding by leading them on," the blonde mother said in a tone so cold it almost made Rowena shiver when she wasn't even addressed, "that is definitely not something I taught you to do."

"What do you mean? I didn't-" Arabella was so shocked that she was on the verge of crying again.

"Besides," Beatrice continued, unfazed by her daughter's expression, "I was the one who forbade you from getting new clothes. I told you to learn to appreciate what you are given, Arabella. Did you not listen?"

These words had an even deeper impact on the people who heard them, for not only were they witnessing their young lady being scolded for the first time, but what she had said was new to them.

As Liza had been told, everyone believed that it was because she couldn't get a higher level designer to come up for her. They hadn't been around enough to know that her mother hadn't allowed her to get anything new.

No one knew - except Arabella's nanny, of course. Swallowing, she picked up the scarf that had fallen from her mistress's shoulders without anyone noticing and placed a hand over her chest, where her heart should be.

"I feel so ashamed, Your Grace!" she interrupted, squeezing her eyes shut, "I told the young miss that she could accept it if it was a gift from the heart, even though I knew of your orders! I will take whatever punishment you see fit."

'What a soap opera,' Rowena thought as she felt her soul slowly leaving her body, 'what was I doing here again? Oh, right, she wanted to talk to me. Then hurry it up!'

Unconsciously rolling her eyes at the thought, she almost yawned. Ava and Nona, who had still been looking at her periodically, flinched in surprise as they witnessed that.

Well, Nona flinched, to be exact, Ava quickly checked to see if the Grand Duchess had seen this display of disrespect from her stepdaughter, but since it didn't seem to be the case, she felt relieved.

Still, she was encouraged by the fact that she knew her mistress was in agony over this scene, so she cleared her throat.

"Your Grace, may I speak my mind?"

"You may," Beatrice replied, leaving the nanny, Heather, frozen in her bowed position.

"It is very rude of me, I am sure, but may I remind you that my lady has just returned from a long journey? I would like to see her to her room soon."

Without so much as a shrug at a mere maid's way of speaking to one of the heads of the house she served, the Grand Duchess straightened her shoulders even more than before.

"That is indeed true. What is your name?"

"It is Ava, Your Grace."

"Then please, Ava, give me a moment." With another sigh, a behavior they had never seen or heard from their proud Grand Duchess, she turned away from her daughter to face Rowena properly for the first time that evening. "I had intended to apologize more sincerely, but it seems I lack the time. Would you mind joining me for a cup of tea before the banquet?"

"In that case, why not tomorrow?" Rowena countered her request.

With a regretful smile, she couldn't say yes. "I'll be out of the house for a few days, I'm afraid. But I will be back the day before the banquet."

She would have to leave for a small trip to the Granbell Mountain Range. The Varnhagen family had been given the honor of partially preparing the Hunting Festival by hosting the tea party for the female household members.

Especially since they would have a new adult family member at the table, she had to go and see the area to make preparations. It was clear that she would not have the time between the banquet and the festival itself.

"Well, let's take the opportunity when you return, Your Grace. Is there anything else you need from me?"

"I would like to know what you think would be the most appropriate punishment for your sister Arabella?"

Rowena was taken aback by the idea, just like Arabella herself, who had been left standing as if forgotten. Her nanny continued to bow, sweat visible on her forehead even more now, as she strained herself to not falter in her attempt to appeal to the Grand Duchess.

"Why are you asking me?"

"Because it was you who was horribly mistreated." For a young noble, her debut was her first step into society.

"That rings true." And her debut was to be at a grand imperial banquet, of all places, but her dress was ruined just days before the occasion. 'There would have been girls ready to jump off ledges, I bet.'

She couldn't say she didn't care, because she wanted to make a good impression, which was why she had left it to Cain. But now she had no choice but to use something off the shelf, if they had any readymade clothing for nobles at hand.

"As I said, of course she won't be wearing your dress, I assure you..."

"Oh, by all means, I already said that she could have it," Rowena shortened her stepmother's speech a bit, "now that I've already paid for it out of my own pocket, somebody has got to wear it."

Another wave of quick breaths echoed through the hall as the shocked servants had never heard a noble utter such profanity before. Of course, they hadn't heard her curse in the presence of an emperor either, so the only people who weren't shocked were the lavender-haired girl's servants.

'Yeah, right, nobles flex with their expensive looking shit, but never name prices or talk about how expensive something was. It's against etiquette,' she remembered, 'my bad.'

To her surprise, it was the most dignified person in the foyer who seemed to care the least. "You're right, how could I be so disrespectful? Instead, I will compensate you with a new dress. I have heard that Silver Cain has taken a liking to you, so I will have a messenger summon him early tomorrow morning."

She wouldn't be there to witness it, but she hoped Rowena would find something suitable. There wasn't much time left.

'Damn, that's when I'm supposed to be learning how to dance.' Rowena was getting more and more annoyed. 'Now I'm trying to learn how to dance, I even have a teacher, but it turns out I have no dress. It's like the universe is trying to tell me that going there is be a shitty idea.'

'You can't use that as an excuse to stay at home.'

'I told you to just go back to your mind realm, if you have nothing useful to add.'

"Then I hope you have a good rest tonight, as I imagine your schedule will be quite hectic. Has your appointment from the temple arrived yet?"

A bit distracted, she heard only half of that sentence. "What appointment?"

This day just didn't want to go her way.