What Ariadne had to cover with a budget of 150 ducato (about 150 million won) was her grooming and all preparations for the party on the day of the debutante ball. This Included food, alcoholic beverages, interior decoration, musical band, meal order, and events. Ariadne first checked all the furnishings in the house.
"All that can be used are family insignias, furniture, liquors in the basement wine cellar... Is it this much?"
Sancha answered.
"You can also use the manpower in the kitchen. I hope Madame Lucrezia won't even let me do that. I think you won't be able to touch the ingredients."
"Although Father is a person who always surpasses my imagination, he has a fatherly mind. Ingredients need to be bought from outside. It's not a quantity that can be made with all the ingredients at home anyway. The only cost that can never be reduced is the orchestra."
" Is it alright, Miss? You don't want to match the tapestry?"
In 1122, to decorate a ball in San Carlo, a certain concept was usually set, and the balustrade cover, chair cover, tablecloth, etc. were matched with fabrics that fit the concept to unify the atmosphere of the whole hall. In addition, an embroidered tapestry reminiscent of the theme of the ball was separately produced and hung on the wall.
"There is a family insignia, but you have to match the tapestry for the party separately. Time is running out. Among the embroidery shops in the city, the best ones must have already been fully booked."
If it was a ball celebrating victory, the most important battle was embroidered, and if it was a ball to commemorate the birth of a royal family, the birth story of the patron saint of the royal family was embroidered and installed. The more the tapestries were embroidered and the more elaborate they were, the more elaborate the ball was. In the case of a luxurious ball, the production period of 1-2 years and the cost of 200-300 ducato (about 200-300 million won) were made only for embroidery. There were frequent things to do.
"Come and see."
Ariadne pulled the chariot over and whispered a few things into her ear.
"How about it, can you do it?"
"Eh?! Surely that would save money, but... If you ask me, I can do it. However... Are you okay, My Lady?"
"Trust me. It will definitely respond well."
'Because I'm borrowing the latest fashion from 1123 in advance. I'll banned soon.'
Ariadne slammed the ledger and spoke briskly.
"I think I can. Let's do it!"
"Yes, lady!"
***
While Ariadne was adjusting the budget for the entire ball with 150 ducatos, Isabella was just investing 50 ducatos (about 50 million won) in her own grooming
"A 'girl who can see through the truth', does this make sense?!"
Isabella was furious with Maletta, who was helping her with her grooming.
"I don't have that nickname yet!"
"The Second Lady is really presumptuous. Why are you so open about the subject of being inferior to Lady Isabella in terms of appearance, talent for talent, and character for character?"
"I know yeah!"
In a fit of anger, Isabella broke the thin wooden stick she was using to apply the ointment to her eyelashes.
"In this debutante ball, we have to show who is the best. I must be prettier than her."
"It can be done by just breathing."
"That's true! Firmly! Surely! Without a doubt, I must be prettier!"
Maletta combed Isabella's hair to reassure her.
"In thirty minutes, Madame Clemenza herself will arrive from the Collegioni dressing room. Isn't the Collegioni's dressing room the number one dressing room on Tibery Street? The hanger is better, the clothes are better, and the outfit is going to be perfect, how could Miss Isabella not be prettier than Miss Ariadne?"
"Yes? Is that right?"
"It is."
The Collegioni Dressing Room on Tibery Street was a store that Maletta could boast about. In San Carlo, tailoring for aristocrats and socialites was usually divided into a dressing room and a dressmaker's shop, the latter of which even ordinary people could comfortably afford if they could afford it. However, the former was a space open only to special people. The dressing rooms were located along the main road along the Tiber River, and used the finest fabrics from the Moorish Empire brought in by merchants from the Republic of Porto through maritime trade. It was only natural that the price was very high. If dressmakers followed trends, dressing rooms led them, and the Collegioni Dressing Room was at the forefront of them all.
"Miss Isabella, Madame Clemenza is here."
Isabella was pleased with the maid's message.
"Bring Madame Clemenza to my mother's parlor."
"Yes, lady."
Isabella's guests were usually received in the girls' drawing room on the west side of the second floor, shared with Arabella and Ariadne, but today Isabella had no intention of telling Ariadne what she was wearing. Isabella, who received Madame Clemenza in the eastern drawing room of Lucrezia, treated her very lavishly.
"Tea from the Moorish Empire and dessert from the Gallico Kingdom. It is very tasty. It's my favorite. Try it."
Isabella offered Madame Clemenza as well, holding up an elaborate tea food filled with sugar with one finger. However, Madame Clemenza rejected Isabella's offer in a friendly but professional manner.
"Thank you, Young Lady, but I have to touch the fabric a lot today. I can't eat anything that will get grease on my fingers."
Isabella was angry at the person who refused her favor, but since she was an important person, she covered up the irritation between her brows and smiled brightly.
"Oh yeah? I don't like tea food too much. Let's start with the fabric."
Casually reversing what she had just said, Isabella tossed the tea on the plate and began looking at the catalogs and fabric samples Madame Clemenza had brought.
The fabrics that Madame Clemenza presented were usually dark-colored ones.
