Episode 17: The Princess’s Birthday Party (1)
After finishing Ella’s hair and makeup and helping her into the dress, Anna bounced with excitement, marveling at Ella’s appearance.
“Kyaa— you’re so pretty, Ella, just like a real noble!”
“Ugh… I didn’t know dresses were this heavy.”
Even though Ella’s dress was a simple one with minimal decoration, once she had on the corset and petticoat, it became far heavier than she expected. Compared to what she usually wore, the dress felt endlessly heavy, and Ella swayed slightly.
“Haah… I’ll be going now.”
With help from Anna and the head maid, Ella climbed into the carriage, where the duke—dressed in a full formal tailcoat for the first time in a while—was already seated.
Inside the mansion, the duke always wore only thin shirts and trousers, so seeing him in a vest, jacket, and tie, perfectly put together, momentarily stole Ella’s gaze.
If the duke normally looked like a languid leopard, then today—with his hair neatly swept back and a perfectly fitted tailcoat—he exuded both an austere and a decadent charm.
Ella hadn’t expected to ride with the duke, so after hesitating for a long moment, she finally sat in the seat across from him.
“I didn’t know we’d be riding together, Your Grace.”
Even after the carriage set off, the duke only stared out the window in silence, so Ella spoke first.
“I have to escort you,” he replied briefly.
The truth was, ever since Ella boarded, the duke had been too preoccupied with worrying about how to give her the necklace to make small talk.
The cold diamond necklace in his pocket felt like a fishbone stuck in his throat. When the imperial palace appeared in the distance, the duke decided he could delay no longer and wordlessly held the necklace out.
Ella received the small velvet-wrapped object in surprise. Opening it, she found a diamond necklace that shimmered softly under the light filtering through the carriage window.
“This… I can’t accept this. It’s far too much.”
Ella admired the beautiful necklace resting in her palm for a moment before trying to hand it back.
“Ella, it’s a replica. Just take it.”
Without thinking, the duke lied. He reflexively called it fake.
“Oh, really? It looks real…”
Ella knew jewelers sometimes made fake necklaces out of glass beads, but she had never seen one so convincing. She examined it again, but no matter how she looked, it seemed far too exquisite to be glass.
“It’s just a replica. Wear it.”
Ella nodded and tried to clasp the necklace around her neck, but the intricate clasp was difficult to fasten alone, and her fingers kept slipping. Seeing this, the duke stood in the moving carriage and moved to her side.
“Give it to me. I’ll fasten it.”
As the duke placed the necklace around her neck, his breath brushed Ella’s skin. She flinched slightly. The duke caught a faint whiff of her unique natural scent, different from the sharp perfume he was used to. For a moment, he felt the impulse to bury his face in her nape. Snapping himself out of it, he quickly returned to his seat.
The atmosphere remained awkward until the carriage stopped before the imperial palace. Then the duke offered Ella his hand and escorted her inside, where the lavish party was in full swing.
—
When the attendant announced Duke Glois’s arrival, all eyes in the Great Hall turned toward the pair.
The duke—infamously known by nicknames like “Butcher,” “Warmonger,” and “Mad Dog”—always drew attention. But tonight he drew even more, entering with Ella when he usually attended such events alone.
“Oh my, who is that? I’ve never seen her before.”
“Could she be the duke’s fiancée?”
“I’ve heard no such news.”
“Well, he’s such an eccentric man. Maybe he held an engagement ceremony without guests.”
“No way. Still… which family is she from? She’s so elegant.”
“Right? That dress looks like it’s from Celeston Atelier, and that necklace looks expensive too. She must be from a wealthy house.”
The noblewomen assessed Ella from head to toe as if appraising merchandise.
Being with someone as eye-catching as the duke meant Ella unintentionally debuted in high society that evening. The countless glances made her tense up. Noticing this, the duke handed her a glass of champagne.
“Here. Don’t be too nervous. We’ll greet Her Highness the Princess and then leave.”
Ella took a small sip and nodded.
Before long, once most of the nobles had arrived, the chief attendant announced the emperor’s entrance. Everyone bowed.
“Rise.”
The emperor, wearing his crown, entered the Great Hall and sat upon the throne with a weary air.
