“Why don’t I have her join us then? That way, you can hear how she feels directly from her,” he said emphatically. Then he called out to the hallway. “Ludovicus, please bring her here.”
Of course, Ludovicus was in the adjoining room and not the hallway.
“Are you ready, Lady Roxy?”
Urged by his quiet voice, Rock nodded and followed the butler to the door. She looked back just once to see Phoebe giving her a thumbs-up in front of the observation window.
She knew her father was encouraging her to stick to her decision. Rock responded with a reassuring smile before leaving the room.
Rock entered the east wing’s reception room through the door Ludovicus opened for her. The first thing she saw was Ebel eagerly waiting for her. When their gaze met, he smiled at her gently with his eyes, showing his wordless support.
Johanna stood up straight beside him. Worry weighed on her usually cheerful face.
Encouraged by their presence, Rock held her head high and stepped toward Lauretta.
Seen up close, Lauretta Alexis looked even more like her mother than she did at a distance. Her wine-colored hair and gray eyes were identical to her mother’s. It was almost as if she was looking at a version of her mother that was ten years older and stripped of all warmth and joy.
Interestingly enough, Lauretta showed her first signs of true emotion when she saw Rock. Dismay, joy, and maybe a little fear flashed across her face.
“You truly do…look just like Valencia…!” she cried out in a hoarse voice.
It’d be a lie to say Rock wasn’t at all swayed by her aunt’s reaction or her mother’s name. But she was only swept up by emotion for a fleeting moment. She quickly recovered and boldly gave her name.
“Hello. My name is Roxy Floria.”
Of course, Lauretta should know the name she went by. She slightly furrowed her brows.
“Did Valencia tell you to use Floria as your surname?”
“Yes, Mother used it too.”
“Then you should call yourself Alexis from now on. You have every right to that name.”
By her tone, it was clear Rock’s aunt was ordering her to do it. But Rock had zero intention of obeying her.
“I refuse,” she declined without hesitation.
Lauretta openly scowled then. She seemed offended and completely taken off guard, as if she’d never entertained the thought Rock might refuse. Yet, for all that, she didn’t become emotional. She merely shook her head like a mother disappointed with her child’s foolishness.
“Why…? You have finally been reunited with your rightful family after being left to fend for yourself all these years. How could you refuse when we have prepared everything to warmly welcome you into the fold?”
“As His Excellency explained, I am with my rightful family—my father.”
Lauretta finally let her disgust show through when Rock brought Phoebe into the conversation.
“You mustn’t call that man your father. He’s a scum of the earth mercenary who seduced your mother and led her astray.”
And there was no better way to disgust Rock than to besmirch her father and mother.
“Don’t speak ill of my father!” she shouted despite herself, causing Johanna to jump beside her.
Ebel was undisturbed as he watched over Rock with a slight smile. She nodded to him and continued her defense, “Father is a damn powerful and wonderful person who loved Mother and protected her. And now he protects me—”
“Did you just curse?” Lauretta interrupted Rock to nitpick at her manner of speech. “You are a lady, Roxy. You mustn’t speak like an ill-bred man.”
“My father taught me how to talk this way to protect myself.”
Rock was a trickster tailor who dressed as a man to get by without incident in the slums. Doing so had made her dreams come true and protected her—especially from the life her mother happily threw away.
“I’ve been living as a man all this time in the imperial capital,” she continued, purposely invoking the tone of speech she used when dressed as Rock the Tailor. “Father recommended it—so that I can protect myself and my identity.”
That was likely enough information for Lauretta to realize what Phoebe was trying to protect Rock from. She let out her first irate sigh, as if she had no other way to clear her mounting resentment.
“That man isn’t happy just depriving me of my sister? Now he wants to take my niece away too? The audacity…!”
Rock was ready to argue back when—
“Roxy,” Ebel whispered, urging her to stop.
She’d nothing to gain from arguing with Lauretta here. Besides, the conversation would end quicker if she just made her stance clear.
“I will not join your family.” Rock thrust her unshakeable decision at her aunt. “I have my father to protect me.” Then she looked at Ebel and continued after seeing his smile, “And Count Mateus also…cares for me very much.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw both Ebel and Johanna nod.
I’m not alone. Rock knew that with every fiber of her being.
“And I’m really happy now with all the people I have in my life supporting me.”
After losing her mother, Rock was tormented by the thought she’d lost everything. But that was no longer the case—she was surrounded by more happiness than she thought possible.
“So I’m not going anywhere, ever. I have no intentions of calling myself an Alexis either. This is my answer, Lady Alexis.”
Rock spoke her piece then waited in silence for her aunt’s reaction.
Lauretta Alexis stared down Rock with frigid eyes for what felt like an eternity. But then she sighed. Loudly enough, it seemed, to help her organize her thoughts.
“I now see that you have been poisoned by Fredericks Berwick.” After uttering Rock’s father’s real name, she emotionlessly remarked, “You will surely come to regret the decision you made this day, Roxy.”
“What do you mean by that?” Rock asked back, but Lauretta didn’t answer her.
All emotion hidden by a cold mask of indifference, she stood and bowed to Ebel.
“I apologize for the scene, Your Excellency. Thank you for making time for me today.”
“I am happy to help if it has helped you understand the situation,” Ebel said, but Lauretta refused to give any response indicating she actually accepted what happened. “Ludovicus, please show Lady Alexis out.”
The door opened in response and Ludovicus appeared.
Lauretta silently walked past him before the butler finished bowing. She swept out of the room with a face that seemed to have all the emotion sucked out of it and then turned around.
Her gray eyes locked on to Rock for a whole second.
Those eyes, which seemed to be the frozen over version of her mother’s, gleamed like a hunter’s after he’d found his prey.
“…!”
Rock flinched despite herself, and Lauretta disappeared into the hallway at that moment.
“She’s one unfathomable lady,” Ebel groaned after confirming through the window that the Alexis carriage had left the premises.
“I couldn’t agree more…” Rock sighed.
That term—unfathomable—fit her to a tee. The sheer lack of emotion on her face made it hard to believe the woman was her mother’s biological sister. Yet their features were so terribly similar, it made Rock shudder.
Even so, Rock’s mind was made up. Lauretta had left on that threatening note, but Rock doubted she’d ever regret her decision.
She wouldn’t, would she?
“…I hope everything is settled now,” Rock muttered as eerie chills crept down her spine.
The final look Lauretta gave her made Rock feel like she was about to be hunted down.