Just Leave Me Be

Chapter 4

* * *

“Did something happen to her?” Fellis asked as he made his way to the dining hall with the duke and duchess.

He recalled how Adele’s eyes had been emotionless and vacant, almost like a hollow, empty puppet. He had expected her to come right up under his nose and chatter away, but that hadn’t happened.

Not that he particularly enjoyed her overbearing friendliness.

Adele was a stain on his family’s reputation brought in to cover up yet another stain left by his dead sister, just because the two looked similar.

His real sister hadn’t been so friendly. She’d been an increasingly irritable child, especially toward her death—always looking gloomy and with downcast eyes.

“Nothing happened,” Duke Viphta answered.

“I see,” Fellis said, nodding his head.

“Bella,” called out the duke.

“Yes, Master.”

“Is the girl sick?”

Bella paused for a moment to think.

Adele had claimed to be unwell, but she didn’t really look it in Bella’s opinion. She’d been expressionless, but her complexion had been fine and her skin hadn’t felt hot when Bella dressed her.

“The lady told me she felt unwell. I offered to call for a physician, but she said she just needed some sleep.”

Hmm, Duke Viphta thought to himself, then turned to Bella with narrowed eyes.

“Call the physician and have him examine her, just in case.”

“Yes, Master.”

The duke dismissed the maid with a wave of his hand. The duchess’s face stiffened momentarily at the exchange.

Once Bella had left, the family started toward the dining hall again.

“Something’s off about her,” Fellis said, furrowing his brow.

“Forget about her,” the duke replied. “Let’s hear more about you.”

Fellis’ frown deepened, but he did not probe further and merely shrugged instead.

“There isn’t much to say. We saw each other six months ago, didn’t we?”

“Don’t be like that. Even if you were gone for just a day, we’d still want to hear about it,” the duchess said, gently admonishing Fellis for his brusque reply.

They reached the dining hall and were immediately served lunch. The enticing aromas made their stomachs growl. As the duke and duchess continued to question their eldest son, the family of three began to eat.

* * *

“Done in ten minutes? I just saved myself two hours of agony.”

How much time had Adele wasted on similarly futile and unnecessary efforts?

She was amazed by how willingly she had put up with all of this nonsense in the past. She was also amazed by how little she cared about those same things now. Adele found it surprising that she could completely lose interest in something that she was once so passionate about.

Just a day ago—no, just before her death—she had still been grasping at straws, hadn’t she?

She had believed they wouldn’t go so far as to kill her. How naive of her.

Should I just act my part in public now?

That said, what she was doing could hardly be called acting. Keeping the family out of trouble, earning praise from the duke and duchess, avoiding ostracism from high society...

For these reasons, Adele had simply transformed herself into the wonderful Karena Viphta, a girl whom she had never even met before.

“So, the baby should be born around a year from now. I wonder what I should do for a living after that?” she asked herself. Adele was fine with a new little sister, or... whatever Selena was to her.

In the past, it had pained her, but now she could no longer remember what pain even felt like. It was a relief that she’d become numb to it.

“They’ll use me and get rid of me soon enough. I need to find my own way before then.”

She had no intention of repeating her past life over again; she didn’t want to. She dreaded the pain; the terrors of death were still buried somewhere deep inside her.

The duke never kept any of his promises.

He had failed to deliver everything he had agreed to give Adele in return for her living as Karena Viphta. He had told her she would want for nothing for the rest of her life, but instead, he had taken her life.

Now Adele had no reason to keep her end of the bargain. She would live her life as she pleased.

I’ve been such a pathetic loser.

Adele’s head ached each time an old memory intruded on her thoughts. She shook them away and began unlacing her dress to take it off.

Leaving the expensive dress on the floor, Adele sat at the table in only her petticoat. In the past, Adele would have hung the dress up herself for Bella, but now there was no need to.

It’s spring now... The party invitations should be flooding in soon.

She didn’t feel like going, but for now she had no choice. It would be unreasonable to make her move now.

Adele wanted to keep a low profile. And to do so, she needed to wait for Selena to be born first.

Something flashed behind Adele’s golden eyes.

