Chapter 8 Part 4

“Curious about my partner?”

“I’m curious who it might be… Oh, do I know them?”

I knew… I just avoided direct eye contact instead. Garnet waited eagerly for my response.

“…from Endeavor…”

“Oh, one of the delegates!”

“His Highness the Prince.”

“Ah, the Prince… Wait, what did you say?”

Garnet screamed and quickly covered her mouth with her hand, but her rapidly moving eyes clearly displayed her panic.

“Th-the Prince… even from Endeavor…?”

“Haha, it just turned out that way,” I said lightly, trying to keep the mood light.

It seemed Garnet didn’t hear me; she was too busy panicking. With a terrified expression, she blurted out, “Oh my, what should we do? Should I redo your makeup right now?” I matched her terrified look with one of my own, replying, “Are you trying to kill me?”

“But, but His Highness the Prince is your partner! I might have been too careless…”

“Garnet, who had rolled me around for a full eight hours, said. I desperately shook my head and stepped toward the entrance where the carriage was waiting. If I stayed here any longer, I might have to redo my makeup, just as Garnet said. No, would redoing the makeup be the only problem?

“She’ll probably want to redo my hair and dress to match the makeup…”

“Pardon? Miss, what did you say?”

“Nothing, never mind.”

Hurrying my steps, I arrived at the entrance, where a white carriage engraved with the Knight family crest was waiting. I smiled in relief and reached out to the coachman. I was eager to get on the carriage.

“Miss, the makeup touch-up really won’t take long! It’ll only take a moment!”

“Right, Garnet. In your opinion, fixing my hair and changing my dress wouldn’t take long either.”

Tch, Garnet made an obviously disappointed expression. I smiled as brightly as I could and waved at Garnet, who stood beyond the carriage door.

“I’ll be back.”

“…Take care, Miss.”

When I got out of the carriage, I was a bit disoriented. There were quite a few nobles attending, as expected from the Kerlan Duke’s ball.

The Duke of Kerlan usually invites very few people and even limits the time they can stay, so it’s a place where you can’t leisurely visit unless it’s a special occasion. Because of that, when news of this ball spread, nobles from both central and provincial regions hurried to get invitations to attend.”

Among the nobles who had worked so hard to get invitations, there were also young ladies who seemed to be around my age. Watching them gather in groups of two or three, chatting, I couldn’t help but think of Lady Roxana and Lady Rowina. The only friends I had made, despite avoiding social circles.

Lady Rowina, Lady Roxana, and I were all considered oddballs in the social world. The purpose of the social scene was political interaction among noblewomen through the exchange of information, but the three of us simply watched from the sidelines, never once taking an active role.

Of course, this was partly due to the special circumstances of Lady Roxana, who was more familiar with the noble assemblies than with the social scene as the heir of the Kerlan Duke, or Lady Rowina, who, at a young age, was working as an assistant professor at the academy and found the social scene unfamiliar. But still, most noblewomen found it odd that we didn’t take sides and claimed to be perfectly neutral.

Roxana, the host of this ball, was probably greeting the nobles in the hall. I imagined her doing so while inwardly irritated, but showing no signs of it on the outside, and a faint smile spread across my lips.

I was certain that Lady Rowina would share the same thoughts. In fact, the reason the three of us maintained neutrality in the social scene was because we understood just how tiresome it was to take sides in those petty struggles.

Since I had left earlier than usual to shake off Garnet, I arrived at the entrance of the hall only an hour after the ball had begun. It felt a bit awkward to enter alone without my partner, Harten, so I turned my steps toward the garden.

The garden, opened for the ball, had transformed into a dazzling spectacle, with its usual tranquil atmosphere enhanced by colorful lights. I thought I would just head to the garden table where I usually had tea, and moved deeper into the garden.

Exactly five minutes after stepping into the garden, I began to regret choosing the garden of all places. The tall trees in the Kerlan family garden were now filled with young lovers, meeting secretly from early in the evening.

Couples hiding behind trees were still bearable, but when I saw a couple sitting on a bench, kissing, I quickly passed them by in surprise. After crossing the garden entrance and venturing further, I had to pass by even more couples, their intimacy escalating to the point where it seemed like they would leap into bed any second.

By that point, I started to wonder why I hadn’t just returned to the ballroom to wait for Harten, but having already ventured this far, I didn’t have the courage to turn back. I stood still with a dazed expression.

I knew the garden was a place for lovers’ secret meetings, but I never expected it to be this way from the start of the ball! It was a mistake born from my unfamiliarity with the social scene. Though it was too late to regret, I tried to reassure myself that if I went a little further, I would find the back door to the mansion, so I decided to continue exploring the garden.

“…did that… did you say?”

“Did you bring a gift…? I don’t think…”

Had I walked for about 20 minutes? Just as I felt I was nearing the end of the garden, I saw a couple sitting on a wooden bench placed in the garden. However, with the hope that I would soon be able to leave the garden, I passed by them with an indifferent attitude. Or at least, I intended to. It would have been fine if they hadn’t called out to me.

“Lady Knight?”

I turned around, wondering why a couple engrossed in their own world would stop me. It was disappointing to have to turn back with the back door in sight, but I couldn’t just ignore the call. After confirming who they were, I thought I probably should have just ignored them.

“…Lady Quennie, and…?”

It was Halo Cart. With me stiffened and Daisy Quennie smiling leisurely, and Halo Cart looking at me indifferently, if anyone had seen the three of us, a scandalous rumor would have surely spread through the social scene for some time.

“What brings you so deep into the garden? There’s only the two of us here.”

In that instant, Daisy Quennie looked at me with the eyes of someone observing a stalker. It was just a brief moment, and she quickly flashed a bright smile, but the unease that passed through me in that split second was not a mere illusion.

However, even if Daisy Quennie had bluntly asked if I was a stalker, I wouldn’t have had much to say. I had come to the garden because I had time to spare. I had no courage to walk past the couples again, so I decided to head toward the back door. I wasn’t chasing after them… It was a flimsy excuse, one that would hardly be convincing. The last sentence almost felt like I was digging my own grave.

“I didn’t expect anyone to be here. I apologize.”

“Apologize? The way you say it, it almost sounds like you’re admitting to doing something inappropriate to us.”

…How exactly would someone twist the situation to interpret it that way? Has a new social etiquette emerged that I don’t know about?

“By the way, where is your partner? Why are you walking alone in the garden? Could it be that your partner… Ah, did I ask too sensitive a question?”