CH 85

I had followed Rosalind to the balcony and had come back but not one person had said a word to me. 

Most people kept giving me an evil leer so I began to wander around the hall feeling embarrassed. 

‘Where did Dietrich go?’

I couldn’t see Dietrich or Charlotte anywhere. 

When the band started playing at a fast tempo that was popular these days, the people began to dance in groups.

‘I have to go to the corner.’

I’d rather sit on the sofa prepared at the corner of the hall and rest but because of the people taking up the center space, I couldn’t cross to the other side. 

The train of the dresses swaying in circles created a colorful ring on the floor. 

‘Why isn’t anyone eating?’ 

The tables set up everywhere were filled with mouth-watering finger foods.

“Uhmm…”

The canapes were topped with smoked salmon along with cheese on crackers and the fruits were generously glazed with dried chocolate showing off their luster under the glamorous chandelier.

‘I can just eat them then.’

I picked up a canape, guessing that it was set up to be eaten, however, a middle-aged woman who had kept glancing at me approached and started yelling at me. 

“Lady Anissa! It is customary to eat the finger food prepared after dancing. The first dance hasn’t even ended yet!”

Her fierce look was enough to kill any thoughts of eating. 

She reminded me of a strict teacher that I quickly chewed and swallowed the canape I placed in my mouth. 

“A person is talking right now and yet you’re eating food?”

‘I mean, I’ve already put them in my mouth, so what should have I done?’

I hurriedly opened my mouth to utter an excuse.

“Ah. I see. So that was why nobody was eating them. I didn’t know.”

“Goodness. Does the Princess of the Grand Duchy not even know this basic common sense? You can’t even be called a lady.”

I pouted my lips at the biting expression on the woman’s face. It was because she reminded me of my long-ago memories. 

‘You’re a girl, so why are you like this?’

She had similar eyes to my mother, who belittled me who was clumsy in every way, compared to my older sister who was obedient and gentle in words and actions. I felt a little bitter as bits of the finger food fell from the prepared table.

Then she raised her voice again in a debilitating manner.

“Princess!”

“......Yes?”

“Even if you are the younger sister of Grand Duke Lagrange, I am still Countess Hilbert, the older sister of Duchess Dona Euclid.” 

I didn’t even know where in the world the Hilbert territory was located.

‘I think it was mentioned briefly in ‘The Rose Wars of Men.’’

However, judging from the woman’s authority, she seemed to come from an influential family. I had no other choice but to keep silent and listen to her sudden burst of family pride. 

“Is the young princess, who hasn’t even made her debut yet, disregarding my words, who is a Countess?” 

“Pardon? N-no, I’m not disregarding—” 

I hurriedly waved my hands to prevent things from escalating. 

I mean, why was she so angry when I’ve kept my distance after she told me not to eat them? 

‘Marilyn’s private lessons must have not been enough.’

Although Marilyn was a noble, she came from a humble baronial family, moreover, she wasn’t a noble from the capital.

However, it seemed that the reason why this woman was attacking me was not only because I didn’t know the etiquette.

“I heard you blackmailed Miss Charlotte Vallandia with the power of the grand duchy and took her necklace.”

“Pardon?”

“You’re correct, Countess Hilbert. I also heard about that incident.”

The man standing on the right side of the woman agreed and nodded his head. Even if the story was twisted, how could it be twisted like this?

I opened my mouth in astonishment but promptly closed it again. The woman’s words, which gained support from the people around, started to get longer and longer. 

“These Northerners! They could have just enjoyed themselves on their own, why do they have to come to the capital?”

‘Do you think we came here because we wanted to?’

It would be trouble if the emperor didn’t acknowledge the succession of Lagrange on the pretext that I had talked back to the countess. 

‘Just only until we get approval for Dietrich to succeed the title.’

I gritted my teeth and stared at the countess silently.

“Dorothea, what’s the matter?”

Amid the gathering of the crowd, a petite middle-aged woman approached the Countess.

‘Ah……’

I forgot about the current situation and stared at her.

No one told me who she was, but I recognized her at one glance.

‘Didn’t she say earlier that she was Duchess Dona Euclid’s elder sister?’

Even though I thought I had no feelings of spite towards her but still I felt a tingling sensation in my heart. Did my body remember that I was abandoned?

I stared vacantly at my biological mother who couldn’t recognize that I was ‘Anissa’ then bowed my head.

“Greetings. I am Anissa Lagrange. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Duchess Euclid.”

“Hmm.”

She hadn’t changed much from what I remembered about her.

