130. Immoral Ball

Inside Mera’s dress shop.

“W-w-welcome. I-I’m sorry for the commotion just now.”

Despite the small disturbance, I followed Mera’s guidance into the dress shop.

I had thought this since the shop was located in the outskirts, but even for a newly opened business, it looked painfully empty.

Of course, judging by the appearance of passersby, they probably couldn’t afford such luxury items, so it was understandable.

“Sister Mera, is business going well? Looks like we’re your first customers today?”

“Y-yes…… first customers.”

Mera shyly raised one finger to indicate “1.”

“First customers…… in a week.”

“Tsk, if business is this bad, why be so picky? You’ll go bankrupt anyway even if you don’t make my dress!”

The woman who had been arguing at the front of the shop and the man standing next to her naturally followed us in when Ann and I entered. By this point, I was curious about their situation.

“When every single customer matters, why were you refusing to serve that young lady?”

“Ah, this person is……”

Ann seemed about to say “the lady of the Inkheart grand ducal family,” but glanced at the other customers and tactfully avoided it.

She lowered her voice and explained Georgiana’s elopement situation.

“……That’s what happened. With Baron Rockfield’s influence, he could easily ruin a small shop like this.”

Though Ann had lowered her voice, Georgiana apparently heard and snapped:

“I’m willing to abandon my family to get married! I’ll take responsibility for my own life! If you’re thinking of persuading me to come to my senses and go home, don’t even dream of it!”

“Lady Georgiana.”

I took both of Georgiana’s hands in mine. She flinched in surprise. Ann had the same reaction.

“I’m deeply moved by your noble love.”

“M-my lady?”

“Love. Yes, love is truly precious. Nothing material can compare to love!”

“W-what are you suddenly talking about!”

“Lady Georgiana, you want to get married even if your father continues to oppose it, right? You want to receive the temple’s blessing and have a proper wedding ceremony like everyone else. Isn’t that so?”

“Well…… yes, but……”

“Then come to the North, Lady Georgiana. Everything you dream of is in the North.”

“What? Our North?”

Ann looked at me as if I were speaking nonsense, considering she had left her homeland precisely because it lacked romance.

But my expression of emotional appeal had already reached its peak.

“In Inkheart, any love can be permitted. As long as you love each other, the Grand Duke’s family will make couples out of lovers who couldn’t get permission. Yes, Lady Georgiana. Come to the North! To our land! Start your new life there with your lover! I will give you my blessing!”

“My lady, you’re talking about the North, right?”

“I-is the North really such a good place? I heard it was just a region of snow and mountains!”

Georgiana, in her urgent situation, was tempted and wavering.

“Of course, our North is a city of love for couples. When it comes to weddings, it’s our North!”

Since when? Starting right now.

A sanctuary for unauthorized lovers’ marriages! Thus, Inkheart—a city whose name alone sounds romantic! A land perfect for weddings! And consequently, a thriving wedding industry and my diamonds selling like hotcakes!

This was it. The business I would focus on from now on.

I revealed to Georgiana that I was the Inkheart Grand Duchess, then promised that if she came to the North to marry, I would approve her marriage in the name of the Inkheart grand ducal family.

The temples in the North, unlike those in the capital that were under Baron Rockfield’s influence, would bless Georgiana’s marriage.

Since Georgiana was the daughter of a baronial family, her marriage didn’t need to be recorded on the Golden Plate or anything like that, so she didn’t necessarily need the approval of the capital’s Great Temple like Darius and I did.

“……We were planning to make a fresh start somewhere else since we can’t stay here because of my father. Alright! We’ll go to the North!”

“C-c-congratulations……”

“Mera, I have a proposal for you too.”

I made the same proposal to Mera, who had just become independent from Bertang’s dress shop and was in a precarious financial situation, as I had made to Bertang.

I suggested she open a shop in the North, with me providing the shop space and covering the interior costs.

“W-while the offer to cover the rent is certainly attractive…… as a designer, I should really establish myself in the capital……”

“Next to your dress shop will be a jewelry store, and customers who come to buy engagement rings will naturally visit your shop afterward. I plan to fully establish the wedding industry in the North. This is your opportunity to develop your specialty as a wedding dress designer.”

