Chapter 3

Lilian's old pavilion was named Cherryton, and its gardens were lush with cherry blossoms.

As the snow fell, the blossoms would bloom vivaciously as if it was a competition, never wilting even as spring arrived.

The marquis himself had sent his people looking for those trees and moved them back to his residence, just because Lilian had once mentioned as a child that cherry blossoms were her favorite.

The household had spent over a hundred silvers in nurturing those trees. Three years ago, the pavilion became Evelyn's just because she praised the cherry blossoms.

Lilian was seething back then but felt nothing even as she remembered it now.

In the end, Evelyn was the real daughter of the marquis, and everything here was hers—even the people.

As for Lilian, she was just a cuckoo chick who had stolen into their nest.

"Greetings, milady. You can call me Winter."

Still, the maid escort was quite enthusiastic. "Your former maid is now married, so I'll be attending to you now. Feel free to order me around as you like!"

Winter had these chubby cheeks—a childlike visage over all.

Recognizing her, Lilian asked, "You used to attend to Rupert, didn't you?"

"You remember?" Winter exclaimed in delight.

Lilian nodded—she had often visited Rupert's pavilion and was naturally familiar with the people there.

While she was unsure as to why Rupert had arranged for his people to stay near her, she then remembered the misunderstandings years ago.

Considering that, Lilian decided that Rupert must have sent Winter to keep an eye on her!

Still, Floret Garden was small, and there was a pond visible from the doorway. While the lotuses would blossom over the waters during summer, it was a pretty sight despite the bugs.

Be that as it may, winter meant that the lotuses were wilted, with nothing more than frozen twigs swaying over the surface, making Floret Garden a much bleaker sight than the outside.

Fortunately, it was warm inside.

The hearth was lit, and servants had already prepared a hot bath.

However, when Winter was ready to help Lilian out of her clothes, Lilian caught her wrist right then. "No. I can do it myself."

Winter was dumbfounded. "What? That's out of the question—"

"I'll do it myself," Lilian repeated, her tone flat but also clearly not permitting refusal.

Winter promptly bowed, putting down the clothes she was holding. "Alright. I'll be waiting outside—just call me if you need me."

"Yeah," Lilian replied quietly and remained silent until Winter left the room, then went over to lock the door.

Then, she finally started to defrock…

-

It was two hours later when Lilian finally arrived at Madam Lestrade's pavilion, but Rupert intercepted her just as she was about to step inside.

"Why didn't you change your clothes?" he demanded angrily, glaring at Lilian in disgust. "Or would you like Grandmother to see you in servant's clothes so that she'd sympathize with you?"

Then, before Lilian could explain herself, Rupert started shoving her outside. "I'm warning you—Grandmother is ailing and can't stand more shock, so don't even think about playing your clever schemes! I'll hurt you if she gets hurt!"

Lilian's foot was already sprained, and with all that shoving, she lost her balance and collapsed on the ground.

The marquise, who just happened to arrive, saw that and snapped, "Stop it, Rupert!"

As she rushed over, she watched as Lilian struggled to get up and told her maids, "Help her up."

Rupert simply looked on coolly, snorting. "It's not my fault—she's clearly up to no good! You bought her those new dresses, but she insists on not wearing them to see Grandmother. She clearly just wants to give Grandmother a heart attack!"

It was only then that the marquise realized that Lilian was still in her maid clothes and sighed as she chided Lilian softly, "Your grandmother's health is ailing. I know Rupert shouldn't hurt you, but you should consider your grandmother's health too. Go get changed!"

Lilian looked at the marquise and then at Evelyn before finally saying, "They're too small."

In all likelihood, the marquise must have had that dress prepared according to Evelyn's measurements. But Lilian was half a head taller than Evelyn, and those clothes did not suit her at all.

The marquise nodded, her tone at once full of guilt. "I see—I've certainly been negligent. I'll have someone prepare something suitable…"

On the other hand, that only left Rupert even more furious. "No! What's her problem?! She's just a little taller than Eve, and she's saying Eve's clothes won't fit her? Just three years as a servant, and she's gotten even more full of herself!"

Lilian sighed—Rupert was just too good at the blame game.

"No, I actually mean that it exposes too much." She sighed and rolled up her sleeves as everyone watched.

Everyone around her gasped when they saw it.

Both of Lilian's hands were bruised and swollen, with calluses growing all over from the freezing winter and patches where there was no skin at all.

It was a hideous sight, but the worst were the gashes left by whips or god-knows-what.

They formed an interweaved stripe pattern over Lilian's arms like a web, with new ones covering old ones and extending all over her arms.

Rupert finally understood what Lilian meant.

If her clothes did not fit her, her sleeves would definitely be too short.

That in turn meant that her scars would definitely show when she bowed to Madam Lestrade.

And how devastated would Madam Lestrade be when she saw them?

As the marquise understood too, her tears started to fall.

Striding up and taking Lilian's hand, she exclaimed in hurt, "I thought you were holding a grudge… I didn't know. Did I hurt you?"

This time, Lilian said nothing and did not withdraw her hands, allowing the marquise to hold them.

Beside her, tears welled up in Winter's eyes. "So that's why milady stopped me from helping… Does that mean you're hurt all over?"

All over?

The wounds on her arms were already gruesome, but if there were more…

Even the marquise's breathing became erratic. "Quick, get the doctor!"

As a servant left at her orders, Evelyn was crying herself silly. "H-How could they do this to you?"

It would have been fine if she kept her mouth shut, as her words only ruptured the dam of malice within Lilian.

Looking Evelyn straight in the eye, she said quietly, "Naturally, it's the princess' orders. Anyone who harasses me would be rewarded—and the worse the harassment, the more they'd be rewarded. After all, it's my fault for breaking her favorite bowl."

Evelyn gaped, her eyes stiffened as she stared back at Lilian, tears rolling off her cheeks like she was the one who had been bullied on that fateful day three years ago.

And yet, behind her stood the maid who had accused Lilian back then.

To Lilian, the fact that said maid was alive and well only made the marquise's claims of concern laughable.