The pale brown skin tone, the blue eyes like the summer sky, and the small, round face gave the impression of a maiden. 

“I did hear from Charlotte. You helped her, didn’t you?”

Dona Euclid didn’t show any hostility towards me contrary to my expectations. I looked at her with a good-natured countenance and bit my lips tightly. 

“My sister seemed to have misunderstood Charl’s story. Please don’t mind it too much, Princess.”

“Dona, what are you saying? Charl definitely said so. That she lost the holy relic.”

“Yes, but she didn’t say that this young lady blackmailed her.” 

“Charl is very kind so would she actually tell the true story? It’s obvious as this is what Lagrange’s do.”

Dorothea raised her upper lips and made invidious remarks like a person with close ties to the Euclid family. 

“Princess, you should return Charl’s necklace while I’m being nice –” 

“What are you going to do if it isn’t returned?” 

I wasn’t the one who responded to the thorny threats made against me. I turned around, startled at the long shadow that fell over my head.

“D-Duke.”

“Your Grace.”

“What?”

“I just came back from officially receiving the approval to succeed as the Grand Duke. Get my title right, Dorothea Hilbert.”

Like me, Dietrich shouldn’t have encountered a noble from the capital, however, he called her name and ordered her with one of his hands inside one of his pockets. 

Dorothea’s face lost color in an instant.

Dietrich wasn’t even particularly threatening, but she looked back at her younger sister while trembling in fear.”

“Duke, I was just about to apologize for the mistake my younger sister has done to the princess.” 

“If you don’t want to see one of your son’s arms fly in the next round, don’t interfere.”

“You insolent!”

Dona Euclid, as if shocked by Dietrich’s words, burst into forced laughter. 

He placed a hand on my shoulder completely ignoring her reaction. 

“Countess, I remember telling you to finish your words.” 

“The first one who made a mistake was your sister, isn’t that right? Your Grace?”

Dorothea cried as if she couldn’t bear the situation wherein she had to use formal speech when speaking to Dietrich. 

“Everyone already knows that Miss Charlotte’s necklace was stolen.”

“Are we talking about that damn necklace again?”

Dietrich ground his teeth in annoyance.

“That’s right! Why are you northerners coveting the holy relic of the sun god Hera?” 

‘A holy relic that doesn’t even look like a star, it’d be better to throw it away.’

I made up my mind to buy and sell any holy relics of Hera that I chanced upon. 

“A necklace blessed by a southern god is akin to rubbish with no meaning in Lagrange.”

“If that is so, then why?”

“Annissa only helped Charlotte Vallandia who was in need.”

Everyone was staggered at Dietrich’s words.

“That’s a lie, right?”

“To say that Lagrange helps others, isn’t that ridiculous?”

At this point, I was wondering if I was being bullied throughout the whole country.

What’s the point of having power and wealth?

When people detest us this much.

I got a little sad and tightly held Dietrich’s hand who was standing beside me. He held my hand and squeezed, then he glanced at the other side. 

“Charlotte Vallandia.”

At the sudden call of her name, Charlotte, who stood a short distance from Dietrich, was startled and turned to look at us. 

It was as if she just came down from dancing, her flushed cheeks were lovely.

“....Oh, um? Are you calling me?”

“That’s right. You explain.”

However, Dietrich’s eyes looking at her were not only indifferent, but they were also chilly. 

“I don’t know why you’re angry at me.” 

She shrugged her shoulders with a slightly embarrassed smile. 

‘When will their romance start?’

“Aren’t you the cause of this problem?”

Dietrich pressed her again when she didn’t answer. Perhaps feeling sorry for Charlotte being cornered, the people came to defend her.

“Why are you angry at Charlotte, Your Grace? She is the saint who will be the salvation of the North.”

I was taken aback by the woman’s words and glanced at Dietrich’s countenance. For the desolate North meant Dietrich himself. 

‘It was also an opportunity for Dietrich to fall in love with Charl.’

“Salvation?”

But he just smiled crookedly, finding it absurd. 

“I don’t need your salvation or whatever, so tell them whether Anissa really extorted your necklace or not, Vallandia.” 

In truth, I had never told Dietrich the details of how I came into possession of Charlotte’s necklace.

‘What if I did steal the necklace? What’s the point of you doing that?’ 

Without loosening the grip he had on my hand, he added. 

“Anissa is not the kind of girl who would covet your necklace for no reason.”

“B-but…”

At Dietrich’s firm words, Charlotte hesitated and crammed her lips together. After a while, she finally opened her mouth.