Once the social season begins, everyone will undoubtedly be talking about me. I had been thinking about how to handle this situation.

Then I found the confiscated sheet music that Ian had taken in the study. The opera ‘The Vanished Duchess’ tells the story of a loving wife who, for the sake of her husband—who is infatuated with another woman, a noble lady (clearly based on me, though they didn’t dare to use the empress as a subject)—disappears after falling ill while saving the woman for her husband.

The runaway duchess wanders aimlessly and is rescued by a wandering minstrel—likely based on Walter. She eventually falls in love with this minstrel, who takes care of her wholeheartedly. The duke, realizing his love for his wife too late, searches for her and finally finds her, but the duchess chooses not to return to her husband, instead living happily ever after with the minstrel.

If the story weren’t about me, it might actually be interesting. I decided to rewrite and use this opera to my advantage. I was planning to throw some fun firewood into the social circles that would already be blazing with rumors about me.

“The duchess gets kidnapped one day by an evil mage. The mage changes her face and hides her away, intending to demand a ransom from the duke. But the duchess actually had a gift from a kind mage—a magical necklace that, when broken, allows her to teleport.”

The director, his mouth agape, hurriedly pulled out a notebook and began frantically jotting down my story.

“Though she managed to escape, the weak duchess collapsed after not making it far. She lost all of her memories from the shock, even forgetting who she was. With no way to make a living, she found herself struggling.”

“But despite being lonely and sad, the duchess didn’t cry. Instead, she sang. One day, a passing opera director heard her song and was so moved that he hired her.”

The director flinched but didn’t protest as if he had never done such a thing.

“The duchess makes new friends at the opera house and enjoys her life, but there’s always an emptiness inside her. ‘Who am I?’ She longs to rediscover herself. She keeps singing before large audiences, wearing a mask, hoping someone will recognize her true self. And one day, the duke does. The kind mage reappears and breaks the spell on her face.”

Complete nonsense, but wrapping it up with an emotional ending like this is what will reel people in. As expected, the director began crying and said through tears:

“So that’s what happened!”

No, it wasn’t.

“If you promise to rewrite the opera with the story I just told, I’ll return the sheet music I confiscated. However, if you break our agreement and use the original score, we’ll have no choice but to handle it legally.”

If I had come alone, my words might not have sounded so convincing, but Ian, who had once turned the opera house upside down, was sitting beside me. The director glanced nervously at him before replying solemnly:

“Don’t worry. Once the opera is completed, I’ll show it to you first. Duchess, such a tragic story… It must have been terrifying. You’ve truly been through a lot.”

“Yes, well.”

“Were those vile scoundrels caught?”

The director asked, wiping his eyes and nose with a handkerchief. Before Ian could answer, I smiled nonchalantly and said:

“They’re just remnants now.”

“Oh! Were they the ones who tried to assassinate the Empress? Those bastards! Pardon me, I got too angry…”

“It’s alright.”

I smiled generously, grateful that he was jumping to conclusions on his own. Just then, there was a knock at the door. It was Betty. Upon seeing me, Betty trembled slightly before kneeling to greet me.

“Your Grace.”

I hurried to take her hand and help her up.

“Betty.”

Though I had easily spoken to the director, seeing Betty’s face made the words vanish. As I saw the tension in her face, I, too, felt anxious. I had prepared a lot of things to say in case Betty resented me for not revealing my identity earlier, but she said nothing. And so, neither did I.

“I’ll step outside.”

Sensing the atmosphere, Ian quietly took the director with him and left. Betty and I sat in a long, awkward silence until I realized I had to break it first. I pulled an invitation from my bag.

“I came to give you this. I’m hosting a small party, and Greta will be there, along with Bill, the owner of Red Pub. I’d really like you to come.”

“It would be an honor, Your Grace.”

Betty respectfully took the invitation and knelt again. I sighed and said:

“Can’t you be more casual with me?”

“…”

“Greta still talks to me informally. I’d like you to call me ‘Liv’ too. We’re friends, after all.”

