Gretel pushed her way through the crowd and entered the banquet room.

During her journey here, her face had turned pale due to the warnings she had heard from the servants.

But that was only for a moment; soon, she couldn’t help but be amazed by the grandeur of the Perdia Mansion.

“Wow…”

The Perdia Mansion was even more splendid and beautiful than she had imagined.

As a member of a poor family, attending such a grand noble party felt even more impressive.

As Gretel stood there, lost in thought, another lady who had come with her called out to her sharply.

“Lady Gretel, what are you doing standing there? Come on, hurry up!”

“Yes, yes!”

In truth, it wasn’t just Gretel who was excited.

The young members of the group, including Hyacinth, had faces full of anticipation.

At first, they didn’t receive invitations, but a few days later, invitations had arrived for them too.

“I thought only Hyacinth would receive an invitation. I didn’t know they would invite us too.”

“Yeah, I bet our other friends are so jealous.”

Excitedly chatting among themselves, they turned to Gretel, who had been quiet all along and chuckled mockingly.

 “You must be very disappointed, Gretel. You must have thought you were the only one invited.”

 “You didn’t really think you were specially invited, did you?”

Blushing, Gretel responded to their taunts.

“N-No, I didn’t think that.”

She hadn’t mistaken it.

She couldn’t help but wonder if the invitation had been sent to her by mistake.

In fact, she still questioned why she had been invited.

She had only spoken to Elodie once, during the beast subjugation.

Of course, she had seen Elodie from afar many times.

She used to think of her as a distant figure. The moment she took a closer look was during the founding festival. That day, Gretel Sangpan was destined to die.

If it hadn’t been for Elodie.

“Grrrr….”

“P-Please, spare me!”

Right before her eyes, the beast charged threateningly. Amidst the chaos, no one paid attention to the powerless girl from a lowly family.

“I’m going to die.”

Just before her death, a brilliant light spread out…

Thanks to that, Gretel’s life was saved. If Elodie hadn’t stepped in to work a miracle then, Gretel probably wouldn’t have survived.

’Lady Elodie is my savior.’

But she kept that feeling to herself, afraid that it might burden the person involved.

In fact, there hadn’t been any opportunity to share such words from the beginning. It was when Gretel was wandering the hall with a fluttering heart.

“….!”

She met eyes with Elodie, who was approaching from a distance.

 ‘Did she really make eye contact with me? ‘

Let’s not jump to conclusions. As she was thinking that Elodie stopped in front of them.

“Welcome, everyone. Thank you for coming.”

 “Thank you for having us, Lady Elodie. The ballroom is beautiful.”

Hyacinth stepped forward and returned Elodie’s greeting. No one thought it strange that she was acting as if she were representing the invited group.

“I’m glad. My mother helped a lot with the preparations.”

“As expected, the duchess has excellent foresight. I must pay my respects later.”

The conversation flowed smoothly like water.

Everyone attending today’s reception shared the same thought.

Within the Perdia family, Elodie Perdia’s position had become firm.

This meant that Elodie could become a pathway to strengthen ties with the Perdia family, compared to the challenging Perdia couple and their sons. It was easier and quicker to approach Elodie.

“Come to think of it, we haven’t seen much of Lady Dorothea lately.”

“Yes, it’s been quite a while.”

No one among the young elites was unaware that Dorothea, with her pretense, was actually keeping Elodie in check. They continued the conversation with topics that might interest Elodie.

From the battle against the beasts, the miracle during the founding ceremony, the First Prince, the Second Prince, the Mercenary King Ian, to Duke Kreundel…

Amidst such conversations, Gretel remained silent.

“Come to think of it, no one else has arrived today.”

“Elodie, who do you think is the most impressive person?”

“Well, let me think…”

As Elodie hesitated, she suddenly glanced at Gretel, who was inconspicuously standing in the corner.

A lady who noticed Elodie’s interest in Gretel opened her mouth with a pitying expression.

“Actually, I heard that Lady Gretel recently experienced a broken engagement.”

“Yes, that’s right. No matter how weak a family’s influence may be, isn’t a unilateral broken engagement going too far?”

The words were cordial, but the intention was to mock Gretel’s family, the Sangpans. Gretel blushed at the thought that Elodie had found out that someone had broken up with her.

“It’s, it’s my fault for being so lacking. But I’m okay.”

Gretel was eager to change the subject, but it didn’t work out.

“Don’t be too disheartened, Gretel. It may not be as grand as an engagement, but surely there will be other opportunities for matchmaking from good families.”

“After a broken engagement, are there really places where matchmaking offers come?”

“If there were, they would have told us.”

 Everyone burst out laughing except Elodie and Gretel.

Gretel hung her head, smiling weakly. She was used to this kind of humiliation, being mocked like this every now and then.

 Her father had urged her to stay close to these families, to mingle with them despite their treatment.

To maintain the family business, she must not offend them.

 ’But I still don’t want to be embarrassed in front of Elodie…’

Gretel smiled wryly, eagerly waiting for this situation to pass.

