“Thank you so much for inviting me.”

At that moment, Chloe, sitting in the back garden of the Empress’s palace, sparkled with excitement. In front of her were the Empress and the Crown Prince, whom she had only heard about in stories.

“A new person has joined the Ameron Ducal Family. As a member of the royal family, it’s only natural to welcome them.”

The Empress’s radiant smile made Chloe feel on the verge of tears.

Unlike the Ameron Ducal Family, where no one welcomed her, the imperial family was a warm place. Moreover, the Crown Prince, sitting next to the Empress, was looking at her with a gentle gaze. For the first time, Chloe felt like she had found where she truly belonged.

“By the way, I heard your mother was a commoner?”

“Yes. My mother was the most beautiful woman in our village. That’s why my father fell in love with her at first sight.”

The corner of the Empress’s mouth lifted slightly.

“That must be why you’re so beautiful, Lady.”

“Oh, no. I’m not beautiful at all compared to my mother.”

“So modest. How do you find life in the Ameron Ducal Family?”

“The Ameron Ducal Family?”

It wasn’t as pleasant as she had hoped.

No one welcomed Chloe, and even the Duke himself was indifferent and paid her no attention. No one listened to what she said.

And what she disliked the most was the family itself. The Duchess of Ameron, Flaria, and Haren all looked at her with hateful eyes, treating her no better than an insect.

They directed all their hostility toward her, even though she had done nothing wrong.

“It seems you’re not on good terms with them.”

“Yes. No one likes me… even though I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Oh dear, how unfortunate. So no one takes care of you, Lady?”

The Empress looked Chloe up and down.

Following the Empress’s gaze, Chloe looked down at her attire. The dark navy dress with its outdated design didn’t suit the grandeur of the imperial palace. It was the only dress Chloe owned, hastily acquired from the Ameron Ducal estate.

“Oh, I haven’t had the chance to buy a dress yet. I’m sorry.”

Chloe felt deeply embarrassed. Nobles were said to choose their dresses based on the occasion, the people they were meeting, and the purpose of the invitation. Yet she only had one dress. The thought of this made her feel ashamed and miserable.

“There’s no need to apologize.”

“Any dress would look beautiful on you, Lady.”

At the Crown Prince’s words, Chloe lifted her bowed head and met his gaze again.

“Still, the Ameron Ducal Family is too indifferent. They could have let you borrow one of Flaria’s dresses. They seem far too unconcerned about you, Lady.”

Chloe thought of the extravagant dress Flaria had been wearing. It was clearly an expensive dress at a glance.

Even though they were both daughters of the Ameron Ducal Family, only Flaria got to wear such beautiful dresses.

Chloe felt a bit resentful.

“Still, since there will be eyes watching at the imperial banquet, I hope you’ll wear a beautiful dress to maintain the dignity of the Ameron Ducal Family.”

“The imperial banquet?”

“Yes. The imperial banquet. Come to think of it, this will be your first banquet, won’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm…”

The Empress lost in thought, stared at Chloe’s face before shifting her gaze to the Crown Prince.

“What do you think about having Lady Chloe as your partner for the upcoming imperial banquet?”

“Me?”

Chloe blinked in disbelief. Everyone knew that the Crown Prince’s partner was Flaria. Even commoners were aware of this fact.

“Yes. Now that the Ameron Ducal Family has two daughters, it’s time to reconsider who should be the Crown Prince’s partner.”

At the Empress’s words, the Crown Prince nodded. Soon, his gaze turned to Chloe.

The Crown Prince, with his golden hair that seemed to capture sunlight, smiled at Chloe. This man, who held the power to rule the empire as he pleased, was smiling at her.

“I will make you the star of the banquet, Lady.”

At his words, Chloe’s heart raced.

Yes. I was the protagonist of this world.

***

“Flaria, are you alright?”

I had come out immediately when Flaria had asked to meet me for a moment.

The place she had called me to was none other than a dress shop.

“No, I’m not alright at all.”

Flaria, who had just muttered a curse too quietly for others to hear, bit her lip, clearly unable to shake off her anger.

Fortunately, the distance between us and the others was far enough that no one else seemed to have heard her.

“Are you sure it’s okay for you to be out here? We could have met at home.”

“No. Home is even more annoying. Besides, if I come out like this, people will think that incident doesn’t bother me at all.”

For some reason, her words carried weight.

She knew how people perceived her, and she never cursed in front of others.

Even though she couldn’t hold back her curses behind closed doors, she always maintained her composure in public. She seemed more conscious of her behavior as a lady of the Ameron Ducal Family than I had thought.

“And how is the Duchess?”

“Not well. She’s practically bedridden. It seems the shock was too much for her.”

That was to be expected. In the novel, the Duchess of Ameron had also been so shocked by Chloe’s arrival that she didn’t show herself for days. It was the same now.

“With someone causing such a fuss at home, it’s no wonder Mother is upset.”

Flaria let out a deep sigh.

“Causing a fuss?”

“Yes. Yesterday, the Empress invited her for dinner. She’s been bragging about it ever since.”

Flaria pressed her temple with one hand, looking like she was battling a headache.

Just then, the door to the dress shop opened, and someone walked in.

“Oh my, welcome, Lady. Please come in.”

“May I come in?”

“Of course. Please, come in.”

Chloe entered the dress shop, dragging a dress that didn’t fit her body. The luxurious-looking dress had its hem dragging on the floor, now dirty.

And the owner of the dress, which was clearly too long for Chloe, was none other than—

“That’s my dress.”

Flaria.

Unlike her usual fiery demeanor when angry, her face was now cold and expressionless. Her gaze was fixed on Chloe.

‘This scene was in the novel too.’

As a former commoner, Chloe had no clothes to wear. The Duke had told her to have clothes tailored at the dress shop but didn’t provide her with any new clothes. Thinking she would be looked down upon if she wore her commoner’s clothes, Chloe had taken a discarded dress from the mansion. That dress happened to be Flaria’s.

“Oh!”

Seeing Flaria, Chloe approached her with an expression of delight.

“That dress.”

“Oh, this? As you know, I didn’t have time to prepare clothes yesterday. Father told me to have a dress tailored, but I couldn’t just leave wearing anything.”

“That dress is mine. You wore it without permission.”

“Oh, really? I thought it was discarded…”

“There’s no way. It’s a dress I cherish. Father gifted it to me, so there’s no way I’d throw it away.”

“But it was lying around the mansion… Should I take it off now?”

Tears welled up in Chloe’s large eyes and began to fall, one by one.

“Hah…”

Flaria let out a sigh, her expression making it clear she couldn’t believe what she was seeing as she looked at Chloe.

She wanted to tell Chloe to take it off immediately, but she couldn’t leave her in just her undergarments. At the same time, she couldn’t exactly tell her to keep wearing it either.

Caught in a dilemma, Flaria said nothing, while Chloe stood there crying.

To anyone watching, it looked like Flaria was the bad person.

‘Situations like this shouldn’t pile up.’

If Flaria gained a reputation as a villainess, the person who would be labeled a villainess alongside her would be Espin—me.

The more bad rumors about me spread, the more obstacles I’d face in the future.

Even now, people were murmuring. If this situation spiraled into more rumors, it would be a headache.

I had been trying to avoid interacting with the female protagonist, but…