“Do you have evidence that she did it deliberately? She was so upset, why do you conclude and push her that she committed such a terrible accident with her own hands?”
The girls looked at each other in confusion. This was a disaster. They didn’t expect the prince to step in.
To be pointed out directly by the prince at a formal banquet! The prince himself was someone every young lady wanted to impress, even in their dreams.
But there always existed people who didn’t care for those they couldn’t reach.
Baroness Leonati, who never imagined she could marry the prince and therefore didn’t care to impress him, harshly reacted to Prince Alfonso’s criticism.
“I see the little sun of the Empire, His Highness Prince Alfonso. But this is a matter among women.”
When Baroness Leonati took the lead, the girls around began to murmur as well.
“That’s right, how would Prince Alfonso know about the cunning acts of women. Isn’t it that you like Lady De Mare?”
“Did you fall for her bosom? Oh, Prince, we didn’t see you that way.”
“Fooled by a vixen showing off her bosom! How much did she flirt to make the prince react like this? How do you know that she was upset?”
Alfonso was taken aback by the unexpected aggressiveness of the ladies. In his entire life, his peers would always smile at him, regardless of whether he was talking nonsense, they never disliked him.
This was the first time he was faced with such hostility from the girls, even though he was speaking the truth. Isabella, leading the girls like a royal guard, stood behind her friends, grinning a cunning smile of victory.
That’s when Alfonso’s reinforcements appeared. It was the Marchioness.
“When a peer lady faces a heartbreaking incident, you should know how to sympathize and comfort, not jump in like fish into water and gossip. Is that what your parents taught you?”
The Marchioness was a lady who had grown up learning etiquette and cultivation from a prestigious family. Moreover, it was a crisis where the lord’s son could get a bad reputation. She scolded the girls with sharp rebuke.
But the ladies were about to drive out the prince himself. They wouldn’t accept defeat so easily.
If she were any noblewoman, the girls could have gossiped about her and moved on, but the Marchioness was a renowned figure, close confidante of Queen Marguerite, the head of the prestigious Marquis household, and a prominent figure in San Carlo’s social circles.
No one dared to step into this, they only clenched their teeth, for no one could say she didn’t know ‘the world of women’ in front of the Marchioness who had rolled around in the social circle for over 20 years.
The cunning Marchioness’s eyes clearly saw who was the ringleader of this situation. So she pointed out Isabella in the midst of it and added another line.
“First Lady De Mare, I know you as a golden pear, grown beautifully under a great father. Even if your father doesn’t know, he would wish for sisterly affection and modesty between you two!”
The Marchioness, who valued bloodlines, refrained from raising her favorite topic of ‘the daughter of a vulgar government’ considering the party held at Cardinal de Mare’s residence. But the cold gaze of the Marchioness and the lack of mention about the mother, allowed anyone to read the nuance.
‘That overstepping woman!’
Isabella’s face ripened red with anger and shame. However, Isabella, who was strong to the weak and weak to the strong, couldn’t dare to speak her mind in front of the Marchioness, especially in front of the prince.
So Isabella decided to play the victim. Using her rising emotions to full advantage, Isabella began to drop tears from her puppylike, large lavender eyes.
Her transparent skin heated up to a pink, and her small and slender body shivered.
“I didn’t mean to do that…”
The sight of the fairylike beautiful girl shedding tears in front of a boy her age and a stern 40yearold lady, turned the tide of the situation against the prince and the Marchioness, regardless of the events’ context.
“Why is that girl crying?”
“Did the lady in front make her cry?”
“It’s the Marchioness, she’s a bit picky. But why is the prince standing with her? Did he make a mistake?”
Surrounded by the whispering voices of the crowd, the Marchioness was somewhat flustered, but gathered her composure and controlled her expression gracefully.
Isabella was not an easy opponent. The Marchioness was considering how to safely extract Prince Alfonso from this mess without any damage.
From the second floor, Ariadne, having changed into her second debutante dress, was descending with the help of her maidens.
Ariadne was dazzlingly beautiful. The second dress was so wellsuited, it could be believed to have been chosen on purpose to compensate for the earlier accident.
The dress was highnecked and longsleeved, minimizing skin exposure, but the fit accentuated Ariadne’s figure in a subtle yet evident way.
The crowd’s attention shifted towards the protagonist of the day. Seeing the commotion, Ariadne quickly moved to stand next to Prince Alfonso and the Marchioness.
Ariadne and Isabella stood side by side, facing off. Amidst other guests dressed in richcolored dresses respecting the debutante, the two maidens in snowwhite dresses stood out as if spotlighted.
Today’s Isabella was like cotton candy. In a good way, and in a bad way too.
The round hemline of the gown, created by layering organza fabric, shone brilliantly whenever the light hit, capturing everyone’s attention. However, the heavy makeup applied to not be overshadowed by the dress, rather than emphasizing Isabella’s bunnylike innocence, made her look childish from certain angles.
In contrast, Ariadne’s attire was extremely modest.
Apart from subtly emphasizing her rounded eyes with downturned eyeliner, her makeup was minimal, with a soft pink naturally coloring her cheeks and lips. Her slim and voluminous figure subtly revealed under the simple dress, there was no sign of excessive adornment.
All she had was the ‘Heart of the Blue Sea’ around her neck, and earrings of diamonds and white topaz, sparkling like chandeliers, which were bestowed by the queen.
As the two maidens crossed paths, despite Isabella’s explanation, a question naturally surfaced in everyone’s mind once again.
Why was Isabella de Mare, at not her debutante ball, dressed in pure white?
Why She Is Still Unmoved (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: He uses various methods to seek her affection, but she remains unmoved.
Synopsis:
Si Qingyu is a doctor who has saved countless lives and enjoys tranquility.
Luo Shaoxuan is ruthless, deeply scheming, and the top young master in the capital. He admires Si Qingyu.
Luo Shaoxuan: I want to be the only one in your eyes and heart.
Features a cold and calm female lead vs A noble and scheming male lead.
There will be both sweetness and torture towards the male after their marriage.