I felt my mouth go dry, afraid she might refuse. After a moment of hesitation, Betty softly spoke, almost as if whispering:

“Liv…”

Overjoyed, I hugged her. Betty, surprised, remained still but then gently patted my back, saying:

“To think the day would come when I could call you by your name.”

I burst out laughing. With a sigh, Betty spoke in a worried tone:

“I was so worried when you suddenly disappeared that day… I was cheering for you backstage, and then suddenly… when I ran into the duke at the hotel, did you not remember?”

I was confused for a moment before realizing she had overheard everything I told the director. I was about to tell her that I had made up the story about losing my memory, but Betty waved her hand dismissively.

“I’m not accusing you; it’s just that I’m embarrassed about what I said back then. I went on and on about how handsome the duke was, not knowing he was your husband… I hope you can forget all of that. Can we pretend it never happened?”

“I’ve already forgotten.”

I said it like that, but I couldn’t help but laugh as I remembered that moment. Betty, feeling embarrassed, laughed along with me.

“I’m not sure if I can pull off your role well. I was originally supposed to play the role of the missing Duchess… It’s my first lead role, so thank you for letting me perform. I had kind of resigned myself, thinking I didn’t have the luck for lead roles.”

Although I hadn’t allowed the performance for Betty’s sake, hearing her say that made me feel like everything had worked out for the best.

“And for inviting me to the party… Oh, I can’t wait to go outside and brag about it. Is that okay?”

I smiled and nodded. Since it was almost time to prepare for the performance, I was about to leave. I was relieved that Betty accepted me so easily.

“Thank you so much. I’ll do my best.”

I wasn’t sure what she meant by that, but before I could ask, Betty pulled me by the hand.

“Come with me. I need to tell the others.”

Huh? Tell them what? Without knowing what was happening, I was dragged along by Betty. She burst out of the director’s office holding my hand and began calling out loudly to someone.

“Jules! Tina!”

I was wondering who she was calling when two people nervously emerged from a corner where I had once hidden. They were the same people who had ditched me when we were supposed to sing in the chorus together. Betty, excited, shouted out:

“There you are! The Duchess has invited us to the party!”

…Us? I was startled and pulled Betty’s hand.

“Betty, I only wanted to invite you.”

“What? But if it’s just me, the party will be so dull.”

It was only then that I realized Betty had misunderstood my invitation. I had meant to invite her as a guest, but she thought I was inviting her to perform as entertainment at the party.

“Betty, the reason I invited you is—”

But before I could finish, the two people in front of me suddenly dropped to their knees.

“Duchess, please forgive us!”

I was so taken aback by the sudden turn of events that I was at a loss for words. Betty, just as shocked, asked in a surprised voice:

“Guys, why are you doing this all of a sudden?”

Judging by how they had dropped to their knees in unison, it seemed like they had been planning to do this ever since I arrived. Were they scared I might use my power to punish people I didn’t like? Since I had no intention of doing that, I was flustered. Betty, also confused, whispered urgently to them:

“Why are you guys doing this? Everyone’s staring…”

Indeed, all the troupe members were watching us from the balconies on both the lower and upper floors. I figured they were all curious since it was a big deal that Ian and I had come to visit. But even so, the two kneeling people showed no signs of getting up. The one with brown hair spoke quietly but clearly:

“We can’t get up unless the Duchess forgives us.”

“Tina! Why are you doing this? Did they do something wrong?” Betty, now at a loss, looked at me. So, this brown-haired one was Tina? Then the red-haired one must be Jules. Judging by the way Jules was rolling her eyes, it seemed like Tina had come up with the plan. I sighed.

“Well.”

Ian had quietly moved to stand next to me by this point. Although Tina and Jules seemed a bit frightened, they didn’t back down. It seemed like they were confident that I would forgive them because of all the onlookers.

Looking at the murmuring troupe members, I realized what Tina and Jules were trying to achieve. Everyone here knew about how they had talked badly about me behind my back. What could they have said? Then it hit me—these two had also badmouthed Betty, saying she spent all her earnings on contraceptives, hadn’t they?

“What exactly am I supposed to forgive you for?” I said coldly, and Tina and Jules both looked taken aback.

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