“Ari... I have to go back quickly.”
Gabrielle looked around after entering the de Mare family's drawing room. She looked quite anxious.
“What’s going on, Gabi?”
“I’m sorry...”
As soon as Gabrielle received the invitation to the ball from the Duchess of Taranto, he happily sent yellow tulips.
She was one of the first to reply that she would attend, but she opened her mouth with difficulty.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to attend Princess Bianca’s ball.”
Ariadne felt her palms get clammy. Even Gabrielle de Montefeltro was caught up in Princess Bianca's debutante ball.
According to the list that Baroness Giannelli had handed over earlier, a considerable number of older ladies had expressed their intention not to attend.
But if Gabrielle leaves, the departure of the young ladies will also become visible.
There were more than six or seven young ladies who would not come if Gabrielle was absent. Ariadne asked cautiously.
“...Can I ask why?”
Gabrielle nodded at the question. It was the question she had been waiting for.
She came here to relieve her guilt. Gabrielle asked in a low voice.
“Did you know there’s another party happening on the same date?”
Ariadne had also heard about the meeting being held on the same date.
This is because one of the old ladies who had sent the invitation had informed her that she would not be attending, saying she was planning to attend a 'charity meeting that day.'
Even then, Baroness Giannelli was in high spirits, but older ladies often felt burdened by debutante balls where they had to stand for a long time.
Considering the age of the person who had replied, it was not surprising that she had chosen a charity gathering, usually a small, sit-down tea party, over a debutante ball.
“Isn’t this a charity event? It’s not a party.”
Of course, I felt a little uncomfortable.
In such cases, it was customary to refuse the invitation, citing 'old age and deteriorating health' as a reason to prevent a fight from breaking out between the ball host and the tea party host, and to quietly throw away the tea party during the day.
“Just a tea party during the day.”
"No."
Gabrielle shook her head. She continued to look around as if afraid that someone might hear her and whispered quickly in a small voice.
“It’s a dinner party hosted by the Countess of Baljo. At first, no one went because it was a charity party held in the evening, but after that, word spread. It was said that Duchess Rubina was behind it.”
“...Ha!”
Suddenly, all the puzzle pieces fell into place.
It made sense that the elderly ladies were the ones who decided not to attend and that those who had initially said they would attend when the invitations were first circulated changed their minds. If Rubina was involved, it all made sense.
“That’s not all.”
Gabrielle continued.
“At first, people were invited to the Duchess of Taranto’s debutante ball, and then they were asked to just get their faces painted and then move on to the Countess of Baljo’s party.”
It was a reasonable plan. Even if Ariadne had thrown a sabotage party, it would have been designed that way.
No matter how much they wanted to look good to the Duchess Rubina, it wouldn't have been easy to recruit the first special forces that would want to be on good terms with the Duke of Taranto.
“As rumors spread at the last minute that Duke Cesare might attend Countess Baljo’s party, families with unmarried daughters began to turn their attention to the Baljo party.”
“Ha...”
“They said Duke Cesare would only stop by briefly at the beginning. They was smart.”
It was a name Ariadne hadn't heard in a million years. But every time she heard it, it sent shivers down her spine, for better or worse.
'You're a useless person in this world!'
Prince Alfonso, the most excellent matchmaker in the country, attends the Duchess of Taranto's party, but as a parent with a daughter, it is natural that his heart goes out to Duke Cesare.
If we compare the two simply, both quantitatively and qualitatively—especially qualitatively, because Prince Alfonso's reputation was not something to be compared with Duke Cesare's notoriety—the Prince's was obviously far more excellent, but accessibility was the problem.
Prince Alfonso would most likely marry a daughter of a monarchy, so a daughter of an ordinary noble family was not someone he could dare approach.
But what about Duke Cesare? Given his reputation as a debaucher, he might have pushed through even the lowest nobles if he liked a woman.
Naturally, families with marriageable-age daughters would dress up their daughters to the nines and rush them to the rare party at which Duke Cesare was expected to appear for the first time in years.
“...I guess that escalated into a competition for loyalty. If you want to meet Duke Cesare, you have to go to the launch party early. That’s why people who didn’t go to the Taranto party from the beginning started coming out, so Duchess Rubina started putting pressure on them.”