I could see Mera’s eyes spinning as she seemed easily persuaded. Georgiana, who had decided to move to the North, added the final push.

“Mera, I really want to wear a wedding dress made by you. You’re skilled, after all!”

“D-d-do I really deserve such a good opportunity?”

And so, the first steps of the North’s wedding industry began, securing both a designer and a customer base.

‘Even if you try to open a branch in the North later, Bertang, there won’t be any space left by then!’

* * *

A hazy mist filled the room. The salon was full of debauchery and pleasure. Men and women with glazed eyes held smoking pipes, and in one corner, a drunken doctor with a flushed face was drawing blood.

“One bloodletting changes your body! To remove the bad, bloodletting is best……”

Lilith gladly observed the scenery created by these foolish people. It was precisely to obtain this sight that Lilith had endured separation from her spirit body and headed to the capital.

“I feel younger when I’m with you.”

“What are you saying? Your Majesty is still robust.”

This old man, who seemed to be just a shell of his former self, was controlling the world simply because he sat on the imperial throne.

Lilith, who had been soothing the emperor, entered a small room attached to the salon. The face of Crowley, who was in the North, was reflected in a crystal ball placed on the table.

“How is the spirit body?”

Crowley in the crystal ball answered.

「Growing healthily. The physical body is almost complete. Ah, there was one instance of an intense reaction, though.」

“Intense reaction? This concerns the spirit body. I can’t overlook even the smallest detail.”

「When Marquis Pochet’s younger daughter came to the North, the spirit body called out “Caitlyn” and exhibited quite malicious emotions. Enough to give me chills. But isn’t that a good thing?」

Caitlyn? Lilith momentarily searched her memory at the appearance of this unimportant figure. Anette Inkheart’s younger sister. From the Pochet family in the South.

“Ah.”

Lilith’s lips curled up with amusement as the memory finally connected.

“Come to think of it, in the South…… we have something we need to retrieve.”

In the South, there was a chalice that brought abundance.

* * *

“Lady Rozanna has been appearing at balls frequently these days? Even though His Majesty isn’t here.”

A noblewoman fluttering her fan spoke to the person next to her.

Before the dance music began, people gathered at the ball were chatting with their acquaintances. As usual in such gatherings, the conversation drifted to gossip and rumors about figures in high society.

“She’s working hard to restore her pride. Look at how straight she holds her back despite being abandoned by His Majesty. Anyone can see she’s showing off that she’s fine.”

“Lady Rozanna, abandoned? But she’s His Majesty’s royal mistress!”

Someone gasped.

“Even a beauty who dominated an era eventually fades. His Majesty is completely infatuated with a new mistress these days. They say he’s so captivated by this young courtesan that he’s neglecting state affairs.”

“A courtesan…… Oh my, a commoner? Goodness. Even for an affair, there should be standards.”

“That’s why we can’t even catch a glimpse of this person His Majesty is so infatuated with. I understand keeping someone to warm your bed, but who would bring a courtesan as a partner to social events?”

“I heard that this courtesan His Majesty cherishes has a very innocent face despite her occupation. Blonde hair and fair skin. They say looking at her face, you’d never think she was a temptress who steals other women’s husbands.”

“His Majesty really… Lady Rozanna may be his mistress, but she’s been by His Majesty’s side for ten years. By that point, there should be some affection……”

The emperor was not a faithful husband to the empress, and his romantic entanglements had been complicated throughout his reign.

Among these relationships, the position of royal mistress was the only official status guaranteed as a lover.

The conversation now shifted to how beautiful Lady Rozanna was when she first debuted in society, and how much she had disrespected the empress during the height of the emperor’s infatuation with her.

After much reminiscing, people ultimately concluded that “Lady Rozanna deserves her current situation.”

After all, even an official mistress is still just an affair partner. The most pitiful person was the empress, who couldn’t openly have affairs like her husband.

The conversation that started with Lady Rozanna moved on to new celebrities.

“Will the grand ducal couple attend the ball today?”

If there’s a fading beauty, there must also be a rising one. High society always adored beautiful women, especially if they were new faces.

In this regard, the new Inkheart Grand Duchess, Anette Inkheart, who had recently appeared in society, met all the requirements.

She was beautiful, she was new, and she even possessed noble status.

Despite rumors of the North being poor, she seemed quite wealthy.

