CH 1

Chapter 1.

“His Highness has ordered you to attend the ball at the Imperial City today,” A sullen middle-aged woman dressed in fine tailoring tells Eleonora, the owner of the house, without a single greeting as soon as she entered the small single-story brick house.

Eleonora was the eldest daughter of the Duchy of Purpleus, which had been around since before the founding of the Willides Empire. She was a radiantly beautiful woman with wavy blonde hair and purple eyes.

As was often the case, her stepmother, who was jealous of her beauty, had sent her to live in a small, shabby mansion alone. Incidentally, this mansion was built in the past to quarantine those members of the duke’s family who were afflicted with contagious and incurable diseases.

In addition to the old and majestic main building, the townhouse of the Duke of Purpleas in the imperial capital, there are two small annexes, old and new, but Eleonora was assigned that small detached house by her stepmother. A commuter servant took care of everything and a private tutor was provided.

When Eleonora heard that she had to go to the ball, she put her hand to her cheek and tilted her head in annoyance.

“… So?”

The sullen maid from the main building was momentarily thrown off by the strange sexiness emanating from Eleonora, who had whispered in a low voice, but with a small cough, she instructed the young maidservants who had been brought along with her,

“Get ready to go. Get Lady Eleonora ready quickly.”

Then he turned again to Eleonora.

“Please wait quietly in the hall of the main building when you have finished your preparations. Please don’t make the mistake of keeping the masters waiting.”

If someone outside the house were to see a mere servant, albeit a senior servant, behaving in such an insolent manner to the Duchess, they would be very surprised. However, to Eleonora, that had been quite normal. Therefore, it had not bothered her at all.

The dress that was prepared was a bright red one with a flamboyantly wide skirt that would be stark and vulgar if it were an ordinary daughter of a courtesan. That may have been part of the harassment, but when Eleonora wore it, her beauty and presence were enhanced. Once she had finished getting ready, she headed to the main building alone and waited in the hall for her father, her stepmother, and her half-sister alone.

After a while, her half-sister Sophia came down from the main staircase, looking annoyed, and when she saw Eleonora, she threw her fan at her. However, Eleonora didn’t budge a bit and caught the fan in her hand.

“Hey, oh, why are you going to the ball, too?”

“………”

Eleonora, who had been severely disciplined not to speak more than necessary, pondered on how to respond.

“Oh dear. I didn’t expect to go to the castle today wearing such a beautiful white coat. I don’t like being told this now.”

If Eleonora did not think carefully about her words, they would come out of her mouth with a very distinctive accent, a habit from her past life.

Yes, Eleonora had memories of her previous life.

She had vivid memories of her previous life from the time she had been born. But she didn’t want her new parents to worry about her, so she acted as a baby would as much as possible. In spite of all of her efforts, she became known as a strange baby and disgusted her parents and her nanny. Nevertheless, she had lived in the main building until her mother’s death. However, her parents were never directly involved in raising her. That was quite normal for the upper class.

His mother died before she was two years old, and was soon greeted by her father’s second wife. This was her current stepmother, Anna. Much like the former wife, the beautiful Eleonora was, unsurprisingly, ill-treated and was soon cast out into a small house.

Still, she was the eldest daughter of the duke’s family. To ensure that she would not bring shame upon her family name, when it was time for her to be given away as a bride, she was forced to learn not only manners and her studies with a tutor but also, dancing, embroidery, and musical instruments. These were all skills required by someone of her status.

However, only her language could not be corrected. She could not help but have an accent. The first time she had said a word was at one years old. It was only one word, so they had no suspicions, but when it came to two and three-word sentences, her accent could no longer be hidden.

It was those who were assigned to be her caretakers were taken aback. The young duchess had said, “I’m not hungry. Do you want some?”

If she said something like that, her caretakers might not only lose their pay, but also their jobs.

The reason why her accent was there in the first place had been thoroughly investigated, but none of the servants belonging to the Duke’s family spoke the language with that countryside accent. In the end, the cause remained unknown, but measures had to be taken.

So, the maid servants and teachers made sure to train the caretakers to think of what sentences they were going to say in their heads before they spoke, and then train them to repeat them out loud.

Thanks to this training, they never uttered a word with an accent, even at a tea party. And because she tried her best not to speak, Eleonora had come to be called the quiet beauty of the Duke’s house.

“Good grief. It was the Emperor’s Ball and all the delicacies of the country are rumored to be served at the Emperor’s Ball. It’s tough to hold back when you’re faced with so much good food. I want to eat a lot of food. It’s not easy being a lord’s daughter, I tell you.”

Eleonora sighed and gave a melancholic look, but in reality, she was mean and only thought about cooking.