“Thank you all for coming to celebrate the princess’s birthday. I hope you enjoy the evening.”
As the emperor scanned the hall, his gaze paused briefly on the duke. He then instructed the attendant beside him to summon the duke and Ella.
“Your Grace, His Majesty requests your presence.”
The duke hesitated, uneasy about leaving Ella alone in an unfamiliar place, but he could not refuse the emperor. Ella, left alone, tried to move to a quiet corner to wait—but the noblewomen, brimming with curiosity about the girl who arrived with the duke, quickly surrounded her.
“Hohoho, hello there. I’m Viscountess Grace. A pleasure to meet you.”
Ella wished for silence, but she couldn’t ignore those who greeted her first.
“Yes, hello. I’m Ella. It’s a pleasure to meet you, my lady.”
Ella held the hem of her skirt and greeted them exactly as she had learned. For only a few days’ practice, her greeting was impeccable. But when the viscountess and the other women, who had been eyeing her with curiosity, heard her introduction, their faces instantly chilled.
“No family name?”
“Oh dear, is she a commoner?”
Their bluntness was nearly rude, but Ella answered calmly, as if expecting the question.
“Yes, that’s correct. I am a commoner and have no family name, my lady.”
The viscountess frowned and fanned herself sharply, clearly displeased.
“Hah. How distasteful. A commoner attending an imperial banquet? Unbelievable…”
Ella felt stung by the viscountess’s harshness, but she couldn’t afford to act rashly. She simply forced a polite smile.
“How did a commoner come here with the duke? Ah… don’t tell me—his mistress?”
But when the viscountess openly looked her up and down and insinuated she was the duke’s mistress, Ella could no longer endure it.
“No, I am not. Please watch your words, my lady.”
The viscountess’s face flushed bright red. She bit her heavily painted lips and snapped back even more sharply.
“If you’re not his mistress, then where did you get such an expensive dress and jewelry? Obviously you coaxed them out of His Grace! It’s obvious!”
“Whether the duke gifted me the dress or not, I don’t understand why a viscountess I’ve never met is getting angry about it. Unless… your husband has been giving many expensive dresses and jewels to his mistresses?”
The viscountess’s face went pale, then beet red. She gripped her fan tightly. Everyone in high society knew Viscount Grace still hadn’t shared a bedroom with his wife—having been obsessed with his mistress since before their political marriage.
To the viscountess, the diamond necklace around Ella’s neck looked exactly like the jewels her own husband squandered on his lover. Unable to bear it, she “accidentally” spilled her wine onto Ella’s dress.
“Oh my, I’m so sorry. My hand slipped.”
Purple wine spread across the deep green hem of Ella’s dress like a bloodstain.
“Hoho, well, who told a commoner to wear a dress that doesn’t suit her?”
The viscountess sneered. Ella felt humiliated—just for being a commoner—but she couldn’t protest someone claiming it was an accident.
She bit her lip in frustration. Then, spotting a small insect flying nearby, she suddenly had an idea.
Ella stepped back as if apologizing.
“Yes, it’s my fault. Then I’ll take my leave…”
As she stepped back, waiting for the insect to fly closer, she shouted at just the right moment:
“Ah! My lady—there’s a bee on your neck!”
“Kyaaa— a bee!? A bee?!”
Startled, a nearby noblewoman holding a dessert plate panicked. Ella subtly stepped on the hem of the woman’s long dress.
Not realizing her skirt was pinned, the noblewoman flailed to avoid the imaginary bee, lost balance, and dumped the dessert plate onto the viscountess.
“Kya— oh my, my lady! I’m so sorry!”
The noblewoman panicked and apologized, but the viscountess, seeing her expensive dress ruined, exploded in anger.
“Kyaaa! Do you know how much this cost?! You should have been careful!”
Stung by the unfair scolding, the noblewoman scowled.
“Hah, it was an accident! There was no need to yell like that…”
“Exactly. How uncouth to shout over a mistake.”
“She really went too far.”
Hearing the other noblewomen chastise her, the viscountess panicked and fled the banquet hall.
Watching her run out, Ella felt refreshed and quietly slipped away to a corner of the Great Hall, out of sight.