“I was surprised when I saw the Inkheart Grand Duchess this time. They say she’s a daughter of the Pochet family, but did that family have another daughter besides Caitlyn? Why didn’t I know about her before?”

“My goodness, if it were me, I would have sent Caitlyn to marry into Inkheart and put the Grand Duchess forward as a crown prince’s bride candidate! The two can’t even be compared!”

The new clothes the Inkheart Grand Duchess had ordered quickly led fashion trends, riding on people’s interest, and she soon became an object of envy.

The Inkheart grand ducal couple, whose marriage had not even been known in the capital due to their obscurity, gradually established their presence by attending various social gatherings, both large and small.

“But the Grand Duchess doesn’t seem to like her own sister?”

“She consistently attends gatherings with her husband but never brings her sister, even though this is precisely when she should be promoting her sister as a candidate for the crown prince’s bride.”

“Exactly. I thought Inkheart would naturally support Pochet, as blood is thicker than water.”

“Is there a possibility they might change their supported candidate before the selection?”

“If they do change…… since Inkheart is a Grand Duke’s family, this could really shift the balance……”

“Their Highnesses, the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Inkheart!”

At the sound of trumpets, all eyes in the party turned toward the entrance. The much-talked-about Inkheart couple was making their entrance.

* * *

The Inkheart Grand Duchess, known for her good fashion sense, was laughing intimately with the Grand Duke, clearly enjoying herself.

People were curious about the conversation between these two noble individuals but didn’t dare approach close enough to eavesdrop, so they just glanced at them from a distance.

But people wouldn’t know that Darius was burning with jealousy as he watched his wife, her eyes sparkling with excitement as she expressed her anticipation about the crown prince.

“His Highness the crown prince will attend the ball today. I’m so, so excited!”

If Darius had known Anette was this interested in the crown prince, he would never have attended this ball. He inwardly gritted his teeth.

Despite coming to the capital for the crown prince’s bride selection, this would be Anette’s first time seeing the crown prince.

The crown prince—even his title sounded like something from a romance fantasy.

Wasn’t the crown prince, along with the Northern Grand Duke, one of the top occupations for male protagonists in romance fantasy? The department head and division chief of the romance fantasy world.

Just as it was an unwritten rule for Northern Grand Dukes to have jet-black hair and a cold face but a warm heart for their women, crown princes also had certain conditions.

If Northern Grand Dukes had black hair, crown princes had blonde hair; if Northern Grand Dukes were cold, crown princes boasted excellent social skills.

‘Sometimes there are variations where they appear bright and cheerful on the outside but are rotten inside!’

In any case, the crown prince character—portrayed with softer hands than the Northern Grand Duke who always carried a sword, sometimes wearing gloves due to his obsessively clean nature, and spending more time reading books than the Northern Grand Duke!

“Wow, the crown prince!”

Grab! Anette seized Darius’s shoulder. Her eyes were sparkling excessively.

‘My goodness…… My goodness……! It’s been so long since this transmigration story has featured a proper romance fantasy element!’

“What does His Highness the crown prince look like? He has blonde hair, right? A hairstyle with bangs and length that slightly covers his ears! And he cherishes his tea time amid his busy schedule, and sometimes darkens his eyes and says, ‘The marquis family is getting out of line, perhaps I should clean them up this time……’ That kind of person, right?”

This time, this novel wouldn’t betray her expectations!

“People’s faces all look the same. Just ordinary people with eyes, nose, and mouth. There’s nothing special about the crown prince either.”

“That can’t be! Seeing how desperately Caitlyn clings to him, he must be handsome!”

Anette excitedly squealed “kyaa kyaa.” Finding something interesting after growing tired of dress fittings was a welcome change.

“Ah, really. Really! I can’t wait to see him!”

Because of this, Anette failed to notice.

Her husband’s tremendous jealousy as he was pushed down the rankings by the crown prince’s appearance.

“Do you want to see the crown prince that badly, Anette?”

Darius smiled mischievously.

“Of course! When will he make his entrance?”

“Then I won’t let you see him.”

“What?”

Darius grabbed Anette’s slender wrist and led her to a balcony with drawn curtains.

Swoosh, her voluminous dress swirled like it was dancing, and everyone saw the Grand Duke practically carrying the Grand Duchess to the balcony.

