“It’ll be fine once or twice.”

As she explained about the ball decorations to Sancha, Ariadne thought she felt a sharp pain from her left ring finger.

‘It must be because I’m tired.’

When 8 o’clock came, an unexpected gift arrived.

“Miss Ariadne, there are three carriages at the front gate. They said they came from the palace…”

At the words of the butler Nicolo, Ariadne hurriedly ran to the entrance. It was strange, the only thing she expected from the palace was the prince, she thought as she arrived at the entrance and was startled to see the arrived item, covering her mouth with both hands.

Purple hydrangeas filled the front entrance of the de Mare mansion.

The three opentopped carriages that brought the purple hydrangeas were filled with so many fresh flowers that it was quite a sight; enough that a person could jump in and be supported like a cloud.

Sancha, standing behind Ariadne, was on the verge of letting out a dolphinlike scream.

“Here is a message sent by the Prince.”

The servant from the palace who drove the carriage handed over Alfonso’s letter. Ariadne and Alfonso had exchanged so many letters close to notes that Ariadne could draw the palace’s gold foil pattern even with her eyes closed.

‘To dear Ariadne.

Among the white flowers, the purple hydrangeas were blooming and that scene remained in my memory for a long time. I hope you remember the hydrangeas of that day as well. I’ll arrive without delay, see you in a bit.

Alfonso.’

“What’s all this?”

Sancha, who came out after Ariadne, exclaimed.

“It’s so beautiful, Miss! The violet flower matches perfectly with our family’s coat of arms!”

It was a thoughtful gift from Alfonso, who learned from his letter exchange with her that she had only ordered the minimum quantity of lilies from the flower shop due to budget constraints.

There were no blue hydrangeas in the city shops, so it was undoubtedly made up from the greenhouse in the palace.

The warm hand that handed over what she needed without any show, the warmth made her heart swell.

But Ariadne checked herself unconsciously falling into emotion. If she succumbed to that warmth, she wouldn’t want to return to her cold, lonely world again.

The day the golden prince notices her shabbiness, she will be alone again, and the loneliness of that time would be unbearable.

So she teased Sancha with a playful smile.

“You should hate this.”

“Huh? Why?”

“We have a ball starting in three hours, and we have to weave all of this into the decorations before then.”

“What?!”

Sancha opened her mouth wide and ran around the entrance like a chick.

“If I ask the serving maids who are on their breaks to help, do you think they’ll oblige?”

“Do you have that many close friends?”

“Just a couple… what to do?”

Ariadne had a way.

“You have to grease the wheels.”

Ariadne looked for butler Nicolo. He was unloading hydrangeas from the carriage, and he quickly came over when Ariadne called him.

“Yes, Miss.”

Ariadne praised him with a smile.

“Nicolo, I’ve always owed you a lot, but I haven’t had a chance to thank you.”

“Oh, don’t mention it.”

He was speaking politely, but the butler Nicolo was looking at Ariadne with anxious eyes. He seemed to be irritated, wondering why he was summoned to issue any orders outside of work, and why she was buttering him up.

Ariadne put her hand into her bosom and pulled out a gold coin. It was a gold coin worth 1 Ducato (about 1 million won), 96% pure, minted in the Republic of Porto.

“I think I need to borrow the maid Sancha and her helpers for about two hours. You arrange it on my behalf and please speak well of it to my mother. This is more of a gesture of my future requests than just a small fee for your troubles.”

Sparks flew from Butler Nicolo’s eyes. He had experienced receiving small amounts of money for providing various conveniences, but this young lady operated on a different scale.

He didn’t particularly want to get involved with the second child of the house, who was in the tight grip of Lady Lucrezia, but if she was willing to hand over a gold coin as a first greeting, he was willing to exchange favors.

Moreover, today was a special day for Cardinal de Mare’s party, which he paid special attention to. Lucrezia wouldn’t be able to do much even if he hastily arranged some maids.

“I would obviously do this even without such a thing!”

These were Nicolo’s words, who had swiftly pocketed the gold coin even faster than the blink of an eye.

“Come on, Sancha! Go up to the third floor and wake up all the lazy children sleeping in!”

While Sancha became the temporary boss of the third floor maids for interior decoration, Ariadne returned to her room on the second floor to get dressed.

Sancha wanted to take charge of Ariadne’s dressing herself, but it was impossible to do two things at the same time.

“Miss, please sit here!”

Ariadne’s dressing was helped by the newly arrived maids Anna and Maria. Anna was in charge of hair and makeup, while Maria was responsible for the dress.