The yellow and red-tinted leaves had begun to fall one by one. During that time, I engaged in various social activities and spent even more time with Adandito. Thanks to that, my healing abilities improved day by day.
In the midst of it all, I often thought about Hierian.
If he was going to leave, couldn’t he at least tell me in advance? He simply left behind a single letter and disappeared. The content of the letter was just a request not to look for him as he expected to become busy in the future.
“I heard he’s been researching at the Mage Tower lately, so he must be busy.”
Well, he never really cared about his surroundings when he was immersed in research. But these past few months had been different from his usual self.
‘I’ll ask him later what he’s been researching. Yeah.’
Already a whole week had passed since Hierian left.
‘It only took two days to develop the Calendula ointment.’
He must be researching something tremendous.
At first, I thought it was nice to have some free time, but now I could feel his absence.
Moreover, it seemed that my refusal of all the invitations to drinking parties was perceived differently, as I hadn’t received any more invitations for a while. And I needed to find a partner for the debut ball soon, which was a big problem.
Although the Izbe noblewomen arranged several meetings, for some reason, I kept receiving rejection letters from them one after another.
‘Suddenly too busy, fallen, a major issue in the family… If you don’t like me, just say it.’
After several incidents like that, it became awkward for me to ask for their help.
‘Am I that undesirable? I’ve never heard such negative comments about me anywhere!’
Bang!
I slammed the desk, but nothing changed. At this rate, I might end up attending the ball alone.
‘It’s terrible just to imagine.’
Just as I let out a sigh, a maid knocked on the door.
“A letter and a bouquet sent by Mr. Dalton.”
“…A letter and a bouquet? For me?”
“Yes. They are sent to Lady Siara le Astita.”
The maid politely handed me the letter and bouquet and then disappeared. I stared at the bouquet with a desolate gaze.
Dalton was someone I had danced with at the previous ball. He was tall, fairly good-looking, and most importantly, well-mannered.
‘He didn’t nag or tell me to eat candy or wave his fingernails around.’
He asked me to dance very politely. It seemed like he had some interest in me when we danced the waltz together.
That’s how it seemed… But in the time it took for me to leave my seat for a moment, he disappeared somewhere.
So, I thought he wasn’t interested in me either, but maybe that wasn’t the case.
I unfolded the letter I was holding. The fragrance from the bouquet beside it filled the room.
[I would love to meet you again, young lady.]
‘He wants to… meet me again?’
Uneasiness welled up within me. Above all, it wasn’t the time to hesitate when the water was hot.
‘I can’t attend the debut stage alone.’
The debut ball was just a week away. I planned to do whatever it took to hold his hand and attend the ball with him.
‘Wait for me, Dalton. I’ll make you fall in love at first sight.’
Determined to make thorough preparations, I clenched my fist.
* * *
Inside the dimly lit office, as dark as nighttime even during the middle of the day, the maid who had delivered the letter and bouquet to Siara lowered her head respectfully.
“I have delivered the letter and bouquet to Lady Siara.”
“Her reaction?”
“She seemed pleased.”
Dianel nodded. The maid quietly left the office. Then, as if waiting, the administrative officer spoke up.
“Your Highness, Dalton’s task has been successfully resolved. Thanks to Your Highness, we were able to resolve the issue that could have caused a major problem for Viscount Leven, and he is very pleased.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“Yes. They are deeply grateful for Your Highness’ favor and have said that you may act as you wish as if it were your matter.”
Dianel nodded.
Until now, Dianel had never attended a party disguised as someone else. If there hadn’t been any special circumstances, he would have continued the same way.
But at some point, he became aware of the rumors surrounding Siara.
‘Did you hear about Siara? I heard that…’
‘She’s close with the Administrator and the High Priest.’
‘The debutantes who are supposed to debut together say that she seems carefree on the surface, but there’s something serious behind it.’
It turned out that Erin and her group were spreading strange rumors.
It had only been a week since the rumors spread by Duke Izbe were resolved.
Even those who had shown interest in Siara seemed to look at her suspiciously as if the smoke would rise from a chimney.
Even if he warned her to be careful, people would only think, ‘How great must Siara be for them to be trying to silence her?’ and react with opposition.
