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Chapter 10
Knock, knock.
At the sound of the knock, the door opened and Eva came in.
“Miss, I brought your detox juice.”
“Good.”
While I drank the juice, Eva wore a worried expression.
“The head chef is very concerned about your health, Miss. He asks about it every time he sees me.”
I smiled faintly.
“Tell him not to worry. I’ll be eating normally again tomorrow.”
For the past two weeks, I had been cutting carbs and reducing my meals to the bare minimum so the dress would fit properly.
I was already rather thin, but the dress I was wearing today was a mermaid-line design that accentuated the body, so I had paid extra attention to my figure.
In my previous life, I usually dieted for a month before awards ceremonies, so two weeks was nothing.
If anything, it was easy.
After drinking the juice, I was getting ready while being attended to by Eva.
“Ahhh!”
I heard the screams of the maids who had gone to the dressing room to fetch my clothes and accessories.
“Go check what happened.”
“Yes, Miss.”
A moment later, Eva came back in a panic.
“Miss. The dresses are all, all torn apart. What are we going to do? Today is the party…”
Eva looked frantic, stomping her feet in worry.
“I’m sorry. I should have paid more attention.”
The red and black dresses I had brought home had been reduced to rags, so badly torn that I could no longer even imagine what they had originally looked like.
Who wouldn’t know this was done to a dress? Rosalyn really is annoyingly thorough when it comes to useless things.
I had anticipated this level of interference, so I wasn’t particularly surprised. I was already having new dresses made with the duke’s money anyway.
Rosalyn absolutely hated the fact that I was beginning to participate in high society.
If I started social activities, it was obvious I would clash more often with Rosalyn, who was close in age to Cecilia.
So in the days leading up to my debutante ball, Rosalyn’s nerves had been extremely sharp. The manor rang with the cries of maids every single day.
She hates me that much? Hold on… the way she’s acting lately, she might as well be my anti-fan.
Maybe to Rosalyn, I was both an object of envy because of my water powers and an object of fear.
“What should we do?”
As I was lost in thought, Eva’s anxious voice reached me.
Knock, knock.
When Eva opened the door, the head steward was standing there.
“A person from Aurora’s dress shop has arrived.”
Eva widened her eyes in confusion, and then Aurora stepped out from behind the steward and greeted me.
“My lady, I brought the dress.”
Eva looked at me in surprise.
“It’s fine. That’s why Aurora is here.”
Aurora took a fresh green dress—the same lively shade as my eyes—out of the packing box and helped me into it, expertly adjusting every detail.
Eva sat down on the floor with a relieved expression, her tension finally gone.
“I really thought something terrible had happened. You have no idea how shocked I was. As expected of our lady, you’re truly amazing.”
With Aurora and Eva’s help, I finished preparing and went downstairs.
The servants, seeing me in the most dazzling appearance of my life, could not close their mouths.
And then Rosalyn came down after me, her face visibly darkened.
“Rosalyn, you went through all that trouble for nothing.”
It would have been easier to ignore her, but I deliberately pointed it out because she was irritating.
Rosalyn said nothing and simply stood there glaring at me.
“What are you waiting for? Hurry up. It’s the first time we’re riding in the same carriage to a party. Ah! I’m so excited.”
When I looked cheerful, Rosalyn’s face quickly darkened.
I smiled brightly at her before heading outside and getting into the carriage.
Every party has someone who serves as your escort.
Young noble ladies and gentlemen who have already been matched through marriage negotiations enter together, but when there is no assigned partner, it is tradition for a family member to accompany them as a guardian.
When it had been Rosalyn’s turn, Isco had escorted her personally, but since he had not come, I had to enter together with Cecilia and Rosalyn.
Father really is irresponsible and selfish to the very end.
I felt sorry for Cecilia, who was sitting opposite me.
To have a man like Father as a lifelong partner…
Of course, it was only a tiny, fleeting amount of pity.
Considering everything Cecilia had done until now, it would have felt better to chew her up and swallow her whole.
After arriving at the imperial palace, we headed for Diamond Hall in the Emperor’s Palace, where the first party of the social season—the debutante ball—was being held.
“The Duchess of Lewin, Rosalyn, and Lady Arabella have arrived.”
At the gatekeeper’s thunderous announcement, the doors opened and we entered the hall.
The people inside turned their attention to me.
