They say joy comes after hardship, don’t they? Katrin even felt proud of herself for enduring the pain and pressing forward toward her goal.

Despite all her glaring and not-so-subtle hints, there were still people lingering near Estella. Most irritating of all was Lumina.

She’s the one I dragged out of her country hovel, the one who was too ashamed to even show her face in society. And now she’s standing there beside Estella, laughing, completely ungrateful. Then again, birds of a feather... a country bumpkin and a brainless idiot, both equally clueless and irritating—no wonder they get along so well.

‘If I pretend to trip on the hem of someone’s dress and throw the pudding cup just right, that should do it.’

Katrin gauged the distance. Estella had her back turned to her. If Katrin stood right where the carpet’s pattern began and tossed the pudding cup, the long waves of Estella’s hair would catch every glob of that sticky mess.

The glossy brown caramel pudding shimmered in the cup like it was dancing. Katrin carefully made her way over and stood at her mark.

Lucille, realizing what Katrin was about to do, quietly followed. If anyone saw, it would be a nightmare to explain afterward. Lucille was already feeling a splitting headache coming on from the sheer stress.

All Katrin had to do now was call out and “accidentally” let the cup slip from her hand. The pudding would pour all over Estella’s hair.

“Sis!”

Katrin called out in a cheerful tone, letting go of the cup just as Estella spun around. Her hand shot up and smacked the airborne pudding cup out of the air.

It happened so fast that only Lucille, who stood beside Katrin, and Lumina, across from Estella, saw the scene clearly.

The pudding cup, which had been soaring toward Estella’s hair, twisted midair and smacked directly into Katrin’s face with a splat.

“Eek!”

“Oh my! Katrin, are you alright?!”

Estella rushed forward in mock concern, but it was too late. The pudding had already splattered across Katrin’s face. The heavy glass cup hit her crown and fell to the floor.

Her carefully applied makeup was ruined, smeared with sticky caramel, and her bangs were an absolute mess. Katrin had been watching intently, hoping to see Estella’s hair ruined—now her own eyes burned as syrup seeped into them, like she’d taken a knife to the cornea.

“Aaaaargh!”

Her scream rang sharply through the banquet hall. All eyes turned to Katrin as Lucille frantically dabbed at her face with a handkerchief.

But it was no use. Her makeup was splotched and grotesque, her bangs clumped together with syrup. No salvaging that.

“Katrin!”

Dmitry ran to her, shocked, and helped her up. The belle of the ball just moments ago was now completely disheveled.

“Can you open your eyes? What happened?”

“Sniff... it was Sis...”

Well, since it had already come to this, Katrin figured she might as well pin the blame on Estella. Her eyes really did sting, and the pudding on her face was real—any witness would assume Estella did it on purpose.

“What? Estella did what—”

Before Dmitry could finish, Estella stepped smoothly between them.

“Dmitry. I’ll take her. She needs to get to the ladies’ lounge, and frankly, I think it’s better if I go instead of you. Could you help Lumina for a moment?”

Estella’s firm tone left Dmitry no room to argue. Besides, she had a point—it wasn’t appropriate for him to enter the ladies’ lounge.

Estella and Lumina took Katrin by the arms and began escorting her away, not giving Lucille any chance to intervene.

“Let me go! This is all because—”

“It’s your own fault, Katrin. You tried to dump pudding on my head and missed. Isn’t that right?”

Estella leaned in and whispered so only Katrin could hear. Her furious trembling stopped instantly, lips snapping shut like a clam.

“How childish. This is the best you can do? You never grew up, did you? By the way, looks like you’ll need to cut your bangs. You’re starting to give Wong Fei-hung a run for his money.”

“What the hell are you talking about?!”

Katrin couldn’t hold it anymore and exploded. Wong Fei-hung? She didn’t even know who that was—why would she be jealous?!

For the first time ever, Katrin lost her temper in front of people. And as soon as she screamed, she seemed to realize her mistake and immediately broke into loud sobs.

