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~Chapter 90~
‘I can do this, right? Don’t step on the dress… and also…’
“Lady McCreary?”
From behind the door came the Empress’s dignified voice.
She had come to be Riden’s chaperone at the duchess’s request.
The Six Beauties and Riden quickly bowed in greeting.
“We greet Your Majesty the Empress.”
“Rise.”
The Empress entered the room gracefully.
“Shall we be alone for a moment?”
When the others withdrew, the Empress placed a hand on Riden’s shoulder.
“You seem very nervous.”
“Well… yes, I’ve already ruined three pairs of gloves, Your Majesty.”
Hearing her honest confession, the Empress gave a small laugh, but soon her smile faded.
“Since the Duchess hosted a grand opening ball, I couldn’t very well be left out. You understand what I mean?”
Riden understood perfectly.
It meant: I agreed to be the chaperone of someone I hardly know—so behave yourself and don’t cause me embarrassment.
A different kind of tension crawled up Riden’s neck.
‘It’s a burden… but at least this means I’ve shaken off that Viscount Mackie boy who was pestering me to be my cavalier.’
A chill ran down her back, but she bowed deeply.
“I will do my best to conduct myself properly.”
The Empress nodded in satisfaction.
“Then let’s go. Everyone is waiting.”
Following behind the Empress, Riden suddenly missed the duchess.
The grand ballroom of the palace glittered under hundreds of chandeliers.
The names of almost all the young ladies debuting this year were called.
They descended the stairs with practiced grace, met each time by applause.
Having now joined society and completed their debuts, they took a brief moment to breathe.
Then the doorman announced:
“Lady Riden McCreary of the McCreary County enters!”
Every gaze turned to the top of the stairs.
People’s mouths fell open.
The young lady in the pure white silk dress with glittering jewelry was breathtaking. More shocking still—
“Her Majesty the Empress is her chaperone?”
“Who is that young lady…?”
Murmurs rippled through the crowd.
Mari, too, looked up from among the guests.
Her eyes and lips smiled, but her heart did not.
She remembered the eager reactions and admiring looks she herself had received upon her own debut.
‘Yes… this kind of attention is only natural.’
Surrounded by eager young men desperate to put their names on her dance card, Mari had enjoyed herself immensely.
But now, the crowd’s reaction was even more fervent—
Not for her, but for Riden.
Mari’s mood soured.
‘So I’ve failed to make a friend again.’
She was always comfortable with male friends, but female friends… somehow it never worked.
She longed for a female friend to share true mutual support with, but always failed—women could never resist envying her.
So even if she wanted it, it never happened.
‘I thought I could be friends with Riden…’
But once again, she felt betrayed.
She had told Mari she didn’t need a chaperone to have a successful debut—yet she herself appeared with the Empress?
‘There are betrayals, and then there’s this.’
Mari noticed an unfamiliar young man beside her staring at Riden with fascination.
Her insides twisted.
She “accidentally” dropped her dance card in front of him.
“I’ll pick that up for you.”
Only then did he properly look at Mari.
She caught in his eyes a mix of interest, desire, and admiration.
Her lips curved upward again.
Meanwhile, Riden and the Empress descended the stairs slowly.
Riden’s pure white dress and the Empress’s violet gown made a striking contrast.
Riden curtseyed before the throne where the Empress stood.
Applause broke out, and as Riden’s was the final debut, music began to flow through the ballroom.
The young ladies caught their breath—competition had begun.
“Lady McCreary, grant me the honor of the first dance!”
“Please, allow me!”
“Even if it’s not the first, may I have my name on your shining dance card…!”
‘I need to sit down first!’
As expected, entering with the Empress drew far too much attention.
Even young ladies, dazzled by the duchess’s taste and the Six Beauties’ efforts, approached with bright eyes.
The unwanted attention sapped her strength before she’d done anything but enter.
Powder room. I need the powder room…!
She turned her back on the crowding men and quickly left the ballroom.
On the way out, she saw Mari, busy with a cluster of young men asking her to dance.
Riden meant to apologize later for not paying her more attention.
‘Sorry, Mari. Let me clear my head and I’ll be back.’
When the imperial messenger had come for her, she had explained the chaperone situation late—and Mari had not hidden her displeasure.
All the more reason to make it up to her later.
Spotting the powder room, she went in.
Normally it would be bustling with women preparing for their next dance, but it was empty—after all, the ball had just begun.
‘I’m probably the only one who ran here as soon as the ball started.’
She chuckled to herself—surely the most easily tired young lady here.
She sank onto a velvet sofa.
Compared to how she’d often collapsed not long after her transmigration, her health had improved a bit—but still, this frail body had a long way to go.
She silently urged herself to regain strength, when—
A familiar woman entered the powder room.
“The Duchess?”
She had looked for her earlier, descending the stairs, but hadn’t seen her—
“My dear, there you are. I was looking for you.”
The duchess took the seat beside her.
“No one’s been bothering you? Not like that Viscountess Florence?”
Riden thought back to coming down the stairs.
‘I got some glares, but nothing happened.’
She shook her head shyly with a smile. The duchess smiled too, then produced a jewel box.
Inside was a diamond tiara, dazzling even more than the one Riden wore now.
Riden tilted her head, pointing at her own tiara.
“But Duchess, I’m already wearing one.”
“Now that you’ve come down the stairs, you should change into a new tiara.”
She had accepted the duchess’s help for her debutante—even without marrying Ethan—but this felt too much.
“I’m still not used to dancing. If I wear something this precious and it falls—”
“Oh?”
The duchess tilted her head as if she didn’t understand.
“If my own breaks in my own person’s hands, what does it matter? I’ll just buy another.”
‘My own person…’
The words tickled at Riden’s heart.
Unable to reply, she sat still as the duchess removed her tiara and replaced it with the new one.
“It suits you very well.”
Her gentle hands smoothed Riden’s mussed hair.
Such a kind and warm gesture.
Riden’s lips parted.
“But why weren’t you in the ballroom? I couldn’t see you, I looked for so long.”
“You looked for me?”
“Yes.”
The duchess’s lips curved almost dangerously, and Riden hurried to add—
