Melissa clearly recognized the discordant note in her relationship with Amelia in early summer, three months after Amelia had arrived at Duke Johnston’s household, when the Kalmia flowers in the garden were in full bloom.

Melissa had invited several young ladies of her age to an afternoon tea party in the courtyard of Duke Johnston’s estate, where the Kalmia flowers were in full bloom. As a candidate for the fiancée of the Second Prince Christopher, Melissa had been attending the royal castle for princess consort education. She had grown close to Jacqueline, the daughter of Duke Hammond and a candidate for the fiancée of the First Prince. That day, Melissa had invited Jacqueline, along with young ladies from the branch families and affiliated houses of Duke Hammond’s lineage, to the tea party.

“This is my maternal cousin, who has now become my sister, Amelia.”

“I am Amelia Johnston. Please be kind to me, everyone.”

Amelia introduced herself with a perfect curtsy—so flawless that it was hard to believe she had been a mere viscount’s daughter until recently.

The tea party had been arranged at Melissa’s father’s request to formally introduce Amelia. It was deemed an appropriate setting, as the presence of peers of the same age would keep things comfortable. Before coming to the Johnston household, Amelia had already attended tea parties as a viscount’s daughter and had begun acquiring the etiquette of higher nobility. Both Melissa and her father believed that an informal gathering among young ladies would pose no issue.

“…I apologize. It’s embarrassing, but I can’t seem to eat properly.”

Amelia, with tears welling in her eyes, shyly apologized for struggling to eat even a simple cake.

Ordinarily, failing to observe table manners would draw criticism. However, the sight of a beautiful girl earnestly trying her best to eat properly evoked sympathy instead.

Why was Amelia, who had yet to master etiquette, introduced in such a setting?

Did Melissa deliberately put Amelia on display to humiliate her?

The young ladies, captivated by Amelia’s pitiful appearance, began to entertain such suspicions. Some even calculated that this incident might reflect poorly on Melissa. Many of them were well aware that Melissa’s engagement to the Second Prince was still only at the candidate stage, and there were plenty of young ladies vying for that position.

Jacqueline, who was the same age as Melissa and a candidate for the First Prince’s fiancée, had a complicated background. She was originally the daughter of the current Duke Hammond’s younger brother and had been adopted into the ducal family specifically to become the First Prince’s fiancée. As she had once been a mere count’s daughter, Jacqueline secretly harbored feelings of inferiority toward Melissa, who was a true-born duke’s daughter.

Then, Amelia appeared—someone with a background similar to Jacqueline’s own. Since Jacqueline had a strained relationship with her adoptive mother, the duchess, she began to project her circumstances onto Amelia. Seeing Amelia’s seemingly earnest and fragile demeanor, she became indignant toward Melissa.

“Melissa, how could you treat Amelia so cruelly?”

With this single remark from Jacqueline, the narrative of the tea party was cemented—Melissa had supposedly organized the gathering to mock Amelia.

Melissa might have been able to prevent this outcome had she quickly stepped in to support Amelia. However, at the crucial moment when Amelia was apologizing for her inexperience, Melissa had been engaged in conversation with another young lady. The timing had been unfortunate. Jacqueline’s own misfortunes had also played a role in how events unfolded.

The irony was that, within the family, Amelia had no trouble eating even a delicate mille-feuille. That very morning, she had displayed flawless knife and fork skills while handling a complicated fish dish.

Melissa had been set up.

By the time she realized it, it was too late. Jacqueline had already promised to personally teach Amelia proper tea party etiquette and invited her to the Hammond household’s next gathering. Then, she and the other young ladies departed together.

From that day forward, Jacqueline became cold and distant toward Melissa whenever they met at the royal castle. Meanwhile, she and Amelia grew closer, becoming the best of friends in both name and reality.