Chapter 27
『Right, I’m sure you would.』
You’re certainly doing your utmost to keep Padrick and me apart, Delinda.
After that, just as Delinda had intended, Lottie was paired with a gentleman who would “bring out her beauty and grace.” Lottie had expected Delinda to openly insult her by pairing her with the eldest son of Viscount Owen—a man notorious for being a philanderer—so this was a bit of a surprise.
“…….”
Throughout the banquet, which tasted like chewing on wood bark, Lottie kept her eyes on Calyx, who sat at the far diagonal end of the table.
He, too, was with a female partner chosen by the woman acting as the mistress of the Frostis household. He conversed with her, occasionally laughing as he ate.
All the while, his gaze remained fixed on his partner.
Even when Lottie glanced his way several times, he never once met her eyes.
After the banquet, it was time for dancing.
While the ballroom was being prepared, the ladies and gentlemen moved to separate rooms to smoke or play cards.
“Did the meal suit your palate?”
Delinda approached Lottie, who was sitting in a corner of the card room, wetting her throat with champagne. She wore the same beaming expression as always.
“The rumors that the Frostis family chefs are as skilled as the Royal Palace’s head cook were not an exaggeration,” Lottie replied with a formal answer.
Delinda gave an ambiguous smile and looked around. After confirming that Isabel had stepped away for a moment, Delinda slipped into the seat opposite Lottie.
“The spring social season will be over in a fortnight. Since our family is based in the Capital, we have to travel far to the north or east for summer vacations.”
The voice that had been relentlessly innocent in front of others changed subtly. Lottie realized that Delinda was finally beginning to reveal her true intentions.
“Ah, but since Miss Charlotte’s hometown is a resort area, you won’t have to travel far at all. I’m envious.”
『Ah, so we’re starting with a backhanded jab at me being a country bumpkin?』
Unfazed by an attack that wouldn’t even leave a scratch, Lottie smiled back at Delinda.
“Where one lives and where one stays for a visit are strictly different. My family also departs for places like the beautiful eastern seaside when vacation season arrives.”
“Oh my, I wouldn’t know, having grown up never leaving the Capital. As I thought, Miss Charlotte has a different atmosphere from the other young ladies of the Capital. How should I put it… unrefined? A certain… wildness, perhaps?”
Delinda rested her chin on both hands and smiled brightly.
“I suppose that’s why so many gentlemen are interested in Miss Charlotte? Because you’re a curiosity.”
Silence fell over the table.
It didn’t last long. Lottie, who had been staring at Delinda expressionlessly, slowly began to wrinkle her face before bursting into laughter.
“……? What is so funny?”
“Ah… haha. Sorry, haha, I’m sorry. I just remembered something from a long time ago, pfft. Hahaha.”
Delinda wouldn’t know it in her wildest dreams, but the remark about men being interested because she was a “curiosity” was the exact same thing she, as the King’s mistress, had once said to Queen Charlotte.
How could her repertoire remain so unchanged from then until now?
Thinking that she had once been manipulated and stripped of everything by such a shallow and immature woman made Lottie feel pathetic.
Lottie barely managed to swallow her laughter and looked at Delinda.
Delinda’s face was flushed red, as if she had been the one insulted.
“Miss Delinda is right. I am a country bumpkin more accustomed to running barefoot through the mud than dressing up like a wax doll and flashing coquettish smiles…. Still, I wanted to at least act like a demure lady today, so I dressed with great care.”
Lottie stood up and spun around once. Her blue dress, overlaid with white lace, puffed out in a circle before slowly settling back down.
Delinda’s eyebrows twisted, making no effort to hide her displeasure.
“How does it look to Miss Delinda, who is so well-versed in the latest Capital fashions? Do I look like a lady born and bred in the Capital?”
“Well…. The dress looks decent enough. Though the fact that it reveals so much of your chest is a flaw.”
Lottie’s dress only bared her collarbones and shoulders, but she decided to let the comment slide.
Delinda, who had been staring intently at Lottie as if trying to find any flaw she could, soon smirked.
“It’s a pity your eye for jewelry doesn’t match your eye for dresses. With a blue satin dress like that, a diamond or sapphire set on a silver chain would have suited you better than a ruby necklace.”
“Is that so?”
Lottie sat back down in front of Delinda with an unreadable expression. Delinda felt an inexplicable sense of irritation and glared at the ruby hanging near Lottie’s chest.
“I’ll have to mention it to the Crown Prince-nim. That in the future, if he gives me a gift, to please give me a necklace that matches my dress well.”
“……! Did you just say… the Crown Prince-nim?”
“Ah.”
Lottie leaned her chin on one hand and smiled smoothly. As she tilted her head slightly, the ruby earrings that were part of the set jingled.
