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Chapter 10
“Th-Then, are you telling me to carry the Grand Duke around?”
Good heavens—me, a lady of noble birth, carrying around a doll?
It was my first ball since transmigrating into this world, and I was already a bundle of nerves.
Everyone knows what balls are like in romance-fantasy novels:
battlefields for gossip, where nobles tore apart anyone who dared to stand out.
So if Airel Blandiche, already infamous, showed up hugging a doll that looked exactly like the Grand Duke of the North, Rishid Eppenterion, I’d instantly become the evening’s spectacle.
What if he suddenly moves?
No, all I wanted was to stay quiet, unnoticed, and alive. Just deciding to sneak the Grand Duke into my handbag was already a monumental act of courage.
‘This is bad… really bad…’
As I pictured the horrified stares that awaited me, the Grand Duke spoke.
“No. I refuse to be carried in your arms. But I can’t see anything from inside a bag. I need to observe people’s faces.”
“Then…?”
“One needs a proper weapon before marching onto the battlefield.”
Tap, tap.
“Your head.”
“…Excuse me?!”
The Grand Duke smiled coolly and tapped his own head.
Wait, by head, he means—
My face froze in sheer disbelief.
“I’ll be in your care, Lady Airel.”
A mischievous smile tugged at his lips.
‘Oh no… this is even worse than I imagined.’
I gaped at my reflection in the mirror. The maids glanced at me, half in awe, half in horror.
“I’ve never seen such a hideous hat before. How does one manage to destroy every aesthetic principle so thoroughly?”
“Exactly. I knew the lady had changed lately, but this confirms it—she must’ve hit her head. Lost not only her temper but also her sense of beauty.”
“Shh! Quiet down, she can hear you.”
Yes. I can hear you very well, girls.
I sighed and took off the towering hat. Massive flowers were clustered across it like some monstrous bouquet—a riot of colors that should never have coexisted.
Why this hat, of all things?
Because on the day we’d gone to buy clothes for the doll-sized duke, he insisted on it.
“That one.”
“…Are you serious, Your Grace?”
“Would I joke about this?”
I tried to stop him, horrified by how much it would stand out—but then he explained.
The hat had to be tall and wide enough for him to stand or sit inside it.
It needed air holes for him to look out, but none that would let others peek in.
In short, the ridiculous flowers were camouflage.
Even so… choosing this abomination? He had definitely done it to tease me.
“Just wearing this thing should be a crime,” I muttered.
One of the maids snorted before quickly pretending to cough.
“K-Koff! Cough-cough!”
Sure, nice try.
Still, as I watched them exchange uneasy glances, I couldn’t help but smile faintly.
It had been two weeks since I’d transmigrated.
And already, the maids didn’t tremble around me quite as much.
By keeping my distance, not snapping at them, and remembering to say thank you, I’d somehow begun to change things.
“My lady, are you really going to wear that to the ball?”
“Yes. I made a promise.”
“With whom?”
I glanced toward the small side table beside the mirror.
From beneath it, a faint crimson glow—eyes—watched me.
Ever since our outing at the plaza, Rishid had taken to hiding whenever maids entered the room, popping out from different corners like a cat—or a rat.
He really does act like one…
I bit back a laugh and replied,
“Let’s just say… a pocket mouse.”
“A what?”
Janice tilted her head in confusion.
“Please, Airel—no commotion tonight.”
Days flew by as Rishid and I prepared for the ball. Finally, the day arrived.
I attended with Duke and Duchess Blandiche and my brother, Edwin.
The moment I stepped down from the carriage, the duchess gave her usual warning.
“Yes, Mother,” I said politely.
But I knew peace was impossible.
Even if I stayed silent, my hat would speak for itself.
For the duchess’s sanity, I only hoped she’d find out after the ball.
“I’ll be right back…”
As soon as I entered the hall, I excused myself with a bow and slipped away.
“Her behavior grows stranger by the day…”
I pretended not to hear the duchess’s muttered disdain and hurried toward the pillar where Janice was waiting.
“My lady! Over here!”
Janice waved frantically. She looked more nervous than usual—no doubt because she was hiding the monstrosity of a hat behind her back.
“Sorry for making you handle that. Did your father scold you?”
“He was furious! Said I was ruining my marriage prospects!”
“And you said?”
“That someone else’s marriage prospects would be ruined, not mine! He’ll see soon enough!”
She gasped and clamped a hand over her mouth.
I smiled sweetly and patted her shoulder.
“Good girl, Janice.”
Her expression froze. Oh yes—there’d be no safety buffer between us after this.
I waved her off and slipped through the back door of the ballroom.
“This is the palace’s ballroom layout.”
“Heavens—when did you draw all this?”
“When someone was snoring loud enough to wake the dead. I doubt you’d notice if the mansion collapsed, given your own thunderous snoring.”
“…Are you talking about me right now?”
“Who else?”
I held the map he’d drawn, shaking my head.
“Your Grace, you can come out now.”
I stepped outside and discreetly lifted a flap of my lace gown.
A tuft of dark hair popped up.
“I was suffocating in there. So this is the place you mentioned?”
His crimson eyes gleamed as they darted around.
I brushed his messy hair into place with a smile.
Note to self: ask the dressmaker to add air holes next time.
“Yes, no one comes here during balls.”
“That’s why I chose it.”
His gaze wandered, shadowed for a moment.
Ah… right.
Rishid had lived in the Imperial Palace until he was eight, before his uncle—the current Emperor—banished him to the northern duchy.
And he’d never regained his throne, not even in the novel’s ending.
I felt a twinge of pity.
So I thrust the hat toward him with a grin.
“Alright then, into the hat you go, Lord Pocket Mouse!”
“Airel, must you—”
He sighed and frowned but obediently climbed inside the floral monstrosity.
I couldn’t help but think:
‘He should be thankful I didn’t call him Remy!’
The Grand Duke clearly hadn’t seen that one movie about the rat who controls the chef.
