RAMHM Chapter 9

A Perilous Invitation? The Family's Glory!

Yona stared blankly up at her mistress before her. The head maid Marge was the same. Upright posture. A voice settled low. Her mistress was reprimanding a worker from the atelier as if she were a 'noblewoman' from a grand aristocratic house. She wasn't throwing a tantrum or being unreasonable as always—she was scolding him. Adrienne personally pointed out everything wrong as she moved before each dress corresponding to the invoice sheets.

"S-grade emerald, you say?"

"Y-yes, certainly..."

"Certainly?"

Though he'd already been corrected on three or four dresses, Matheus tried to deny it once more. Adrienne directly tapped with her finger the large greenish gem prominently attached to the chest area.

"So to your eyes, this appears to be an S-grade emerald."

"I-I merely transport them, so I don't know much about grades, my lady."

"Then allow me to inform you."

Adrienne bent her own body toward the man who was already half-bent at the waist, bringing her face close. When he met those sparkling light green eyes, Matheus flinched. He'd never seen a noblewoman's face this close before, much less a noblewoman's gaze filled with hostility.

"Look closely."

"Y-yes."

"The finest grade emerald is exactly this color."

Adrienne said this while pointing to her own eyes. When you cut and cut again a dark green emerald gemstone, then pour in special liquid while crafting it, the cleanest light green emerald with a blue-green tint is born—the finest grade. Matheus couldn't possibly not know this. He was the one who'd had someone remove them and switched them out for emeralds of the grade just below. And the original emeralds had definitely been very similar in color to the eyes of Countess Acacia.

"Y-yes..."

"This is truly unbelievable."

Adrienne sighed low and looked at the remaining dresses. Each was splendid and beautiful, but some of the attached gemstones were subtly different from the order form. Some dresses had gems attached all over that were closer to raw stones, completely unsightly.

When she quickly skimmed through the order forms, they were full of things hastily scrawled like 'the most expensive ones.' It was the kind of order people who don't know how to evaluate quality typically make. Or people who don't need to consider the price. Naturally, Bliea would be the former case. Not knowing better, she would have wanted the best thing, the most expensive thing.

But Adrienne was different—from a very young age, without a mother to look after such things, she'd had to maintain dignity as a duke's daughter. She'd followed around Bianca, her brother's fiancée, cultivating her eye, and developed the discernment to choose good items rationally. Despite the fact that the Pirreta ducal house was the wealthiest in the east, she didn't want to have money stolen from her out of ignorance.

"I-it seems I brought the wrong ones, my lady. I'll bring your dresses again, newly made, by this evening."

"That won't be necessary."

When the noblewoman quietly shook her head, Matheus exhaled a sigh of relief. Madame Leblais was a renowned designer in the capital, and noblewomen wanted to stay on good terms with her. If he called it an employee's mistake, she surely wouldn't complain to her. And as soon as he thought that, Countess Acacia smiled and said:

"Recalculate the price for only those with lower-grade gems attached and refund the difference, and I'll need to receive an apology directly from Madame."

"What?!"

His employer, Madame Leblais, absolutely does not know about this. That he's been switching gems on some noblewomen's dresses to make money under the table. But if this lady requests a refund from the atelier for this reason, it's only a matter of time before it reaches Madame Leblais's ears. With trembling hands clasped politely together, he pleaded.

"I-it's entirely my mistake, my lady. Please calm your anger and leave it to me! I'll speak directly to both the jeweler who supplied these gems and Madame, and bring you proper dresses again!"

Before Madame finds out, he needs to switch the gems again. Only that thought dominated Matheus's mind. There's still a chance to fix this. If only he can take these racks back with him and reattach the gems!

"No, I have no complaints about the dresses. It's just that the gems are being charged at prices far too unreasonable for their grade, so I merely wish to receive the difference back. It's a matter that would be resolved if you simply deposit it into my account, so there's no need to make it needlessly troublesome. That said, since it's a matter of trust, if Madame doesn't have time, a written apology will suffice."

"Marge, did you see that employee's expression earlier?"

"He looked like he was dying—. My lady, if you'd been dissatisfied with the dresses, you could have sent them back and received finer dresses as an apology, so why did you do that?"

Even while asking why, Marge's expression as she and Yona exchanged gleeful comments was incredibly bright. Perhaps because of my changed appearance, Marge, who'd occasionally drawn a line by calling me 'madam' repeatedly, had at some point started calling me 'my lady' and treating me warmly.

