Why Is Everyone Hiding Everything? - Chapter 26

Chapter 26

And the situation itself was justified.

A young noble lady becoming furious because she couldn’t tolerate a close companion being humiliated. And not just any noble lady, but the precious youngest daughter of an untouchable ducal house.

On top of that, the target of the rumors—House Paneschula—had truly spread countless schemes and driven many people into ruin, which only further justified my actions.

But regardless of that, House Rosena absolutely could not become known as a family that destroyed another house simply because of a single word from its youngest daughter.

Wouldn’t that make us look no different from Paneschula?

People’s impressions solidify easily. You could do ten things right, but one mistake would define your image forever.

Before that happened, we needed to prove that this ducal household was governed by Father and by my sister, the Young Duchess.

That was also what Lucian had been worried about.

“It would be troublesome if anyone concluded that the Young Duchess holds no real authority. You possess the greatest practical influence within the ducal house, yet you aren’t inheriting the title. Do you know how many marriage proposals will target that fact?”

The expression on Lucian’s face at the time had looked so uncomfortable that I couldn’t stop myself from asking.

“…Is me receiving many proposals truly such a serious issue that Your Highness needed to summon me to the palace just to warn me about it?”

“Because all of the Young Duchess’s attention would turn toward that matter.”

“Ah.”

It was so reasonable that I couldn’t even argue.

Unni was the type of person who would throw unread marriage proposals straight into the fireplace without a second glance. She knew how to distinguish what mattered from what didn’t.

Even if she became the center of attention, she would definitely handle it better than I could.

As for me, I only needed to stand one step behind and quietly observe what strange schemes people were plotting while staying cautious.

Honestly, that suited my personality far better.

The moment I made a bit of a fuss about being afraid of becoming the center of too much attention, unni immediately agreed to attend the very social event she’d been avoiding all this time.

Up until there, everything had been fine.

But perhaps because I asked Minabel to find a place where my sister could truly stand out—

she arrived carrying an invitation to an absolutely enormous event.

“A ball?! That’s a place where people dance!”

“Well, obviously people dance at a ball. What were you expecting, sword fights?”

Ever since I collapsed while dancing at my debutante, I swore I’d never go somewhere like that again!

Of course I admitted it would be a good place for unni to shine and interact with many people! And yes, I knew it would help since Aubrey of House Violet was attending this time too!

But still!

I don’t have to go!

And why, of all days, does my condition have to be ridiculously good today?!

If I’d been coughing like mad and suffering one of my usual headaches, I could’ve at least used that as an excuse to stay in bed. But from early morning Elian had excitedly declared that I looked perfectly healthy.

And after being dressed up with painstaking effort, there was nowhere left for me to escape.

“…Fine. Let’s go.”

Elian covered her mouth as she laughed softly.

“I shall escort you, my lady.”

Just as I was gloomily dragging myself forward like a cat being forcibly taken to a bath, a voice suddenly came from behind us.

“Baalll. Baaalll. Me too. Me too.”

It was the unmistakable voice of a child no older than five.

All of us reflexively turned around.

A tiny little boy was toddling unsteadily across the top of the staircase.

The pleasant smile instantly vanished from Elian’s face.

“Aga!”

“Baaalll!”

Without even realizing she’d exposed him, maternal instinct took over first.

Elian threw herself through the air toward the child.

Clutching the boy tightly before he could tumble down the stairs, she rolled across the floor with him in her arms.

“Elian!”

The child burst into tears from fright even though he didn’t seem injured, while Elian—who looked like she’d twisted or bruised herself badly in several places—frantically checked him over in a daze.

“I-I’m truly sorry, my lady. I’m certain I shut the door properly. Ah, truly… truly, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorr—”

“Lady Flotie, is that a maid’s child?”

Hayley approached with a worried expression, completely unaware of the circumstances.

Naturally, from her perspective all she had seen was a child nearly falling down the stairs and Elian throwing herself forward to save him.

“I definitely put him to sleep before I left, but somehow he woke up and opened the door himself to follow me… I’m truly sorry, my lady. He’s never once insisted on going somewhere with me before, so why today of all days…”

At this point Elian was trembling like a leaf.

