Ariadne was not the only one who returned to the banquet hall as the victor. Isabella, who suffered a crushing defeat in the previous fight, also crawled back into the banquet hall shamelessly.

However, unlike Ariadne who was conversing with elderly, important nobles while receiving Prince Alfonso’s close escort at the center of the banquet hall like a triumphant general, Isabella was huddled in a corner of the powder room with girls around her age.

“That wicked girl!”

Isabella gathered her entourage and vented her anger. It was a group of slightly over ten but less than fifteen girls. They were the core peer group of San Carlo’s high society.

The clothes they wore became the trend for young ladies who couldn’t join this group, and that trend spread not only to various regions of the Etruscan Kingdom as ‘San Carlo’s latest trend’ the following year, but even reached the Palace of Montpellier in the Gallican Kingdom beyond the Apennine Mountains, where culture was not as developed as in the Etruscan Kingdom.

Such was the group of noble young ladies, but to think she used words like ‘girl’ in front of them. The young ladies were startled by the harsh word Isabella spat out, and Isabella fake coughed and tapped her lips with her fan.

She really wanted to tell others about the incredible, crazy incident that happened to her just now, the terrible insolence, but these young ladies were raised too nobly.

If she confided that such a thing happened, they would definitely say, “Were you perhaps dreaming, Lady De Mare?” or “Your younger sister said such scary things and tried to push you down the stairs?” making Isabella seem like the strange one.

Moreover, she simply couldn’t tell her peer group that she was cursed at by someone she looked down upon. That would be excessively humiliating.

However, she couldn’t endure keeping it in as her anger was about to explode. So Isabella began to gossip about Ariadne, picking on every fault she could grasp, only leaving out the fact that she herself was cursed at.

“I really wore the white dress because Ariadne said it was fine! I don’t know why she’s saying such things!”

Since the young ladies gathered there were all Isabella’s friends, they had no choice but to take her words at face value.

A few inwardly suspected that Isabella was talking nonsense or lying, but with Isabella’s maids firmly supporting her, if they voiced their suspicion, they would be branded as traitors, so they couldn’t dare express their doubts out loud.

And among the rest, there were two or three who truly and fervently believed in and followed Isabella.

“The younger Lady De Mare is really so despicable.”

“How could she do that to her own elder sister?”

Isabella squeezed out tears.

“Do you know how well I’ve treated Ariadne all this time? Lending her clothes, helping her adapt to San Carlo, helping her study… But ungratefully, as soon as the Prince appeared, she completely changed her attitude!”

And aside from the followers, there were those burning with jealousy.

There were definitely young ladies who were intensely jealous of the fact that the daughter of a farm maid who recently debuted entered holding the Prince’s hand, and had the first waltz with Earl Cesare.

If it was another lady they originally held in high regard holding the Prince’s hand, they would have accepted it. They may have even admired how cool it was.

But the illegitimate daughter of a cardinal who used to roll around on a rural farm? And she’s not even that pretty? To resolve their cognitive dissonance, they spread conspiracy theories, rumors of behind-the-scenes schemes, and dishonorable deals.

Other than that, there were young ladies who comprised the largest number, who simply wanted to follow the crowd. As Isabella paved the waterway, the jealousy of other ladies and the desire to blend in with the group without standing out became the water that filled that ditch to overflowing.

“Didn’t she say she has a complex about her chest, so who wears a dress with such a deep neckline? It must be a total lie.”

“I don’t believe her claim that she didn’t do it. Are clothes something that tears so easily?”

“Why is the Prince taking that girl’s side to such an extent? Did she really seduce him with her body?”

Isabella truly enjoyed the girls’ condemnation rally. It felt like taking a painkiller for her soul. Cursing Ariadne seemed to fill up Isabella’s wounded pride.

Isabella was throwing out little details that could be used as firewood one by one, such as “Ariadne is using unbleached linen,” or “The dress shop is the cheap Ragione Tailor.”

Julia de Valdesar, who had been sitting with her mouth shut, got up from her seat.

“Let’s see, since you’re claiming so much.”

Julia de Valdesar was one of the two ladies Isabella treated as her ‘best friends’. Isabella had pointed to Camelia and Julia as her closest friend candidates.

It was because Camelia had a handsome and wealthy boyfriend but still catered well to Isabella’s moods, and Julia was from the prestigious and considerably wealthy noble house of Valdesar, making her status valuable.

Julia de Valdesar stood up and threw a single remark at Isabella.

“Lady De Mare, your bra strap is showing.”

