Chapter 38

"Miss de Mare! You've come early."

Ottavio de Contarini, who had already entered, greeted Isabella warmly. His response was quicker than that of Camellia de Castiglione, Isabella's friend, or even the hostess of today's party, Letizia de Leonti. Isabella received Ottavio de Contarini's greeting with a radiant smile on her beautiful face.

"Isabella. Please call me Isabella. What do we need with family names between us?"

"Shall I, beautiful Isabella?"

The sight of the fiancé and Isabella chatting made Camellia de Castiglione clench the fan in her hand, but no one came to her aid.

"Oh, Isabella!"

"Letizia."

The hostess, Letizia de Leonti, also greeted Isabella very warmly. Isabella smiled broadly as she received the greetings from her friends.

'See? Julia de Valdesar. No matter how much of a countess you are, people like me more.'

However, the Countess Julia de Valdesar herself did not seem particularly moved by Isabella's performance. She saw Camellia, whose fiancé's attention had been stolen by Isabella, trembling, but paid no attention to it. Instead, she took off the shawl she was wearing and handed it to a handsome domestic servant. Her father, despite holding a high title, was a court noble in the capital without a base in the provinces, so he needed to maintain good relations with the cardinal of the capital. Isabella's childish antics were obvious, but Julia had no intention of getting involved, nor did she have any desire to help Camellia, who was in the same category as Isabella.

Julia de Valdesar, who was idly scanning the list of guests, noticed the handsome domestic servant again.

'He really is handsome.'

The servant was so strikingly handsome that it seemed out of place for him to be employed by the Leonti family.

'He looks like he could fit in at the royal palace. Why is he working here?'

Julia de Valdesar resolved to ask Letizia de Leonti about the background of this domestic servant later. * * *

The opportunity came much sooner than expected.

"This is the new domestic servant who has started working at our house."

The Lady Leonti pointed to the handsome male servant with her chin. Even a servant should be called by name, but the fact that she only pointed with her chin suggested that the Leonti family did not treat their employees as human beings.

"He is originally from the Kingdom of Gallico but had to immigrate to Etruscan in a hurry."

Ottavio frowned.

"After the death of the previous King of Gallico, many people were exiled for treason."

Ottavio looked at the handsome domestic servant with a disapproving gaze.

"Could he be one of the rebels who fled to the Kingdom of Etruscan?"

"Oh, if that's the case, then he must be a noble working as a domestic servant at Letizia's house?"

Isabella laughed.

"It feels like being served by a noble, doesn't it? It's like being treated by royalty."

Ottavio meant that the servant should be kept at a distance and expelled if he was a rebel, but Isabella had no interest in the 'important political implications' or 'rebels' that Ottavio mentioned. Her attention was entirely focused on the possibility that the handsome domestic servant could be a noble.

The Lady Leonti was also superficial.

"Indeed, many things make sense if he is a noble. He speaks both Etruscan and Latin, knows etiquette well, and is knowledgeable about poetry. He is handsome, intelligent, and refined."

Julia, unable to contain her curiosity, asked the Lady Leonti.

"What is his name?"

"......François."

"For a commoner, it's an unusually refined name."

Ottavio, who was visibly displeased, interjected. Isabella batted her eyes and tickled Ottavio's sensitive spots.

"For a commoner, he looks like a pampered young man—"

Isabella turned to Camellia, who was sitting next to her, and scrutinized her from head to toe.

"Our Camellia, you're wearing a beautiful dress that I haven't seen before. Did Letizia tell you about the handsome domestic servant in advance, so you dressed up for the occasion?"

Camellia de Castiglione was taken aback and waved her hands.

"No, I really didn't know. I had no idea the Leonti family had such a handsome domestic servant."

"Oh. So, Camellia, you think he is handsome too?"

Isabella's ability to corner people was exceptional. The Lady Leonti, who was already skilled, assisted her perfectly.

"What are you talking about, Camellia? I mentioned in my last letter that we have a very handsome new domestic servant, and I invited you to come and see him next time."

The other young ladies and gentlemen present laughed at Camellia.

"Are you lying because you're embarrassed?"

"Lady Castiglione, you shouldn't do that with your fiancé right next to you!"

Camellia's face turned bright red, and the young people teased her again, saying she was embarrassed. Ottavio's face also turned red, not because he was angry that his fiancée was being teased, but because he was angry that she was looking at another man in front of him.

Isabella smiled like cotton candy and lightly brushed Ottavio's cheek with her white hand.

"Look at your face, it's all red."

Isabella looked into Ottavio's eyes, and her blue eyes shone with a tender light.

"Ottavio, a man of honor, don't mind such a servant. Camellia is very lucky to have a fiancé like you."

Camellia, who was sitting there, received a lot of verbal abuse and watched as Isabella charmed her fiancé. But she had no one to turn to for help. Most of the young ladies present were very close to Isabella, and the young gentlemen, whether they were close or not, were always on Isabella's side. Isabella, sitting next to Camellia, announced to the young ladies and gentlemen around her that she would be hosting a ball at her house soon.