Gabrielle's mother-in-law, the old Marchioness of Montefeltro, was a person who went with the flow, unlike her husband, who was a man of principle.
When the socialites attached to the Duchess Rubina started saying things like, "I think the Marquis of Montefeltro wants to be friendly with Taranto?" and "Madam Marchioness, I tell you with all my heart, come with me to the launch party. There's no need to rush. It's best to do what everyone else is doing," the old Marchioness quickly began to waver.
She eventually ordered her new daughter-in-law, who had replied that she would go to the Taranto party, to cancel her attendance at the Taranto party and go with her to the Baljo party.
“...I’m sorry, Ari.”
Gabrielle spoke with a few tears in his eyes. It was a message from her friend that she would not be able to attend the Taranto party.
In fact, Gabrielle could attend the Duchess of Taranto's debutante ball.
If she could inform the old Marquis of Montefeltro about her mother-in-law's event, she might be able to attend the Taranto party.
The Marquis of Montefeltro was a man of strong character, and he really hated Leo III being swayed by the influence of the Duchess Rubina.
The old man was the kind of person who would scold his wife severely and make sure that his daughter-in-law kept her promise.
But Gabrielle was now going through a rite of passage into the Montefeltro family as the new daughter-in-law.
The older husband was polite and affectionate towards her, but he was definitely different from a twenty-something woman in love.
He wanted a wife who would bring peace to the house.
The children left behind by his deceased ex-wife did not get along well with their new stepmother, who was not much older than him, and the mother-in-law kept a sharp eye on her young new daughter-in-law, fearing that she would harass her grandchildren.
In this situation, Gabrielle could not risk ruining his relationship with her mother-in-law to keep her loyalty to Ariadne.
“...Sorry. I have to go now.”
Gabrielle was too embarrassed to see Ariadne. She wanted to leave the de Mare mansion as soon as possible. The only thing she had left was her conscience to come see Ariadne herself.
But sometimes, a line of information can be more helpful than your own presence.
“Gabi. Thank you for coming to tell me in person.”
“...Ari. You seem so kind.”
Gabrielle lowered her head. Ariadne hugged her tightly.
“They say that the world looks yellow to someone with jaundice. You’re the good one.”
It only took about twenty minutes for Ariadne to see Gabrielle off and return to her study.
But when she returned, Baroness Giannelli was already gone.
“She was so angry that she passed away.”
Sancha reported being intimidated.
“I tried to stop her, but I couldn’t...”
“...Thank you for your hard work.”
It would have been impossible to stop her from getting into bed anyway. And being in the same room as Baroness Giannelli right now wasn't necessarily a good thing.
It would have taken a lot of time and energy to appease her, but appeasing her didn't seem to have any effective solution.
Ariadne decided that it would be better if Baroness Giannelli returned on her own feet.
Well, relationships can go from bad to worse, but if you meet someone through business, you'll eventually become good friends as long as business goes well.
'Isn't there a way to overcome this situation... A way to overcome it...'
Ariadne, who was worried, decided to first visit the Vitelli couple.
For Clemente de Bartolini, every day was like her birthday.
'I should have stuck with Duchess Rubina a long time ago!'
The charity party, which featured the Countess of Baljo in disguise, was a huge success.
People whom Clemente would normally have difficulty interacting with would bow down to her and contact her first to ask for invitations. The old Marchioness of Montefeltro was one of them.
The feeling of pretending to be nice while being bossy was really thrilling.
Clemente had been feeling uneasy, thinking that until the first part of the Princess of Taranto's ball was over, the hall would be filled only with her husband and his mistresses, but now, the Princess of Taranto's ball had invited Leo III to sit down, and the hall was completely empty.
This was also good, like fireworks going off in her brain every time she imagined it. It wasn't just her who felt good. The person she was serving felt good, too.
“Wouldn’t His Majesty be furious? Hohohoho!”
Duchess Rubina was overjoyed when she heard that story.
Rubina couldn't help but feel excited at the thought of fanning the King's wrath by pretending to be embarrassed on the side.
There was no need to prepare any disparaging remarks in advance, such as saying that the guests were not treated well or that they must be looking down on His Majesty for gathering the guests in this way even though they knew His Majesty would be coming.
“Clemente, you don’t have to wait until next month. You have to come to work on Monday.”