Nothing had been discovered yet, but she looked as though everything had already fallen apart.

Hayley’s expression grew even more concerned.

“Did the child get hurt? Or did you injure yourself catching him?”

“N-No, it’s fine. I’m sorry. I’ll just…”

Only then seeming to regain her senses slightly, Elian hurriedly stood and tried to limp back upstairs carrying the child.

“Elian, stay at the mansion and rest today.”

“My lady…!”

“Your ankle is obviously badly swollen. Calm the child down and rest. I’ll be fine since unni’s with me, and Minabel and Hayley are here too.”

The people beside me nodded reassuringly as if telling her not to worry.

The child finally stopped crying and stared directly at me.

When he was first born, I hadn’t been sure.

But now there was no denying it.

He looked exactly like Vincent.

If someone painted a portrait of that child and placed it in the street labeled The Crown Prince in His Youth, no one would doubt it.

“Still, if anything happens, I’ll come running to the ballroom immediately.”

“Of course. You know how much I trust you.”

Receiving Elian’s farewell, we headed toward the ballroom.

How long could this remain hidden?

Someday, just like in the dream I’d seen, I might have to help Elian flee the Empire together with that child.

Otherwise, they would be murdered.

The moment I realized that at the very least I would need to send that loyal maid away before Vincent took a Crown Princess, my mood suddenly sank.

But that wasn’t the end of today’s misery.

“Hey, Tie.”

“Yeah?”

“Maybe I just still don’t fully understand this world’s etiquette and culture, but… do Crown Princes normally attend balls this big?”

“…This is my first ball since my debutante too, but unless everything I know has suddenly changed, probably not.”

Minabel let out a hollow laugh before whispering again.

“In our world, we’d call this ‘the market happening on the very day you go.’”

“So it’s one of those days.”

“Exactly.”

The reason the Crown Prince came was obvious.

People had probably been pressuring him endlessly to finally choose a Crown Princess, so he’d been pushed into attending.

Balls were often used for that purpose.

Where else could someone meet so many noble ladies all at once?

Men and women danced together, exchanged pleasant conversation, and sometimes fell in love.

Or they compared family backgrounds and values, assessed one another’s standing, and eventually reached marriage through the proper process.

In the end, a ballroom was both a miniature society and a meeting place.

“We were supposed to make your sister the star of the night, but now that’s impossible.”

Minabel sounded more bitter about that than anything else.

Normally, no noble house held higher status than House Rosena, so if all the daughters of that family appeared together, they would naturally attract enormous attention. She had likely planned to use that moment to make unni stand out.

And honestly, today my sister had been dressed so magnificently that no one could possibly look away.

Her alluring black hair.

Eyes as clear and blue as droplets of water.

And above all, the indifferent expression she wore as though she had no interest in anything around her at all.

Her very existence overwhelmed the surroundings.

“Still, it feels like there are already plenty of people hovering nearby just because they want a chance to speak with unni once.”

“‘Plenty’ isn’t enough for me. I wanted everyone in this room to focus entirely on Serphina unni and desperately wish to speak to her. Damn it, I should’ve invested more points into luck.”

Minabel sighed as though the injustice was unbearable.

“But honestly, right now I think the bigger issue is unni’s attitude rather than the Crown Prince.”

Men and women alike kept stealing glances toward her while holding their drinks, yet unni herself was blatantly radiating the message that she had no desire whatsoever to speak with anyone.

Unable to help it, Minabel and I headed toward her.

“Unni, what are you doing standing here alone? Wouldn’t it be better to go dance or at least talk to people?”

“Dancing isn’t particularly useful for gathering information or building connections. At best I’d just have to sit there listening to men brag about themselves, so why would I bother?”

Besides, she said, whoever became her first dance partner would inevitably spend the entire night boasting that he had claimed Serphina Rosena’s first dance, and the thought alone annoyed her.

“More importantly, because of that side over there, I’m currently struggling very hard not to leave immediately.”

There was only one person she could possibly mean by that side.

Vincent Edvain.