Chapter 49
The source of the loud noise was quickly revealed.
The side of Kana’s pale blue dress had ripped wide open.
I have a rather small frame, anyone could see that.
Naturally, the dress Roaz sent me was tailored to fit that frame.
No matter how slender Kana might be, it was difficult for her to wear something made exactly for my body size.
“She must have succeeded in putting it on somehow, but…”
In the end, the delicate seam of the dress could not withstand the difference in body shape and tore apart.
Before anyone realized, the music that had been filling the ballroom stopped abruptly.
The musicians, startled by the sudden mishap, seemed to have forgotten to continue playing.
“Oh my…”
In the silence, a sympathetic voice came from somewhere.
“Pfft, her clothes ripped.”
That mocking voice belonged to Princess Iela.
Kana, who had been standing there blankly without grasping the situation, seemed to come back to her senses at those words.
“Ah, um, excuse me!”
Her face flushed bright red, Kana covered her side and dashed out of the ballroom.
Even after she left, silence lingered for a while.
“What an amusing incident. Duke, looks like you’ll have fun at the party today.”
The Emperor deliberately laughed heartily and patted the Duke’s shoulder.
Only then did the atmosphere return to how it was before the commotion.
Music flowed once more, and light chatter filled the hall.
I waited for the Emperor to finish his rounds of the banquet hall, then quickly approached Roaz.
It seemed best to clear up any misunderstanding before leaving the party.
“Your Highness.”
“Little Duke.”
Roaz’s expression as he returned my greeting wasn’t pleasant.
Of course, he had every right to be upset—I had passed on a gift he had given me to someone else.
“That dress, I didn’t give it to her. Hard to believe, I know, but it’s true.”
“No, I know. You’re not the type to do that, Lady Danae. There must have been… complicated circumstances.”
Roaz accepted my excuse without hesitation.
Looking into his green eyes, I could tell he wasn’t lying.
“But then why…?”
You were angry, weren’t you?
Perhaps he noticed the unspoken question I swallowed, because he gave a sheepish smile, just like when we had met at the lakeside.
“I was only angry at someone else wearing something that wasn’t theirs. I wasn’t angry at you, Lady Danae.”
“Really?”
“…To be honest, I was a little sulky because you turned down my invitation to be my partner.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at his frank confession.
“I’m sorry. How can I make it up to you? About the dress, and about the partner thing too.”
“If you’d dance with me, I think this petty boy’s heart would be appeased…”
Trailing off, Roaz extended his hand to me.
“What do you say, Lady Danae?”
“With a debt on my conscience, how could I refuse?”
I smiled and willingly took his hand.
“Although, you might end up hating me once the dance is over.”
“And why’s that?”
“Because I’m probably going to step on your feet. A lot.”
I anxiously glanced down at his shoes.
Please let Roaz’s shoes be sturdy…
10
With the imperial party finished, the social season was drawing to a close.
The Dawn Mansion was now in an uproar each day as preparations were made to return to the North.
And as for me—
“The documents I’m handling have gotten more important!”
Perhaps because I had successfully concluded the dealings with the mages, the documents that came to me carried slightly more weight than before.
If previously it had been something like “How many candles should we buy?”, now it was closer to “How much should we raise the coachman’s salary?”.
I still didn’t have the authority to move around huge sums, but deciding wages for employees was far more important than deciding how many goods to purchase.
It meant the Duke recognized my abilities and granted me a step higher in authority.
“Good. I’m slowly getting closer to the fall of the Ashinoff family!”
Marina looked on with a pleased smile as I enthusiastically dealt with the paperwork assigned to me.
“Now, all that’s left is the Hunting Festival.”
“The Hunting Festival?”
“Yes. It’s an event only attended by the imperial family, so it doesn’t concern us directly.”
Come to think of it, when I had met Roaz by chance at the lakeside, he had mentioned the Hunting Festival too.
“He said he was practicing for it…”
“What happens at the Hunting Festival?”
I asked as I sipped the warm tea Marina had brewed.
