CHAPTER 50…………………………………….
“I volunteered to assist His Majesty at his side. His Majesty told me to enjoy the ball and assigned someone else to duty, but I insisted on taking the shift myself.”
In the original story, Luna also couldn’t avoid working during the ball. Back then, she volunteered because she didn’t want to partner with anyone. But this time, even though there’s someone she wants to partner with, she can’t.
“It’s all because of me.”
Because I needlessly spilled everything to the Count, I couldn’t help thinking that I’d caused Luna to miss the chance to be Noah’s partner. I felt so guilty I couldn’t even meet her eyes.
“If only I hadn’t told the Count that you two had become partners…”
“No, that isn’t your fault, Miss Joyce. My father would’ve found out before the ball anyway.”
“Still…”
“And staying by His Majesty’s side means I can be close to the prince… so I’m fine. Really, I’m fine. Truly, truly fine.”
She repeated that she was fine like a refrain, but she didn’t look fine at all. Anyone could tell Luna was far from okay, and her expression kept poking at my conscience.
“But thanks to you, a lot of the bad rumors about me and the Duke disappeared. So don’t feel guilty.”
True, in the original story, the Empire had been buzzing with rumors that Luna was secretly meeting with Peredil, and she had avoided taking any partner at the ball because of that.
On top of that, at the original ball, Vivian—who wanted to push Luna to the edge—exposed that Luna had been hiding her holy power, and Luna ended up imprisoned. Come to think of it… had I forgotten about Vivian?
It’s not that I hadn’t been aware of Vivian, who harassed Luna in every way possible, but with so many other things on my mind, she had gradually slipped away from my attention. And strangely, unlike in the original, she hadn’t even approached me suspiciously.
There was no way she hadn’t noticed my lessons with Peredil when she obviously had people following him.
Was this the calm before the storm?
“Why do you look so serious?”
My thoughts must have gone on too long, because Luna asked.
“Oh, it’s just… I’m worried about Lady Vivian coming to the ball.”
“Right. Lady Vivian does have that sensual charm. Of course, you’re far more beautiful to my eyes, Miss Joyce, but that doesn’t mean we should half-prepare.”
“…What?”
That wasn’t what I meant…
“Great! Let’s go!”
“Go? Where?”
“Where else? To look at the dress you’ll wear to the ball!”
“Ah, no, I’m fine…”
After lessons, I was already completely exhausted and didn’t want to go out. But Luna—who had been gloomy until just now—seemed to brighten up a little, so I kept quiet and followed her.
Honestly, I’m weakest when it comes to Luna. I should at least try to cheer her up.
“What’s wrong?”
She was staring sadly at a café on the main street.
“I remembered the first time I had tea here with Prince Noah. He gave me the only strawberry on the cake…”
Dangerous. If this were the digital age, Luna would’ve already taken a tearful selfie and posted it online.
“Ah…!”
“Now what?”
This time she stared at a street lamp powered by holy energy, then slowly placed her hand on it. The lamps were already glowing in preparation for nightfall.
“I lost my footing under this lamp, and His Highness caught me. It was only for a moment, but the warmth of his hand when we touched… it was so warm.”
Anyone would think she’d parted from the love of her life…
“But Madame Anne is coming to the estate. Do we really need to visit a tailoring shop in the capital?”
I figured I should keep talking to distract her.
“Apparently a commoner designer in the capital has been creating a new style of clothing. It’s extremely popular, but they refuse to take private appointments because they don’t want nobles monopolizing the clothes.”
Oh? The stuck-up nobles won’t like that.
“I didn’t know you were interested in fashion, Lady Luna.”
“Well… Prince Noah told me. He said we should go together next time…”
Aaaand, here comes sadness mode again.
As punishment for choosing the wrong question, I had to listen to her sighing all the way until we reached the boutique called “Candy.”
“The shop is smaller than I expected. Hm?”
Just as I grabbed the doorknob, another hand landed on top of mine.
“Well, look who it is?”
The sharp, biting voice made my whole body shiver.
“My favorite Woodville sisters. You two stick together like you’re real sisters, don’t you?”
Damn it. Running into Vivian here of all places.
Even if I had been thinking about her nonstop, I had no desire to meet her by fate in such a big capital. I would’ve avoided her forever if I could!
“Trying to follow the latest trend, are we?”
I didn’t hide my discomfort, but she ignored it and kept talking.
“You’re one to talk, Lady Vivian.”
We both smiled politely at each other, but we were definitely cursing each other out inwardly. It felt like a staring contest where the first one to look away loses.
“Joyce, let’s go in.”
Just when we were fully immersed in our little game, Luna pulled me into the shop, ending my stare-down with Vivian.
“Wow, these styles are bold.”
Just like Luna said, the outfits here were nothing like what you normally saw in Coventin.
The hems of dresses were asymmetrically cut, and the colors were combined in ways I’d never seen before.
“Oh wow. They even have pantsuits for women!”
A pantsuit… if someone wore that first in Coventin, they’d get the whole capital’s attention. Maybe I should use it in my next work.
“This one would look great on you! Oh! This one too!”
Like a proud mother, Luna kept picking out outfits that she said would look good on me, holding them up in front of me.
We were completely absorbed in admiring the designs, but behind us, Vivian followed at a steady distance like a shadow.
Why walk in sync with us just to get on my nerves?
Because I’d been moving slowly while holding clothes up to myself, she eventually caught up and stood right behind me.
“Having fun sneaking around with my fiancé?”
She threw the comment at me while pretending to browse the rack in front of her.
Just as I expected, Vivian already knew about my meetings with Peredil. That explained why she hadn’t been bothering Luna this time.
“If you know I meet with the Duke, then you should already know what we do inside. Does that look like a secret affair to you?”
“Well, it just looked pathetic. A mere clown getting excited because the Duke humored you—acting like you’re something.”
I wanted to snap back at her, but there were too many people around. And she was Peredil’s fiancée.
No matter how innocent my meetings with Peredil were, an unmarried woman meeting privately with an engaged man was bad for my reputation. And I couldn’t exactly expose Peredil’s stage fright without permission.
So ignoring Vivian was the best option. I moved away from her.
“Let’s go back to the ones we looked at earlier.”
After we’d inspected every outfit in the shop, we went back to choose a dress. But then Vivian called her maid.
“Hey, Jane.”
“Yes, my lady.”
“Bring me every dress that woman just held.”
“Yes, my lady.”
Before she even finished speaking, the maid—Jane, whose eyes were practically unfocused—started gathering every dress I’d liked.
“What do you think you’re—”
Luna tried to confront her, but I stopped her quickly.
“Don’t, sis.”
Stealing the protagonist’s favorite dresses? How cliché. It was so predictable I could’ve yawned.
“There are other dresses. Let’s just go.”
Luna seemed to agree it wasn’t worth wasting time, so we headed for the door.
“What do you mean by that?!”
Just as we were about to step out, a shrill scream forced us to look back.
“I can’t sell you the clothes. You’ve already picked out over ten dresses.”
