YL 14

Chapter 14

“The noblewomen don’t spend all their time chasing young, handsome men after they’re married for no reason. If a husband is good in bed, then the marriage is already a success. If everything else is about the same but he’s bad in bed? Well, that’s not the end of the world. Everything else is average anyway. But listen carefully, Big Sister. One day is bearable. A month is bearable. Even a year might be manageable. But you’ll have to endure it every single day, every single hour, for the rest of your life. Do you really want that?”

“N-No… I mean… N-no, that’s not what I… Rose… let’s stop talking about this…”

Without thinking, Ruby had started to answer before realizing what they were discussing. Her face turned crimson as she frantically waved her hands.

Seeing her innocent reaction, Rose looked at her as though scolding an unusually naïve older sister.

“Why? This is important. You said he’s incredibly handsome. Then… is he good?”

“W-Well… I… No! Let’s not talk about this! Please?”

“So he is?”

“R-R-R-Rose!”

Rose gave her a mischievous look, and Ruby let out an embarrassed shriek, her face burning bright red.

Thinking her sister might actually cry if she teased her any further, Rose decided to stop there.

“Haha, alright. I’ll stop. So… are you going to marry him?”

“Well…”

“And him?”

“He’s already proposed…”

“But you haven’t answered yet?”

“N-No.”

“You want to accept?”

“Of course I do.”

“Then I’ll help you. If we can get respectable witnesses to sign the marriage papers, Father and Mother won’t be able to oppose it.”

Noble marriages required official witnesses.

At least two nobles had to sign the marriage contract before it was submitted to the Imperial Palace. Only after receiving the Emperor’s approval would the marriage certificate become legally valid.

If the witnesses came from influential families, then—even if it was something of a loophole—Count and Countess Stacy would have no choice but to approve the marriage for the sake of appearances.

Ruby had thought about that herself.

The problem was…

“I don’t know anyone from a family important enough for Father to accept…”

She simply lacked those connections.

Seeing Ruby’s troubled expression, Rose smiled confidently.

“Don’t worry. I’ll handle that.”

“You? How? You’ve stayed at home all this time. You don’t even have any friends.”

After making her social debut, attending only a handful of parties, and then disappearing from high society altogether, Rose had shut herself away at home instead of attending the Academy.

Where could she possibly have built such connections?

Ruby couldn’t even imagine it.

Rose tilted her head as though she’d just heard something ridiculous.

“What are you talking about? Why wouldn’t I have friends?”

“Huh? N-No, that’s not what I meant…”

Ruby hurriedly tried to explain that she hadn’t meant Rose was a loner.

Knowing exactly what Ruby meant, Rose didn’t get angry.

“I know. I rarely talked to anyone and usually kept to myself. Besides, it’s not like I go around announcing who my friends are.”

“Huh?”

Just then—

The lounge door opened at the perfect moment.

“Rose Stacy! Are you in here?”

“Marie!”

“…Marguerite Jestia?”

Ruby wasn’t the only one surprised.

The unexpected appearance of someone so completely unrelated left even Enoch staring in disbelief.

For perhaps the first time all evening, genuine surprise appeared on his face.

Hereis was equally stunned.

Naturally so.

After all…

The woman who had just entered was the flower of high society—

And his own fiancée.

Only Rose and the newcomer, Lady Marguerite Jestia, Marchioness’s daughter—known by her nickname, Marie—remained perfectly calm.

“Rose! There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you. I heard you were coming today, so I was really looking forward to seeing you.”

“You showed up late.”

“Still, I saw you dancing with the Duke. What happened? Rose Stacy and Enoch Chester? You two hate dancing more than anyone. What possessed you?”

“Why don’t you ask Enoch Chester? From what I could tell, something was seriously wrong with him today.”

Then Rose added,

“Actually, I’m not even sure the man I saw today was really Enoch Chester.”

Marguerite burst into loud laughter.

“Hahaha! This is exactly why I adore you. You’re probably the only person in the Empire who’d say something like that about Enoch Chester.”

“So what? People even criticize the Emperor behind his back when he’s not around. Why should a duke be any different?”

On the balcony…

Hereis thought he might suffocate from holding back his laughter.

Seeing Enoch secretly clench his fist through gritted teeth made him want to roll across the floor.

His stomach already hurt from laughing internally, but the ever-greedy Hereis silently cheered.

More!

Keep going!

As much as you want!

At this point, Rose could insult Hereis himself all she liked.

He wouldn’t care in the slightest.

After all…

She had let him witness Enoch Chester making that face.

That alone was worth it.

Completely unaware of the hidden audience, Marguerite casually looked Rose up and down.

“Mmm… As expected. It’s magnificent. Antte, isn’t it?”

“You recognized it immediately? Then again, I’d be more surprised if you didn’t. Honestly, I was shocked myself. I never expected Antte to accept my design.”

Marguerite snorted as though she’d heard complete nonsense.

