CHAPTER 89 - MADAM SERPENTHarriet wore her white snake masquerade mask which only had one eye socket. Her long eyelashes framed her shaded eyes which were decently disguised because she was wearing the mask.
After the horse carriage stopped in front of a luxurious building in the center of the capital, Harriet opened the door and got off. The doorman who recognized her mask allowed her to enter with a greeting, "Long time no see, Madam."
Harriet just smiled and nodded. She stepped into the building, and a receptionist bowed to her. Without saying anything, she had already entered another room, while several other women wearing their masquerade masks were still being held by the receptionist for data collection.
"Who is she, being able to enter at will without paying?" asked one of the two women standing at the reception desk.
"She is one of the founders of this club. Of course, she can go inside without doing anything," said another woman, also wearing a mask.
The receptionist cleared her throat.
"Please be careful of what you say, Madam. You can't say anything about anyone's identity in this building," said the young woman in a simple white mask.
The two women who spoke immediately locked their mouths.
Meanwhile, Harriet had circled the party floor and up to the second floor. She climbed the stairs, passing several masked women in luxurious clothes, who all paused to see her appear.
Harriet knew everyone here knew her by the mask she wore and the hair color she didn't hide. Actually, it made no difference whether she wore a mask or not in this club, but the rules of this club required all residents and guests to wear masks.
Well, it was true that identity was no longer completely anonymous in this club, as was the case, but with the addition of another rule in this place, where no one was allowed to call names and mention identity-related things, even if they knew who they really were, no one could relate her to anything that happened inside this club.
And that was also what made this club so suitable to be used as a place to spread rumors.
Oh, Harriet founded this place for the same purpose. She founded this place to control the opinion of the masses and the flow of information from the nobles anonymously.
Thanks to her iconic work, as well as her unique mask appearance, everyone made her identity an open secret in this place.
Harriet knew this place could be a double-edged sword, and it was evident how she had been a victim of it twice, but building this anonymous club still had its benefits. For example at a time like this.
With the snake mask wrapped around her head and the snake's head wrapped around her face, making Harriet's one eye represent the snake's coiled eye, she entered the tea room.
Inside there, a few women had gathered at the center table, and some were sitting on the side tables playing card games or relaxing by the windows reading. Harriet walked over to the center table, the main table in the room, and continued toward the main chair occupied by a woman.
The sitting woman looked up and immediately stood up.
"Madam!" she exclaimed.
Harriet smiled gently at her.
"Good afternoon," said Harriet as she saw the woman immediately step out of the main seat and motioned for her to sit down with a happy smile.
The woman wore a white mask with a single horn in the middle of her forehead. She also tied her dark blonde hair into a ponytail at the back of her head. Harriet recognized the woman as one of the club's founders, Miss Penelope Zircon.
With great joy, the woman pulled out her own chair to sit beside Harriet.
"How are you, Madam?" the woman asked enthusiastically. Harriet chuckled to see that the Penny she knew hadn't changed at all.
"I'm fine, Missy. How about you? Are you having fun?" asked Harriet calmly with her trademark warm smile.
Everyone in the room immediately stopped what they were doing and turned their heads to the center of the room. Harriet's question was a sarcastic and sharp one.
Everyone knew Penelope Zircon as the woman who led this club with her own hands, and everyone knew Harriet had just been caught in a bad rumor that had affected her reputation because once again the rumor was likely to spread from this club.
Harriet's reputation made her feared by many people and made the women in that place immediately lock their mouths.
However, Penelope was different. She wasn't the new people Harriet wasn't very close with. She was Penelope Zircon.
"Bahahahaha!" Penelope laughed happily at Harriet's sarcasm.
"I had fun, of course! Thanks to you, Madam, thanks to you!" The eyes of Penelope, the woman in the unicorn mask, shone brightly.
"Tell me, Madam, are the rumors true? Did you–cough, I mean, that woman, Harriet Goldlane, really had an affair? With a handsome boytoy? Fuwahahahahaha!"
Harriet smiled irritably. Penelope Zircon was an unfiltered gossiper. She was open-minded and liked to put her ear against thin walls to eavesdrop.
She never wanted to confirm any information and solely used any information circulating as entertainment and solace in boredom. But at the same time, she also knew about every rumor about anyone and anything in this Empire and was never judgmental against anyone.
So even if someone was cheating or was involved in a scandal, she would just gasp and act like this, looking eager to hear more.
"It's the tea!" she exclaimed.
Harriet, who saw that one of her friends hadn't changed at all, sighed with an annoyed smile on her face.
"Missy, don't get too excited. I just heard about all of this myself this morning," said Harriet.
Penelope blinked. "So you're saying that the rumors aren't true?"
she looked at Harriet with a serious face. "But the source is pretty reliable and there's even evidence," Penelope muttered under her breath.
"There's physical evidence?" asked Harriet.
The woman in front of her nodded quickly. What they were talking about also made the other women at the main table turned their heads and strained their ears to listen.
"They said you were dating a handsome, slender man with blonde hair. You guys hugged and kissed in public, and when the source tried to talk to the young man, he dropped an item with the owner's name on it," explained Penelope.
Harriet began to hear the details of the rumor from the first people who heard it. It wasn't just Penelope, but the women and men who worked at the club, as well as a few regulars who happened to hear about it as well.
Harriet Goldlane had an affair.
Harriet Goldlane had a secret lover before marriage.
Harriet Goldlane refused to be Empress because she already loved another man.
Harriet Goldlane kept in touch with other men despite being married.
It was not just the details, there were many conclusions from the rumors that Harriet heard, just like what was mentioned above. Even there wasn't much 'evidence' people said that could really make people believe it except for the young man's 'dropped item'.
When Harriet asked what the 'item' was, some people replied that it was either a handkerchief embroidered with the initials or a hat with the owner's name on it. Some said it was a cane with a name engraved on it and others said it was just a piece of cane handle.
Harriet was quite intrigued by all this information, and she tried to find out again whose name was written on the 'item', and everyone answered the same name.
"Theo."