And so, the position of chief maid of honor to Duchess Rubina came to Countess Bartolini.
The falling rice cakes were no joke when they caught the eye of Duchess Rubina. It was not for nothing that the noble ladies of the capital were making a fuss to line up behind Duchess Rubina.
“...Thank you!”
After Countess Ariadne and the Duke of Taranto, who had tarnished Duchess Rubina's reputation, are dealt a blow, everything will return to normal.
No, it won't be normal, it will be better than before.
The debts of the Count Contarini family will be forgiven, and yes, the unsightly Isabella will soon be kicked out of the house.
Because it seemed like Duchess Rubina was preparing something very interesting.
“...Oh, this year... is good...”
Clemente, left alone in the room, smiled brightly like a harmless puppy.
A job that paid well for hard work, 4,000 ducats for the position of chief maid. Loyalty, loyalty.
Baroness Gianelli stormed out of the de Mare mansion in a fit of rage without even saying goodbye and headed for Palagio Carlo.
To be precise, she went to see Prince Alfonso.
Unfortunately, the only Prince in the Etruscan kingdom was not an easy person to meet. The same was true for Princess Bianca's nanny.
Baroness Giannelli failed to obtain an audience with the Prince on the same day and was only able to meet Prince Alfonso after leaving a message and returning home to ask the Princess to write a letter.
So the time when she was able to see the Prince was the day before the ball of the Princess of Taranto.
“Baroness Giannelli, it’s been a while.”
Alfonso received the Baroness's urgent request for an audience without showing any sign of anger.
“Are the preparations for the ball going well?”
"Your Highness!"
Baroness Giannelli shouted terrifyingly,
“Our Princess’s debutante ball is completely empty!”
Alfonso was quite surprised by the unexpected words, for he had thought that everything was going well. Baroness Giannelli shouted again.
“Your Highness must help me!”
She became very agitated when she imagined the empty ballroom and the heartbroken Princess of Taranto.
Baroness Giannelli's legs trembled, and she collapsed to the ground.
Alfonso immediately jumped up and managed to support the distraught middle-aged nanny before she collapsed.
“Madam, don’t worry.”
He reassured the Baroness in a quiet voice.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ll take care of it.”
Gabrielle looked around after entering the de Mare family's drawing room. She looked quite anxious.
“What’s going on, Gabi?”
“I’m sorry...”
As soon as Gabrielle received the invitation to the ball from the Duchess of Taranto, he happily sent yellow tulips.
She was one of the first to reply that she would attend, but she opened her mouth with difficulty.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to attend Princess Bianca’s ball.”
Ariadne felt her palms get clammy. Even Gabrielle de Montefeltro was caught up in Princess Bianca's debutante ball.
According to the list that Baroness Giannelli had handed over earlier, a considerable number of older ladies had expressed their intention not to attend.
But if Gabrielle leaves, the departure of the young ladies will also become visible.
There were more than six or seven young ladies who would not come if Gabrielle was absent. Ariadne asked cautiously.
“...Can I ask why?”
Gabrielle nodded at the question. It was the question she had been waiting for.
She came here to relieve her guilt. Gabrielle asked in a low voice.
“Did you know there’s another party happening on the same date?”
Ariadne had also heard about the meeting being held on the same date.
This is because one of the old ladies who had sent the invitation had informed her that she would not be attending, saying she was planning to attend a 'charity meeting that day.'
Even then, Baroness Giannelli was in high spirits, but older ladies often felt burdened by debutante balls where they had to stand for a long time.
Considering the age of the person who had replied, it was not surprising that she had chosen a charity gathering, usually a small, sit-down tea party, over a debutante ball.
“Isn’t this a charity event? It’s not a party.”
Of course, I felt a little uncomfortable.
In such cases, it was customary to refuse the invitation, citing 'old age and deteriorating health' as a reason to prevent a fight from breaking out between the ball host and the tea party host, and to quietly throw away the tea party during the day.
“Just a tea party during the day.”
"No."
Gabrielle shook her head. She continued to look around as if afraid that someone might hear her and whispered quickly in a small voice.
“It’s a dinner party hosted by the Countess of Baljo. At first, no one went because it was a charity party held in the evening, but after that, word spread. It was said that Duchess Rubina was behind it.”
“...Ha!”
Suddenly, all the puzzle pieces fell into place.