“Kyaa!”

That was the last glimpse of the Grand Duchess that day. As the ball progressed late into the night, people never again saw the lively and cheerful Grand Duchess in the ballroom. Just as Darius had promised.

“Oh my.”

“How impatient they are, not enjoying the ball a bit longer.”

“It seems there will be no chance to dance with the Inkheart Grand Duchess today. Many young men will be disappointed.”

“The Grand Duke, really—this isn’t their first ball, yet he monopolizes his wife every time.”

“How wonderful for them. They probably can’t even hear what others are saying.”

Hohoho, the ladies laughed knowingly as they opened their fans.

* * *

Swoosh.

“Give me your dance card.”

Darius set Anette down on the sofa as the balcony curtains closed again. Anette’s face had turned bright red.

“Do you know what everyone will think if we stay here with the curtains drawn?”

The dance music from the ballroom could be heard through the curtains.

The balcony of the ballroom doubled as a simple resting area.

To rest behind drawn curtains on the balcony rather than in the separate men’s and women’s rest areas was an obvious declaration of intent to dally.

“If you don’t give it to me, I’ll take it myself.”

Darius took Anette’s dance card and filled all the empty slots with his name: Darius, Darius, Darius.

“Ah!”

“Don’t even dream of dancing with the crown prince today. I’ve claimed all of your time, Anette.”

“No, I’m the Grand Duchess! His Highness the crown prince will want to see me too! When else will we see him! When else could we dance!”

After the crown prince danced the first dance with his partner and then appropriately danced with other crown prince’s bride candidates to avoid making them feel left out, he would surely take interest in her as the latest talk of the town.

“That’s exactly why I hate it.”

Darius removed Anette’s shoes as she lay sprawled on the sofa.

The newly fitted shoes were cute and pretty but had left marks on Anette’s feet as they weren’t yet broken in. Darius frowned at the red marks visible through the lace stockings.

“We need to change shoemakers.”

“Let me wear them a bit longer.”

Anette grumbled.

“This is already our third ball. People will say the grand ducal couple is boring for only dancing with each other every time they attend a ball.”

At the first and second balls, everyone had smiled and accepted Darius monopolizing Anette’s dance card, saying, “The Grand Duke must really love his wife.”

But it was uncertain whether they would be so understanding for the third or fourth time.

Just as it was considered gentlemanly to ask unpopular ladies to dance, it was also good manners for attractive women to dance with as many gentlemen as possible. That was the purpose of these social gatherings, after all.

“Do you think I could stand by and watch other men asking you to dance?”

“If you didn’t want that, you shouldn’t have come here.”

“Yes, that’s why I don’t want to come anymore.”

Anette’s hair, disheveled from being pushed back by Darius, was adorned with sparkling decorations.

She wore earrings that she usually removed because they were heavy, and her slightly exposed chest and arms were dusted with shimmering powder to make her skin glow.

Everything about her was different from usual.

Pretty makeup, pretty clothes, pretty shoes—the full Anette.

This was a special ball for which Anette had dressed differently than usual.

The fact that the same Anette he knew was still inside those red-painted lips made Darius’s heart race.

Red lipstick smudged onto Darius’s fingertips. Anette frowned as her makeup was ruined.

“Ah.”

Darius loosened his cravat with one hand and touched his neck as if it were stiff. It was a deliberate action.

Darius knew that Anette loved this look the most when she gazed up at him from below.

The smooth neckline exposed, eyes lowered enough to show his eyelashes, and a slightly tired sigh.

Darius’s eyes met Anette’s.

Anette’s calm blue eyes wavered for an instant.

“……I think my legs really do hurt.”

“Then we should rest.”

Anette’s upswept hair ornament fell to the floor.

Their lips met passionately. Red lipstick marks left long traces on each other’s faces. They separated to look at each other’s faces, laughed at the mess of reddened cheeks, then suddenly kissed again.

Anette’s arms wrapped around Darius’s neck, replacing his cravat.

The trumpets announcing the crown prince’s entrance sounded in the ballroom. But Anette no longer paid any attention to the crown prince.

The glimpse she caught of the crown prince as they left the ball early revealed that he had long silver hair. He’s neither blonde nor short-haired.