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Chapter : 55
“Of course I’m on the invitation list, right?”
“Certainly. I’ve brought the invitation for Your Highness.”
“You didn’t bring it just to hand it to me personally, did you?”
“I did. I wanted to give it to the Princess first.”
“I’m delighted. Thank you, my lady.”
Helena smiled in satisfaction as she accepted the invitation from Prea.
Not bad. So that was why she attended today’s banquet—to announce the engagement date and hand over an invitation in person.
A royal palace banquet is the perfect place to spark a new topic of gossip.
Especially the ones hosted by Helena—full of young noblemen and women—meant news spread quickly.
Right now rumors were swirling about Prea and Raiden, so announcing the engagement could quash the bad talk—and draw attention from high society as a bonus.
“Lady Valche! Can I—can I also receive an invitation?”
“Me too!”
“Please don’t forget me, my lady!”
Seeing Helena receive her invitation, the other young ladies brightened and rushed toward Prea.
They came by twos and threes, until suddenly a crowd had formed all around her.
“Wait, that’s dangerous. Stop—”
“Raiden. I’ll handle it.”
“Prea?”
Raiden tried to push the eager young ladies back, but Prea stepped forward first. She met his anxious eyes briefly, then turned to speak.
“We’re currently drafting the invitation list with the Duchess Dowager. Those who attended today’s banquet will receive an invitation through Her Highness.”
“Really?”
“That’s a relief!”
Her voice wasn’t loud, but the young ladies closest to her spread the word instantly.
Still, plenty remained, desperate to exchange even a few words.
“Thank you, Lady Valche!”
“I’m so excited for the engagement ceremony. Where will you have your dress made?”
“Um… if someone didn’t attend today, does that mean they can’t get an invitation?”
Prea answered the worried lady calmly.
“No. The Duchess Dowager and I are discussing the list together, and invitations will be sent out to each household soon.”
“You’re participating too? That’s rare—how interesting.”
Normally, the bride’s mother and future mother-in-law handled the invitation list.
But Prea wanted nothing from Marchioness Valche, Selene—not her help, not her interference—so she chose to consult Savanna and involve herself directly.
“The Duchess suggested it. I’m learning a lot—it’s a good experience.”
“I see…”
Hearing that, the young ladies’ gazes sharpened. If Prea was involved, her opinion would influence who made the list.
This engagement would be a sensation—not just in society, but across the entire Empire. It was the engagement of none other than the Duke of Betelheim, to be held at the legendary Bellona Garden.
Naturally, every noble would want to attend. But even a large ceremony had limits.
Thanks to Prea, those here today would likely be invited—but that only covered one person. Whether their entire family made the cut was a different issue.
To miss such an engagement—the center of all gossip—would be humiliating. No matter what, they had to secure an invitation.
And so, the silent war to obtain extra invitations—for relatives and friends—began.
“Young lady! Another batch of letters arrived!”
“Leave them there.”
Prea didn’t even glance at Greta as she continued to move her quill.
Greta dumped the new pile atop the already overflowing stack on the silver tray and sighed watching Prea work nonstop.
Ever since the banquet hosted by Princess Helena, letters requesting attendance had flooded the Valche marquisate.
Not only the desk, but tables and vanity—all of Prea’s room was buried under mountains of letters.
A true mountain range of envelopes. Enough to make one’s eyes cross, yet she sifted through them as if it were nothing.
Compared to the administrative documents she handled daily, this was child’s play.
“Doesn’t your hand hurt? How many have you written already? Please rest!”
“I’m fine. You know my workload, right?”
“Even so, you’ll overwork yourself. The Duchess was worried too!”
This task was technically hers, but Prea had been reading and drafting invitations from morning until late night, and Greta was worried sick.
With engagement preparations on top of everything else, she surely would’ve collapsed already without a few days’ leave.
“It’s just like my usual work. I’m writing more, but the reading volume isn’t unusual.”
“Your ‘usual’ is nothing like other people’s…”
Reading over a hundred letters a day was not normal. Greta shook her head and began sorting the stacks.
“There are so many. At this rate, isn’t every noble family in the Empire writing to us?”
“Not the ones without ties to the capital. Provincial nobles can’t easily attend—and they aren’t on the list.”
“Well, news couldn’t have spread that fast to the provinces anyway.”
“Hm… these days gossip flies, so maybe it has.”
There had already been a front-page newspaper article. Any region near the capital would know by now.
“No matter how much I sort, it never ends. I never knew there were this many noble houses in the capital.”
“Me either. So many names I’ve never seen. Everyone must really want to attend.”
“Of course they do!”
Greta snapped her head up, holding letters in both hands.
“It’s YOUR engagement to the Duke of Betelheim! After defeating that fox Astella! Who wouldn’t want to witness the union of the century’s greatest lovers?”
“…”
Prea’s quill jerked. Since when were she and Raiden the “lovers of the century”?
If anyone found out the engagement was basically a contract, disaster would follow. She sighed softly, picked up fresh paper, and resumed writing.
“And it’s totally different from a normal engagement! It’s being held in the famous Bellona Garden!”
“Are you excited?”
“Of course! I get to see the legendary flowers! Aren’t you excited?”
“I’m curious. They’re not easy to see.”
The Bellona blossoms—the original story had mentioned them. But they’d been sadly wasted.
In the novel, Astella entered the duke’s household after marriage and received lessons from Savanna, but with zero talent for gardening, she managed to wither an entire garden’s flowers within a week.
A month later, every garden except Bellona was dead—and eventually even the hardest-to-maintain Bellona flowers succumbed.
Astella was scolded badly by Savanna, and Raiden comforted her.
And that was the end of the so-called legendary blooms—an anticlimactic finish.
This time Astella wouldn’t be touching the flowers; they would survive. Prea herself was eager to see the blossoms glorified in the original story.
“Young lady!”
“Mm?”
Prea looked up from her closing greeting as Greta called urgently.
“Look at this!”
“…!”
The crest on the letter froze her expression. That familiar sigil belonged undeniably to House Vinok.
“This—this is a letter from the Vinok dukedom, isn’t it?!”
“…The seal leaves no doubt.”
“Are they insane?!”
Greta nearly jumped. She thought she’d read wrong—but no.
“How dare they ask for an invitation? Have they lost their minds?!”
“Greta, watch your words. We haven’t read it yet.”
She spoke calmly, but she didn’t like it either. After what happened at the palace banquet, how dare they contact her so soon?
The sender is… Verde Vinok?
