Lady Cinderella - Chapter 31

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Lady Cinderella, Chapter 31

Part of her wanted to tell them to get out, but this was Mary’s precious shop. If she stirred up a scene and Patricia got it in her head to make trouble for Mary, that would be a real headache.
“All of you, step back.”
“Lady Elladis.”
Quick-witted Mary immediately treated Ella with formal courtesy. So that she wouldn’t appear to be anything more than a customer or a shop owner’s acquaintance, Ella forced a composed air and steered the conversation.
“We can discuss the dress later. Might I borrow a room for a moment, Madame Rose Gold?”
“I’ll have one prepared.”
With Miro away, the soldiers had no way to stop Patricia Lloyd, the Countess and Lady’s legal mother, from entering.
“You certainly kept me waiting last time.”
“I had my reasons.”
“Yes, well. Let me ask you just one thing. Just what sort of trick did you use to lure the Grand Duke in?”
So that was what she was dying to ask. Having just seen the Empress, Patricia looked utterly insignificant, not worth even a pinch of attention. Thinking that her entire life had been ruined by a person of this caliber was so absurd it nearly brought tears to her eyes.
“How would I possibly know the reason for that?”
“You’d do well to keep your wits about you. Do you really think a man of his stature would be sincere toward a creature like you?”
What on earth did any of this have to do with Patricia? Their interests had aligned, so whether they dated or he eventually tossed her aside, it was none of Patricia’s concern. Whether the Duke was sincere or not, he remained the benefactor who had helped Ella. Her attempt to wound her on purpose now seemed almost laughable. Ella even wore a faint smile as she mocked Patricia.
“You’ll find out whether he’s sincere if you watch closely. After all, it’s my own life.”

