The children of the Five Great Families had been acquainted with one another since childhood. Back when the former Duke of Kardian was still alive, Diena had been treated with as much care and prestige as a princess.
Aware of that past, the Duchess of Castleton asked with a face full of pity, "Good heavens, the state of your clothes... Are you alright, Diena?"
The gazes of the other families' children and the noble matrons shifted back and forth between Romie and Diena. Romie, adorned in her magnificent dress, and Diena, in her current state, formed too stark a contrast.
Edelyn stared at Diena, her eyes wide with shock.
"Why are you here? Instead of staying in your room!"
The moment the words left her mouth, a look of dismay crossed her features. She had inadvertently let a sharp, venomous tone slip out. At her harsh words, Diena hung her head low, looking as though she might burst into tears at any second.
Shrinking into herself so much that her shoulders trembled, she appeared fragile enough to evoke pity from anyone.
"I-I'm sorry. I was just so hungry... I was looking for the kitchen to find something to eat, and... I think I must have lost my way."
Her face turning bright red with embarrassment, Romie shouted, "Don't talk nonsense! You’ve lived here for years, how could you possibly not know where the kitchen is?"
A look of deep anxiety settled over Edelyn's face. Romie's response was incredibly clumsy.
At Romie's hostile tone, the expressions of the noble ladies hardened with discomfort. The Duchess of Castleton turned to Edelyn, her voice laced with subtle disapproval.
"Duchess of Rothwell, does Lady Diena normally dress like that?"
At the question, Edelyn's face flushed crimson instantly. She began fanning herself hurriedly, scrambling to deny it.
"Oh, n-no! Today is just a temporary oversight... I simply failed to pay close enough attention. She is never clothed in such garments normally."
However, the Duchess's strained voice, her bright red face, and Diena’s tattered appearance all loudly proclaimed that she was lying.
"And what is this about being hungry? Surely you haven't been starving her, have you?"
As yet another probing question followed, Edelyn’s hands shook subtly. She shot pleading looks toward Madam Volkov and Madam Hartmann, but they quickly averted their eyes. Even they believed Edelyn had crossed the line.
Unable to watch any longer, the Duchess of Castleton finally spoke up.
"Even if she is not your biological daughter, she is still of Rothwell blood. You are being far too harsh."
The Duchess of Castleton’s retainers immediately chimed in to support her.
"Aren't those clothes something only a low-ranking housemaid would wear?"
"It breaks my heart just to imagine my own child being subjected to such treatment."
"If someone is a member of the family, it is only right to embrace them as one's own."
Edelyn’s face burned furiously. She raised her voice at a nearby maid.
"Go at once and see to Diena's meal! How could you neglect the child until she was reduced to this state!"
The Duchess of Castleton simply shook her head at Edelyn's behavior. Watching her vent her anger on an innocent maid was even uglier than her previous excuses.
Romie's face darkened in an instant. She could feel that the favorable, admiring glances directed at her just moments ago had frozen completely cold. The banquet—where she was supposed to shine above everyone else—had been completely ruined in a flash.
'Because of her, everything is ruined!'
She watched as the maid quickly ushered Diena out of the room. Romie glared with piercing, venomous eyes at Diena’s retreating back until she disappeared from sight.
The very moment the banquet concluded, Romie, accompanied by Edelyn and Cain, marched straight to Diena’s quarters.
It was an annex located at the far corner of the estate—a gloomy, dilapidated room fit only for servants.
When Romie violently kicked the door open and burst inside, Diena, who had been curling up on the worn-out bed, startled and snapped her head up.
"You did that on purpose to humiliate me, didn't you?! I told you not to crawl out of your room. So why did you show your face?!" Romie snapped, glaring at Diena with sharp, furious eyes.
Diena lowered her head, looking utterly cowed.
"I didn't do it on purpose. It was just... it was already dinner time but no one brought me any food, and I was so hungry..."
"Don't lie!"