The duchess would soon learn of her pregnancy, and once that happened, the whole family would lose whatever little interest they had in Adele.

“I’m just going to read and not think about it.”

Staying holed up in the library was the best way to keep out of everyone’s hair.

Adele took off her petticoat and flung it carelessly on the floor, where it lay crumpled in a heap. She changed into a floaty silk slip dress and walked out of the room.

Then she made her way down the staircase and headed for the library. The house was still bustling due to Fellis’ arrival. Adele strolled leisurely past the frantic servants and made her way straight to the corner room on the first floor, where she found the stairs leading to the basement.

Duke Viphta’s library was located underground, and the location of the stairs leading to it was kept a secret. The servants all knew where it was, but outsiders did not. It stored books about the long history of the Viphta family, which was why entry was limited to immediate family members, the estate caretaker, and the head maid only.

“Nice and quiet,” Adele murmured.

The room contained a spacious sofa and plenty of books. Most importantly, hardly anyone ever came here, making it the perfect place for Adele to take refuge from time to time.

It was still midday. Adele planned to stay here reading until nighttime. She also needed some time to clear all the thoughts jumbled up inside her head.

She slowly scanned the bookshelves, then pulled out a handful of unread books and stacked them on the sofa.

The more she read, the faster time would go by.

Adele picked up a thick novel and settled herself on the sofa. Laying on her stomach, she opened the book up to the first page.

The rest of her afternoon was spent flipping through page after page, lost in a story.

* * *

Adele had been immersed in the stack of books she’d chosen for a number of hours. She had begun to feel stiff from staying in one position for so long, so she sat up and stretched.

“Maybe ten books in a day is overdoing it.”

She still had three and a half books left to finish.

That’s too bad...

She wouldn’t have time to read starting tomorrow. If she remembered correctly, the hunting tournament would be starting soon, and she’d be busy making preparations. Though not of her own volition, obviously.

“Do I actually need to do anything?” she asked herself, tilting her head.

Adele’s job had been to choose her accessories and clothes, but frankly, she felt no need to buy anything new for this tournament. So with that being the case, Adele found that she didn’t have anything to do.

The maids are supposed to do that stuff in the first place.

The only reason Adele had been busy before was that she’d been eager to help out the maids.

That would not happen this time.

Adele would focus only on her own work and not offer her help to anyone else.

“I guess I can read tomorrow after all,” she remarked, her voice full of anticipation.

Even if she did attend the hunting tournament next week, all she would be able to do was wait inside the tent or perhaps watch from the benches or her carriage.

Last time, she’d crafted tassels made of beads and thread to give to the duke and Fellis, who participated in the tournament, but in the end, she’d been unable to present them with her gifts.

The reason was simple.

Fellis had been given too many tassels from other noble ladies, while the duke hadn’t even bothered to seek Adele out at all. He was a busy man.

So this time, Adele decided she wouldn’t make or buy any tassels.

I’ll just take one to put in my hair.

It was tradition for ladies to handcraft tassels made of pearl or glass beads and colorful threads to give to their fiancés or any other knights competing in the hunting tournament. Upon receiving these tassels, participants would attach them to their armor or swords before entering the tournament. The ladies would then attach an identical tassel to their hair and proudly watch the games.

The tournament usually had two winners, the one who caught the most game and the one who bagged the largest creature. The champions would each stand on a podium and receive prize money as well as a trophy made of gold.

But this tournament is only going to have one winner.

A single participant would manage to hunt the most game, which would also turn out to be the greatest in size. He’d been dressed in black armor and had worn a helmet covering his entire face, so nobody had given him any tassels.

“Hmm. Maybe I’ll give him one.”

Adele needed to secure her place within high society anyway, and it would be best not to be caught up in gossip.

She had been bullied about it the last time—teased for not having anyone to give her tassels to and called a disgrace to all ladies. She had been made an outcast several times since then because no one, not even her family, had accepted her pathetic tassels.

That was kind of frustrating, Adele recalled. It would be better to give a tassel to someone if just to avoid being gossiped about.