“Didn’t you know? From head to toe, there isn’t a single thing on me right now that isn’t from the Crown Prince-nim.”
“……!”
Delinda’s face turned from red to a sickly ashen color.
Lottie, who had intended to add a few more words, stood up when she saw her great-aunt approaching from a distance.
Even as Lottie moved away, Delinda remained seated, glaring at the empty chair opposite her.
『So move quickly. Unless you want to lose the spot by Padrick’s side—the one you coveted so much—to me once again.』
Swallowing those final words, Lottie crossed the card room as if nothing had happened.
The ball was about to begin.
“Is she not beautiful, hyung-nim?”
Padrick approached Calyx as he entered the ballroom.
His face was smooth, as if he had completely forgotten the ill feelings of the previous day.
Instead of Calyx, who faltered at the sudden approach, Luca, who was beside him, greeted Padrick with an exaggerated gesture.
It was quite loathsome to see them exchange greetings as if meeting for the first time, even though they were surely already acquainted.
Calyx feigned a smile and turned his gaze toward where Padrick was looking.
“…….”
In a corner of the ballroom stood Lottie, looking slightly tense beside her great-aunt.
She wore a blue dress that revealed her fair skin; half of her hair was pinned up and decorated with flowers, while the rest was left loose.
Her hair, perhaps treated with oil, glowed orange under the light of the chandeliers.
The same was true for her skin, which looked even whiter and paler in contrast to the blue dress.
Her slightly flushed cheeks, her light green eyes, her eyelashes—in truth, there was nothing about her that did not shine.
“Since there isn’t a part of her from head to toe that isn’t mine, I suppose that is why she looks so dazzling and lovely.”
Padrick spoke in a voice filled with delight.
A beat late, a dry laugh escaped Calyx’s lips.
So this is why you used Luca to drag me here. To mark your territory over your woman like a male in heat.
“I was wondering whose taste led to such a tacky necklace. Now the mystery is solved, Your Highness.”
Calyx offered Padrick a belated greeting with a sly tone.
Ha. A vein throbbed in Padrick’s temple. However, it soon subsided.
Padrick looked back at Lottie with a leisurely smile.
“Does that not make her even more lovely? That she wore it so proudly, without blaming the sender for his lack of taste.”
“To go out of your way to praise a woman’s noble heart to me, even while busy attending to Her Majesty. It seems Your Highness is quite fond of that woman as well.”
Calyx spoke with an air of significance. Padrick’s brow furrowed, as if he sensed what was coming next.
Luca, standing beside them, whispered to Calyx with zero tact.
“Didn’t Her Majesty return to the castle immediately after the banquet because her dizziness flared up?”
“Ah. That’s right. I suppose that is why Your Highness is so free. Since your role for today is finished.”
It was a barb implying that he had no role other than serving the Queen. Even the tactless Luca realized it, so the underlying meaning was clearly blatant.
Calyx smiled relaxedly, as if daring him to lose his temper again.
Padrick’s mouth pressed into a thin line.
However, he did not explode further. After barely suppressing his emotions while trembling, he simply withdrew without a word of parting.
Only when Padrick had completely disappeared into the crowd did the smile slowly fade from Calyx’s face.
“At first, I also wondered why that lady was wearing such unfitting jewelry…. But if she’s a woman that considerate, I wouldn’t be able to stand how lovely she is either. Could it be that she also secretly has feelings for the Crown Prince…”
Calyx left Luca behind to continue his tactless babbling and headed toward the opposite side of the ballroom. Luca hurriedly followed after him.
Lottie was now completely hidden by the crowd.
In Search of Lost Glory. Calyx obsessively thought only of that phrase.
It was customary for royalty invited to a ball to dance first with the host couple.
Since the mistress of today’s ball was bedridden, Delinda was given the honor of dancing the first song with Prince Padrick in place of Madam Frostis.
『Perhaps it wasn’t a coincidence that Madam Frostis is bedridden.』
Watching the man and woman dancing gracefully in the center of the ballroom under the chandelier light, Lottie felt strangely calm.
A man who was once her partner for life, and a rival she had clashed with over him.
She thought her stomach would turn, but she felt nothing. As if she had become an inanimate object.
While Lottie reflected on her own state, the layers of spectators grew.
The Crown Prince was someone ordinary people couldn’t meet just because they wanted to.
He was handsome, and since he was even a good dancer, it was only natural for a crowd to gather.
Lottie, pushed back almost to the wall, looked around to avoid the dense crowd.
On the west side of the ballroom, there was a space between a protruding pillar and the wall. She moved there quickly.
Just as she thought she had secured a good spot, she came face-to-face with a man who appeared from the opposite side at almost the same time.
“……!”
It seemed to be an unexpected encounter for the other person as well, as Calyx froze, his eyes locked with hers.
