Episode 48

Twal Rose

Of course, Lady Misérian wore makeup that went well with the dress, she even put on accessories with great care. Jane, who saw her ‘work’ being completed, asked quietly.

– Why did you ask me to make this dress?

– One of the girls I hung out with didn’t dare invite me to the party. I know she wants to stand out the most at the party, but she shouldn’t have thought about it like that and put it into practice.

Lady Misérian finished her makeup and looked back at Jane, smiling innocently.

– That’s why I stole the clothes for her debutante ball and told you to mend them. Soon her partner will show up at the mansion to pick me up. What would her expression be like if she lost all the attention she wanted to receive on the most important day of her life? Aren’t you curious?

Just for that reason? The debutante ball was one of the most important days of Jane’s life. It was every girl’s dream, and it was also a place to make friends as well as meet someone to marry in the future.

With the thought that Lady Misérian was as vicious as the rumors said, a person suddenly came to mind.

– But isn’t Lady Misérian engaged to the Crown Prince? Even if you take another man as your partner.. Is it okay?

Oops, I stepped on a landmine. Lady Misérian erased her laughter and glared at Jane fiercely. Then she turned her gaze to the mirror and murmured,

– After all, he doesn’t go to such a party. Even if he attends, he probably won’t be interested in me

There was loneliness in her whispered voice as she polished her beautiful appearance in the mirror. As Jane took a step forward to say something, Lady Misérian just turned her head and smiled.

– So, if it reaches His Highness’ ears that I have entered with another man, and he became jealous of him, wouldn’t that be a benefit too?

No one can ignore me, said Lady Misérian.

That day, Jane was allowed to follow Lady Misérian to Lady Morgan’s debutante ball and watch from a distance.

For the guilt of ignoring her, Lady Morgan was forced to enter the hall alone without her partner, and everyone at her debutante ball murmured, comparing Lady Morgan to Lady Misérian.

Lady Morgan finally burst into tears, but no one was willing to stand in front of her because they were all looking at Lady Misérian. It was literally a jungle, it was the harsh law of nature.

– I liked your talent. Will you continue to make my clothes like today?

After the banquet, Lady Misérian made a proposal to Jane on the return carriage. As Jane hesitated at the sudden invitation, she added another sentence,

– Instead, you must throw away all of your life so far. Living as a completely different person.

– Yes? What do you mean...

– What’s so surprising? Did you think this Eris Misérian could wear the clothes made by a poor villager?

– ....Are you ashamed?

As Jane responded in a small tone, Lady Misérian leaned over and whispered to her, as if to appease her. (TL/N: if Eris did that to me, I would f*cking feel gay.)

– No matter how beautiful the clothes you make are, if the maker’s status is low, it will be a lowly garment. Even if it’s sad, I can’t help it because this is what class is all about.

Since ancient times, there has been a great wall between nobles and commoners. And now that the times have advanced, another wall of ‘wealth’ has been created.

Poor aristocrats were sometimes inferior to commoners.

She had to keep her dignity, but she didn’t have the money for that. In order to earn money, such ones had to give up their dignity, so even if they were poor, there were aristocrats who died like a nobleman’, Jane was a poor aristocrat.

– I will be your patron. I will give you a new identity and I will spare no effort to support you so that you can succeed. Because I feel good today.

Lady Misérian smirked, as if doing a great favor. A look of embarrassment swept over Jane.

She thought she wouldn’t have suffered so much if she had been born into a good family. If she was lucky and was born as the daughter of a powerful family, would it have been okay to look down on people like this? She was upset. She was upset, but...

– I will.

Jane was fed up with poverty. She wanted to end her days of barely satisfying her hunger with porridge boiled with only potatoes and flour because she had nothing else to eat.

She didn’t like the situation of losing all the money she had saved up in an instant if she caught a cold even if she worked hard.

She had nothing more to lose.

If she missed this opportunity now because of her pride, she may be unable to sleep because of hunger pangs in her stomach. Lady Misérian smiled, satisfied with the change in Jane’s eyes.

– Great. You will be my distant relative from now on. You will say you lived in the Kendall region and came up here a while ago. What would be a good name....

Lady Miserian stroked Jane’s brown hair and shook her hands as if to shake off the dirt.

– Twal Rose. Let’s go with Twal Rose. Madame Twal Rose. Dye your hair pink to match the name. The more unconventional the first impression is the better.

Having destroyed everything related to Jane, she had lived as Twal Rose from that day forward. Name, appearance, behavior, tone of voice, taste, past....

She changed everything she could.

When she was finally ready, she carved the name Jane’ on a tombstone next to her husband’s tombstone. She no longer looked back when she heard the name Jane.