For autumn, the girls of San Carlo usually wore blue, burgundy, and mustard-colored dresses in calm tones. But none of them caught Isabella's eye. Isabella flicked through the catalog, stopped her hand, and she asked Madame Clemenza a question.
"Do you have any lighter-colored fabrics? Is it white or cream?"
At Madame Clemenza's unexpected request, she beckoned her assistant to bring her a sample patch of fabric she had tucked behind her. It was a piece of cloth that she thought she wouldn't use today and put underneath. She double-checked the client's intentions before releasing her fabric.
"I am embarrassed to tell you, Lady De Mare."
"Yes?"
"Aren't you tailoring clothes for your younger sister's debutante ball? Would it be all right if you chose a white suit?"
At the debutante ball, it was manners to avoid wearing white for everyone except the debutante and her partner for the day. Isabella, of course, also wore a white dress to her debutante ball last year. And on that day, she had hurled all sorts of swearing at a person whose dress was even slightly lighter in color, such as being disrespectful. lacking common sense, lacking in intelligence, and so on. But Isabella was Isabella. Even though she didn't want to be offended, she didn't mind doing the same to others.
'Shut up and do what you're told, why are there so many meddling......!'
Isabella bit the tip of her tongue for a moment to calm the harsh words that were about to come out of her mouth. Madame Clemenza was such a tycoon that even Isabella had a hard time getting her reservations. She was worried about what would happen to her later if she acted on her own. Barely resisting the urge to lash out at her fears that she might be banned from the Collezione, she thinks that she is a really polite and nice person who can put up with this, and licks her lips. She didn't even put it on and lied.
"Well, if it's a debutante ball we all do together, it would be rude to the other young girls, so it would be appropriate to avoid wearing white clothes at all, isn't it a ball held at home exclusively for my younger sibling?"
Isabella continued with a sweet smile.
"My sisters and I love each other so much that my younger sister insisted that all three of us wear matching dresses in white."
"Is that so?"
Judging from Madame Clemenza's 20-year experience in running a dressing room, Isabella clearly had a weak spot. If the dresses were to be worn by the three sisters, it is normal for all three sisters to have them tailored in the same dressing room. But Isabella's two younger sisters didn't even show their noses. In the first place, she knew that the youngest lady of this house was not even old enough to participate in the debutante ball, but she did not even know if there was any significance in matching the colors of her dresses. But Madame Clemenza was a dressing room owner, not a judge.
"If what you want is a white dress, I understand."
Madame Klemanza had to make it, and it was up to the person wearing the clothes to take care of it. Rather ominously, Isabella added one more spell to it, her eyes twinkling.
"Please add something new that will be the most flashy and startle everyone."
***
Isabella has fallen out of favor with her friends over a recent songwriting theft. But she had too many entangled ties to sever her friendship with her most beautiful girl in San Carlo, and her influence over Isabella was too great. So Camellia de Castiglione couldn't complain, and she headed off to the afternoon tea party, which was actually hosted by Isabella de Mare, accompanied by her fiancé today.
"Come inside, Lady de Castiglione."
The servant whom the Viscount Leonati could hire escorted Camellia inside in a luxurious uniform. Today's afternoon tea party was held at Viscount Leonati's house. Isabella's faithful servant, the daughter of Viscount Leticia de Leonati, had held a tea party for Isabella. With her hulking size and free features that social world by being a friend of the beautiful and popular Isabella. Naturally, she was reckless and devoted to Isabella to maintain that position.
"Thank you."
Camellia de Castiglione tried to save face from the servant with a smile. Beside her, Ottavio de Contarini escorted her into the room.
"Sir Ottavio. Welcome to Viscount Leonati."
Unlike Camellia, who was called 'Lady de Castiglione' by her surname, Ottavio de Contarini was called 'Sir Ottavio'.
This was because he was the Count's son. Counts and children of higher families were called by their first names, but Barons, Viscounts, and those without such titles had to be called by their surnames. As part of that, Lady de Castiglione' was a title representing the situation of the Castiglione family, which only had the title of Baron.
Isabella of the de Mare family was no exception.
"Lady de Mare. Welcome to Viscount Leonati."
Receiving the servant's respectful greeting, Isabella wrinkled her pretty brow.
"Lady Julia, Viscount Leonati welcomes the daughter of the Marquis of Baldesar."
This is because it was properly compared to Julia de Baldesar, who came right behind her. Since Julia was the daughter of a writer after Baldesar, she was being called by her own name rather than by her family name. She could afford Madame Clemenza's dress like Isabella, and although she was the envy of every young man in the capital, she could never be addressed by name in public.
'What am I less than Julia de Baldesar?"
There was no question that the future of Isabella de Mare, San Carlo's greatest beauty and wealth, was brighter than that of the edgy and plain-looking Julia de Baldesar. She believed that, at least Isabella herself. However, in public life, Isabella's place was always one step behind Julia's.
Isabella no longer wanted to stand behind the dreaded family name. The lineage belonged to her father, and in time would belong to her brother. All that Isabella could have was the glory of her family name, not of her family name, but of her own name.
'Her Highness, Princess Isabella.'
When that day comes, she will be able to stand on her own as an individual. Until then, all she has to do is make the most of what she has. Isabella intended to use every trick she could use to get to that position.
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