That’s why Dianel disguised himself as Dalton to figure out what was going on.
While assisting the Izbe noblewomen in uncovering Viscount Leven’s affairs, he learned that Dalton had an urgent matter to attend to in his territory.
Dalton, grateful to Dianel for his active assistance to his family, willingly lent him his identity.
‘You’re going to meet women in my place? I don’t know what’s going on, but I hope you consider marriage next year.’
Contrary to his innocent appearance, Dalton let out a playful laugh and promptly returned to his territory. Afterward, Dianel attended the ball where Siara was scheduled to appear and danced with her.
‘May I have this dance with you?’
Siara greeted him like a well-mannered noblewoman.
‘Of course.’
They danced the waltz together. During that time, Dianel observed Siara without any personal intentions.
However, he didn’t find any issues with her behavior. On the contrary, the more he watched, the more he realized how well-mannered Siara was.
As a result, the elderly nobles treated Siara very generously.
‘What a well-mannered young lady.’
‘I would like to introduce her to our son.’
The problem was with the young debutantes who were supposed to get along well with her.
They distanced themselves from Siara. They whispered about her. Even the young men around her couldn’t approach her because they could sense the atmosphere.
In the end, Siara mingled with those who were not her peers and left the ballroom. She smiled, but she couldn’t hide the shadow on her face.
Afterward, Dianel investigated the rumors related to Siara one by one. Most of them turned out to be baseless rumors. When he identified the source of the rumors, the culprit was Erin.
Jealous of the sudden attention Siara received as a noblewoman, Erin behaved in a way that would catch everyone’s attention, making it impossible to ignore her jealousy.
Erin instilled fear in the young men approaching Siara, prompting them to break their promises to her.
‘Oh, you made a promise with Siara? What will you do if it tarnishes your family’s reputation?’
‘I thought it was just a baseless rumor…’
‘You don’t know anything! Even if it’s a baseless rumor, you should be careful in social circles. You’re about to debut, and you won’t be alone forever.’
After that, Erin’s friends took action. Several people who had heard the same words became scared and broke their promise to Siara.
The young men lacked experience in social circles, and above all, they only wanted to be noticed by their peers. As a result, the number of young men trying to approach Siara gradually decreased.
Unaware of the reason, Siara became noticeably gloomy. Dancing alone at the debut ball was a very embarrassing situation.
Dianel thought Erin was up to no good, but regardless, this was an opportunity.
Dianel had always thought that he would eventually disappear. Before that happened, he wanted to spend some time with Siara. Just ordinary time, without any prejudice or pretenses.
Lost in thought, Dianel stood up.
The time for his appointment with Siara was approaching. Just then, the royal magician who had come to find Dianel greeted him politely.
“Your Highness, I will cast a transformation spell.”
Dianel nodded silently. The magician carefully cast the spell on Dianel.
In no time, he transformed into the appearance of Dalton.
* * *
The meeting with Dalton was scheduled to take place at a renowned bakery in the capital. It was said to be a very traditional meeting style.
Having never been on a date with a man since birth, I asked Madame Lulu to help me prepare and make me look beautiful.
Madame Lulu knew that I didn’t have a partner yet for my debut and did her best to dress me up.
‘Don’t worry, Miss Siara! I will make sure that anyone who sees you will fall for you at first sight!’
Whether it was because of her words or not, even during my journey here, a few passersby glanced at me with admiration. A young child passing by even ran up to me with cotton candy in hand and said, ‘Sister, you’re so pretty!’ before running away.
Children are honest, so it seemed like I had been dressed up nicely.
However, my nervousness didn’t dissipate, and I tightly clenched my hands.
‘Ugh, I’m so nervous.’
If I made a mistake here, I would truly have to enter the ballroom alone. Therid would be there, and he would surely tease me for the rest of my life.
‘I absolutely can’t let that happen!’
Therid had already found a partner to accompany him into the ballroom. I couldn’t fall behind either.
‘Dalton, I’m going to make my debut holding your hand, no matter what.’
With determination in my heart, I repeated my resolve.
Ding–
With a clear sound of a bell, Dalton revealed himself.
