"I never thought there would be a place like this in the theater."

It was a coolly decorated s.p.a.ce in ivory and brown. The fact that she was able to enter without encountering anyone in the middle of a crowded time, with actors and staff preparing for the concert, emphasized the secret of the place.

"It doesn't suit you at all."

Maribel laughed at Simone's appreciation. "It was originally decorated in red and black."

"I think it looked better on you."

"It wasn't appropriate for a child to live with," Maribel smiled, recalling when Stella and young Julietta came to visit her.

"I didn't hear you had a child."

"Julietta lived here for a while when she was a child. She stayed here until her mother died."

Simone responded surprisingly well to Maribel's remarks. "Did you love Julietta enough to change the decoration?"

Maribel just smiled and prepared the tea at Simone's surprise.

"What is the reason you came to visit me all of a sudden?" Maribel asked, putting down a cup of tea with a pungent aroma in front of Simone.

"You know exactly what kind of tea I enjoy drinking," Simone said, looking down at the dark red laya tea, which she had been living on due to frequent headaches. These days, she didn't drink as often as she used to, thanks to a ma.s.sage or a walk, as Julietta recommended.

"I just have more ears than others."

Simone looked at Maribel for a while, who simply folded her eyes and smiled knowingly, and picked up her teacup. Maribel watched Simone take a sip of tea in an elegant manner and with a slight tilt of her head.

For a moment there was only silence in the room.

Simone drank tea without a word for a long time, and finally looked at Maribel, breaking the silence. "I was on my way up from Tilia. I met my brother and came back."

Maribel slid her eyes down to hide her expression at Simone's haste. Simone continued to talk, accepting the indication that she would listen quietly. "I don't think he's going to let Julietta go after this."

She was a n.o.blewoman who had grown up without knowing how to plot, or veiled enmity.

Maribel almost sighed unconsciously when Simone spoke frankly, without even a little calculation. Still, to come to her in a hurry and say this would mean that she was already somewhat inclined to Julietta.

"What would you like to do about it?"

Simone was furious at the sight of Maribel, who was not surprised at all. "Don't you care if Julietta, who you have been taking care of so far, might die?"

"When you first started this job, didn't you ever decide to get rid of Julietta?"

Simone paused at Maribel's words. "Well, that was true, in case Julietta had a bad heart and coveted Regina's seat. But now I know she's never going to have that kind of heart. She's one who wants to live by doing what she wants to do in the dressing shop when this is over. I don't have to get rid of her on purpose."

Maribel calmly looked at Simone squeezing the handkerchief she was holding. "If His Excellency has decided to do so, you know we have no choice."

"There's the Marquis of Anais. Why don't you tell the Marquis to find out who Julietta is?"

"Mrs. Anais will never let it go. The Marquise has too much background for the Marquis to deal with. We would have to deal with the Duke of Dudley AND the Duke of Kiellini!"

"She is his child and he will do something to save her."

"If it turns out that Julietta, who has already made her social debut as Princess Kiellini, is the illegitimate child of Marquis Anais, then neither the Duke nor you will be safe."

"So, we're just going to let Julietta die? The child only worked hard as Regina's replacement at our request."

Maribel thought for a moment when she saw Simone screaming in a rage. It seemed that the Marquise had come at this time to decide what she had hesitated about.

"Madame, in order to save Julietta, you may have to cut off the connection with your brother, Duke Kiellini, and your niece, Princess Regina. Is it possible?"

"He is going to send me out of the family of the Duke when this is over."

Maribel nodded as she watched Simone struggling with resentment.

"I heard Princess Regina doesn't want to see you anymore."

Maribel got up from her seat and took out Raphael's letter, which she had put in her desk drawer. She handed it to Simone.

"This is a letter from my grandson, Raphael. I heard that the princess was very upset about Julietta's success this time. Why not? She lost her seat because of her health."

Simone read the letter twice and then again, as if she could not believe that.

It said Regina had collapsed when she had heard about Julietta's debut party success and only woke up a few days later. The story that the maid had heard was written in detail and it was about what Regina had asked the Duke; she asked him to kill Julietta after she was done, and to keep her aunt out of her sight in the future, because she did not want to see the woman who had helped Julietta.

The letter concluded with Raphael's personal opinion that the princess's illness seemed to have eaten into her mind, and that Regina had asked the Duke to get rid of everyone involved in the affair.

Simone handed back the letter. As Simone let it go with trembling hands, Maribel went back to her desk, put it in the drawer, locked it, and returned.