It made sense that the elderly ladies were the ones who decided not to attend and that those who had initially said they would attend when the invitations were first circulated changed their minds. If Rubina was involved, it all made sense.
“That’s not all.”
Gabrielle continued.
“At first, people were invited to the Duchess of Taranto’s debutante ball, and then they were asked to just get their faces painted and then move on to the Countess of Baljo’s party.”
It was a reasonable plan. Even if Ariadne had thrown a sabotage party, it would have been designed that way.
No matter how much they wanted to look good to the Duchess Rubina, it wouldn't have been easy to recruit the first special forces that would want to be on good terms with the Duke of Taranto.
“As rumors spread at the last minute that Duke Cesare might attend Countess Baljo’s party, families with unmarried daughters began to turn their attention to the Baljo party.”
“Ha...”
“They said Duke Cesare would only stop by briefly at the beginning. They was smart.”
It was a name Ariadne hadn't heard in a million years. But every time she heard it, it sent shivers down her spine, for better or worse.
'You're a useless person in this world!'
Prince Alfonso, the most excellent matchmaker in the country, attends the Duchess of Taranto's party, but as a parent with a daughter, it is natural that his heart goes out to Duke Cesare.
If we compare the two simply, both quantitatively and qualitatively—especially qualitatively, because Prince Alfonso's reputation was not something to be compared with Duke Cesare's notoriety—the Prince's was obviously far more excellent, but accessibility was the problem.
Prince Alfonso would most likely marry a daughter of a monarchy, so a daughter of an ordinary noble family was not someone he could dare approach.
But what about Duke Cesare? Given his reputation as a debaucher, he might have pushed through even the lowest nobles if he liked a woman.
Naturally, families with marriageable-age daughters would dress up their daughters to the nines and rush them to the rare party at which Duke Cesare was expected to appear for the first time in years.
“...I guess that escalated into a competition for loyalty. If you want to meet Duke Cesare, you have to go to the launch party early. That’s why people who didn’t go to the Taranto party from the beginning started coming out, so Duchess Rubina started putting pressure on them.”
Gabrielle's mother-in-law, the old Marchioness of Montefeltro, was a person who went with the flow, unlike her husband, who was a man of principle.
When the socialites attached to the Duchess Rubina started saying things like, "I think the Marquis of Montefeltro wants to be friendly with Taranto?" and "Madam Marchioness, I tell you with all my heart, come with me to the launch party. There's no need to rush. It's best to do what everyone else is doing," the old Marchioness quickly began to waver.
She eventually ordered her new daughter-in-law, who had replied that she would go to the Taranto party, to cancel her attendance at the Taranto party and go with her to the Baljo party.
“...I’m sorry, Ari.”
Gabrielle spoke with a few tears in his eyes. It was a message from her friend that she would not be able to attend the Taranto party.
In fact, Gabrielle could attend the Duchess of Taranto's debutante ball.
If she could inform the old Marquis of Montefeltro about her mother-in-law's event, she might be able to attend the Taranto party.
The Marquis of Montefeltro was a man of strong character, and he really hated Leo III being swayed by the influence of the Duchess Rubina.
The old man was the kind of person who would scold his wife severely and make sure that his daughter-in-law kept her promise.
But Gabrielle was now going through a rite of passage into the Montefeltro family as the new daughter-in-law.
The older husband was polite and affectionate towards her, but he was definitely different from a twenty-something woman in love.
He wanted a wife who would bring peace to the house.
The children left behind by his deceased ex-wife did not get along well with their new stepmother, who was not much older than him, and the mother-in-law kept a sharp eye on her young new daughter-in-law, fearing that she would harass her grandchildren.
In this situation, Gabrielle could not risk ruining his relationship with her mother-in-law to keep her loyalty to Ariadne.
“...Sorry. I have to go now.”
Gabrielle was too embarrassed to see Ariadne. She wanted to leave the de Mare mansion as soon as possible. The only thing she had left was her conscience to come see Ariadne herself.
But sometimes, a line of information can be more helpful than your own presence.
“Gabi. Thank you for coming to tell me in person.”
“...Ari. You seem so kind.”
Gabrielle lowered her head. Ariadne hugged her tightly.
“They say that the world looks yellow to someone with jaundice. You’re the good one.”