Twal Rose’s salon quickly took over the social world. She made a small selection of beautiful dresses that fit the ladies perfectly, one couldn’t even dream of getting her dresses unless they bought it faster than everyone else.

In addition, when the picky Lady Misérian was rumored to sponsor and care about her, the ladies worked hard to get Twal Rose’s dresses to impress Lady Misérian.

The noble’s servants walked in and out of Twal Rose’s salon door and handed out invitations to her. If she ever showed up at an invited place, they would flirt with her and fret to get a dress. Among them, there was a household where she had once been their paid seamstress.

It was funny. She had changed everything from her appearance, habits and manner of speech, but the only thing that remained the same as before were her sewing skills.

But no one recognized any traces of Jane. So even though Twal Rose had all the wealth and fame in her hands, she sometimes felt empty.

She looked in the mirror and saw a strange woman standing there. There was nothing left to prove her past self, that is, her true self.

All for ‘Twal Rose’, not ‘Jane’. A life full of lies was choking her neck.

Even though she would never get caught, she sometimes dreamed of falling down after being discovered that she was Jane.

She sometimes dreamed of her husband. Each time her husband’s face faded, she felt sorry for him, but she had no way of remembering him. Even if she digs his grave right now, only a skeleton would be waiting for her.

The emptiness stung her. But she had no one else to consult with. There was only one person left in this current world who knew she was ‘Jane’.

And that one, Lady Misérian, laughed at Twal Rose’s concerns as soon as she heard them.

– You’ve been thinking a lot. Do you think there is anyone in this world who only tells the truth? Do you believe that there is a person who is completely clean?

Lady Misérian exclaimed fiercely.

– Good or evil, everyone lies! They only try to show what they want to show....! Don’t most people call that ‘courtesy’?

– But Lady Misérian....

– Stop.

Lady Misérian stood up and looked down at Twal Rose coldly. At that overbearing gaze, Twal Rose’s body shuddered.

In an instant, she returned to Jane. Then with a spark in her eyes, Lady Misérian whispered to Jane.

– How much of the ‘real me’ do you think you know? How much do you think you know me? Will there ever come a day in your life when you will know the ‘real me’?

At the eerie remark, Twal Rose’s heart sank. She thought she had Lady Misérian figured out. If you knew Lady Misérian, you would have guessed that she wasn’t that much different from the other young girls.

She had just realized that she had misjudged. Lady Misérian changed her expression and smiled. She looked creepy.

– I’m kidding. Why do you think the faked figure isn’t the real you? Who decides that? If you truly believe that you are who you are, then that is also you.

She turned her back to Twal Rose and looked out the window. A storm was coming, but she didn’t mind and opened the window. Lady_Misérian’s hair fluttered in the wind. She was really beautiful.

– Don’t let others judge you. You judge yourself.

As she watched her black storm-like hair fluttering in the wind, all her worries seemed insignificant. Beautiful things sometimes make you forget all your thoughts. That’s why mankind has longed for beauty for so long.

Lady Misérian asked quietly, looking at Twal Rose.

-.... Who are you?

......Madame Twal Rose.

I am your Twal Rose.

He honestly didn’t think I’d say no. He was staring at me with his mouth wide open. He also seemed confused. He chose his words for a while and managed to open his mouth.

“This is not the time to build self-esteem, young lady.”

“If I was going to build self-esteem, I would have accepted your offer.”

“Then why the hell!”

“I hate you.”

Jason raised his voice, but I cut him off. As I pulled out the stone stuck in my fingernail, I added, speaking softly.

“No matter what people say, going out with you as a partner is even more annoying.”

“Why do you hate me so much? I apologized..”

“Did I accept that apology? Not from my memory.”

I’m not obligated to forgive you just because you are apologizing. An apple is just an apple after all. Even if I forgave him, what would that mean? He’d constantly be rambling on and repeating his empty apologies.

How easy has it been that he lived a life that is so comfortable that he doesn’t even think about other people’s feelings and only insists on his own opinion and stubbornness?

Now, I even marveled at Jason.

Envy him.

Because he is a person who is tolerable no matter how many times he makes a mistake. He seems to have lived with people who understood him even when he said that, but not me.

“You mean you don’t want to see me for the rest of your life? It’s because I.. was hostile to you in the first place? Only for that reason?”

“How can it be considered ‘only’? Isn’t it as if the trust has really been broken? How can I believe that someone who once hated me won’t betray me

again?”

“If I prove it, will you believe me then?”

Meaning of “lane”: The name Jane is of English origin and means God is gracious.