Miro returned belatedly, but the Lady had already entered the room alone with Patricia.
“Inform His Grace at once!”
At Miro’s order, the soldiers scrambled into motion. It was the Lady’s own instruction, so there was no way to intervene partway through. The situation was truly as precarious as a candle flame in the wind.
“Ella!”
“Isn’t that better than living as a kitchen drudge? Look. My hands have already come back like this.”
Her hands, which had grown rough and coarse from doing menial work, had been meticulously cared for by Olga every day, and now they were smooth and lovely right down to the fingernail tips. Not only that, but from head to toe, there was nothing about her that gave Patricia any opening to treat her lightly.
“You really are something… So you truly intend to defy your own father?”
“I merely acted within the law. I’m eighteen, and even if I’m still a minor, it’s possible to get engaged without a parent’s consent.”
Patricia’s efforts to tear her down, even with the visible proof right in front of her, were admirable, but Ella had no intention whatsoever of letting herself be pushed around. Faced with Ella’s composed bearing, Patricia bared her fangs in an irritated smile.
“Hmph. I don’t know what sort of trick you used to lure in the Duke of Wellington, but in the end you’re abandoning your family simply because your trust fund matters to you.”
“When were we ever a family?”
She remembered reading in a book that one should be wary of those who appeal to emotion when discussing important matters. Patricia, who had secretly siphoned off Ella’s trust fund without her knowledge in the first place, had no right to say such things. In the past, Ella would have bowed her head at once with a quiet “Yes, Mother,” but now that she refused to be so easily cowed, Patricia began to grow flustered.
‘Why is she acting like this?’
“How dare this insolent girl hold her ground, relying on the Grand Duke?”
Unlike Anastasia, who was trembling beside her, Kate put on a pitiful, tearful face, just like her mother.
“Ella, don’t be like this. Let’s just go home. Without you, we simply can’t alter the dresses. I’ll give you my favorite candies again. Hm?”
It would almost have been better if she had lost her temper. The best she could offer as a reason to come back was that there was no maid to replace her, and that Ella should just eat some candy and be done with it. Ella was dumbfounded and clutched the back of her neck. Yet Anastasia and Patricia did not deny Kate’s words, as though they were doing her a great favor. So this was truly how little Ella meant to these people. After enduring it for so long, her anger finally boiled over, and she could see nothing else.
“Please, just stop it!”
Just as Ella was about to flip the table on all of them, the door flew open without so much as a knock.
“Ell!”
“Cal?”
The very person who had no business being there suddenly appeared, and Ella, along with her stepmother and two stepsisters, turned pale. His voice had been so loud that there was no way the door of this small dress shop could have kept their conversation from being heard.
“Your Grace, we were only…”
“Who do you think you are, speaking so carelessly in front of this Duke’s presence? Drag these people out at once!”
The moment Calaile’s command rang out, the soldiers moved with flawless precision. In an instant the space cleared, and the stepmother and stepsisters found themselves blocked off by the soldiers’ spears.
“Let’s go.”
He could not bear to keep Ella in the same room with such people for even a moment. Before she could find a word to say, he seized her wrist and pulled her straight into the carriage waiting outside. As they hurried along, Mary handed over to a retreating soldier the bundle of fabric Ella had prepared in advance.
“Ella!”
Patricia’s cry became an echo lost in the air, and the moment the Duke and Ella boarded the carriage, the soldiers withdrew as well. In the half-devastated dress shop, Patricia ultimately left with her two daughters without a single word of apology.
“What on earth is she thinking?”
Given the generosity of the Grand Duke’s residence, there was no need to worry, since they would surely make amends for today’s affair in some form. Still, judging by the Duke’s expression when he burst in and Ella’s state, it was clear that something was far from ordinary. Ella’s eyes had wavered as though she were already preparing for a parting from the Duke, and that unsettled Mary. The two of them had seemed so affectionate at the Grand Duke’s residence, yet now their current demeanor left an odd sense of discord. Ella clearly seemed to love the Duke, but a foreboding feeling crept over her that this was not the whole story.
‘Surely not.’
Mary had seen more than a few women suffer through unhappy homes and then flee into sudden marriages just to escape that hellish cycle, and a seed of suspicion sprouted within her.
* * *
Even after they boarded the carriage, silence hung between the two of them. Calaile, his anger already at its peak, stared at Ella as though he might breathe fire.
“We didn’t have any suspicious conversation, so please don’t worry.”
“Ell.”
“I know I can’t help being suspected, but I truly feel wronged.”
“That’s not what we’re talking about right now.”
Ella was like a hedgehog that had been hurt too many times, bristling its quills the moment anyone came near, and she always raised her walls first. Setting aside her competence, she was a woman with a great many wounds. The moment he heard that her stepmother’s party had come barging in, he didn’t stop to look back. He spurred his horse and rode straight here.
He had never once given up on something he wanted. Before the Grand Duke of Wellington, a man who did not fear even the Emperor, no obstacle existed. To begin a hunt, one first had to set the snare. Facing Ella, who was on her guard, Calaile gathered every ounce of patience he had, swallowed his anger, and spoke to her gently.
“Are you upset because I assigned Miro to you?”
Ella shook her head back and forth, then lowered it again. To win over such a timid woman, a sweet bait was the surest choice. It would be better to change the subject to something she enjoyed.
“I hear the Empress has commissioned embroidery from you.”
“That’s… well…”
“Do your best. I’m sure you’ll do well.”
Even at the unexpected encouragement, Ella could not bring herself to smile easily. Calaile let out an empty laugh at his own words. He had rushed over at once upon receiving Miro’s hurried report. He no longer wanted to doubt her. Calaile drew a deep breath and steadied his mind.
“Why did you come here so suddenly?”
“Because you’d be in trouble otherwise.”
“You don’t need to go to such lengths for me.”
Inside the carriage, where no one else was present, Ella once again tried to raise a wall and flee into her own private space. Calaile deliberately moved one step closer, sat beside her, and held her gaze.
“El, you’re mistaken about something.”
“About what?”
“You seem to think you can drag out our engagement, but you’re my fiancée. This much is only natural.”
“What on earth do you mean…?”
“We’ve been presented before His Majesty. The dice have been cast, so we can no longer deny our relationship.”
At the mention of the Emperor’s name, Ella could not keep the words coming. Calaile was leaning in so close that her heart would not stop pounding, and she grasped at the first excuse that came to mind.
“I’m afraid Sir Houston will see me and look down on me.”
“Miro isn’t that sort of man.”
She had heard that he was close with Kevin, and since her stepmother had moved the instant she made her move and the Duke had been informed straight away, Ella concluded that he, too, must be suspicious of her. Calaile let out a heavy sigh and stroked her hair.
“Don’t worry. For all his appearance, Sir Emil Houston is a capable subordinate of mine. I intend to nurture him and give him heavy responsibilities going forward, so, El, use that mysterious ability of yours to keep an eye on the boy’s future.”
“Wait, you said Emil…?”
“Emil Houston, though his nickname is Miro. He’s distinguished himself properly this time, so I intend to grant him an official territory. Probably Dionel would suit him.”
“Dionel, you say?”
At the name Emil and the word Dionel, a single memory flashed through her mind. She might not have known a man called Miro, but she certainly knew Emil Dionel, the Grand Duke’s subordinate.
“As for a title…”
“A barony would probably be appropriate. Though he comes from common stock, he’s distinguished himself properly in this matter of the spoils of war, so it’s fine to grant him at least that much.”
Baron Emil Dionel’s deeds had shone just as brightly as those of the Grand Duke Wellington himself. She should have realized it when she heard the words eagle, eagle. Emil Dionel, who had guarded the Grand Duke and was known as the “Invincible Eagle,” was a legendary figure who, though born a commoner, had been recognized for his merit and ultimately risen to the rank of Viscount.
“How old is Lord Miro now?”
“Twenty-seven. Why?”
Ella, her face gone pale, could not say a word. Serving as the Grand Duke’s loyal shield, he took an arrow meant for the Grand Duke at the Second Battle of Minette and lost his life. To honor his deed in saving the Grand Duke’s life, the Grand Duke, in a grief-stricken state of mind, would go on to grant him the title of Viscount.
The tragic knight Emil Dionel, who died young at the age of twenty-eight while serving the master he had sworn to protect. Not a single record Ella had ever read mentioned that his nickname had been Miro.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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