"The Cardinal de Mare has agreed to host a debutante ball for my younger sister, Ariadne, at our house."

At Isabella's announcement, the next generation of San Carlo's social scene began to buzz.

"A debutante ball at home? It seems the Cardinal holds his second daughter in high regard."

Isabella felt a twist in her gut when she heard this question, but she couldn't show her true feelings in front of others. She composed herself and smiled prettily.

"Of course. Ariadne has recently achieved a great feat and received recognition and gifts from His Majesty the King and his consort. The family must support her accordingly."

Having a successful sibling is not a bad thing for me, she thought, and took a deep breath. She intended to take every bit of credit from this event. It would help ease her pain.

"It's a rare party at our house, isn't it?"

The host of the party was usually given special treatment.

"I'll get permission from my mother to set aside a room as a powder room where we can chat among ourselves."

The young ladies were delighted.

"I hate having to mingle with random people at balls."

"It would be so nice to be alone with our friends!"

"Isabella, as always, you're clever."

Isabella, who was already charming the young ladies, shot sweet glances at the young gentlemen.

"Everyone must attend, okay? Definitely."

She needed an audience to admire her, not her clumsy and creepy younger sister, to see her beautiful dress, which was made from expensive fabric from the Moorish Empire. If the young gentlemen attended, it would increase the likelihood of Count Cezare attending as well. She wanted the attention of the most arrogant man in San Carlo. Everything good in the world should be hers. So far, her life had mostly gone that way, and it would continue to do so.

* * *

While Isabella was showing off to her friends and thinking about how to outshine her sister, the actual debutante had no particular thoughts about her attire.

"Madame Marini from the Razione Tailor Shop has arrived."

Despite the suggestion to find a better tailor shop with the money they had, Isabella insisted on calling the Razione Tailor Shop, where they had always done business.

"The budget is tight. We can spend about 5 ducats (approximately 5 million won) on clothes."

"But, Miss! The Cardinal has said he will provide more if needed!"

"We should try to make do with what we have. Besides, we need to prepare a set of cosmetics, so it's not as generous as it seems."

Sancha, who had been full of complaints, nodded in agreement. In San Carlo, girls who had not completed their debutante ceremony were not allowed to wear makeup. Therefore, Ariadne had not used any makeup except for basic skin care.

Finally, with this debutante ball, Ariadne could wear makeup and go out in public.

"Miss, your facial features are well-proportioned, so you will be very beautiful with makeup."

Sancha was full of enthusiasm and talent. During the dress selection, her enthusiasm was sky-high, earning praise from Madame Marini.

"Let's go with something simple and elegant. I don't want any elaborate decorations, and I want the skin to be mostly visible. The neckline should come up to the collarbone."

Ariadne had lived for nearly ten years in the center of negative attention in her previous life. She had endured criticism for being too revealing, too gaudy, and too plain, which made her dress choices increasingly conservative. Choosing clothes that wouldn't attract criticism, rather than what was beautiful or suitable, led to countless comments about her lack of fashion sense. Hearing such comments for ten years can make a person shrink. This eventually became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Ariadne really lacked the eye for choosing clothes. When she placed her order, Sancha and Madame Marini both exclaimed in unison.

"No way!"

"That won't do!"

Madame Marini, who had previously advised Ariadne, reiterated her stance.

"If you have volume in the upper body, you shouldn't just cover it up! You need to create space with a modest cut to look slimmer."

"Right! Plus, Miss, you have a beautiful collarbone and a small face, but your neck isn't particularly long! A high neckline will make you look very stuffy."

Madame Marini looked at Sancha approvingly.

"Miss de Mare, your close confidant has a very keen eye."

"Of course!"

Encouraged by Madame Marini's praise, Sancha tried to persuade Ariadne.

"Miss, let's go with a lower neckline and wrap the linen you usually wear more tightly. This will make the front look flat, avoid a revealing look, and make your neck look longer and more elegant."

Ariadne threw up her hands in surrender.

"Since both of you are so insistent, I have no choice. The first dress should be simple and elegant, the second dress should be easy to move in, and the details are up to you."

Sancha and Madame Marini clapped their hands in agreement.

* * *

The preparations for the debutante ball were not all fun and enjoyable. During the de Mare family's lunch, Lucrezia brought up the topic of Ariadne's debutante partner.

"Your Excellency, Ipolito was originally supposed to be Ariadne's debutante partner."

"Hmm. That's right."

Ipolito, the eldest son of Cardinal de Mare and Lucrezia, was currently studying in Paloma, the city of universities.

"Can Ipolito return to San Carlo for this?"

"Unfortunately, that's not possible."

"So, we decided to bring in a distant relative to be Ariadne's debutante partner."

This was the first time Ariadne had heard about it, and the Cardinal's eyebrows furrowed.

"Surely not from your family?"