“They literally go hunting. And at the end, they offer the largest prey caught that day to the lake.”
“The lake? The same one where the Princess called us out for a boat ride?”
“Yes. Through that ritual, they once invoked the Dragon’s authority. The Dragon’s power is gone now, but since it was always the final act of the founding festival… well, it remains as a tradition.”
I nodded and fiddled with the necklace.
“So that lake really was special.”
Could it be that my master’s necklace changed because of that lake?
If possible, I wanted to visit the lake again before leaving for the North.
“Is there no way?”
The imperial villa with the lake could only be entered with an invitation.
By proper means, I’d have to ask either Iela or Roaz for an invitation, but that wasn’t an easy thing.
“Should I sneak in?”
Since the royals didn’t usually stay there, the security hadn’t seemed all that strict.
If I set my mind to it, I might just be able to slip in unnoticed.
“If only there was a little hole in the fence or something…”
As I sank into thought, Marina gave me a gentle smile.
“What are you thinking about so deeply?”
Well, I was just plotting illegal trespassing onto imperial land…
But of course, I couldn’t actually say that.
“Oh, nothing. By the way, this tea smells wonderful. It’s the one Princess Iela gifted you, isn’t it?”
I hurriedly shook my head and changed the subject, but Marina only looked at me with worried eyes.
“Is this about Lady Kana, perhaps?”
“Ah, Kana.”
It was a name I had momentarily forgotten.
“She does seem to be scheming busily in her own way.”
But since none of it had actually harmed me, I had completely forgotten about her.
“That day was my oversight. I should have managed the dress better…”
“No, it’s not your fault. With Lady Kana being so insistent, the maids had no choice but to believe her.”
Apparently, once the family left the mansion, Kana boldly entered my room and demanded the dress.
“Miss gave me the dress. There’s no time—help me get ready.”
“What? The dress?”
“Yes. She specifically set one aside for me to wear.”
“But that’s not what we heard…”
“The party is about to start. There’s no time! Hurry, quickly!”
The confused maids had no idea what to do, but faced with Kana’s brazenness, they were swept along.
And since Marina had left Roaz’s gift hanging outside the room at the time, it was easy for them to be deceived.
If this had been the Winter Mansion, such a thing would never have happened, but this was the Dawn Mansion.
Since its staff only served the family during the social season, they were far less reliable than the main estate’s servants.
“In any case, it’s all in the past now. Don’t trouble yourself over it. His Highness understood the situation too.”
Kana had already suffered enough—forcing herself into the dress and being humiliated in front of everyone.
She was now infamous as “the young lady who ripped her dress before the Emperor.”
Unless someone caused an even bigger scandal, her name would probably be brought up at every founding festival to come.
“The real problem is that this sort of thing will keep happening.”
Her tricks were childish pranks at best, so not really troublesome, but undeniably annoying.
“And I absolutely hate dealing with annoyances.”
As I sighed and muttered softly, Blanche fluttered noisily in her cage.
She clearly wanted to say something.
“What are you up to now?”
It was clear she wouldn’t stop flapping around until she got her words out.
“I swear, you’ll be the death of me…”
“Marina, the tea’s gone cold.”
“Oh my, I’ll bring in a fresh pot right away, my lady.”
Once Marina left the room, I turned to look at Blanche.
“I even sent Marina out for this. If it’s nonsense, you’re going to regret it.”
< My king is so harsh with me. But this time, you’ll have no choice but to praise me. >
Blanche flapped indignantly at my scolding.
< My king wants to go to that lake, yes? I know a secret way in. >
“What? Really?”
< Yes! A path no one knows, where no one will see you. I swear it! >
It was an unexpected solution.
But as I gaped in surprise, I soon realized something was off.
“Wait a second, Blanche. How do you even know about the lake? I’ve never taken you there.”
At my pointed question, Blanche, who had been proudly spreading her wings, meekly folded them.
< …That’s… >
“Don’t tell me—you secretly followed me?”
< You wouldn’t allow me to go, so I had no choice but to follow in secret! I have no shame! >
This stalker!
