"Lady Demare! You are here early."
Ottavio de Contarini, who had entered first, welcomed Isabella. He responded faster than Isabella's friend Camelia, or at least Leticia de Leonati, the host of the party.
Isabella was greeted by Ottavio de Contarini with a bright smile on her pretty face.
"Isabella. Please call me Isabella. What kind of family name is it between us?"
"Is that so, beautiful Isabella?"
Seeing Isabella flirting with her fiancé, Camellia de Castiglione clasped her hand holding the fan, but there was no one to help her.
"Oh my God, Isabella!"
"Leticia."
The owner of the house, the Young Lady Leticia de Leonati, also welcomed Isabella very warmly. She smiled on Isabella's face as she was greeted by her friends.
'Did you see? Julia de Baldesar. No matter how much you are a Marquise's daughter, people like me more!
It seemed that the young lady herself, the Marquis of Julia de Baldesar, was not particularly impressed with Isabella's show of strength. She also saw Camellia tremble, losing her fiancé's attention to Isabella, but she paid no attention to it, took off the shawl she was wearing, and handed Mestico the good-looking thing. Her father, despite his high title, was a court noble in the capital without a local base, so he had to maintain good relations with the capital's Cardinal. Isabella's foolish obsession was plain to her eyes, but Julia had no intention of intervening in it, much less of helping Camellia, who was of her kind, just like Isabella. The servant was once again caught in the eyes of Julia de Baldesar, who was tediously going through the list of guests.
'He was really handsome!
He was too tall and handsome to be hired by Viscount Leonati's family.
'He's not a Viscount, he's handsome enough to be in the palace, so why are you working in a place like this?'
Julia de Baldesar later vowed to ask Leticia de Leonati about the history of that servant.
***
That opportunity came much sooner than expected.
"He is the servant, the new job at my house this time."
Viscount Leonati's daughter pointed at the handsome male attendant with the tip of her chin. Even an attendant could have called them by name, but judging from how they pointed only with the tip of their chins, it seemed that the Viscount Leonati family was not in the mood to take care of their employees humanely.
"Originally from the Kingdom of Gallico, they said they immigrated to the Etruscans in a hurry."
Ottavio frowned.
"After the passing of the previous King of Gallico the year before last, many people were cut out for treason within the Kingdom of Gallico."
Ottavio looked at the very handsome servant with an unfavorable glance.
"Isn't it possible that the noble also fled to the Estuscan Kingdom because of a group of weightlifters?"
"Oh, then, is the noble working as a servant at Leticia's house?"
Isabella laughed softly.
"To be served upon by a nobleman, does it make you feel like royalty?"
Ottavio meant that the attendant might be a group of traitors and should be driven away at the distance, but Isabella was not interested in any of Ottavio's 'significant political implications' or 'rebels'. All attention was focused on the possibility that the good-looking servant could even become an aristocrat. The same was true of the superficial Viscount Leonati's daughter.
"Somehow, if the servant is an aristocrat, it explains a lot. He's Gallic, but he speaks both Etruscan and Latin. He was good at etiquette and well-versed in poetry and prose. I like him because he's top-notch, handsome, and smart. It's also noble."
Julia could not hold back her curiosity and asked the young lady of Viscount Leonati.
"What is the servant's name?"
"His name is Francois."
"It's an unlucky, noble name for a commoner."
Ottavio, unable to hide his displeasure, suddenly interrupted. Isabella closed her eyes prettily and scratched Ottavio's itchy spot as she smiled at her.
"For a commoner, he looked too much like a parasitic brother--"
Isabella turned to Camellia, who was sitting next to her, and looked her up and down.
"My Camellia, you came wearing a pretty dress that I hadn't seen before. Didn't Leticia tell you that there is a handsome servant in advance, so you came dressed up?"
Camellia de Castiglione waved her hand in surprise.
"No, what am I? I really didn't know that Viscount Leonati had such a handsome servant."
"Oh. So, does Camellia think that Domestico is handsome?"
Isabella's driving skills were extraordinary. The young lady of Viscount Leonati perfectly assisted Isabella, who had good abilities.
"What are you talking about, Camellia? In the last letter, I told you that there is a very handsome servant in our house, so come over and see it next time."
After Viscount Leonati's words, the young Lady and young children who were present made fun of Camellia.
"Are you lying that you are ashamed?"
"Lady Castiglione, you can't do that with your fiancé by your side!"
Camellia's face turned red, the young people teased her once more for being shy, and the face of Ottavio, Camellia's fiancée, turned red. It wasn't that her fiancée was angry at being teased by her party, but that her fiancée was angry at the thought that she was staring at another man in front of him. Isabella smiled like a cotton candy and ran her white hand down Ottavio's cheek as lightly as a feather.
"Look at the heat on your face."
Isabella looked into Ottavio's eyes, and her violet-colored eyes flashed a pitiful light.
"Oh my, Ottavio, don't mind those servants. Camellia is so lucky to have a fiancé like you."
Camellia, who cut her nose while sitting, was smitten with swear words and was struck by lightning as she watched Isabella spit on her fiancée with both eyes. But she had nowhere to complain about her resentment. Most of the young ladies sitting in this seat were very close to Isabella, and the young children were unconditionally on Isabella's side, whether they were close or not. Sitting next to Camellia, who was only fanning her fan, Isabella informed the young ladies and children sitting around her that there would soon be a ball at her home.