“If I were Gretel’s fiancé, someday I’d regret it.”

The voice came clearly, causing Gretel to lift her head blankly. At the end of it was Elodie.

Their eyes met.

She was sure this time it wasn’t a misconception. Without avoiding eye contact, Elodie added another remark.

“He missed recognizing someone as wonderful as Lady Gretel.”

“Ah…”

Being spoken to in such a way for the first time, Gretel couldn’t find the right words to say. She just blinked her eyes dumbly.

As Gretel stood there in silence, Elodie approached her first.

“Lady Gretel, you’re interested in ancient books, right?”

“Yes, it’s my hobby…”

“I’ve also recently become interested in ancient books. If you’re okay with it, Lady Gretel, would you like me to share what I’ve learned about ancient books with you sometime?”

“I… I’d be okay with that, too…”

Hyacinth and the rest of the group were unable to interrupt their conversation.

 “Did you know that Gretel is interested in old books?”

“How would I know that?”

They whispered softly, glancing at Gretel. The situation where Elodie was speaking only to Gretel, trying to gain her favor, didn’t sit well with them. Then, Elodie asked Gretel.

“Really? There’s actually one old book in the mansion’s library that I can’t seem to interpret. Could you come and take a look sometime?”

An invitation to come back to Perdia Manor.

Gretel nodded her head almost tearfully.

“If you invite me, I will definitely come to visit…”

Seeing the visibly moved Gretel, Elodie smiled faintly.

’Done.’

Winning Gretel Sanpan’s favor. Mission accomplished.

***

Meanwhile, Carlot, who was with Jansi, had run out of patience as Elodie’s conversation dragged on.

“I want to go to Sister!”

He took a step forward as if to escape, but he couldn’t move. Jansi had simply reached out and grabbed the back of Carlot’s shirt.

“Brother!”

Despite calling out to his brother in protest, Jansi didn’t let go of his brother.

“It’s for you, Carl.”

 “What do you mean?”

 “If you interfere now, Lili might resent you.”

 “Interfere’? What am I interfering with?”

Normally, Jansi would have left Carlot alone, but he knew how much Elodie had worked to make this day happen.

 If he interrupted now, she might end up blaming not only Carlot but all of Perdia. He didn’t want to become a target of resentment himself.

Meanwhile, Elodie, having achieved her goal, turned around with a satisfied expression.

She felt light-hearted.

 ‘Gretel’s on my side now, and the party seems to have been a success, right?’

Elodie had intentionally used Hyacinth’s group to win Gretel’s favor. It wasn’t difficult to predict how they would react.

 She deliberately sent the invitation to Gretel first to stir up their jealousy.

Now, after the party, she could return to her bedroom and sleep to her heart’s content. Today would be perfect.

Surely that’s how it had to be -.

 “I’m late.”

 “……?!”

My relief was quickly snuffed out by the appearance of a man.

 “Your Highness……the Prince?”

Why are you here? I didn’t invite you.

***

Adenmir stepped down from the carriage in front of the Perdia Mansion.

As all the guests had already entered, the guards at the mansion’s gate exchanged glances.

But when they glanced at the man who had just alighted from the carriage, they visibly hesitated.

“Your Highness, did you perhaps receive an invitation…”

Adenmir looked back at him with a frosty expression as he asked for the invitation, even if only as a formality.

“What did you say?”

“Oh, nothing. Please, come in.”

Adenmir, the First Prince of the Empire, whose very presence was an invitation, strode into the mansion without the slightest hesitation.

The Perdia Mansion was a familiar space to him, having visited it several times to consult with the Duke of Perdia as Elodie’s fiancé. Even without guidance, he knew the location of the hall.

Passing by the servant guarding the entrance of the hall, he entered quickly. At that moment, the hall fell silent.

Adenmir gracefully received the gazes directed towards him. Nevertheless, he didn’t forget to take a quick look around the hall.

 ’No mercenaries in sight.’

Leon Kreundel seemed to be busy or perhaps absent.

 In fact, he was more than pleased with the absence of Raeyan.

 His behavior like Elodie’s dog means he must have come if he was invited, so his absence means he, like him, didn’t receive an invitation. That’s right.

This is petty jealousy.

Now, he decided not to deny it anymore. He approached Elodie, who looked surprised.

“I’m late.”

Saying as if he was someone who should naturally be there.

“Your Highness……the Prince?”

Elodie greeted him with a face that held many words.

Ademir, conscious of the gazes directed towards them, extended his hand to her.

“Will you grant me the honor of dancing with you?”

There was only one reason for his immediate request for a dance.

During the dance, they could converse intimately, closer than anyone else, with their breaths almost touching.

Ademir had a lot to say to Elodie.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczMVXa4cgfoDoSF9tYjJRnymPADey6beNhx3Bxjgu_7JGRvnrYLTOn5eHa156Ms09qiznk1bP-u3pkkvkvUy_OYE5UF93Ym-RWGM79epdqh8eyYWrKo=w2400