Episode 83: Gladys’ Secret

“What are you glaring at as if you’ve done something right?”

“Leave her be. She’s putting on airs, but that girl’s father is just a commoner.”

“What do you mean?”

“You didn’t know? Count Belzenor bought his title with money.”

“Really?”

“Oh, come on. You call yourself a journalist and don’t know this? To be precise, it was Alicia von Belzenor, his first wife, who was from a noble family. She was an old-money aristocrat from Dranberg and a wealthy woman.”

“So that’s how it was?”

“Yes. The current Count Belzenor was nothing more than a servant of that house. Even the luxurious mansion they live in now originally belonged to his first wife, the girl’s father’s first spouse. Since she was their only daughter, had she been alive, she would have had the rightful claim to the mansion.”

“Then….”

“By the way, that woman’s mother is a second wife the Count took in. She was never the legitimate wife.”

The reporters began whispering and sneering at Gladys. She trembled with unfamiliar humiliation, fighting back tears. She wanted to slap them all right then and there, but they were journalists. And not just any journalists—ones from a newspaper recently sponsored by the Fifth Prince.

‘I won’t let this go.’

She bit her lip hard, forcing herself to look ahead. This was the first time in her life she had faced such hostility. It was also the first time she had been humiliated so publicly.

Gladys replayed the things she had heard. Her father’s first wife… The true owner of the Belzenor name and the woman who had the right to claim it. Gladys had known about her.

Her father had been an ordinary servant of common birth. People mocked him, saying he had seduced the only daughter of the Belzenor family with his handsome face, getting her pregnant on purpose.

The Count and Countess of Belzenor, seeing their pregnant daughter lovesick, married her off to the servant, hoping to save her. They spent a fortune laundering his identity, making him the descendant of a fallen noble family, educating him as a young businessman, and even handing over a significant portion of their wealth.

But as soon as the old Count died, her father kicked the Countess out of the mansion. And then, he met her mother.

“So, she’s the daughter of a mistress. Yet she acts like a true noble…”

“A real noble wouldn’t even set foot in a place like this. And even if they did, they wouldn’t show up looking like that.”

“Indeed. You’d have to be shameless.”

Her face flushed red. Without realizing it, Gladys turned crimson.

Just as she was approaching a tent, someone stuck out a foot.

“Ah!”

“Oh my! Lady, I’m so sorry!”

It was her nanny.

Gladys, sprawled in the dirt, glared at her with tear-filled eyes. The nanny tried to look regretful as she helped Gladys up.

“I’m so sorry, my lady. I didn’t mean to….”

“Are you insane?”

Grinding her teeth, Gladys glowered at the nanny. The nanny barely suppressed a laugh as she tried to steady her. Gladys shoved her away, staggering to her feet.

Dressed in an extravagant ballroom gown, adorned with sparkling jewelry, she shuddered at the sight of the mud staining her hem. The contrast between her dazzling attire and the dirt made her look even more ridiculous.

She tried to maintain her composure, but then—

“Do you think this is a ballroom?!”

Someone shouted from within the crowd of reporters.

It was loud—loud enough to make her ears ring. It wasn’t just a whispering insult but an outright protest. Reflexively, Gladys turned around.

And then—

“Ahhh!”

A rotten egg hit her face.

The stench was unbearable.

Shrieking in horror, she saw the onlookers stifling their laughter. She ground her teeth, searching for the culprit.

It wasn’t a man, but a boy.

He laughed, tilting his head, amused by her predicament.

She wanted to have him arrested immediately.

But she had come without guards. There was no one to seize him. If only she had brought the guards from the mansion… If only she had known…

‘Just wait until I get back. You’ll beg for death.’

“You dare act so rudely?!”

The nanny wiped Gladys’ face, yelling at the boy. The boy, provoked, threw another rotten egg—this time hitting the nanny’s face.

Some noblewomen frowned, calling for the authorities.

The tent quickly descended into chaos.

Watching from afar, Lara signaled to a guard. When she had told Alec she would attend the event, he had assigned around ten guards. Some had blended into the crowd in plain clothes, while others wore the official uniforms of the prince’s guard.

Lara gestured to a strong young man among them, ordering him to capture the boy.

Sensing danger, the boy tried to flee but was quickly overpowered by the guards and pinned to the ground.

“Take him to the Belzenor estate immediately!”

Gladys shouted upon seeing the captured boy.

Lara simply watched her, unimpressed.

Realizing how undignified she must have looked, Gladys quickly straightened herself, lifting her chin.

“My apologies, Your Highness. You are so considerate of me—”

“This isn’t for you, Lady Belzenor.”

“Your Highness?”

“This is for the people gathered here today. The ones who came for the food distribution shouldn’t have to witness this scene.”

Lara’s voice was cold.

Gladys trembled, her bloodshot eyes glaring at Lara.

“You should return to your estate, considering the state you’re in.”

“Send that boy to the Belzenor estate.”

Gladys demanded. Lara shook her head.

“He will be taken to the security bureau.”

“He wronged me. My father should be the one to punish him!”

“No, Miss Gladys. He is a citizen of Dranberg, a subject of the prince. He will be judged by imperial law.”

Lara stood her ground.

Gladys, unwilling to back down, seethed.

A piece of rotten egg slid down her nose. Somewhere in the crowd, laughter erupted.

Lara turned toward the source, her stern gaze commanding silence. She would not tolerate any unnecessary ridicule.

“You should go back.”

Lara handed her a handkerchief, whispering softly.

Gladys stared at it, her tears falling. She wanted to stomp on it.

“Go back, freshen up, and—”

“Oh my.”

Countess Brennan gasped, looking at Gladys in shock.

Gladys smacked Lara’s hand away, stomping on the handkerchief.

“It was you, wasn’t it?”

Her voice was venomous.

Lara’s expression hardened.

“Miss Gladys.”

Lara’s tone was a warning.

But Gladys had lost all restraint.

“You bribed my servants to ruin my dresses and forced me to show up looking like this!”

Lara’s face turned icy.

Countess Brennan, watching, felt a chill.

Gladys glared with mad eyes, whispering in a voice dripping with malice.

“You paid off that beggar and the reporters to—”

“Stop talking nonsense.”

Lara cut her off coldly.

Gladys’ chest heaved in fury.

“You? You are nothing to me.”

Lara smiled icily.

“You’ll never have my husband.”

“How do you know?! You’re just a bastard’s whore pretending—”

Lara burst into laughter.

“Oh, that’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“What?!”

“Coming from a bastard’s daughter? That’s rich.”

“You—”

“Everyone knows. Your house, your status—it’s all a lie.”

“Shut up!”

“You’ll never change your filthy origins.”

“You wretched—!”

“Know your place.”

Lara’s words were sharp as a blade.

Gladys, in a blind rage, lunged at her—only to be restrained by the prince’s guards.

“Remember today.”

Lara smiled elegantly.

“You bitch! You bitch!”

Gladys screamed as she was pinned to the ground.

“You’ll regret this!”

Lara watched coolly as Gladys was dragged away.