~4~ The Famous Story - A Lady's Ambition

"After all, my plans were already in motion, huh"

Charlotte ran silently into the garden just to see where the Duke and the other two guests had been, and when she saw them she suddenly grinned, ready to ruin such a good mood.

After seeing what the three of them had done, all she saw was that they already had their afternoon tea, and that made her run over to them as if looking around.

"Oh! Father, are you Countess Ophel and Lady Shiela?"

With a voice so sweet that no one can easily distinguish a voice that has only been sugar coated to make a more dangerous and terrifying voice come out later.

As soon as Charlotte said those words - she immediately walked closer to where Fred was, the Duke just let out a sigh and smiled afterwards

"Charlotte, I thought you were busy right now, so I didn't think to call you here."

"Oh! That's not a problem father, I have plenty of time, especially with the guests."

Hearing such words coming out of Charlotte's mouth, Fred felt sudden shivers in his spine as he somehow sensed that there was a hidden meaning in Charlotte's voice, when in reality he was just confused by what Charlotte was showing them.

It's because she just smiled at her sweetly like no one would ever think anything bad would happen.

"Oh! Lady Charlotte! It is my pleasure to see you again this time!"

"Yes, Lady Charlotte, it is such a pleasure to have met you again!"

Both ladies had greeted Charlotte with a smile, as Charlotte had done to her. But the lady already knew what the two ladies were already planning. They were there to seduce her father, and she knew it very well because the Countess was a widow for a long time.

'That lady, if it weren't for her, we wouldn't have left the Duke's court so much earlier than expected yesterday. That brat!'

Ophel was already grinding her teeth on the inside while keeping her smile on the outside. This was the kind of vicious lady Charlotte hated the most, and she knew the Lady-Countess was a vicious being who could not be stopped.

That's why she's also malicious for them, so as not to be taken advantage of. Little did the Countess know that Charlotte has the most vicious behavior in the Empire that she has yet to let out.

However, Shiela on the other hand just sighed as she looked at her mother and smiled sweetly at Charlotte, who did the same. They remained like that for a moment, until the Duke gestured for them to sit down again, as did Charlotte.

'To be honest, my mother was attracted to the duke not only because of his looks but also because of the title of duchess. However, I could not imagine such an idea being more likely than it is already obvious that Lady Charlotte did not like us at all. I can only imagine that far away from the reality of what's happening'

Shiela smiled at the Duke and Charlotte pretended to be in the flow just like her mother, when in reality she is sick of living that way and she needed someone to stop her mother from doing something like that before she did herself committed the act that would ruin her future.

"Oh! And Countess Ophel, haven't you heard of a story that is famous today?"

Charlotte was the one who initiated the conversation once she was seated. There, she picked up one of the mugs and poured herself tea while talking about those words, which made the Duchess wrinkle her eyebrows.

'Famous story these days? What is this brat talking about, huh?'

"I've never heard of that, Lady Charlotte."

'Let's go deeper into the subject, shall we?'

Thought Charlotte, grinning inwardly while her expression said otherwise

"Well it's very famous these days, I'm sure your daughter - Lady Shiela knows about it, doesn't Lady Shiela?"

As she spoke to the lady, Shiela's eyebrows began to pucker as she tried to remember what kind of story the lady was talking about when it seemed like the lady wasn't sure what Charlotte was talking about

"Wait, what is Lady Charlotte talking about? I'm sure there are many famous stories these days.

Shiela seemed momentarily unaffected by such tensions already building in the atmosphere, and when Fred saw something like that, he immediately said something to Charlotte

"Charlotte, I think what you were talking about is off the mark. Like there are usually famous stories out there and not just one."

