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His Majesty's envoy, Count Cesare, stepped into the room and chose a platform near the entrance where Cardinal de Mare had stood. When the King's envoys came up, Cardinal de Mare hurriedly stepped aside and yielded the pulpit. Cesare looked down at the ballroom guests who had all prostrated themselves towards him, and unfolded His Majesty's royal edict. It was the King's message conveyed through his voice.
"Listen, my people. Today, Cardinal de Mare's second daughter, Ariadne de Mare, will have a debutante ball. Ariadne de Mare, a faithful subject of San Carlo, is a deeply religious girl worthy of being widely followed by the people of her country. She has once served her country. She thereby celebrates her coming of age, and I, send Cesare, Count de Como, as her partner to escort her to her debutante ball."
All the spectators in the ballroom were honoring him with the same courtesy as serving His Majesty the King as if he were a King. He re-rolled the parchment and handed it to the attendant next to him, savoring the thrill that ran up his spine. And only then did he make eye contact with Cardinal de Mare on the podium and greet him.
"It's nice to meet you today. Your Eminence Cardinal de Mare."
Cardinal de Mare bowed face to face.
"Count Cesare. It is an honor to have you come to our humble home like this."
"I will take good care of your daughter today."
"I must thank His Majesty the King."
Cesare nodded and accepted the greeting delivered to the King instead. He stepped down from the platform he had been on with Cardinal de Mare and began walking toward the platform at the other end of the main hall, where Ariadne and Prince Alfonso were. It was like a march of triumphant generals. Cesare walked around the ballroom like the main character of a ball, receiving everyone's attention. Only the guests who had seen Prince Alfonso, who had just entered, were buzzing.
"..."
Arriving at the end of the podium, Cesare finally found Prince Alfonso standing under the podium. Seeing Alfonso's expression, demeanor, snow-white costume, and the manner in which he escorted Ariadne, Cesare put a dangerous smile on his lips.
"What, was it like that?"
Cesare pretended to be exaggeratedly surprised and greeted Prince Alfonso.
"Who is this, isn't it the little sun of the kingdom?"
A slight wrinkle appeared between Alfonso's well-mannered brow. Cesare teased Alfonso with sarcasm.
"Today, I am here as a representative of His Majesty the King, so I will omit greetings, Your Highness."
It was a response to the humiliation of kneeling a few days ago.
"To His Majesty King Leo III, the sun of the Etruscans, he says that I will be this young lady's debutant partner. You should get out of the way, Your Highness."
No one rebelled against the King's decree. Prince Alfonso, the heir to the throne, was no exception to this. Cesare ignored Prince Alfonso, who was stiff, and held out his hand to Ariadne. When Ariadne did not readily take the hand, he added a word.
"This is the solemn order of the King, Lady de Mare."
Cesare's hand, which he held out, had his trademark buckskin glove, as always.
Ariadne reluctantly held out her left hand to Cesare. It was fortunate that her bare hands did not touch each other. She held out her hand to Cesare and examined Prince Alfonso's expression. Alfonso looked shocked. Ariadne apologized to Alfonso with her eyes.
"I'm sorry this happened because of me."
Cesare, noticing that Ariadne wasn't paying attention to him, kissed Ariadne's left hand with an exaggeratedly large motion. It was a showy action aimed at Prince Alfonso. Alfonso smiled blankly and greeted Ariadne.
"My role for today ends here. See you later, Ariadne."
"I'm sorry, Alfonso."
Ariadne greeted him with a kiss. Cesare was so thrilled by this situation that he could not bear it. As he came to this ball today, inwardly he had done all he could to resent his mother, the Countess Rubina. His mother, who went to King Leo III and asked what kind of flattery she used to bake and boil, thought that his mother, who had been ordered by the king, had done something really useless. He never dreamed that this would happen.
'I should at least show filial piety to my mother!'
He modified the image of the girl in front of him that he had so far. He originally thought that she was ferocious and possessed of a messy fashion sense, but Ariadne, who was now growing up and standing in front of him, was very beautiful. First of all, she had flawless, calm skin, and her features, which Cesare thought looked ferocious, were accentuated by makeup, and she was surprisingly neat and elegant. Her dress, which she wore today, cut in the line of her breasts and gracefully accentuated her collarbones and décolleté.
Cesare escorted Ariadne to the podium as carefully as if touching expensive porcelain.
On the other side of the pulpit, Cardinal De Mare was addressing his guests about what a fine and chaste lady his second daughter was, how deep her religiosity and how docile her character was. Ariadne and Cesare stood on the podium like a picture-like pair and became the objects of curious glances.
After Cardinal de Mare's short speech, all the guests congratulated and toasted and drank the fruit wine delivered by the attendants into the air. Ariadne and Cesare also took a glass from the tray and took a sip of the fruit wine brought by the servant on the podium. It meant becoming an adult. Soon after, the orchestra played. It was time for the first waltz. Since no one could start dancing unless the debutante and her partner did the first dance, Cesare escorted Ariadne to the center of the ballroom. In the starting pose of the waltz, he wrapped his hand around Ariadne's waist, clasped her other hand, and greeted her affectionately.
"See you in a few weeks, Ariadne."
A charming smile, which he was most confident in, was drawn on Cesare's lips.
"A promise is a promise, so let's do this from today."
It seemed that he had not forgotten what he had said before, saying that she was a child and would speak comfortably. Ariadne took steps to match his waltz and shot without loosening her expression.
"Call me Lady de Mare."
