“Won’t I know better when I try it on?”

“Yes.”

So this was how good it felt when understanding without words. After putting on the clothes, Rudfelix stood with his arms down so Elena could see.

“It suits you very well.”

Quiet commented first. Though it was a style he had never worn before, the splendid background made Rudfelix’s beautiful face shine even more.

Elena, looking at Rudfelix, broke into a big smile with relaxed corners of her mouth.

His vivid red hair and blue eyes added color to the clothes.

“I knew it would suit you.”

The clothes were made inspired by Rudfelix’s angelic face.

When she first saw him, she thought he had descended from heaven’s stairs, so she made the clothes like wings.

“Shall I help you dress?”

Now they needed to prepare for the banquet.

Though she asked “Shall I help you dress?”, Elena’s eyes were waiting to be refused.

“Get out.”

Rudfelix turned Elena around, holding her shoulder with just his thumb and index finger.

“We’ll wait outside.”

Elena pulled Quiet’s arm and left, scattering expectant glances everywhere.

“Huh? Me too?”

Quiet, who had planned to stay by Rudfelix’s side, was pulled out weakly as the door closed.

Instead, the butler who had quietly entered approached the Grand Duke with two maids.

* * *

Rudfelix, having finished preparing, opened the door himself and came out. From his completely swept back hair to his entirely different vibe, he would be talked about as the most handsome man today.

Elena contentedly observed his appearance, now even more striking than when he had casually tried on the clothes earlier.

‘He’ll be the star of today’s ball.’

That important content from the original work.

It had been elaborately detailed as it covered the meeting between the Crown Prince and the female protagonist Royna.

Though Elena had attended then to bring them together, today she was attending with a different purpose.

‘Ready to twist the flow of the novel.’

She planned to use this as the first stage to completely change the Grand Duke’s image.

In that sense, the preparations were perfect. Rudfelix’s beautiful face was highlighted even more by the splendid clothes.

“Let’s go now.”

Rudfelix, who was about to instruct Quiet about departing, stopped when he saw Elena.

After examining her clothes, he raised his eyes with a surprised expression.

“You made it into an aide’s uniform?”

The fabric he had given returned not as a dress but as a uniform. He should have noticed when she chose black and prepared Quiet’s as well, but it was too late.

He had thought Elena would want to look beautiful like other women.

“Today I’m attending as Your Highness’s aide.”

Elena stood at attention wearing the same clothes as Quiet.

Quiet, who had been dragged out earlier, smiled awkwardly beside Elena as he belatedly understood why.

It meant he too only now understood what had happened.

“Only when I received these clothes did I realize they matched Aide Elena’s. Of course, we didn’t change in the same place so you needn’t worry… Is that even something to worry about?”

He stopped speaking, concerned his boss might mind.

He missed how Rudfelix’s eyebrows rose and fell while he was scratching his head mid-sentence.

“So that’s why you asked for the same fabric.”

From the start, it wasn’t that Quiet would wear a dress, but that Elena would wear a uniform.

“Since it’s for attending the ball, I added some subtle decorative touches.”

She made it separately since the existing aide uniforms prioritized practicality.

The emblem crossing the shoulder stood out. Though not as splendid as Rudfelix’s golden belt, it had an understated elegance, adorned with intricate gold thread embroidery.

That’s why she rushed away every afternoon – she had to make three sets of clothes.

Seeing Elena’s hard work clearly visible, Rudfelix tried to soothe her with a faint smile.

“You don’t have to attend as my aide.”

Rudfelix looked at Elena who was already prepared to attend the ball as an aide.

Her long hair was tied up in one bundle and her face had subtle makeup that looked barely there.

“You should enter as Lady Jellisto.”

“I’m fine with this.”

Fine with attending such a major event like this?

But Elena conveyed her intention with determined eyes.

“Lady Jellisto is originally known as a lazy woman who doesn’t participate in events.”

Beside them, Quiet tilted his head before clapping.

“I thought something felt unfamiliar when I first met you – I’d never seen you before.”

He had no memory of seeing Elena at any balls, large or small.

“I don’t go out much publicly.”

Elena smoothed her clothes.

“This might be my first ball at the palace, I guess?”

Yet she says she’ll attend as an aide.

Isn’t she too young to not show herself off in a beautiful dress?

Elena lifted her sleeve demonstratively to Rudfelix who remained standing there.

“I made the sleeves match Your Highness’s.”

Looking just at the sleeves, they felt like a matching set of clothes divided into black and white.

“I prepared accordingly since I’m attending the ball solely to assist Your Highness.”

“You always do unexpected things.”

“Is that so?”

