No, actually, he looked more polished and striking than most. He’d inherited the best of both Viloten and Sara, and the younger ladies watched him with bright eyes.

Raelia and Archan found their seats. With so many guests, tables had been set up throughout the hall, each place marked with a name card.

The banquet got underway.

“Hello, I’m Siya, the eldest daughter of the Maron marquisate.”

The young lady seated across introduced herself first.

Raelia stood and introduced herself.

“I’m Raelia Lorentz. A bride-to-be, very soon!”

Everyone at the table nodded at her words. There wasn’t a person in society who didn’t know about her upcoming marriage.

“I’m Archan Lorentz. I’m here today to escort my sister.”

His voice trembled slightly, but Archan did his best to sound natural. Raelia cheered for him silently.

This table was mostly ladies from comital and marquisate families, though the table beside them had a lady from a ducal family as well.

‘I’m getting more famous, but still.’

She hadn’t expected this level of attention.

“I heard you rarely attended banquets, Miss Raelia.”

Someone asked the question everyone had been wanting to ask. Archan tensed, but Raelia answered naturally.

“I don’t enjoy noisy gatherings. But it’s about time I started coming out. I’m getting married soon, so I can’t stay cooped up at home forever.”

Once she became grand duchess, she’d need to show her face at public events. Everyone nodded at her words.

“Your dress is beautiful.”

Raelia’s dress was overwhelmingly lovely. She smiled easily.

“Mother said I’d make a good clothes hanger and bought me several extravagant things. I wore one of them today.”

The implication was clear: she and Sara were close enough to go shopping together, and Sara had been generous with her.

“Archan was too busy with his studies to come along, unfortunately.”

Raelia shifted the conversation to Archan. He picked it up smoothly.

“I was sorry to miss seeing my sister looking so beautiful. Mother said she had a wonderful time going into town with her, so I’m determined to come along next time.”

‘Archan, well done!’

It felt a bit like running a sibling con, but that was fine.

They were going to get along well from now on, so this kind of thing was perfectly acceptable.

That was what Raelia told herself.

“It sounds like you get along well with your stepmother?”

Someone asked the pointed question directly. Raelia had been waiting for exactly this and delivered her prepared line without missing a beat.

“Oh, of course. She’s my mother. We have tea together all the time.”

“What kind of person is the marchioness?”

A noblewoman asked this time. She seemed to have grown curious about Sara after looking at Raelia.

This was the important moment.

〈Leaving a good impression at a banquet isn’t difficult. Just offer the kind of praise that sparks their interest.〉

She wanted Sara’s reputation to change after this banquet. That was the only way invitations to tea parties and banquets would start coming her way.

“She’s elegant and beautiful. And her knowledge of art runs very deep.”

“Art?”

“She recently received a birthday gift from the sculptor Elishado. The piece is called ‘A Woman Dreaming,’ and even I, who knows very little about art, found it beautiful and striking.”

Raelia thought back to the artwork she’d seen in Sara’s room.

“A gift from the sculptor Elishado? From him personally?”

Of course, someone recognized the name. Not just recognized it, by the look of it, but was a genuine fan, eyes lighting up.

“He’s a sculptor Mother has been supporting since he was young. He sent it as a thank-you. These days I talk about art with Mother quite often. Seeing that piece sparked my own interest.”

“The marchioness must have wonderful taste. Did she choose your dress as well? It suits your face beautifully, Miss Raelia.”

The noblewoman nodded, looking Raelia over approvingly.

“And young Mr. Archan’s suit is lovely too.”

In noble society, how well a child was dressed reflected directly on the lady of the house. Dressing children beautifully was considered an important skill.

The eyes of the noblewomen who’d recently become mothers lit up when they realized that everything Raelia and Archan wore was Sara’s doing.

If Raelia and Sara were genuinely getting along with no apparent problems, and Sara was talented on top of that, there was no longer any reason to openly exclude her.

Even so, Sara’s image wouldn’t transform overnight.

Lady Eleman made her way around the tables greeting guests and came to Raelia’s table as well.

“Thank you for the gift today.”

