Chapter 44

‘The day of the Garden Party has finally come.’

Annette sat in front of the dressing table and stared blankly into the mirror. Tina’s dress, which was lying in one corner of the room, reflected on the clean mirror surface. The gorgeous skirt, embroidered with sparkling silver threads on a pure white background, fit together with the blue-violet colored bodice. The diamond necklace, which would adorn her collarbone, shone like a snowflake next to it. They were gorgeous and beautiful things that could make any woman’s heart beat.

But Annette sat in front of the dressing table with a pale face like a lifeless doll. She was being dressed up by the maids. Because of their skills, the woman’s face in the mirror became brighter and more beautiful. However, Annette’s heart, looking at this, had completely withered.

‘Raphael probably… wouldn’t go with me.’

In the end, they didn’t reconcile at all. This time, Annette made no effort to mend their relationship. She neither smiled at Raphael nor spoke to him first and acted as if nothing had happened. She had finally realised that it was all a futile effort.

Now whenever she reached out to him, Raphael did not shake her hand off. But sadly, that was all he did. He never made any efforts from his side. He never held Annette’s hand or reached out to her first. And if Annette wanted to know more about him, he would coldly push her away. As if saying that this was the closest that she was allowed to be with him.

‘It’s okay. I can go to the party alone.’

Annette closed her eyes and made up her mind. For the first time in her life, she had been so excited to attend a party. It was all because she was going to attend the party together with Raphael. Now that all her expectations were smashed, it was heartbreaking, but that also didn’t mean she couldn’t go to the party on her own. Regardless of whether Raphael went with her or not, this party was a must-attend event.

Annette had planned to confront Celestine Keers there to see if she was the one who framed her. In fact, considering Annette’s purpose, it was better to go alone than with Raphael. This way, it would be much easier to move around and achieve her purpose efficiently.

Just in time, the maids finished applying a light rose-colored rouge on Annette’s lips and then gave her warm compliments. It meant that all the preparations were finally complete.

“You look really beautiful, ma’am.”

“Maybe you’ll be the most beautiful woman at the party.”

“Thank you.”

Annette smiled as she looked at her face in the mirror. The woman with a small face, big eyes, bright cheeks, and moist lips looked beautiful even to herself. With a familiar smile, the woman’s face seemed happy at first glance.

It would be okay to be alone. It has always been like that anyway.

* * *

Marquis Eloque’s Garden Party was still very aesthetic this year. Beautiful lights were lit all over the garden covered in a dim darkness. Butterfly-shaped lanterns were lit on top of many branches, and lotus-shaped lanterns were lit on top of ponds and water basins, each giving off a subtle light. On top of that, the roses were in full bloom in the garden and gave off a deep fragrance, adding to the night’s atmosphere.

“Lady Annette! No, you’re Marchioness of Carnesis now. I enjoyed your wedding. It was so beautiful! Welcome to the world of the married.”

Marchioness Eloque welcomed Annette as the host of the party. Being fifteen years older than Annette, she looked quite mild-mannered. Annette thanked her for the invitation and politely praised her for her thoughtfulness. However, Annette’s eyes carefully examined Marchioness Eloque’s face.

Fortunately, there was no indication of any type of resistance or malice on her face. After seeing this, Annette was relieved and calmed down her heart.

‘As expected, people don’t know about my framed charges. The ‘silence’ is really thorough.’

The whole matter was silenced because of the cooperation between the Duke of Bavaria and the royal family. Even the victim, Celestine Keers, agreed to protect her honor. So the silence was bound to be perfect. If this thing leaked out, both Annette and Celestine would get hurt.

Annette’s handling of the whole matter was also excellent. It was a wise choice on her part to act as if she had fallen in love with Raphael at her wedding. She couldn’t do that in her previous life, so people gossiped about it all the time. Why did she, the most perfect candidate for the crown princess, suddenly marry Raphael? Maybe there was some kind of flaw. Thanks to this, there were many rumors speculating whether she was infertile or had a promiscuous private life.

However, people would easily accept the story of Annette falling in love with another man and not becoming the Crown Princess because of it. As long as the Crown Prince Ludwig did not publicly express his dissatisfaction with this matter, there was no particular factor that could cause problems for her in the social circles. Thanks to this, Annette was able to confidently come to the party which Celestine was going to attend.

‘I wish Raphael had come with me.’

Annette smiled bitterly as she recalled the matching outfits that they had ordered from Tina’s boutique. The Raphael she knew, mainly enjoyed wearing cold and dark colors. He preferred dark cobalt blue, navy blue, black, and dark burgundy colors. If he wore the white tailored coat this time, his beautiful chiselled face would have literally shined brightly like a lantern.