Elena readily admitted it. As Rudfelix looked at her wrist before moving again, Elena followed behind him.

‘I’m looking forward to it.’

To people’s reactions when they see Rudfelix and the new story that will be written.

Quiet, following last, stroked his own wrist.

“I have the same thing…”

Why did it feel like he was wearing completely different clothes?

Finding it strange, he jumped in surprise at Rudfelix’s sharp gaze and hurried after them.

* * *

The annual event was an important imperial celebration that couldn’t be missed.

With festivals outside the palace and prayers for autumn harvest added, it was a holiday everyone could enjoy regardless of status.

Hundreds of nobles gathered in the massive hall where the palace ball was held.

While greeting familiar faces, they also sought to form new connections with some pillars of the empire. It was a time when desires surged like waves.

“His Highness Crown Prince Suharto Havis, the Empire’s Small Sun, has arrived!”

The already buzzing ballroom grew more chaotic at the booming announcement. The figure who would cause the biggest ripples had appeared.

The doors opened and Crown Prince Suharto entered with the wind.

The blue uniform and golden emblem crossing his torso elevated Suharto’s dignity.

They bowed to Crown Prince Suharto as he walked in majestically.

“Seeing familiar faces at such a pleasant time makes it even more delightful.”

Suharto made eye contact with each person as he walked in.

Then he stopped upon finding a particularly welcome face.

His companion was not a beautiful woman but a middle-aged man.

“Teacher.”

It was Count Ephraim, whom Suharto called ‘Teacher.’

“My, your face has become half of what it was.”

Suharto clicked his tongue at Count Ephraim’s worried expression.

“I said I would provide my troops, yet why does your face only grow more troubled…”

The nobles listening to their conversation had gleaming eyes. Count Ephraim’s circumstances were already well known through rumors.

Though everyone pitied him, they didn’t extend help since it wasn’t their business.

Some even sneered that it was because of his strict past behavior. But they had no idea about these exchanges with the Crown Prince.

“Your Highness, I’m grateful for the helping hand you’ve readily extended. However, I still can’t let go of my lingering attachment…”

Understanding this referred to Grand Duke Rudfelix’s answer that hadn’t yet come, Suharto clicked his tongue.

“Tsk. Even you can be quite stubborn at times, Teacher.”

“Though I know it’s difficult, I wait because that would be the best way to save everyone.”

Count Ephraim confessed honestly.

Though the Crown Prince’s help was welcome, he was waiting for the Grand Duke’s answer which could be the best choice.

Though a member of the imperial family and the Emperor’s son who led the empire, providing territory was beyond Suharto’s authority.

Thus, unable to offer land like Rudfelix, he looked disapprovingly at Count Ephraim who couldn’t accept his extended hand.

He had offered troops to win him over, but it wasn’t working out.

“Even if the Grand Duke permits it right now, can you move them?”

Though both were humans with two legs, Suharto treated the territory’s people like livestock.

“I’m looking into that alternative.”

He was determined to move them somehow if the Grand Duke would just permit it.

“Which means you don’t have a method yet.”

Count Ephraim gave a bitter smile. Had he ever faced such concerns in his life as a noble?

“Even if I receive part of the Grand Duke’s land, it’s mountain after mountain since implementation would be difficult.”

“They say there’s always a way out even if the ground collapses.”

Count Ephraim awkwardly received Suharto’s words. His voice lacked strength since he too couldn’t confidently present an alternative.

“Yet you say you’re only considering my proposal…”

He openly showed his displeasure.

With trumpet sounds, the next name was announced.

Count Ephraim was grateful the trumpet conveniently interrupted his conversation with the Crown Prince.

“Grand Duke Rudfelix Ryan has arrived!”

“The Grand Duke is here.”

Being the name he had waited for, Count Ephraim raised his eyes toward the doors that were about to open.

Suharto barely lifted his eyes while holding his champagne.

“Is there a need to stare so intently?”

He muttered quietly “Always the same,” though not so quietly that those nearby couldn’t hear, making Count Ephraim deliberately swallow his awkward expression.

“His unchanging appearance doesn’t matter. His presence surpasses all that.”

Though expressing that strong presence made everything else irrelevant, Suharto didn’t acknowledge it.

As the doors opened, Suharto set down his champagne firmly at the breathless silence that filled the ballroom.

Deliberately not turning toward the Grand Duke, he could better see others’ reactions.

“Goodness.”

“The Grand Duke…”

“Is that really His Grace the Grand Duke?”

Amid the exclamations of surprise bursting forth one after another came Count Ephraim’s calm words.

“He appeared as a different person today.”