“Not at all. I’m the one who should be thanking you for the invitation.”

Raelia shook her head.

She handed Eleman an invitation she’d prepared.

“We’re planning to hold a banquet at our family’s residence soon. Please feel free to come if you’d like to attend.”

There had actually been one more reason for attending the Darhan banquet.

Shouldn’t she host at least one banquet herself before getting married?

And at the banquet, she could introduce Sara and Archan to more people.

“You’re hosting a banquet, Miss?”

Miss Raelia hosting a banquet? The Lateran marquisate hadn’t held an event like that in a long time.

“Of course. I’ll be organizing it together with Mother.”

Everyone looked at her with curiosity. Raelia had been saying so many things about Sara that they’d grown genuinely interested.

“It’ll be a special banquet. His Grace the Grand Duke and his son, Young Lord Zenon, will be attending as well.”

Archan’s hand trembled slightly as he lifted his tea at Raelia’s words.

So it had come to this.

Raelia was pushing forward with something even their mother had been uncertain about.

〈Archan, I don’t want Mother and you to be excluded.〉

When he’d heard those words, Archan had honestly been moved.

So he backed Raelia up as she made her pitch.

“My sister and my mother have never hosted a banquet before, but I’m certain it will be a wonderful occasion.”

Eleman looked at the invitation and broke into a wide smile.

“I’d love to! Am I the third person to receive an invitation?”

Raelia nodded at Eleman’s question.

“It’s an honor.”

And so Raelia and Archan presented themselves as a close, warm pair of siblings throughout the evening.

Watching them, the noblewomen who’d softened toward Sara said they’d like to attend the banquet too. After the event, quite a few letters arrived at the Lateran marquisate requesting invitations.

* * *

Sara and Raelia were going over the finished invitations. Since these were going to noble families, they made sure to seal each one with the marquisate’s wax seal.

Letters bearing the marquisate’s crest, a sword and moon, were to be sent to each noble household.

Cassian and Zenon, who’d received advance notice, were very pleased.

“Do you think they’ll all actually come?”

Sara had gathered the invitations in one place. Looking at the considerable stack, she asked with a worried voice.

“Of course! Still, it’s probably better to decide on the amount of food once the replies come in.”

Even with Raelia’s reassurance, Sara’s expression stayed troubled.

“I’m worried they won’t come because of us.”

“They will. I went to the banquet with Archan and made it clear the rumors were wrong.”

Sara gave a quiet laugh at that.

She thought back to when she’d first married into the family. Having a stepdaughter only ten years younger than herself hadn’t been easy. And when she’d tried to approach warmly at first, the girl had refused and wouldn’t come out of her room.

So Sara had given up, and even after having Archan, she’d stayed out of Raelia’s affairs. Neglect was probably the more accurate word.

Should she have been more patient with the introverted Raelia?

But as time passed, making Archan the heir had become the priority, and getting closer to Raelia had felt less and less possible.

If young Raelia had come to her like this, without resistance, what would their relationship have been? Would it have ended up like this?

“What are you thinking about so deeply?”

Raelia noticed Sara’s gaze and asked.

“I was just remembering when I first married in.”

“Ah, back then?”

“It’s already been thirteen years.”

Raelia nodded at that.

In the memories she’d inherited, Sara had always been a cold mother. But the transmigrated Raelia had analyzed those memories with a clear head.

Had Sara truly never once tried to reach out? Looking at the memories, that wasn’t quite right either.

When a child had shut the door to her heart and refused to let anyone in, what could a stepmother like Sara have done?

Not much.

Of course, it was true that Sara hadn’t looked after Raelia attentively, but Raelia herself had been the one who created that distance.

“If I’d been warmer back then, you might have opened up sooner.”

“No. I wish I hadn’t been so guarded and had gotten along with you from the start.”

Raelia said it with a touch of regret.

“Once I marry, I won’t be able to see you often.”

Grand Duke Lorentz frequently left his territory to hunt monsters. During those times, Raelia would have to govern the grand duchy alone. That meant she’d only be in the capital for a few months out of the year.

“A daughter who’s married is a welcome guest. Come whenever you like.”