Reasons for Contract Marriage - Chapter 51

“Of course. Please wait a moment.”

Florian left his seat and soon returned with glasses from the long table. He first handed a glass to Veronica.

“Thank you.”

After she took the glass, it was Adelheid’s turn.

“Here you go.”

“Thank you.”

As he handed the glass to Adelheid, she accidentally let go, causing the strawberry juice inside to spill.

“Oh no!”

The juice spilled over Florian’s formal attire, leaving a large stain. Adelheid was startled and immediately apologized.

“I’m so sorry!”

“Florian, are you alright?”

Veronica, also surprised, handed him a handkerchief. Florian tried wiping the sticky drink off, but it had already soaked deep into the fabric and couldn’t be cleaned easily.

Adelheid’s eyes began to well up, as if she were about to cry. “What should I do? I’ve ruined your formal attire because of my clumsiness!”

Florian smiled at her. “It’s fine. I was careless, so don’t worry about it.”

Still, Florian couldn’t shake a lingering sense of doubt. Adelheid was clearly flustered, but something about her exaggerated reaction and the way she had clumsily spilled the drink felt off.

Was it just my imagination?

Florian tilted his head slightly, and Veronica spoke up.

“There’s still some time before the ball, so if you send your clothes for cleaning right away, they should be wearable again. Why don’t you try that? It’ll be hard to wear them like this.”

“Ah…”

However, his family had already returned home, so he was left with no choice but to seek help from the Duke’s household. Just as he was contemplating this, Adelheid stepped in.

“Let me have one of my servants take care of it.” She held out her hands and earnestly offered. “This is all my fault. Please, allow me the chance to make amends.”

At her insistent request, Florian could no longer refuse. He took off his jacket and handed it to Adelheid.

“Alright then, I’ll leave it to you.”

Adelheid excused herself, promising to deliver the jacket, and left. Watching her retreating figure, Florian scratched his head, still feeling uneasy.

It must just be my imagination. There’s no reason for her to spill the juice on purpose.

Florian dismissed his suspicions and turned back to Veronica with a smile.

Outside, Adelheid handed the jacket to a servant as if tossing it to him, giving an order, “Throw it away.”

“Sorry?”

The servant, startled by the sudden command, examined the jacket in his hands and cautiously asked, “But Miss, this looks like the formal attire worn by the graduates…”

“Why are you questioning me? I said throw it away!”

Adelheid snapped sharply, and the servant, intimidated, obeyed and left with the jacket.

As she watched the servant walk away, a satisfied smile spread across Adelheid’s face.

Now, it’ll be difficult for him to attend the ball. And even if he comes, it’ll take time to get a proper outfit. Besides, I’ve already set things in motion on another front, so it’s almost certain that they won’t make it to the ball.

Adelheid smirked as she recalled her conversation with Margot. Thanks to her, Adelheid had learned many things—about Brianna, and how she was closer to Florian Robert than expected.

“Those two aren’t just acquaintances. They’ve been inseparable since childhood, and even after Master Florian entered the academy, they exchanged letters regularly. There’s definitely something going on between them, even at their age.”

Along with this, Adelheid had gained another valuable piece of information.

“Recently, she brought back some expensive clothes and other items. There was this beautiful dress. She’s not the type to splurge, so it’s obvious she didn’t buy it herself. If someone gave it to her, it must have been Master Florian.”

Out of nowhere, she went shopping for a dress, despite it not being the social season. Coincidentally, the upcoming graduation ball was a masquerade ball for the first time.

This couldn’t all just be a coincidence. If her hunch was right, Florian Robert intended to attend the ball with Brianna Everett tonight.

Well, I’ll make sure they can’t.

Adelheid wasn’t going to let a repeat of what had happened at the theater occur. In fact, just being in the same place as Brianna Everett was unpleasant.

Who does she think she is, coming and going as she pleases?

Moreover, every time her name came up, she somehow became the center of attention, which irked Adelheid even more. It had been the same in family conversations before, and even just earlier.

If only I had spilled the juice on her instead of Florian Robert.

With that thought, Adelheid turned and walked away.

***

The disappearance of the dress was discovered two hours before the ball was set to begin. When Brianna opened the box to prepare, she found it completely empty.

Naturally, she immediately suspected Margot. Margot had taken her things without permission before, and she had seen the box last time.

Brianna set out to find Margot. After searching everywhere, she finally found her sweeping the garden. When Margot saw Brianna approaching, she tried to slip away like someone caught red-handed.

“Margot!” Brianna grabbed her before she could escape.

Margot angrily shook off her hand. “Didn’t you tell me not to talk to you? So why are you talking to me?”

“It was you, wasn’t it?”

Margot flinched slightly before lifting her chin defiantly. “What are you talking about?”

“You took my dress.”

“Oh my, what are you even saying?”

Brianna spoke with patience, despite Margot’s feigned ignorance. “Give it back. The clothes are really important to me.”

“I didn’t take your dress! Why are you accusing me? Go back to your room and search again.”

“Margot, I said ‘clothes,’ but I didn’t say it was a dress. So how did you know the missing item was a dress?”

Margot’s face froze in realization. She had fallen into Brianna’s trap far too easily.

At that moment, a group of maids passed by, approaching where they stood. Margot kept glancing nervously at them, seemingly uncomfortable discussing this matter in public.

Brianna whispered quietly, “Give me back the dress, and I won’t make an issue out of it.”

“Fine, I’ll return it.” Margot turned and said, “Follow me to my room.”

Once inside her room, Margot retrieved the dress from her wardrobe and threw it at Brianna. “Here. I returned it, alright?”

It was suspicious how easily she gave it back. Instead of leaving right away, Brianna unfolded the dress to check. As expected, the dress was not intact. The back had been torn.

“Margot!”

“Oh dear, are you mad? But what are you going to do about it? This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t looked down on me. You brought this on yourself.”

“……”

Margot laughed as if she was truly pleased. “Go ahead, accuse me of stealing. Say I tore your dress. But this time, nothing will change. This isn’t Harzen.”

Brianna realized something important from Margot’s overly confident attitude.

“…So, you didn’t do this alone?”

“That’s right. You’d be shocked if you knew who’s backing me.”

Adelheid had promised Margot. If she helped her, she would take her along to the House of Carlisle.

“The first thing you need to do for me is make sure the tutor can’t wear her dress to the ball. Can you do that?”

No matter how hard she racked her brain, Margot realized the only way to prevent Brianna from wearing the dress was to destroy it. While she had been caught stealing before, this time, she had Adelheid’s protection, so she didn’t have to worry.

At first, Margot had thought about selling the dress, but she quickly realized that wasn’t possible. After all, a maid suddenly trying to sell an expensive dress would immediately raise suspicion.