Romie shoved Diena's shoulder roughly. Her body rocked backward two or three times, but Diena endured it silently. At the same time, she thought to herself:
'Even if it wasn't a lie, you still would have thrown a tantrum.'
Getting blamed as Romie’s punching bag was nothing new. Romie had always turned violent whenever she was in a foul mood.
Edelyn stood right behind Romie, but made no effort to stop her daughter. Instead, she merely looked down at Diena with freezing, detached eyes.
"Romie is right. Just why on earth did you come out and make a public embarrassment of us?"
Cain smirked, stoking Edelyn's anger further.
"It's glaringly obvious what high society will say now. They'll whisper about how the stepmother discriminates between the two daughters, how she abuses Diena... It’s going to make for a fantastic piece of gossip."
Romie’s eyes welled with tears of frustration as she shrieked, "I'm so humiliated because of her! How am I supposed to hold my head up in front of the other families now?"
At those words, Diena shook her head.
"No, Romie. In truth, your reputation was already ruined the moment you put on that dress. You shouldn't pin that on me."
"……What?"
"You might not know this, but high-ranking nobles consider it incredibly vulgar and rude for a young lady who hasn't even had her debutante ball to use the color red on her dress."
Romie’s jaw dropped in sheer bewilderment.
"Ah, I didn't say that to upset you... I just noticed you didn't seem to know, so I thought I’d tell you."
Romie stared blankly down at the red ribbon pinned to her chest. Her face quickly flushed a color that perfectly matched the ribbon.
Seeing this, Cain laughed as if it were a game. "I think she's mocking you on purpose."
"I know! Mother, please do something about her quickly! Look at how shameless she is, talking back instead of apologizing!"
Edelyn gently wiped the tears from the corners of Romie's eyes, asking with a deeply pained expression, "Don't cry, Romie. It will ruin your beautiful face. What can I do to make you feel better?"
"She likes going outside so much, so make sure she can't go anywhere ever again! Lock her away in the punishment room beneath the castle!"
Cain nodded in agreement. "That sounds good. If someone commits a fault, they ought to be punished properly."
Diena silently observed Edelyn. At that, Edelyn offered a benevolent, saintly smile as she spoke.
"My word, our Romie is so kind-hearted that she is far too generous. To think your heart would be appeased by something so minor."
Her face instantly contorted into a cold snarl as she roughly grabbed Diena by the arm and dragged her forward. Romie hid behind Edelyn's back, sticking out her tongue to taunt her, while Cain snickered and laughed.
"The punishment room is too cold."
"A member of the House of Rothwell does not whine about a little cold. We are a family of powerful ability users, after all." Edelyn glared with terrifying, wide-open eyes as she added, "If you find something like this difficult, it must mean you aren't truly a Rothwell."
Diena shut her mouth at those words. Edelyn narrowed her eyes, muttering under her breath.
"Where on earth did such an ill-mannered creature even come from? It seems I have failed in educating you properly."
She dragged Diena mercilessly, bringing her to a halt right in front of the punishment room located deep within the castle's basement.
"If you had apologized properly to Romie, you wouldn't be facing such a penalty."
Romie nodded with a smug, triumphant face. But Diena knew the truth—no matter what she had done, she would have ended up punished regardless.
Edelyn pushed open the creaking iron door. A freezing draft of cold air rushed out from inside the punishment room.
"Reflect deeply on what you have done wrong. Until you do, this door will not open again."
Just before the door slammed shut, Diena asked quietly, "Have you ever pitied me, even just once?"
"Pitied you?"
"In all the years you've raised me... have you ever once considered me family?"
"Why would you be my family? You aren't even my biological child." Edelyn’s face contorted with disgust. "You speak utter nonsense. Get in."
SLAM—
The heavy iron door shut tight. Diena was left entirely alone in the darkness.
"Ruthless as always."
Her aunt's response didn't surprise her at all. She already knew exactly what kind of human being she was dealing with.