Chapter 1. The Birth of a Couple

The Muller Duchy was bustling from early morning. This was because a very important event was scheduled for today.

Parties hosted by the castle were held frequently, but tonight would be especially significant for the notable figures of high society, as the debutante ball for noble young ladies who came of age this year was planned.

The faces of the maids working in the Muller household were clouded with worry. One of the maids expressed her subtle resentment towards Tatiana, who was gazing at distant mountains as if it were someone else’s business.

“Miss, did you really have to exercise even on a day like today?”

“If I don’t exercise for even one day……”

“Thorns will grow in your mouth?”

“As if that would happen. But my muscles will definitely shrink.”

Tatiana gently caressed her six-pack abs, which she had cultivated through diet and exercise. The maids’ gazes naturally gathered there.

It had been three years since the Duke and Duchess of Muller volunteered to be Tatiana’s guardians after she lost her birth parents, and she was adopted into the ducal family. It had been a long time since Tatiana had put down her sword.

She hadn’t completely abandoned it, but the sword had been used only for swatting flies and mosquitoes for some time now, so it was fair to say she had put it down. However, Tatiana never neglected her daily exercise and physical training.

It could be seen as a habit, something she had consistently done since childhood, wanting to emulate her father.

But in reality, this was closer to a sticky attachment. You know how it is. Even if you’re not using a carriage right away, you still regularly apply animal fat to the wheels.

Just enough to keep it rolling, just enough to prevent it from breaking down, thinking it might be used someday. Just that much, moderately.

Of course, this was only moderate by Tatiana’s standards; the amount of exercise she handled easily surpassed the standards of ordinary people, including the maids. In fact, it was on par with active knights.

However, Tatiana thought that her body wasn’t particularly efficient. The output was not quite satisfactory compared to the input.

Having passed her growth phase, she had long limbs like her birth mother, but she wasn’t born with thick bones like her father or the constitution that easily built muscle.

As a result, Tatiana’s adult physique was closer to that of a skilled dancing performer than a swordswoman.

‘My small and precious muscles. ……So I can’t lose even 1g more.’

The maids, who were staring at the perfectly symmetrical six-pack abs and the well-defined lean muscles on her dry back, almost nodded in agreement.

‘Ah, muscle loss. That’s unbearable.’

But those who were admiring soon came to their senses and glared at Tatiana.

Unable to bear the piercing gazes any longer, Tatiana sighed. Then she subtly extended her finger to point at someone.

“You.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you. You starved yourself for a few days recently because you were going to a friend’s wedding. You said the pretty dress you bought last year didn’t fit.”

“……”

“Don’t you think my way is much healthier than that?”

“……”

“If you lose weight by starving, it’ll come back twofold someday.”

The implication was to stop nagging.

The maids who were unnecessarily caught in the crossfire and hurt all wore resentful expressions.

What does the young lady know! We actually know all this too!

But Tatiana just glanced at them once and added indifferently.

“If you’re not careful, you might even lose hair. That’s hard to recover.”

“……You might as well curse us.”

This isn’t a curse, it’s a fact. Tatiana wore an indifferent expression.

When Tatiana, who usually pretended not to hear or laughed off the maids’ complaints, calmly refuted, they whispered.

‘She must be in a really bad mood today.’

‘She just doesn’t want to go to the party.’

Tatiana was twenty-one this year, and her debutante ball should have actually been held last year. The reason she couldn’t attend the royal-hosted party around that time was because she had strained a ligament while doing intense lower body exercises.

Some might wonder. How could someone who takes such care of their body and hones it so diligently get injured?

But such things happen in life.

People who often have minor illnesses surprisingly don’t catch major diseases, and those who always seemed healthy suddenly pass away overnight.

In the Kingdom of Valter, the people most familiar with bandages were not civilians but the burly knights.

You know, they say even monkeys fall from trees sometimes. But if you never climb a tree in the first place, you’ll never fall, right? On the other hand, it’s only natural that people who climb trees every day are more likely to get hurt.

But what the maids were truly concerned about now was not the possibility of Tatiana’s injury, but the mood of the Duchess, the mistress of this mansion.

“It’s not like you exercise to wear pretty clothes, Miss. We’re just worried you might get scolded by the Madam again.”

“……”

In fact, when the Duchess of Muller saw the state of her leg around this time last year, her face turned pale and she let out a short scream. She even postponed Tatiana’s debutante ball for a year, saying it was unheard of to make a social debut with bandages on.

Although she got an earful at that time, Tatiana, who was secretly reluctant to attend the party, thought to herself, Oh? Is this a good thing?

And the Duchess of Muller, who appeared belatedly from behind a pile of dresses, seemed to lack the mental capacity to scold her today. It was evident that she was more excited than anyone else present.

“My goodness, Tatiana. You’re so beautiful. Oh, what should we do? What if too many young men set their sights on our Tatiana today?”

“That’s… unlikely, isn’t it?”

“Trust my words. You’ll undoubtedly be the star of today’s party.”

Tatiana responded with an awkward smile. However, the Duchess looked very pleased as she gazed at her adopted daughter, impeccably dressed from head to toe. She seemed to be expecting that Tatiana might actually bring home a fine suitor.

In fact, there was a reason for the Duchess to be so proactive.

Duke Muller was not only the superior of Tatiana’s father, Sir Bloom, but also his close friend. Although she had reluctantly accepted Tatiana out of respect for her husband’s wishes, could the presence of this sudden addition to the household be entirely welcome?

The Duke and Duchess also had a son around Tatiana’s age. And having multiple children often led to the sensitive issue of asset distribution.

Tatiana could fully understand and wasn’t at all hurt if the Duchess wanted to get rid of her at this opportunity.

In that sense, today’s party might seem like a great opportunity to some people.

The Kingdom of Valter had been discouraging incestuous marriages and child marriages since the reign of the current king, and a few years ago, they even revised the written law to officially prohibit such practices.

When the royal family took the lead in eliminating old customs, what noble would dare to object? If there had been any, they would have been purged long ago, so there’s no one to answer that question.

And subsequently, the debutante ball came to symbolize the marriageable age for the nobles of Valter. After all, having a debutante ball meant that one was at least legally an adult.

Naturally, official couples were often formed at these parties, and there were even instances of public proposals.

In nine out of ten cases, the families had already communicated in advance, but in about one out of ten cases, novel-like incidents such as ‘love at first sight’ occurred.

Regarding this, Tatiana had once heard the following impression from a friend who had her debutante ball earlier:

‘Isn’t a public proposal just terrible?’

‘Is it?’

‘Of course! It’s no different from an attack, saying “Take my proposal attack with public opinion behind me!”‘

‘I don’t know much, but I don’t think you need to view it that negatively….’

‘Oh, this girl. People talk about it for months whenever they gather! That’s not a public proposal, it’s a public execution.’

‘……’

The other young ladies who were listening seemed to agree, nodding their heads, but the Duchess seemed to have thought even that far ahead.

“If any young man proposes, you must consult with us first.”

“……”

Ah, public proposals. But that’s getting the worst reactions among my peers these days. Tatiana wondered how far the Duchess had drifted from the latest trends in marriage culture. Yes, it can be difficult to keep up when times change so rapidly.

However, the Duchess didn’t stop imparting her honed secrets of party culture.

“Even if someone shows interest, you should only reciprocate to a certain extent.”

“……”

“Don’t smile too much as if you like them, but don’t push them away too harshly either.”

“……”