The Mass in question went smoothly with the Missa Brevis edited by Arabella.

The composer’s name was revised to ‘Isabella Arabella de Mare’, and the minor faux pas on the first day of rehearsal seemed to have been largely overlooked.

On the day of the Mass, people praised the remarkable talent of the De Mare sisters, and Lucrezia basked in the glory on behalf of her daughters.

However, Isabella, who was too embarrassed to see her friends, did not go to the cathedral on the day of the Mass, which was extremely unusual given her usual penchant for attention, and she confined herself at home for a long time thereafter.

Baroness Camellia de Castillione spread an exciting rumor in the social circles.

Although the Duchess Julia de Valdesar had not completely cut off her relationship with a church friend, she decided to keep a bit of a distance, and chuckled at the sight of Lucrezia boldly taking the front seat on the day of the Mass, whispering something to her mother, the Duchess.

That summer, Arabella was confined by Lucrezia and could hardly move.

After arriving in San Carlo, although she had become acquainted with noblewomen including Queen Marguerite and her mother, Ariadne, who had not yet made friends of her own age, stayed shut in the library, and the family had a relatively quiet summer.

In the midst of this, an invitation arrived for the family after a long time, sent by Duchess Alexandra de Cibo, a confidant of Queen Marguerite.

“To Miss Ariadne de Mare,

On the last Friday of August, I am planning to hold a salon to appreciate works of art with young people. With the help of merchants from the Republic of Porto, we have been able to secure many precious works.

With the participation of many distinguished families, including Prince Alfonso, I hope that this will be an opportunity for you to expand your social circle. I hope you can attend and have a conversation.

Duchess Alexandra de Cibo.”

There was no mention of Isabella’s name anywhere in the invitation. Isabella blanched and hastily called Maletta.

“Maletta! Is this the only invitation that’s arrived?”

“Yes, miss….”

Even after pestering the unfortunate maid, no separate invitation for Isabella came forth.

In fact, it was natural, even predictable, that Duchess Cibo, being the closest confidant of Queen Marguerite, would not send a separate invitation to Lucrezia’s daughter, Isabella.

Lucrezia originally had no close ties with the Queen’s personal troops, and not long ago there was even an incident where the Queen had Lucrezia summoned at the cathedral’s Mass.

But Isabella, on her own, guessed that this was due to the imposter composer incident at the Mass, and was doubly distressed.

‘Everyone will be laughing at me. I have to make up for it somehow…!’

The fact that she was not invited to the salon where even Prince Alfonso was attending was a deep wound to Isabella’s pride. So, with the notion that if she can’t have it, nobody can, Isabella decided to prevent Ariadne from going too.

“Are you planning to go to Duchess Cibo’s salon?”

At the evening dinner where everyone was gathered, Isabella brought it up as if she was genuinely concerned.

The entire family, except for Arabella who was still confined and eating dry bread in her room, looked at Isabella all at once.

Isabella feigned a sweet voice.

“No, I’m not telling you not to go. There’s no way I would. But the situation is… You haven’t debuted yet. You can’t go out without a guardian.”

What Isabella was saying was unusually correct. The treatment of young noblewomen in San Carlo was greatly divided before and after the debutante ball.

Before the debutante ball, they were treated as children and couldn’t move without an accompanying guardian when they went outside.

Only after the debutante ball were they recognized as proper ladies, enabling them to visit ‘respectable’ places such as the church, picnics, or a friend’s house for day trips, even without a guardian.

“Last time, my mother was embarrassed at the Queen’s Mass because of you, how can I ask her to accompany me here?”

Lucrezia’s expression hardened all at once. It seemed that she had not thought about it when Ariadne received the invitation from the Duchess of Chiibo.

Isabella sweetly called out to Ariadne.

“You wouldn’t do that, would you? You’re a good daughter.”

Ariadne did not immediately answer. As Ariadne did not respond, Lucrezia became flustered.

“That thing…!”

The moment Lucrezia was about to get angry, saying she would never go, Cardinal de Mare, who was eating, clattered his utensils down.

“Yes, it’s time.”

“Excuse me?”

“What time are you talking about?”

Cardinal de Mare looked at Ariadne and spoke.

“It’s time for the little one to hold a debutante ball.”

Ariadne was taken aback and looked at Cardinal de Mare.

She was startled. In her past life, she had not even held a debutante ball, but had immediately held an engagement ceremony with Cesare de Como.