"No, if I wear dresses with the finest emeralds attached at my current status, I'll only attract unnecessary attention."

The employee's behavior was offensive, but the result was actually quite satisfactory. I languidly relaxed my body, which had been tense from trying to display dignity before the servants. Intoxicated by Bliea's healthy, untiring body, I'd done well. It felt like a dream. For a moment, I felt like myself from when I'd been healthy.

Does the Count's finances have enough money to spend that much on a debutante ball for an already-married countess? Though Grand Duchess Adrienne's face wasn't well known in society, wouldn't it be troublesome if by chance I stood out and met someone who knew my face? I can't avoid the debutante ball. It's highly unusual that Bliea, who doesn't seem to be of noble birth, became the wife of the elderly Count Acacia in a rushed manner without even having a debutante ball.

And I need to use this debutante season somehow to meet Novian.

"Right now, there's nothing good about attracting unnecessary attention. Just making my face known is sufficient."

"Huh~?"

"Why... why are you looking at me like that?"

Well, we thought you always liked attracting attention? Marge and Yona looked at my expression with exactly that look on their faces. They habitually tried to place their hands on my forehead. I turned my body slightly to avoid them. Having lived my whole life as a duke's daughter or grand duchess, being called 'my lady' and treated warmly felt somehow awkward. With an uncomfortable gaze, I looked at the dress racks brought inside and gestured with my chin.

"B-but looking closely, isn't the neckline a bit too revealing to wear to a debutante ball?"

"Yes, it's exactly your taste, my lady."

Yona answered brightly. Ah, so those dresses with the front and back mercilessly cut low were Bliea's doing. I held my head thinking about whether there might be a shawl to match them. But soon, recalling a few shawls from the dressing room that flashed through my mind, I envisioned a flashy, glittering appearance no different from an opera singer. I shook my head repeatedly.

"If I walk around dressed like that, far from not standing out, every eye will follow me."

"Didn't you say so yourself?"

Yona said with sparkling eyes. Just how many embarrassing words and actions had this woman Bliea committed? Besides the clothes, to meet Novian who only attends major parties, there was no debutante occasion as good as that victory ceremony I'd seen in the gossip magazine earlier.

"I need to go to the victory ceremony..."

As soon as those words fell, Marge made an expression of 'so you were dreaming of such things,' while Yona looked slightly troubled.

"Um, but... the victory ceremony is tomorrow. My lady..."

"Mm?"

How rushed. Still, I was fortunate to have dresses to wear.

"There's no... invitation."

"What?"

I need to meet Noah quickly! You're saying we didn't even receive an invitation? Is the family too humble to be invited? The invitations that were easy to receive as a grand duchess—it seems that's not the case here.

"What about the Count?"

"Pardon? The master has been in his study the whole time..."

"I should ask if there's any way."

My heart urgent, I stood up abruptly and left the drawing room. The victory ceremony is tomorrow already. Does Count Acacia have the power to obtain an invitation to such a major ceremony right away? As I climbed the stairs without hesitation, the old butler came running breathlessly from the entrance.

"My lady! My lady!! My lady, my lady!!"

When I stopped and looked down, Marge, with an excited expression, snatched the small paper in the butler's hand and waved it.

"Good heavens! It came! It came! The victory ceremony invitation has finally come to the Count Acacia estate! What an honor!"

"What...?"

An invitation from the Imperial family came at this hour of night? I'd thought I'd need to ask Count Acacia to pull some strings...

"You can attend the ball tomorrow right away! Good heavens, I've worked here for over 30 years, but this is the first time the Countess has been invited to such a grand ball!!"

At Marge's resounding voice, servants poured out in droves, everyone trying to get a look at the invitation. Unable to open it before me, Marge waved the unopened invitation with a flushed face, letting out cheers of joy. Like the Pied Piper leading the servants around, Marge's flushed face looked genuinely delighted. I looked down at the rejoicing servants and gripped the railing with trembling hands.

Could it be that Novian sent it?

After living in anguish for several days, I had finally reached the conclusion that I wanted to confirm directly with Novian as a last resort.

'Noah, I'm going to hear it directly from you.'

I won't believe anyone else's words. The time you and I shared isn't something that can easily crumble from a few words by strangers we're meeting for the first time. Right?