Their gazes struck me like arrows—curious looks at the illegitimate child who had never once been shown to the outside world, sneering looks, dismissive looks, and outright hateful looks.
I ignored them all and walked forward with a perfect smile.
With my upgraded healthy beauty, plus the aura and posture of someone who had long been a top celebrity in the entertainment world, people looked at me with obvious surprise.
Once we entered the banquet hall, Rosalyn shot me a look and said,
“Today the palace won’t fall apart. You’ll be the pillar holding it up.”
It was clearly a mocking remark aimed at me, because I would be standing there like a decorative flower on a wall—someone with no dance partner, no one to speak to.
But I didn’t mind.
I had a plan.
“Rosalyn, be careful with your words. Saying the palace will fall apart—are you perhaps thinking of rebellion? I’m worried about you. You have the habit of speaking before thinking.”
I watched with interest as Rosalyn’s face turned red and blue with rage.
“Rosalyn, the young ladies over there are waiting for you.”
Cecilia pushed Rosalyn toward the other noble girls, then took me to the round table prepared for the debutante protagonists.
“We’ll see each other later.”
Then, as though mindful of other people’s eyes, she spoke with outward elegance and headed toward the married ladies’ section.
At the table were young ladies and gentlemen full of excitement and nerves over their debutante ball.
They said nothing, simply fidgeting with the teacups in front of them with tense expressions.
As this was the first party of the social season, nobles who had not gathered in a while mingled in small groups and talked among themselves, and more and more people kept sneaking glances at me.
As I enjoyed their uncomfortable stares, I heard the announcement of the Emperor and Evelyn’s entrance.
The party had officially begun.
The Emperor and Evelyn walked in gracefully and took their seats on the elevated platform.
Trailing quietly behind them was Grand Duke Matteo, the Emperor’s younger brother.
My gaze lingered more on Grand Duke Matteo, with his heavy, commanding charisma, than on the Emperor in his lavish attire.
So that’s him. The hidden mastermind of this novel, Grand Duke Matteo.
I hadn’t read all the way to the ending, so I didn’t know exactly how it concluded, but Matteo was the true mastermind who manipulated the Emperor through Evelyn.
The one who wanted to push Crown Prince Blake aside and seize the throne.
The one who arranged for the Evelyn he had supported to meet the Emperor.
The one who carried out all of this without letting it show.
He was a quiet, seemingly greedy man who was actually cold and terrifying—a handsome man with black hair and blue eyes.
The people of the Imperial Family had traditionally black hair and red eyes, but Grand Duke Matteo had been born with blue eyes.
Those blue eyes, resembling the eyes of his mother, who had been a palace maid, were also his greatest complex.
He’s even more handsome than I expected. No wonder Evelyn would love him for life.
If I wanted power, I needed to become close to Grand Duke Matteo.
That made my target for today’s party Grand Duke Matteo.
The Emperor was not exactly trustworthy, and since Lewin and Courtois were bound by oath, they could not betray the imperial family.
So if I wanted a better chance of surviving, I needed to take Grand Duke Matteo’s hand.
An enemy of my enemy is my ally, more or less.
As the court orchestra began to play a quiet melody, the maid-in-chief in charge of the debutante ceremony approached us.
“You must move.”
We lined up according to the order of our family titles and followed her.
Rosalyn had already debuted last year, and Delia, who possessed the power of fire, was away on monster subjugation, so the front position belonged to me.
Once the young ladies and gentlemen preparing for debut stood in two lines before the Emperor, the chamberlain introduced us one by one.
“The second daughter of the Lewin Ducal House, Lady Arabella.”
I stepped forward and bowed gracefully like a butterfly.
The Emperor looked at me with interest.
“So you resemble your mother. Well then, do you already have a partner for your first dance? I understand Duke Lewin is not attending today.”
“Unfortunately, I do not.”
The Emperor then turned his gaze toward Matteo, seated beside him.
In his eyes, there was a strange kind of mockery when looking at his half-brother—along with a touch of mischief at assigning an illegitimate noblewoman to his illegitimate younger brother.
“Matteo, escort Lady Arabella today.”
“I will do so, Your Majesty.”
Though his voice was courteous, his eyes held no emotion at all.
“Lady Lewin, do enjoy yourself.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
I bowed lightly and stepped back.
It’s going according to plan.
