“Understood.”

With that reply, Lieutenant Derick began to move discreetly. Watching Alicia’s every move from a distance and preparing for any contingency was his mission.

Not being able to go with her is unsettling.

The carriage grew smaller and smaller beneath the pale sky.

After watching it for a long while, Grand Duke Evander turned his horse around.

It was in the direction of the northern front, where monsters still remained to be dealt with.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

On the road to Centor, the capital, where the ball was to be held.

‘No unusual signs so far, thankfully.’

She had worried that an assassin might have been sent, but it seemed her fears were unfounded. Alicia looked down at the ring hanging from a chain around her neck.

The seal engraved on the ring’s surface told her its identity.

It’s the keepsake of the former Grand Duchess.

In the history she knew, it had disappeared along with Grand Duke Evander’s death. A family heirloom of the Leonis grand ducal household, and he had handed it to Alicia without a moment’s hesitation.

‘My life matters to him. Which means his desire for revenge against the Empire runs that deep.’

Grand Duke Evander’s all-consuming thirst for vengeance.

The reason lay in the tragic history of the principality.

The Belonia Principality, guardian of the North, the roof of the continent.

It was a place renowned for its powerful military, befitting its harsh terrain. But that military strength made the Emperor of the Empire uneasy, and the principality was forced to pay unreasonable tribute.

‘Brother! We cannot accept these terms. We must go to war!’

For the sake of the people groaning under years of exploitation, the younger Evander wanted war. But the elder brother, Grand Duke Ryan, wanted stability for the principality.

‘It pains me, but now is the time to bow our heads, Evander.’

Two brothers looking at the same enemy, making different choices. In the end, following Grand Duke Ryan’s wishes, they decided to conclude a peace treaty with the Empire.

As a token of that agreement, a political marriage was arranged between Helena, the Emperor’s youngest daughter, and Ruden, Grand Duke Ryan’s son.

A diplomatic marriage that gossips called the “Humiliation of a Beautiful Spring.”

It had been Grand Duke Ryan’s unavoidable choice to save the people and the principality, but the peace did not last long.

The summer of year 497.

The assassination of Grand Duke Ryan and his wife was the cause.

Rebels who called themselves warriors who had taken up the sword for the principality’s liberation ambushed Grand Duke Ryan and his wife during a hunting festival.

The Grand Duchess died in that incident, and Grand Duke Ryan was gravely wounded.

At first it seemed like an ordinary crime by rebels, but the forces behind it, uncovered through later investigation, were shocking.

‘The Empire…… was involved.’

A scheme by an Emperor who could not rest easy even with a political marriage. Gravely wounded, Grand Duke Ryan ultimately abdicated the grand ducal seat to his younger brother Evander on behalf of his young son, just before death.

‘Brother, I entrust the principality to you in place of this useless elder brother. And…… please take my son Ruden as your adopted son……’

Grand Duke Ryan breathed his last with those final words. Evander, who succeeded his brother as Grand Duke, had lived from that day forward dreaming of nothing but revenge against the Empire.

But it was not easy. Helena was inside the walls. While Grand Duke Evander was occupied dealing with the waves of monsters, she swallowed the principality’s internal affairs whole.

The atrocities of Helena, who had the Empire at her back and bent the priests and the principality’s ministers to her will, interfering in internal affairs.

That is why he needs this marriage. From Grand Duke Evander’s perspective, he would have needed a way to keep Helena in check.

That was why Grand Duke Evander, a man with no interest in women or marriage, had traveled all the way to the distant Darlington domain.

A heartbreaking history of the principality.

But for someone who knew the future, it could be a powerful advantage.

History is ultimately written by the victors. This time, it will be different.

It was a history written by Helena, who had unified the continent. But this time, the one holding the pen was herself.

And the first step toward that was,

“We have arrived at the capital.”

The announcement of the two of them at this ball.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

In a grand three-story wooden building situated on the main boulevard. The Seton Boutique, the most famous dressmaker in the capital Centor, was packed to overflowing with young ladies.