***
It only took about twenty minutes for Ariadne to see Gabrielle off and return to her study.
But when she returned, Baroness Giannelli was already gone.
“She was so angry that she passed away.”
Sancha reported being intimidated.
“I tried to stop her, but I couldn’t...”
“...Thank you for your hard work.”
It would have been impossible to stop her from getting into bed anyway. And being in the same room as Baroness Giannelli right now wasn't necessarily a good thing.
It would have taken a lot of time and energy to appease her, but appeasing her didn't seem to have any effective solution.
Ariadne decided that it would be better if Baroness Giannelli returned on her own feet.
Well, relationships can go from bad to worse, but if you meet someone through business, you'll eventually become good friends as long as business goes well.
'Isn't there a way to overcome this situation... A way to overcome it...'
Ariadne, who was worried, decided to first visit the Vitelli couple.
***
For Clemente de Bartolini, every day was like her birthday.
'I should have stuck with Duchess Rubina a long time ago!'
The charity party, which featured the Countess of Baljo in disguise, was a huge success.
People whom Clemente would normally have difficulty interacting with would bow down to her and contact her first to ask for invitations. The old Marchioness of Montefeltro was one of them.
The feeling of pretending to be nice while being bossy was really thrilling.
Clemente had been feeling uneasy, thinking that until the first part of the Princess of Taranto's ball was over, the hall would be filled only with her husband and his mistresses, but now, the Princess of Taranto's ball had invited Leo III to sit down, and the hall was completely empty.
This was also good, like fireworks going off in her brain every time she imagined it. It wasn't just her who felt good. The person she was serving felt good, too.
“Wouldn’t His Majesty be furious? Hohohoho!”
Duchess Rubina was overjoyed when she heard that story.
Rubina couldn't help but feel excited at the thought of fanning the King's wrath by pretending to be embarrassed on the side.
There was no need to prepare any disparaging remarks in advance, such as saying that the guests were not treated well or that they must be looking down on His Majesty for gathering the guests in this way even though they knew His Majesty would be coming.
“Clemente, you don’t have to wait until next month. You have to come to work on Monday.”
And so, the position of chief maid of honor to Duchess Rubina came to Countess Bartolini.
The falling rice cakes were no joke when they caught the eye of Duchess Rubina. It was not for nothing that the noble ladies of the capital were making a fuss to line up behind Duchess Rubina.
“...Thank you!”
After Countess Ariadne and the Duke of Taranto, who had tarnished Duchess Rubina's reputation, are dealt a blow, everything will return to normal.
No, it won't be normal, it will be better than before.
The debts of the Count Contarini family will be forgiven, and yes, the unsightly Isabella will soon be kicked out of the house.
Because it seemed like Duchess Rubina was preparing something very interesting.
“...Oh, this year... is good...”
Clemente, left alone in the room, smiled brightly like a harmless puppy.
A job that paid well for hard work, 4,000 ducats for the position of chief maid. Loyalty, loyalty.
***
Baroness Gianelli stormed out of the de Mare mansion in a fit of rage without even saying goodbye and headed for Palagio Carlo.
To be precise, she went to see Prince Alfonso.
Unfortunately, the only Prince in the Etruscan kingdom was not an easy person to meet. The same was true for Princess Bianca's nanny.
Baroness Giannelli failed to obtain an audience with the Prince on the same day and was only able to meet Prince Alfonso after leaving a message and returning home to ask the Princess to write a letter.
So the time when she was able to see the Prince was the day before the ball of the Princess of Taranto.
“Baroness Giannelli, it’s been a while.”
Alfonso received the Baroness's urgent request for an audience without showing any sign of anger.
“Are the preparations for the ball going well?”
"Your Highness!"
Baroness Giannelli shouted terrifyingly,
“Our Princess’s debutante ball is completely empty!”
Alfonso was quite surprised by the unexpected words, for he had thought that everything was going well. Baroness Giannelli shouted again.
“Your Highness must help me!”
She became very agitated when she imagined the empty ballroom and the heartbroken Princess of Taranto.
Baroness Giannelli's legs trembled, and she collapsed to the ground.
Alfonso immediately jumped up and managed to support the distraught middle-aged nanny before she collapsed.
“Madam, don’t worry.”
He reassured the Baroness in a quiet voice.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ll take care of it.”
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