“As if Antte would ever reject my friend’s design. Unless they wanted to stop doing business in the capital.”

Her answer was overflowing with confidence.

Rose narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

“Hm… I knew it. Antte seemed strangely familiar with me. So it was you. You’re the culprit.”

“What? You ended up with an amazing dress, didn’t you?”

“I wasn’t exactly planning on benefiting from your influence…”

“Oh, please. You’re my friend! You should be taking advantage of my name! I hate it when everyone else does it, but you? Please, use my name as much as you want.”

Even though she knew perfectly well Rose would never abuse it.

Hearing the slight disappointment in Marguerite’s voice, Rose laughed helplessly.

Marguerite Jestia had been raised as the treasured daughter of a marquis.

Now she ruled high society as its undisputed queen.

Proud and domineering by nature, she absolutely despised people using her name for personal gain.

She preferred using others, not being used herself.

Yet here she was…

Encouraging Rose to do exactly that.

It was absurd.

But Rose liked that side of Marguerite.

“Actually, I am planning to borrow your name for a while. If I want to disappear from high society again, I’ll need it.”

Because of Enoch Chester…

She had instantly become the hottest topic in noble society.

Rose was absolutely certain everyone would do whatever they could to drag her back into social events.

Neither she nor the Stacy family could stop all of them.

So she had no choice but to borrow the name of the Queen of High Society herself.

There could be no more effective shield.

Marguerite immediately understood.

“Makes sense. I took a quick look outside earlier, and everyone looked ready to tear you apart. You managed to touch the unreachable Enoch Chester. You have to pay the price for that.”

“Ugh! I never wanted that! Please take him back! I don’t need him! I wouldn’t accept him even if someone gave him to me for free!”

Watching her friend explode into another shouting fit, Marguerite clicked her tongue.

She had always hated this sort of thing.

Then again…

If Marguerite were in Rose’s shoes…

She would probably hate it just as much.

“…As of today, I’m done.”

“Hm? You’re not coming tomorrow either?”

“Nope. I’m skipping everything. Showing my face once was enough. Why would I keep coming every day?”

“Well, that’s easy for someone like you to say.”

The banquet would continue for an entire week.

There was a reason for that.

Although it was called a banquet, it was really an enormous networking event.

For nobles trying to build connections, even attending every single day wasn’t enough.

Of course…

Neither Marguerite nor Rose belonged to that category.

“Well, that works out. Are you heading back to your territory right away?”

“No. Since I came all the way to the capital, I figured I’d stay a while and have some fun.”

“Perfect! You’re staying at an inn anyway, aren’t you? The Stacy family doesn’t own a townhouse in the capital.”

“Right.”

“Then come stay at my house! Let’s have a pajama party! I just saw Larisa arrive a little while ago. It’s been so long since the three of us got together!”

“That sounds great! Your house is much better than an inn. I’m in! Mother and Father will approve too.”

“Your parents never interfere with whatever you do.”

“Says the beloved daughter who’s just as spoiled.”

Rose teased.

Marguerite laughed brightly.

It was a light, refreshing laugh.

Rose smiled as well.

The two of them looked so close that no one would believe they’d only been friends for a year or two.

Which only made everything more puzzling.

Their political factions.

Their status.

Their families.

Nothing should have allowed them to become such intimate friends.

As Hereis and Enoch exchanged confused glances, apparently they weren’t the only ones wondering.

Ruby finally spoke hesitantly.

“Um…”

“Oh, Big Sister.”

“Your sister? Then you must be the second daughter. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Stacy.”

“The pleasure is mine, Lady Jestia. But… how do you know my younger sister…?”

Rose answered instead.

“You didn’t know, Big Sister? The Jestia territory is right next to ours. Harriet territory is on the other side.”

“So we met by chance while exploring the neighboring lands and became friends.”

Rose explained it as innocently as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world.

The explanation, however, was anything but ordinary.

“Th-Then the Larisa you mentioned earlier is…”

“Larisa Harriet, of course.”

“…What?!”

How is that supposed to be ‘of course’?!

Ruby’s jaw dropped.

She completely forgot her usual graceful manners.

Larisa Harriet.

The only daughter and heir of House Harriet—

One of the Empire’s three ducal families.

The Empire’s famous Ice Sword Lady.

Hereis and Enoch were just as shocked.

The trio simply didn’t make sense.

The Stacy family was merely a count’s household.

House Jestia stood at the very center of the aristocratic faction.

House Harriet was one of the Emperor’s staunchest supporters.

They were as incompatible as fire and water.

Everyone knew those two factions were bitter rivals.

Yet…

Their daughters were close friends.

The obvious common denominator…

Was the young lady sitting right between them.

For the first time…

Hereis found himself genuinely curious about who Rose Stacy really was.

At that moment, as if one visitor wasn’t enough, another figure appeared at the entrance.

“Rose, are you here?”

“It’s Larisa!”

“Marie, you’re here too.”

“Come in, Lari.”

It was none other than Larisa Harriet.