He was not angry because his fiancée was being teased by the group, but because he thought his fiancée was looking at another man with him in front of her.

Isabella, smiling like cotton candy, lightly brushed Octavio’s cheek with her pure white hand.

“Look at your face turning hot.”

Isabella looked into Octavio’s eyes, casting a pitiful light in her violetcolored pupils.

“Manly Octavio, don’t mind about such servants. Camellia, who has a fiancé like you, is really lucky.”

Camellia, who had buried her nose in her sitting place, was struck by a thunderbolt as she was accused of doing nothing wrong, and even saw Isabella buttering up her own fiancé right in front of her eyes.

But there was nowhere to complain about the injustice. Most of the young ladies sitting here were very close to Isabella, and the young men were on Isabella’s side whether they were close or not.

While Camellia fanned herself hotly, Isabella announced to the surrounding young ladies and gentlemen that there would be a ball at her house soon.

“This time, His Eminence Cardinal de Mare has decided to hold a debutante ball for my younger sister Ariadne separately at home.”

At Isabella’s declaration, the future social circles of San Carlo began to buzz.

“A debutante ball at home? It seems that the Cardinal holds his second daughter very dear.”

Isabella felt twisted at that question, but she couldn’t make a scene in front of others. She managed to maintain her expression and gave a beautiful smile.

“Of course. Didn’t our Ariadne receive recognition and congratulations from the King and Queen for her great achievement? We should support her accordingly in our family.”

Having another successful child in the family isn’t bad for me either, Isabella thought, taking a deep breath.

She intended to take all the leftovers from this event. That would somewhat relieve her upset stomach.

“It’s a party at our house after all, isn’t it?”

The host of the party is always treated special.

“I will get permission from my mother and set up a separate reception room as a powder room. Let’s chatter there among us.”

The young ladies blushed.

“I really hate having to mingle with the middlemen at the ball.”

“It would be so nice if we could stay among us!”

“Of course, it’s Isabella. You’re so thoughtful.”

Isabella shot a sweet gaze at the young men as well.

“You all have to attend, okay? Please do.”

She needed an audience to see the dress, no, to be precise, to see the beautiful Isabella, who was far more beautiful than her rustic and gloomy younger sister, using the fabric of her Moorish Empire generously.

And if those young nobles attend, the likelihood of Count Cesare also attending would increase.

She wanted to attract the attention of the proudest man in San Carlo. All the good things in the world had to be hers. Life had mostly gone that way so far. It was without a doubt to continue in the future.

While Isabella was showing off in front of her friends, thinking about how to stand out more than her sister, the actual protagonist of the ball had no particular thoughts about her outfit.

“Mrs. Marini from Ragione tailor shop is here.”

She called for the tailor shop she usually dealt with, dismissing Sancha’s opinion that, with so much money now, they should deal with a better costume shop.

“The budget is not generous. The amount that can be spent on clothes… I think maybe 5 ducats (about 500,000 won)?”

“Lady! Even the Archbishop said he would give more if needed!”

“We should at least try to make do with what was given. And we need to arrange for makeup this time, so it’s not as generous as I thought.”

At her words, Sancha, full of discontent, somewhat agreed and nodded her head.

Girls who hadn’t had their debutante ball in San Carlo were not allowed to wear makeup. So Ariadne also could not wear any makeup, except for the basic skin ointment.

Finally, with this debutante ball as a starting point, Ariadne was able to wear color makeup and go outside.

“Lady, your facial features are wellpositioned, so if you just put on makeup, you’ll look very beautiful.”

Sancha was full of enthusiasm. Her talent was as great as her enthusiasm. During the dress selection, Sancha’s enthusiasm pierced the sky, and she received high praise from Mrs. Marini.

“Choose something simple and modest. I would prefer if there were no flashy decorations and it doesn’t reveal too much skin. The neckline should come up to above the collarbone.”

Ariadne had lived in the center of negative attention for nearly ten years in her previous life.

If she wore something deeply cut, it was seen as risqué, if it was flashy, it was tacky, if it was plain, it was pitiful. After enduring these criticisms for nearly ten years, her dress selection became increasingly conservative.

She chose clothes not for their beauty or suitability, but to avoid criticism. So, she heard countless times that she had ‘no sense of fashion’. Hearing that she had no fashion sense for ten years would make anyone shrink.

This eventually became a selffulfilling prophecy. Ariadne really had no eye for clothes when choosing. At Ariadne’s order, Sancha and Mrs. Marini cried out in unison.

“That’s not right!”

“You can’t do that!”

Mrs. Marini put forth her usual argument, which she had previously argued against Ariadne.

“If you have a voluminous upper body, you can’t just cover it up! You have to cut it appropriately to give a refreshing sense of space, and you’ll look slimmer.”

“Right! Right! And besides, Lady, your collarbone is pretty and your face is small, but your neck isn’t long! If you raise the neckline, it will look very stuffy.”

Mrs. Marini looked at Sancha as if to say that she was quite good.

“Lady De Mare, your attendant has a good eye for this. She’s very sharp.”

“Of course!”

With her nose high in the air at Mrs. Marini’s praise, Sancha persuaded Ariadne.

“Lady, let’s lower the neckline and instead wear your usual thicker necklace that day. Then the front will look flat, it won’t look risqué, and your neck will be exposed making it look refreshing.”

Ariadne threw up both her hands and feet.

“When both of you unite to persuade me like this, I have no choice. Please make the first dress simple and elegant, the second dress easy to move in, and handle the details as you see fit.”

Sancha and Mrs. Marini clapped each other’s hands.

Preparing for the debutante ball, such as choosing a dress, was not always pleasant and joyful. During the de Mare family’s lunch, Lucrezia brought up the topic of Ariadne’s debutante partner.

“Oh yes, the original partner for Ariadne’s debutante should have been Ippolito.”

“Mm. That’s right.”

Ippolito was the eldest son between Cardinal de Mare and Lucrezia, who was currently studying abroad in Padua, a university city.

“Is there no way Ippolito could return to San Carlo for this?”

“Probably not.”

“So, we decided to find a distant relative to be Ariadne’s debutante partner.”

This was news to Ariadne. The Cardinal de Mare’s eyebrows also furrowed.

“Are you implying one of your own family members?”