Everyone was in a rush to collect the dress they would wear to tomorrow’s ball. Among them, Mariella of the Wagner comital household was particularly careful.

“Hmm.”

Dark brown hair and freckles, Mariella stood before the mirror and tried on dress after dress. Social gatherings were always important for noble young ladies, but this one was especially so.

‘I absolutely must find a husband this time……’

The social stage was not simply a place for mingling. It was a fierce competition where countless nobles vied to find a lifelong partner. And for Mariella, attending for the third time, it was nothing short of a last chance.

After the third time, receiving an invitation at all becomes nearly impossible.

A chance that might be her last. She changed into a pink silk dress that showed off her figure to its best advantage and looked in the mirror.

“What do you think? They say a master craftsman spent months making this.”

Mariella asked her lady’s maid.

The maid examined it carefully before answering.

“It makes your complexion glow even more, Miss. You look absolutely beautiful.”

“Really?”

Satisfied with her maid’s reaction, Mariella finally let out a breath of relief.

‘I’m confident this time. Every noble eye in the room will be on me.’

The only thing she regretted was the jewelry.

‘Haa, I should have bought that ruby bracelet……’

The expensive bracelet that would have been the final piece of her look for the ball. But someone had gotten to it first.

It would have gone so perfectly with this dress.

She drew a long sigh, chewing over the belated regret and irritation.

Then, at that moment, a woman stepped out of a carriage that had stopped outside the window.

A beautiful woman with silver hair and red eyes. The sight of her striking beauty made Mariella tense up sharply.

“That woman…… who is she?”

“I’ll go find out.”

Her sharp-eyed maid went quickly to ask a staff member. Even in the meantime, Mariella’s gaze did not leave the woman.

Her wariness sharpened on its own.

It was an unavoidable reaction.

Any beautiful woman appearing in the capital around this time was as good as a rival.

A short while later, the maid returned in a hurry and lowered her voice.

“Her name is Miss Alicia, apparently.”

“……What? Alicia? You don’t mean the Alicia of the Windmore family?”

Mariella’s brow furrowed even more.

It was Miss Alicia who had bought the bracelet she had been eyeing weeks ago.

Her gaze drifted naturally to Alicia’s wrist. The ruby, catching the light and glimmering brilliantly, seized her attention.

Right.

That bracelet should have been hers.

‘She dares take what’s mine, and then has the nerve to show up at the ball?’

Irritation surged through her. Mariella’s mind began to turn. She worked to find a way to make Alicia’s life miserable without bringing harm to her own family. And then,

“Good. That will do.”

True to her nature as the daughter of a resourceful father, the idea came to her without much effort. Mariella smiled with satisfaction and called over a staff member.

“I’ll be renting every ball gown in this shop.”

“……Pardon? But Miss, the cost would be enormous.”

“It doesn’t matter how much it costs. As long as I don’t have to see that woman Alicia at the ball.”

A social debut as precious as life itself to a noble young lady. The thought of ruining that precious opportunity for someone else already brought a smile to her face.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

Alicia’s carriage headed straight to the capital rather than to Baron Mark’s estate.

“The carriage needed repairs and we lost time, so I think we’ll have to go directly to the boutique.”

She needed to choose a dress quickly for tomorrow’s ball. Having made a reservation in advance, she was able to walk in without waiting.

This place was popular even back then.

The Seton Boutique, holding its place as the principality’s finest dressmaker for over a hundred years. The dress she had worn at her wedding to Alfred, the Grand Ducal heir, had also come from here.

How ironic.

The era was different, the people were different, yet the process repeated itself in a strangely familiar way. A quiet sigh escaped Alicia’s lips. But even that brief reflection did not last long.

“A penniless count’s daughter from the North, making it all the way to the capital. The world really has gotten generous.”

A provocation out of nowhere.

A woman with a large chest glared at Alicia, clearly displeased about something. More precisely, she looked back and forth between Alicia and the bracelet on her wrist, then,

“Hmph.”

She shoved past Alicia and walked on.

“Oh, what kind of manners are those?”

A flustered Rina hurried after her, but the woman had already left the boutique.