The trees in the garden sway in the wind, their shadows wavering across the window. Chloe watches them through the curtain and brings her tea quietly to her lips. In the still of the room, only the faint ticking of the clock marks the passing time. She gazes out at the garden and lets out a small breath.
[Well then…… what to do about all this.] (C)
Plan after plan for averting the worst possible future turns over in her mind. Which one suits her best? She rotates the teacup slowly between her fingertips, and eventually arrives at two options.
The first: find a way to break the engagement with the fault on his side. While they’re still only engaged, the future where Leonardo poisons her can be avoided outright.
The second: marry him, then divorce him immediately. Once she marries, her father hands over the position of head of the house, and Chloe becomes Duchess of Calendula. With that title in hand, the authority to divorce rests with her as well. Then, even if her father objects, she has no obligation to listen, and casting Leonardo off becomes simple.
[The former, or the latter……] (C)
‘If I can manage it, I’d rather take the first one. The odds of being poisoned while we’re only engaged should be low. As long as I’m careful with anything Leonardo sends me and anything served at a tea party in his house, nothing poisoned will ever reach my lips.’
‘But that’s exactly where Father stands in my way.
As things are now, the only mark against Leonardo is a commoner lover. In plenty of families that alone would be grounds for calling off an engagement — just not in mine. And the plot to take over the house? Still only a possibility. Even his quietly stockpiling poison isn’t something I can hold against him, not until he actually uses it on me.’
‘Which leaves the second option. High risk, and on top of that, marrying a man who has a lover is just viscerally revolting.’
[……Come to think of it, are the two of them really lovers? There’s a chance it’s all a misunderstanding…… No. That’s a stretch, isn’t it.] (C)
For a moment the thought surfaces: that their relationship isn’t romantic at all, that there’s some other reason they spend time together. But she sees the hole in it straight away and shakes it off.
A nobleman — the son of a duke, no less — making a habit of trekking down into the city to see a shop girl at a bakery. What reason could there possibly be for that besides love? Chloe can’t think of one.
And still, some corner of her heart insists it might be a misunderstanding.
‘Nothing is crueller than pointless hope. However much I let myself expect, that’s exactly how much the pain comes back at me when I’m betrayed. I know that perfectly well.’
But she wants to see it with her own eyes. Her fiancé and Sherry, whatever it is between them. She can picture easily enough how much it will hurt to watch, and she wants to confirm it anyway.
According to the investigation report, the two of them always dine at the same restaurant. Go to that restaurant, then, and she can see for herself.
[Well, if that’s decided…… no time like the present.] (C)
Chloe murmurs the proverb dredged up from her previous life and picks up the silver bell on the table. One shake, and it rings out clear and bright through the room.
Her maid appears a moment later.
[You called, my lady?] (Maid)
[Yes. What I’m about to ask of you must be done before the day is out.] (C)
[Understood. As you command — whatever the task, it will be carried out today.] (Maid)
The maid raises no objection whatsoever, and bows deeply in silence.
Here in House Calendula, the master’s word is absolute. The servants who wait on the family are, without exception, capable enough to see any order through. Only the loyal and the highly competent are permitted to wear the Calendula uniform that everyone else envies — that’s how they’re spoken of, and they earn it.
‘Brilliant servants who’ll carry out any order I give. Nothing in my previous life came close. And beyond that, an enormous fortune and the authority of House Calendula.’
Even if a wretched future lies waiting for her, with a hand of cards like this, she can put up a fight.
Simplyrical 
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