Even a cheap smile and a spirit that doesn't go over at once. Perfect. Bravo. He had never had the slightest interest in the beautiful Isabella's spoiled sister, but today's event had made him genuinely interested in Ariadne. He wanted to take whatever Alfonso had. But that was a girl with a lively beauty, to the point of wanting to poke the eyeballs of the person he hadn't recognized before.
"I'll wait until the day we get to know each other, Lady de Mare."
Cesare led the waltz while maintaining the best manners for the target woman. Ariadne wasn't the best dancer, but she danced well.
"For a young girl who just debuted in the social world, you dance well. Did you learn a lot at home?"
Ariadne didn't learn much at home, but she danced with Cesare for 14 years, over and over again. Many times. Cesare, who had been reluctant to dance with her in her previous life, had a hard time adjusting to her sweet demeanor, dripping with honey. Ariadne asked Cesare, who had asked her if she would sell the 'The Heart of the Blue Sea'. When she had some expectations to suppress her complicated emotions, no, does he know the contempt she felt when his father pushed her to him? Ariadne thought of Cesare before the regression when she screamed.
Automatically, her heartbeat calmed down like a heavy rain in late autumn. Her eyes and voice also fell coldly.
"It is not a good dance. I just do the basics."
As the climax of the waltz approached, Cesare held only Ariadne's left hand and sent her partner away, then turned her around and held her in her arms.
"This is the 'Heart of the Blue Sea'. The jewels shine, but they don't seem to match the lady's beauty."
"Don't talk nonsense."
Apart from the cold words that came out of her lips, the girl's body temperature was very warm. Cesare focused on the warmth of the girl in his arms, unlike the words that fell from the edge of the girl's lips. He was confident enough to melt the heart of a clumsy teenage girl if given time. Unbeknownst to him, he had already done it perfectly in his previous life. To Count Cesare, the most popular figure in San Carlo, a woman's heart was only a matter of time.
***
While Count Cesare de Como was throwing honey-stained comments one after another at Ariadne de Mare, who had hit the iron wall, Prince Alfonso stood blankly with his back against the wall of the main hall, staring into the middle. The girls were whispering and everyone was staring at him, but no one approached him. It was a firm rule that a gentleman had to offer his hand first when asked to dance at a ball.
The Prince was leaning against the wall, sighing, without any motivation, and there was no way that a big girl would come close to it. Except for one person. As soon as Isabella spotted the Prince, dressed like a peacock in a dress made of pure white organza airlifted from the Moorish Empire, she already knew what she had to do.
Isabella approached the Prince lightly and, without hesitation, pushed the white pear tree vase that had been placed on the chest of drawers next to the Prince for decoration. Alfonso's eyes widened as the vase seemed about to fall to the ground before his eyes, and he instinctively reached for the pottery. But in the place where the pottery was about to fall, Isabella put her body in place of her pottery.
Clink!
There was a loud sound of breaking vases, and everyone focused for an instant in the direction of Prince Alfonso, whom all the girls were staring at. Prince Alfonso was in a situation where he unwillingly grabbed Isabella. To Alfonso, who was taken aback, Isabella offered it with a refreshing smile.
"Let's say the Prince wanted to ask me to dance."
Countless eyes, full of curiosity, looked in his direction.
"Everyone is looking at you, come on."
Alfonso nodded reluctantly, thinking that if he didn't agree, he would be the one who reached out and touched the woman without permission. He was dragged straight into the center of the main hall by Isabella. Isabella took Prince Alfonso's hand, sweet as sugar, and laid it on her own waist. Alfonso couldn't help but wrap his arms around Isabella's waist and start stepping in the rhythm of her waltz. On the surface, they were the perfect couple.
Isabella, wearing a pure white organza dress, and Alfonso, who faithfully kept the outfits of her debutante partner, looked like a debutante couple from a distance. The combination of dark and light blonde hair was a handsome man and a beautiful woman, and at first glance, these two looked like the protagonists of a debutante ball. However, the chemistry between the two was not very good. Isabella persistently addressed the Prince throughout her dance.
"How do you like today's prom?"
"It's a great ball."
And there was no further conversation.
"I think the Prince is very stable and dances well. Who is the ballroom dance teacher at the palace?"
"I learned from Mr. Lorevald."
The prince's answer ended with a short answer. But the tenacious Isabella did not give up. Following the rhythm of the waltz, she made a big turn and landed on the Prince's arms, and Isabella threw up a topic once again.
"Isn't the interior decoration so unique and beautiful? These are the decorations that my sister, Ariadne, chose."
Only then did a light shine in the Prince's eyes. Isabella had her bodily touch finally worked, she thought, her pretty eyes shining. But the Prince's interests were elsewhere. Alfonso's reply sped up.
"I think Lady's little sister, Ariadne, is really great. She was creative and smart, so I was deeply inspired."
Prince Alfonso's positive reaction wasn't because he was skin-to-skin with Isabella. Isabella, about to gossip about the audacious Ariadne by mentioning her omission of the traditional tapestry decoration, had a hunch that the Prince would not react very well to such a proceeding. She inevitably boarded the Prince's choice of subject and shared her sister's praise.
"Ariadne is smart. But, I study hard too."
"What is your favorite subject? Also theology?"
Isabella, who had no great interest in her sister other than to ignite a rivalry, began to struggle with an answer. It was the first time Isabella had talked to the man about a woman other than her story about herself, she swears since her hair grew.
My God, when did the world's Isabella de Mare get treated like this by a man her age! Grinding her teeth, she began anxiously looking in Ariadne's direction. She has prepared events in advance that will make the Prince realize that Ariadne is in her poor condition. If it exploded, her interest in Prince Alfonso's rolling stone would surely fade.
She's obviously got her hands on it, but when the hell is it going to explode?
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