In a voice so gentle and persuasive, Charlotte turned her head away from her father and smiled at him, the kind of smile creepy enough to send shivers down Fred's spine. Seeing that kind of smile, he immediately took his eyes off her and smiled more at the two guests

"Please forgive my daughter, I guess she was '-------'"

But before Fred could speak, Charlotte cut off her father by saying something nice that could be made like an insulting joke to someone who's been through it

"Well father, I guess you're right. However, I believe there was once a famous story I read recently called something like - A Lady's Ambition! Yes! I remember it now!"

"..."

Both Fred and the other two guests were silent for a while after knowing that the lady had remembered this story. But what comes after Charlotte's words makes the eyes of the two guests wide open

"Well, if the Countess wants to be enlightened, why isn't she telling the right story, Father and Lady Shiela?"

"C-Charlott-----"

"Father, I'm sure Countess Ophel would want to hear my story, right Countess?"

'What's that brat thinking, huh? She thinks I'll recover from a challenge like this, huh? Well, no way. Bring it on, you spoiled brat!'

The Countess thought that this only made her smile wider, while inside she was already laughing evilly

"Certainly, Lady Charlotte and sir, it is all right, I am very curious to see what the lady will say."

As Ophel said these words, she felt that her nose had already been itching from such a perfume that she was already smelling.

As she turns her head more in Charlotte's direction, she can already smell the one smell that she hate because it was too strong - however, her doctor had advised her that she had some allergies to sunflowers and at the moment she was feeling so I smelled something containing such a sunflower.

Yet with Charlotte's presumption of her innocent smile - Ophel was just replying the same, averting her gaze from her and now holding out the tea to drink, when Charlotte suddenly spoke a few words that widened her eyes

"As I said, the story is very famous because it was a story about a lady's ambition. First of all it was once a lady, not like a woman anymore - she is not a noble to begin with and she uses her body to become baroness and she succeeded. Then the lady seduced the baron into the household. The woman was a previous maid turned baroness. There she had her first child with the Baron and it was a daughter... Oh! Are you alright Lady Shiela?"

The moment Charlotte had said those words was the moment Shiela felt cold water being poured on her. Her movements stopped and when she wanted to drink the tea, she choked and the tea she wanted to drink had fallen on her dress, makes it wet. But instead of helping her, her hands were already shaking

'What is Lady Charlotte's plan?!'

With those deep thoughts, Shiela looked at her mother, only to know that she seemed unmoved. Her eyes widen in horror and the tea she was holding got stuck in the air

All eyes were on the two guests and Shiela immediately apologized to the Duke and Charlotte, knowing she had acted like the usual self she was doing

"Are you sure you're alright, Lady Shiela?"

But before Fred could finish what he was about to say, Charlotte was already answering on behalf of the lady who had been shy all along

'Weak people will never be able to be strong until they experience what it was like to lose face instead of avoiding such a scenario. They will never learn if they never experience something like this - these people are described as weak in my own mind.'

"No father, I think Lady Shiela is alright, aren't you Lady Shiela?"

'Let's see how much she has to act now'

These thoughts from Charlotte had already been well planned by her and she was just waiting for the answer of the lady, who seemed to be going her way and made her smile even bigger than before

"No, it's fine, Duke and Lady Charlotte, I'm fine"

"Well I think I must move on now father, Lady Shiela said she was fine."

Agitated and restless - the Duke calmed down and looked gravely at Charlotte, who only smiled.

"Well, to start again, since the Baroness enjoys such luxuries, she poisoned her husband and married another man, and this time it was a viscount. The viscount was much wealthier than the baron whom the baroness married - rather the viscount at the Baroness married and the rank of Baroness became Viscountess. The -------"

But before Charlotte could finish what she was saying, the Countess had fallen in her seat and was now fainting with so much blood on her nose

"OH MY GOODNESS! Is the Countess well?"

Shiela knew immediately why the Countess passed out with so much blood and that's when she smelled the exact same sunflower that the Countess was allergic to

"I-I think we have today off, D-Duke Fred. We are very grateful to be in charge of your household again, but this time we may have to return to our estate sooner."

'This is what you get for trying to mess with our household, hmmpppffff!'