"This time, His Eminence Cardinal de Mare has decided to hold a debutante ball for my sister, Ariadne, at my house separately."
At Isabella's declaration, San Carlo's next socialite began to hum.
"A debutante ball at home? The Cardinal seems to be very serious about his second daughter."
Isabella felt her intestines twist when she heard that question, but she couldn't show ugliness in front of others. She captured her expression well and smiled prettily.
"Sure. Didn't our Ariadne achieve great achievements this time and receive recognition and favors from His Majesty the King and his wife? Correspondingly, the family should also provide support."
Isabella took a deep breath, calming herself down, saying that having another well-to-do child in the family is not a bad thing for her either. She was determined to pick up and eat all the soybean paste in this work. That way your stomachache will get better at least a little bit.
"Isn't it a party held at my house after a long time?"
The host of the party seemed to get special treatment.
"With my mother's permission, I'll remove the drawing room and make a powder room. We can chat among ourselves there."
The young children were delighted.
"I hate having to hang out with nerds at a ball."
"It would be great if we could be close to each other!"
"I am also like Isabella. I like resourcefulness."
Isabella shot sweet eyes at the young children, even though the young ladies were also young girls.
"Should everyone attend? please.!"
There had to be an audience to see Isabella in her dress lavished with fabrics from the Moorish Empire, or, to be precise, more beautiful than her rustic, sullen sister. And if those young people attended, the possibility that Count Cesare would also attend would increase. She wanted to get the attention of the sassy man in San Carlo.
Everything good in the world had to be hers. So far, life has mostly worked out that way. It must have been so in the future.
***
As Isabella puts herself off in front of her friends, how can she stand out from her sister? While she is racking her brains, the prom star has no idea about her grooming.
"Madame Marini from Lazione Dressmaker is here."
Ignoring Sancha's opinion that he should make a deal with a better dressing room when she has so much money, she calls the Lazione dressmaker she was originally dealing with.
"I don't have a big budget. What can be used on clothes? I think maybe 5ducato (about 5 million won)?"
"Miss! His Eminence the Cardinal said he would give you more if you needed more!"
"First of all, you have to look at what you have been given. And this time, I have to prepare a set of cosmetics, so I don't have as much as I thought."
Sancha, who was dissatisfied with the words, nodded in agreement. A girl who hadn't made her debutante in San Carlo couldn't wear makeup. That's why Ariadne couldn't wear any makeup except for basic skin ointment. Finally, starting from this debutante ball, Ariadne was able to go outside with her colored makeup.
"The Lady has well-positioned features, so if you put on makeup, you will look beautiful."
It was a mountain full of motivation. She had talent as well as ambition. Even in the dress selection, Sancha's enthusiasm pierced the sky, which was highly praised by Madame Marini.
"Please make my dress with something simple and decent. I hope there are no complicated decorations and I don't want too much skin to be seen. The neckline should go above the collarbone."
Ariadne had lived for nearly ten years in the midst of negative attention in her previous life. Having endured her voice accusing her of being vulgar if she wears deep cuts, vulgar if she wears flashy ones, and shabby if she wears modest ones, she has become more and more conservative in her dress choices. She chose clothes based not on being beautiful or matching, but to not being criticized, so she heard countless stories that she 'has no fashion sense'.
After ten years of being told that she has no fashion sense, people shrink, which eventually becomes her self-fulfilling prophecy. Ariadne really didn't have eyes when choosing her clothes. At Ariadne's spell, Sancha and Madame Marini shouted in unison.
"It's impossible!"
"That's not it!"
Madame Marini continued her usual theory, which she had preached to Ariadne the other day.
"If the upper body has a sense of volume, you can't just cover it up! It should be properly dug to give a cool sense of space to make it look slimmer."
"That's right! That's right! Besides, the Lady has pretty collarbones and a small face, but you don't have a long neck! If I raise the neckline, it looks very stuffy."
Madame Marini looked back at Sancha as if it were quite the case.
"Lady De Mare, do your aides have good eyes. Very sharp."
"Of course!"
Sancha, whose nose was praised by Madame Marini's praise, persuaded Ariadne.
"My lady, I'll dig up the neckline, and instead, You'll wear the cotton cloth that you usually wear that day more tightly."
"Then the front will look flat, there will be no vulgarity, and the neck will look long and cool."
Ariadne ended up holding up both her hands and feet.
"I can't help it when the two of you are convincing me like that. Make the first dress simple and elegant, and the second dress easy to move in, and let the two of you take care of the details."
Sancha and Madame Marini clapped their hands together.
***
Preparing for the debutante ball was not as fun and enjoyable as choosing a dress. During the de Mare family's luncheon, Lucrezia brought up the story of Ariadne's debutante partner.
"Yeah, Ariadne's debutant partner is actually supposed to be Ippolito."
"Hmm. yes."
Ippolito, the eldest son of Cardinal de Mare and Lucrezia, was currently studying abroad in the university city of Padua.
"Can't Ippolito come back to San Carlo because of this?"
"It must be difficult."
"So I decided to bring in a distant relative to make Ariadne's debutante partner."
It was the first time Ariadne had heard of it. Cardinal de Mare's eyebrows also furrowed.
"Are you sure you are a child from your parent's house?"
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