My Friends Are Your Friends

"Lucille, how are your lessons going?" Nessa asked over dinner two weeks after Lucille had first met her tutor.

"Good! Baroness Minson lets me do whatever I want, and she gives me lots of snacks for working hard." Lucille chirped. Her table manners had improved, although she would occasionally fumble when slicing meat.

"You're a fast learner," the Duke commented. The soft look in his eyes was totally unfamiliar to Kalina or the Duchess, and they immediately stiffened. It was as if their side of the table didn't exist.

"Your Grace, I think Lucille needs some friends," Nessa shifted her eyes to Kalina and sneered behind her fingers. "All those years that we spent in that house, she had no one to play with when I was gone..."

She appeared to be on the verge of tears after remembering the unfortunate past. Kalina knew it was all an act and that she didn't care, but the Duke believed her every word.

"Nessa, don't worry." He reached over and patted her arm. Then, he turned to the Duchess with a sharp glare. "Why didn't you find her some friends? Are you doing this on purpose?"

The Duchess was busy all day with official work and managing the duchy. When would she have time to pick on her husband's illegitimate child? The Duke was foolish to think that the proud Duchess would lower herself to that point.

Seeing that the Duchess was seething with rage from her husband's remarks, Kalina grasped her hand under the table and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

The Duchess looked over at her daughter, who stared back with a calm expression. She took a couple of deep breaths and wore her business smile that she used when dealing with her colleagues.

"I'll look into finding some friends for her." she said through gritted teeth.

"Hurry it up then! Isn't Kalina meeting with her friends tomorrow? Make her take Lucille with her!" The Duke waved his hand in dismissal.

"Yes." The Duchess sighed. She had no more energy to keep resisting and her appetite had long disappeared. If it weren't for Kalina, she would have already left the table. Who knew what Nessa would demand if she wasn't there to protect her daughter.

Lucille peeked up from her plate at Kalina to see her reaction, but Kalina was unreadable as always. Feeling the girl's stare, Kalina turned and gave her a smile that Lucille mistakenly interpreted as an amiable one.

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"Lucille, do you remember what you teacher taught you? Sit straight, keep your head up, and your eyes level."

Kalina sat in the Ephraims' carriage, across from Lucille. She wore an apricot orange dress with a golden belt that had butterfly charms hanging off of it. A short cape lined with white fur was draped over her shoulders, but her dress was still visible. It was a refreshing look that brightened up the dreary winter atmosphere.

"Yes! I remember everything!" Lucille chirped. Nessa had put extra effort into dressing her up so that she "wouldn't be looked down upon by Kalina's friends."

Lucille wore a ruffled teal dress with a poofy fur bolero on top. A huge magenta peony was pinned on top of her silver-blue curls. The colors were much more vibrant than the subdued tones of Kalina's dress. Her flashy outfit easily outshone Kalina's in every way.

"Good." Kalina's eyes curved up the more she looked at Lucille's outfit.

'I wonder what my dear friends will think of her ensemble.'

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Kalina and her friends had arranged to meet at Count Willick's mansion. Every time they met up, they would go to a different girl's mansion. Everyone looked forward to visiting Kalina's the most.

"Welcome, Lady Kalina." Count Willick's butler had become familiar with Kalina and greeted her as soon as she stepped off the carriage.

Before he could withdraw his hand that had been held out to help Kalina get off, another hand was placed on top of it. Shocked, he turned to see who else was in the carriage. He didn't remember Kalina mentioning bringing another guest.

Lucille emerged from the carriage and half-jumped off before she ran after Kalina, who had already walked far away.

"Hello everyone," Kalina greeted her friends who had been waiting in the garden. "I'm sorry for making everybody wait. There was a bit of a delay at home."

"It's nothing, Lady Kalina," they replied with welcoming smiles. They were about to continue the conversation when Lucille's high-pitched voice rang through the air.

"Sister! Introduce me to your friends!" Lucille appeared from behind her. She stared at Kalina's friends with bright and curious eyes.

"Ah, this is my father's daughter." Kalina gestured to Lucille. Her expression was calm, but her words were sharp. Lucille was unaware, but the noble ladies seemed to understand.

Lucille was her father's daughter but not her mother's. With that information, who else could she be except for an illegitimate child?

Any family would be greatly affected by an unfaithful person bringing a love child back, but Kalina seemed unfazed. She carried herself with her usual grace.

Their eyes turned to Lucille and were immediately shocked by her attire. Normally illegitimate children would hide in the shadows of the legitimate ones and dress modestly as to not attract attention to themselves.

But Lucille had chosen to wear a flashy and vivid dress that was much more extravagant than any of the noble ladies attending. It was something that someone might wear to a party, not a simple gathering.

"Isn't her dress beautiful?" Kalina commented.

It was. Too beautiful, actually. It was out of line for her status.

The girls began to speculate that Lucille had purposefully tried to outshine her sister and sit in a seat that didn't belong to her. As they were close friends with Kalina, they instantly developed a bad impression of Lucille.

Watching her friends' expressions turn sour, Kalina couldn't help but chuckle. She couldn't believe how fast they judged Lucille.

"What's funny, sister?" Lucille poked her head out from the side. She didn't notice the girls' frowning faces.

"It's nothing. Come, let's sit."

Lucille hadn't worn that dress with the intent of overshadowing Kalina. She didn't even know she was an illegitimate child. She had just worn what she thought was pretty.

It was amusing how easily people's opinions could be warped. Kalina knew this all too well as Lucille had turned high society against her in her past life. Every thing she did was turned into an attack against her sister.

'The roles are reversed now. She's the one who will be painted as the villain, and I will become the saint.'