CH 20

Sweet finger foods.

And even the envy and jealousy of the people around them.

It was a moment where one could feel alive.

But it was right at that moment.

The atmosphere, which had revolved around Soldika, began to change sensitively.

It started as soon as the main entrance of the Iris Hall opened.

* * *

I was escorted inside.

Dylan’s expression was similar to when he usually saw me.

I pondered over the words Dylan had said earlier.

“Madam, you arrived quickly.”

He immediately recognized me.

And just like usual, with my round glasses, he treated me the same way.

While everyone marveled at my appearance, touched by the hand of the salon, it was not the same for Dylan.

That fact was rather surprising.

He simply kissed the back of my hand and whispered softly.

“I’ve been waiting. There is filth here, so let’s go inside quickly.”

“But, the gardens of His Majesty are clean…”

“No, they’re not. Flies are buzzing.”

If Dylan says so, then it must be true.

The tension surrounding me and Dylan became taut.

I chuckled and looked around.

There, Soldika was present.

* * *

Inside the ballroom, Soldika, who had been enjoying the gazes directed at her, became flustered.

“Dylan!”

Was it because of the unfamiliar uneasiness she felt that the atmosphere changed upon Dylan’s arrival?

Soldika smiled as if she had drawn a smile on her lips and looked towards the entrance.

A tall and handsome man.

Beside him was a lady who appeared as his muse.

They weren’t clearly visible because people kept obstructing the view.

But at a glance, it seemed like she wasn’t her sister.

It seemed that her sister had been abandoned.

She looked like a fool.

The only one who could rescue the foolish Ishael was family.

Soldika stood still and tried to smile contemptuously.

But it was at that moment.

“Wow.”

“So that’s why Dylan has been as hard as a stone until now.”

What came into her view was a graceful man who could be presumed to be Dylan.

And an incredibly beautiful woman.

“Who is that lady?”

“She’s more beautiful than Soldika!”

Soldika’s refined eyebrows furrowed.

“She’s more beautiful than Lady Garnet, who is considered the most beautiful in the Empire.”

“Her hair is clearly a bright blonde. Doesn’t it resemble radiant gold?”

“She must have written her name in the imperial register to enter. I wonder who she is?”

Just as Soldika noticed the strange atmosphere, everyone around her was only talking about that woman.

The gazes that were directed at her were nowhere to be found.

Everyone was only looking at that woman.

What was being talked about between her and Dylan, what kind of conversation was taking place between them.

The feeling of inferiority towards that beautiful woman twisted inside me.

Soldika quietly bit her lip and muttered to herself.

“It’s nothing.”

She didn’t want to admit it.

But that woman was looking in this direction.

With a haughty attitude, as if looking down on herself.

As soon as she saw that, a sense of defeat rushed over her.

Then, Soldika’s lips tightened.

A deep smile formed on that woman’s lips.

The people around her became quiet, witnessing the change in her expression.

Even her demeanor was strangely noble.

She stole everyone’s attention away.

Soldika swept her hair back with the gaze of a bird of prey targeting its prey.

For a moment, she thought about having a conversation.

That lady, who looked like that, was not in the social register she knew.

No matter how beautiful she was, she was nothing more than a commoner.

“She is definitely different from the Lady aspirants who have cultivated manners for a long time to enter society like me.”

Soldika was unaware that her cheek had turned red with jealousy.

She simply walked closer to the woman whose name she didn’t even know.

* * *

I stood quietly against the wall, discreetly gazing in Soldika’s direction.

Others were murmuring and being cautious.

But Soldika, full of ambition and confidence, was different, as expected.

She was getting closer to me and Dylan.

“Ah.”

Finally, I meet you, my younger sister.

“Hello, Sir and Lady?”

She looked at me with a combative gaze.

‘She doesn’t even recognize me.’

No, my disguise skills with round glasses and messy hair are that good.

I remembered the slander Soldika used to spread before the regression.

She used me as a source of income.

She exploited me, made personal money, and married into the nobility, that very day.

‘She probably won’t have a chance to marry anyway, but whatever.’

“Soldika, I’m with Pedro-“

“Pedro got married? I’m asking out of genuine curiosity. What baseless confidence is that? Huh?”

Those words that she shot at me like poison arrows echoed in my mind for a moment.

I couldn’t afford to weaken.

As I stayed still, Soldika murmured with a frown.

“Why aren’t you answering? It means, “Which family’s lady are you?”

Soldika seemed anxious.

But that would be a big mistake for her.

Her weapon, her appearance, had long faded in front of me.

Look at her now.

“Why are you like this?”

“Aren’t you surprised, Lady?”

Everyone was on my side.

Soldika looked around in a bewildered expression.

The beautiful woman always held a position of favor with everyone.

Was it because of her beautiful appearance and “above average” eloquence?

She had always received better treatment compared to what she had.

But that was nothing but a sandcastle.

I casually extended my hand, calming the people down.

“I’m fine. Let’s have a conversation.”

I took on a benevolent position first.

Then, I stared at the bewildered Soldika.

“My name. You’ll be surprised when you hear it, won’t you?”