Pitying eyes turned to her—but no one blamed Estella like they used to.

“Huuuuhh... huuuuuuuhhh...”

Whether it was because her plan had failed, or from sheer frustration and humiliation, the tears wouldn’t stop. Her heels throbbed like hell, and nothing was going her way.

Thanks to Lucille’s quick reaction before the pudding dried, Katrin’s bangs were salvaged somewhat. But she had to wash her face and redo her makeup, so she couldn’t return to the banquet for a long time.

Estella clicked her tongue as she watched Katrin bawling like a child, pudding all over her face.

‘Why did I ever fear someone like that? Why did I make myself so small in front of her?’

She used to think Katrin was the only person left by her side. That if she changed, her father and friends would all hate and pity her. But Ria had stayed until the very end, and Lumina had written letters Estella never received.

And now she realized—it wasn’t that her father had ignored her. It was that she had ignored everyone but Katrin. She’d been so lost in self-pity that she couldn’t see anything else.

Looking back now, how pathetic. To have been manipulated by a brat who cries over spilled pudding.

Estella Cardeine. Why did you live like that? You should’ve kept your damn eyes open.

She thought back to the middle-aged Estella she’d seen in that blindingly white space. Those sad, hollow eyes still pierced her chest with pain sometimes—but now, part of her wanted to smack that woman upside the head.

Wake up. If you don’t value yourself, no one else ever will. And no one will ever love you either.

“Fix yourself up and come out. The host is supposed to see the guests off. The party’s ending soon, isn’t it? Oh, and—don’t worry too much. There were quite a few guests who left early after picking up the Miraclelium application forms I left at the entrance. There weren’t enough, it seems. I should’ve brought more. That was my mistake. I wasn’t thinking ahead.”

Estella spoke in the gentlest, most innocent tone—just like Katrin used to. She dragged out the ends of her words as if she were sincerely remorseful, pretending like none of it had been intentional. Like she truly cared.

Wearing layers and layers of falsehood like an elaborate costume, Estella skipped out of the lounge like a puppy off on a cheerful stroll.

“Estella!”

Katrin finally exploded again. Her voice echoed through the hallway.

Lumina, who had been about to leave, was so startled that she gasped and covered her mouth with both hands. The real Katrin—angry, petty, malicious—had just revealed herself.

The Katrin people gossiped about was calm, gentle, always kind. An angel who never lost her temper, no matter what.

But the Katrin Lumina saw up close was different. She had tried to dump pudding on Estella’s head, tried to frame her, and now was raging like she was the victim. Sure, the pudding-covered face made her look like one—but only if you hadn’t seen what came before.

Estella paused at the door, turned around, and gave a pitiful little smile.

I can do it too.

With her eyebrows curled gently downward, cheeks puffed like little dumplings, and a subtle upward twitch to her lips—a perfect mask of pity and kindness.

“What’s wrong, little sister? It’s your birthday—don’t frown like that. You’ll scare Lumina. You never raise your voice in front of people. Come now, be composed. We have guests.”

Estella let out a long, slow sigh and twirled a lock of her perfectly untouched hair between her fingers.

“So that’s what happened.”

A strange shadow fell across Marquis Cassian’s face as he received the report on Katrin’s birthday party.

When he left the hall, the atmosphere had been cheerful. Katrin was smiling, Estella seemed sincere and radiant, celebrating her sister’s birthday.

Even Dmitry—who usually clung to Katrin and irritated him—had, for once, stood properly by his fiancée.

‘Where did it go wrong?’

They had always been close sisters. But recently, the Marquis had sensed an unusual tension between them.

It was subtle—beneath the surface. But the air between them had grown sharp and unstable, like walking a tightrope between ice and fire.

It started with Estella. She had always cherished Katrin, treated her with special warmth. But at some point, her behavior became distant.

She seemed to be avoiding her.

And Katrin wasn’t acting exactly the same as before either.

There was something between them—something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

Chapter 44

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