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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: The Duke's Arrival
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People reacted to my greeting in various ways.
“Ah… yes, Lady Ansi.”
From the noblewoman who stared at me in surprise,
“What a magnificent party. It’s certainly worthy of Duchess Claudius’s attendance.”
to the aristocrats who were keenly aware of the Duchess’s presence,
“A-are you really Lady Ansi? That is… no, never mind.”
and even a young nobleman so flustered that he almost asked a rather rude question before quickly coming to his senses.
That wasn’t all.
“Is that Lady Ansi?”
Whispers drifted from behind fluttering fans and over champagne flutes.
I thought the Duchess would be the center of everyone’s attention.
Surprisingly, a good deal of the conversation was about me.
“Goodness, I’ve never seen her dressed up like that.”
“She always used to walk around in drab clothes like a crow…”
“I never noticed because Lady Lopes is so beautiful, but Lady Ansi looks quite splendid when she’s all dressed up.”
I tried my best to ignore the murmurs.
But there was one thing that pleased me.
“Viscountess Ansi! About Lady Ansi, my, how pretty she is!”
“Her hair looks so lovely. Do you have any special secrets? I’d love to try them on my own daughter.”
It was the sight of my mother, surrounded by her friends, standing tall with her shoulders back for a change.
And.
“Viscount Ansi, you must have spent a fortune on your daughter’s dress, eh?”
“Haha, is there anything I wouldn’t do for my only daughter!”
My father, too, was laughing heartily in front of his friends.
My parents had always worried about their lacking daughter, but this time, they seemed to be smiling because of me.
I watched them, feeling pleased.
“Lady Ansi!”
Just then, the Duchess came trotting to my side.
“You look absolutely beautiful today.”
Looking me up and down, the Duchess gave me a thumbs-up, a proud look on her face.
“This is how my friend should look!”
“Thank you very much, Duchess.”
I replied politely.
The Duchess then turned her head coyly and asked me back.
“So, who was it again that made Lady Ansi so pretty today~?”
“Why, it’s the Duchess, of course, who leads the trends of the imperial social scene with her outstanding sense of beauty.”
As I lavished her with praise for all to hear, the Duchess burst into peals of laughter.
Just then.
The Duchess’s eyes sparkled when she spotted the cookies laid out on the table.
“Oh, those cookies! They’re my favorite!”
The Duchess scurried over to the snack table.
She looked just like a cat that had spotted a treat.
‘My Duchess is so adorable…’
As I was reveling in my own happy thoughts, a man stopped in front of me.
“Lady Ansi.”
Huh?
I glanced up.
A man with a beaming smile extended his hand to me.
It was the proper way for a gentleman to ask a lady for a dance.
“May I ask for a dance, my lady?”
“…”
I stared blankly at the hand offered to me.
‘This man, his name was… Philip Todd, I think.’
Philip Todd.
Heir to the Barony of Todd, and one of Serapina’s followers.
A man who had never given me a second glance before…
‘How unexpected.’
A wallflower.
That was my usual nickname.
Serapina was always the one asked to dance.
My role was to make Serapina shine with my drab clothes and slumped shoulders.
Even my fiancé, Gregory, only ever offered his hand to Serapina.
To think that I, too, would be asked to dance.
But.
‘Just because he asked me to dance, should I be grateful?’
I glanced at Lord Todd.
And I saw it.
‘Of course, you wouldn’t dare refuse my offer, would you?’
The sense of superiority etched all over Lord Todd’s face.
In that moment, I decided.
“I’m sorry.”
“What?”
As if he never imagined I would refuse him, Lord Todd’s face contorted.
But I had no intention of taking back my refusal.
‘Lord Todd… he worshiped Serapina so much.’
I remembered it clearly.
The disgusting way he looked me up and down, as if appraising me, while asking Serapina to dance.
“Lady Lopes and Lady Ansi together. Is it Beauty and the Beast?”
The mocking voice as he spoke loudly to his friends.
…And Gregory, who, far from stopping him, was laughing right alongside him.
“Lady Ansi!”
At the same time, the Duchess popped her head in front of me.
“D-Duchess Claudius?”
Lord Todd flinched and hastily corrected his expression.
He couldn’t dare to scowl in front of the only daughter of the Duke of Claudius, I suppose.
The overwhelming prestige of the Duchy had never been so welcome.
“I think I ate too many sweets. I’m thirsty, you know?”
The Duchess cozied up to me like a cat.
“Shall I get you a glass of juice?”
“Get me one? Why don’t we just go together?”
The Duchess linked her arm with mine for all to see.
Then she glanced sideways at Lord Todd with an indifferent look.
“So, I’ll be taking Lady Ansi with me, then?”
“…”
The Duchess immediately led me away.
Lord Todd, who had openly shown his displeasure to me, couldn’t even utter a word to the Duchess.
‘Hmm, so this is the thrilling taste of power.’
Meanwhile, as soon as we were a little distance away from Lord Todd, the Duchess eagerly whispered to me.
“Good job refusing him! That ugly thing, how dare he hit on my friend?”
“Pfft.”
I bit back a laugh.
Honestly, Lord Todd wasn’t so unattractive as to deserve such harsh words.
He was just average-looking.
But the Duchess just gave a mischievous shrug.
“It’s true, isn’t it? I can’t stand a man uglier than me coming near my friend.”
Ah, so the Duchess herself was the standard?
In that case, I’ll concede.
If her beauty was the yardstick, most men wouldn’t even be worth the dirt on her toes…
“Jeez, why isn’t he here yet?”
Just then, the Duchess muttered to herself, tapping her foot impatiently.
‘Who isn’t here yet?’
I was a little puzzled.
And then.
A commotion arose in the banquet hall.
“D-did you see?”
“The crest on that carriage…!”
A stir began to spread from the entrance.
‘Who on earth has arrived to cause such a fuss?’
I turned around with a puzzled expression.
But I soon understood the reason for such an extravagant reaction.
“It was the crest of the Duchy of Claudius, wasn’t it?!”
Gasps of astonishment erupted from the crowd.
‘No way, the Duke is here?’
My eyes went wide.
The crowd was in an uproar.
“Good heavens, the Duke is attending the Viscounty of Ansi’s party?!”
“Do you think he came to see the Duchess?”
“If so, that means two direct members of the ducal family are at this party, right?”
“I never knew the Viscounty of Ansi was so close to the Duchy of Claudius!”
At that moment, a man stepped into the banquet hall.
How should I put it? If you were to personify the word ‘aristocrat’, he would be the result.
His pale platinum blond hair was neatly styled.
He was dressed in a perfectly tailored suit that fit him snugly, looking as if he had stepped right out of a luxury brand’s catalog.
His posture, with his back held straight, and his unique aristocratic bearing.
No matter how I looked at him, it was the Duke Claudius I knew.
‘He really… the Duke really came?’
I was a little stunned.
At the same time, the Duchess scampered over to the Duke’s side.
“Honestly, Brother!”
Then she pouted and glared at the Duke.
“What took you so long? I was waiting!”
“…”
“Making a lady wait, you’re no gentleman!”
“…”
Well, let’s just say the Duke looked like he had a lot to say.
His elegant jaw tensed slightly, then the Duke’s eyes curved into a smile.
A strained voice escaped from between the Duke’s teeth.
“We need to talk later. Hmm?”
At those words, the Duchess’s eyes trembled.
“W-what talk? I have nothing to talk to you about, Brother!”
“I do.”
The Duke replied firmly.
‘Duchess, did you perhaps cause some trouble already?’
