“The person I will marry.”

Elishia froze in place.

The pairs dancing in circles around the center of the floor stopped awkwardly as they were obstructed by Illeone, who had halted along with Elishia.

The attendees, wondering what had happened, turned to gaze at Illeone and Elishia. As the dancing came to a disorderly halt, even the band ceased to play, plunging the room into sudden silence.

‘I need to say something.’

That was all. She should have responded naturally, but she missed that opportunity.

And she didn’t know what to say at the spur of the moment.

“Co, congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

Elishia looked around awkwardly.

Bewildered glances were focused solely on the two of them.

“I danced too long. I will now leave…….”

Her chest suddenly felt tight. With a suffocating sensation, Elishia fled from the hall as if running away. She rushed out onto a quiet terrace and closed the door behind her.

“Huff. Huff.”

Her heart pounded wildly.

“What did Illeone just say?”

It was unbelievable.

The woman he was looking for was definitely ‘Rona’.

「The person I will marry.」

Getting married? To Rona? That couldn’t be.

Illeone and Rona had no relationship beyond that of master and maid.

“No.”

It’s not Rona. I thought he was looking for Rona while listening to his story.

……Could it be Carina?

There were a few days between my leaving the Grand Duke and when Illeone woke up.

‘Did he meet Carina during that time?’

It was a logical thought.

But then why did he tell me that?

And why did he dance the first dance with me? Carina was also there.

Not long after Saviel’s visit, I collapsed and recovered. After dancing three songs in a row with Illeone in an unfamiliar dress with a body that was not fully recovered, I felt oxygendeprived. Elishia struggled to take deep breaths. It took time to sort out her complicated thoughts.

Then it happened. The door to the terrace opened with a squeak.

“Miss Rona?”

Turning around, Carina, who had just been racing through her complicated thoughts, stood there.

“Let’s talk?”

I thought I would be the sole focus of my debut today.

It wasn’t until after I arrived at the palace that I found out another young lady was also making her late debut with me.

“You should have told me earlier. The Empress was too harsh.”

The Countess of Harrington expressed her discomfort, feeling slighted. Even if she would have been the belle of the ball in her white dress alone, she could not afford to appear inferior to her rival debutante, so she meticulously checked my attire several times.

I didn’t feel bad until then.

It was the destiny of the young ladies who were full of marriageable age to conduct their debut well. However, I, who had a deep relationship with Saviel, could have a big problem if I accepted a marriage proposal.

The prestige of the family, the honor of the household.

Having grown up freely as a daughter of a nominal baron’s family, she had never been asked for such things. As long as everything she wore, ate, and enjoyed came from the Harrington Count’s family, it was obvious that she should behave according to the household’s rank.

‘Saviel will come because it’s a palace ball.’

I was so obsessed with settling something with him, who had been continuously avoiding me, that I didn’t feel anything about ‘the other young lady’.

‘Is that lady the young lady of the Uter Duke’s family?’

Rona Harafallis. The granddaughter of the old woman who read my fortune before I came to the capital, she came to return the favor and I met her once.

‘Am I seeing wrong?’

I doubted my eyes. However, Carina, who grew up in a mountain village with good air, had great eyesight. The woman looked exactly like her.

In addition, according to what I heard from the Countess of Harrington at the palace, the young lady of the Uter Duke’s family, Elishia, was a famous priestess in the capital.

She entered the shrine at a young age, became a priestess at 13, and she is now 20. She had a memory loss due to an accident and was recently expelled and returned to the Duke’s house.

I thought she was truly an existence monopolizing God’s love when I heard the story. Living in such deep faith that she could be considered for the next High Priestess, then losing her divine power and going back to being the only daughter of a duke.

“Do you have something to say to me?”

Carina was angry. When she recalled the days of waiting impatiently to see Lona at Cafe Cardinal, her anger flared.

Despite that, she was tearfully relieved to see Lona. There was something she wanted to ask. How fervently she wished to see Lona again.

“I’m sorry for lying.”

“So, it was a lie.”

“I didn’t mean it. I was losing my memory. Even now, I can’t remember anything. At that time, I was living as Lona. I remembered you, so I went to see you. I found out about the temple and family afterward by chance.”

“Then… do you still not remember? Are you Elisha?”