But now these kinds of thoughts were useless. Annette looked around the party hall, trying to erase Raphael’s thoughts from her mind. To prevent Celestine from avoiding her, she deliberately waited until the last minute to declare her attendance.

The dress that Celestine was supposed to wear today, was a fresh lemon yellow in color. So, if she arrived at the party, she would stand out in the dark green garden. However, there was no sign of Celestine’s figure anywhere.

‘I guess she’s going to be a little late.’

The higher the status of the lady, the later she appeared at a party. Although Celestine was still just ‘the daughter of Marquis Keers’, her case was little special. It was because she was going to become the Crown Princess. Now the treatment that she would get, would be somewhere in the middle of Lady Keers and the Crown Princess. Therefore, the chances of her coming a little late were high.

Annette slowly walked around the party to avoid making it seem that she was waiting for Celestine.  She greeted all the familiar faces. Fortunately, most of the nobles still had favorable opinions about Annette. It was all because they didn’t know about her framed charges and the reason for her suddenly planned marriage.

Instead of gossiping about her behind her back, they greeted her with big smiles and congratulated her on her wedding. They  praised how perfect her wedding was and how beautiful the bride and groom looked that day. It was going well so far, but suddenly a very dreadful question popped out.

“But where is your husband ? Didn’t he come with you today?”

Their curious eyes gleamed darkly at Annette, who appeared alone. With a bright smile on her face, Annette answered the question casually.

“Ah yes. Actually, we were going to come together, but… there were some issues with the mine. As you know, his mining business is very busy these days. It would have been nice if we could attend the party together.”

At times like this, she knew she had to answer naturally. The curious audience would not hesitate to throw her to the wolves, so she didn’t give them what they wanted. Fortunately, Annette’s decision worked well, again this time. Those who asked the question just nodded with a half-disappointed and half-convinced expressions.

Just when Annette, who had passed the crisis safely, was about to leave, someone suddenly shouted her name out loud. Because of this, several gazes again fell on her.

“Oh, Marchioness of Carnesis! I just saw you a few days ago, and now, here we meet again!! It’s so nice to meet you!!!”

It was Diana McClaire who called Annette. The daughter of Count McClaire was Celestine Keers’ best friend and owned a fairly large business venture. She had met her the other day when she had gone to eat pork roast with Raphael and they even had a little altercation. Maybe that was why Diana approached her like this, bringing everyone’s attention to her. It seemed she was again looking for a fight.

Annette stopped walking and waited in a courtly manner for Diana to approach her. Now, she wasn’t afraid of Diana. Annette, in fact, had already thought of this in her mind.

‘Diana’s presence certainly confirms that Celestine Keers would come to this party.’

That said, it was rare for someone to revoke their confirmation of attendance on the same day of a party. Since it was a basic courtesy to the party organizer. Perhaps that’s why Diana’s face, seeing Annette, shone with an extraordinary joy.

“Seeing that you attended this party, you must have heard that my friend Lady Celestine is also coming! Oh my, did you come here to congratulate her on her coronation in advance? How generous of you! After all, you were also a talented candidate that once competed for the same position with Celestine.”

Annette’s eyes trembled a little at her provocative words. Diana seemed to believe that Annette had a lingering regret of not becoming the Crown Princess. No, she wanted everyone to believe that. Last time she did the same before Raphael and laughed it off as if it was not a big deal and now again, she came at her in this way.

Annette knew why Diana kept coming at her like this. Annette looked at Diana with some sympathy.

‘Actually, she’s the one who’s envious of Celestine.’

Diana could quickly fall in love with men she didn’t even know. In other words, Diana was a person full of delusions and fantasies. What she liked was actually not the men themselves, but her own fantasies. How attractive would be the position of a Crown Princess in the eyes of Diana, who had so many delusions?

Ludwig was a good-looking man with long silver hair. So, to Diana, he must have looked like a prince from some fairytale. In fact, there were even rumors that Diana wrote a love letter to Ludwig when she was young.

Perhaps she was very envious of her best friend, who would soon become the Crown Princess. However, harboring jealousy and envy towards your own best friend was morally unacceptable.

‘So you’re trying to attack me to defend your conscience by projecting yourself onto me.’

In short, Diana’s hostility towards Annette was now her own jealousy towards her friend. She tried to relieve her guilt by attacking Annette after projecting herself onto her. So, Annette had no reason to be hurt by Diana’s childish hostility. It wasn’t like she couldn’t understand Diana’s feelings. But, Annette had no intention of playing the role of a punching bag for someone else.