Honestly, the thing Adele had found the most surprising was that the winner had received so little attention despite his exceptional skill.

“I’ll just buy enough supplies for one,” she said. Adele thought about it a bit more and realized that supplies would have already run out in most of the stores.

I’ll have to go to the market tomorrow.

If nothing else, it would be a good opportunity to escape the house for a bit.

Satisfied with her plans, Adele closed her book and left the library.

“She’s not here either.”

Stepping out of the library, Adele noticed the atmosphere of the house had taken on an oddly unsettled quality.

Adele frowned and closed the door behind her.

What’s happening now?

She tried to recall the day’s events, but nothing remarkable came to mind.

Adele walked across the entrance hall on the ground floor to head to her room. She expected to pass by unnoticed as usual, but...

“Lady Karena!”

Having noticed her, Bella rushed forward looking alarmed.

Adele looked at her impassively.

“What?” she said.

“The physician is here,” Bella answered. “I couldn’t find you, so I got worried. Where did you go without telling me? We looked everywhere...”

Adele frowned, offended by her accusatory tone.

Was Bella actually worried about her safety?

Adele stared at her silently, then shrugged.

“I was in the library,” she said.

“Still, you should tell me where you’re going next time,” Bella said sternly.

“It’s your job to figure out where I am, Bella,” Adele said coldly, forcing herself to remain calm. “Or have you forgotten that I am the lady you serve?”

She had been too lenient with Bella.

It was wrong from the start for a servant to use such a disrespectful tone with her master; and Bella only used this tone of voice with Adele, never with anyone else.

“What...?” Bella breathed, her mouth hanging open.

“Don’t make me say it twice,” Adele said.

“What is going on with you?” Bella asked, her eyes widening in surprise.

Her head was still held high, not showing even an inkling of respect for the lady she was supposed to be serving.

Adele didn’t answer.

“You know you can’t wander around like this on your own!” Bella cried loudly, ignoring Adele’s warning.

She stared at Adele insolently, showing no shame for her behavior. Her disdain and contempt were evident for anyone to see.

There was no way the duke could possibly claim Adele was given as much as Karena Viphta, not when the servants treated her like this.

This isn’t the first time they have behaved this way, though.

Come to think of it, with Bella occasionally disrespecting her like this, it was natural that the other servants would think less of her as well.

“Why can’t I go around as I please?” Adele asked.

“Well obviously because...!”

Bella opened her mouth to retort, then hastily closed it again when she realized there were people watching.

“It’s... it’s dangerous,” she finished. “Anyway, just tell me next time. And hurry back to your room.”

At Bella’s commanding tone, Adele lost control of the rage she was barely holding in.

When Bella tried to snatch Adele’s wrist to pull her along, Adele firmly resisted.

Smack!

The sharp sound rang throughout the hall.

Bella’s eyes widened as she looked down at her quickly reddening hand.

Everyone was staring now, but Adele continued to look imperiously at Bella, her head held high.

Bella stared back, dumbstruck.

Adele had never refused Bella like this, nor had she ever reacted so violently.

“Bella, shut your mouth and keep it that way.”

As soon as Bella raised her head with her eyes open wide, Adele’s hand shot through the air.

Smack!

Bella’s face whipped sharply to the left.

Adele kept her composure, ignoring her stinging hand.

“Kneel,” she said.

“What?!” Bella exclaimed.

“Get down on your knees and beg. Otherwise, you’re fired.”

A collective gasp was heard around the hall.

Adele had grown up penniless in the slums of the capital. Her rough childhood had left her with a rather unpleasant personality. She had simply suppressed it all this time—to better impersonate Karena Viphta—because she wanted whatever attention she could get.

“What... what do you...” Bella stammered.

“A dog that can’t recognize its master needs to be taught its place,” Adele said. “What? Do you disagree?”

Bella’s mouth gaped open in stunned silence.

“You need to learn your place. I am your master, and you are my servant.”

Adele had hidden her true self until now because she didn’t want to cause any trouble for the duke’s family or be the subject of anyone’s hate.

“You only get one chance. I’ll say it one last time. Kneel and beg for forgiveness.”