Upon hearing that, Isabella lowered her head to check the state of her dress. Indeed, a dark pink strap was peeking out from the side of the shoulder line of her deeply cut pure white organdy dress. It was Isabella’s ‘bust pocket’ fixation strap.

“Oh my!”

Isabella’s face turned bright red. Julia de Valdesar was someone Isabella considered close enough to confide a few secrets to. Among them was the story of the ‘bust pocket’.

It was about a recommendation to try an amazing product that came from the Moorish Empire. Julia ignored it without paying much attention, but Camelia exclaimed in joy and promised to purchase it for sure.

In the end, she didn’t buy it though. At that time, Isabella thought she had become closer with Julia.

‘I trusted her and this is… She’s backstabbing me like this?!’

Leaving behind the red-faced Isabella, Julia de Valdesar walked out of the powder room where the girls were gathered with large strides without looking back.

At this, a few girls glanced at each other, then got up from their seats and followed Julia out of the powder room. The number of girls who left was four or five, which was not quite half but easily 1/3.

“Those, those, traitors…!”

Isabella’s anger pierced the sky.

Marchioness Camelia de Castiglione looked around anxiously, and the girls who remained began to curse Ariadne and those who left in even louder voices to suppress their unease.

Julia de Valdesar, who left her seat, headed to the central banquet hall. There, Ariadne was conversing while surrounded by middle-aged ladies.

Julia approached Ariadne and greeted her straightforwardly.

“I am Julia, the eldest daughter of the Valdesar Marquess House.”

“Lady Julia…!”

Surprised to suddenly receive a greeting from an unexpected person, Ariadne accepted the greeting in amazement.

“I have heard much about you.”

Glancing at the direction of the powder room where Isabella’s group was gathered, Julia muttered inwardly.

‘Well, nothing of nutritional value though.’

The Valdesar lady simply said what she had to say plainly.

“It would be nice if we could become close. I look forward to getting to know you better.”

In her previous life, Ariadne did not have many female friends.

Because she rose to an excessively high position too quickly, and truthfully because she did not handle herself very well, she had no one around her except those who were jealous and those who tried to use her for their own gain.

So when a female friend of the same age like Julia approached her first despite having nothing to gain from her, Ariadne was truly delighted.

“I have also heard much about the reputation of the Valdesar Marchioness. It is an honor to make your acquaintance.”

Ariadne gladly held Julia de Valdesar’s hand in greeting, and after a moment’s hesitation, added a remark.

“Thank you for your kindness.”

From a certain perspective, it could be seen as a ridiculous modesty of “thank you for greeting me,” but Ariadne was not unaware of what it meant for them, who were Isabella’s friends, to be making introductions with her now.

The three or four ladies who followed Julia from the powder room surrounded Ariadne and finished their introductions.

After giving her greeting, Julia casually threw out an invitation as if it was nothing.

“Ah, it’s not confirmed yet, but I’m thinking of holding a tea party at my house next week. Nothing big, just a few close friends gathering. Would you be able to grace us with your presence?”

A delighted light that seemed even happier than when she received her father’s recognition, perhaps even more than when men approached her, shone on Ariadne’s face.

Being invited to a girls’ tea party was truly a first in her life! Moreover, it wasn’t receiving an invitation to a confirmed tea party, but being asked to attend from the planning stage. Doesn’t this seem like she made a real friend?

Ariadne smiled brightly.

“Of course, Marchioness Valdesar. I will be looking forward to it with joy.”

From that point on, Ariadne’s debutante ball proceeded as smoothly as it could be.

As soon as the waltz ended, Earl Cesare, who danced Ariadne’s first waltz as the king’s envoy, left first, expressing great regret that he had an important, pre-scheduled appointment.

However, Prince Alfonso bid farewell to Ariadne only after completing all his schedules until late afternoon, even after Earl Cesare left.

Alfonso seemed to have some premonition. He held onto Ariadne and earnestly entreated her to take care of herself in the meantime as they may not be able to meet for a while, saying he would send letters.

After seeing off Alfonso, who couldn’t bring himself to leave with lingering reluctance, the long day ended.

And then it was time to take stock of the profit and loss of the debutante ball. Out of the 150 ducats Cardinal De Mare budgeted, Ariadne returned 12 ducats to her father.

“Is this really what’s left?”

Cardinal De Mare could not hide his surprise. In the 22 years since he began providing living expenses to his lawful wife Lucrezia in 1100, this was the first time the living expenses he provided to someone was left over and returned to him.

“It must have been tight, no?”

Cardinal De Mare thought it would cost around 300 ducats if they economized and 500 ducats if they prepared luxuriously, so he only gave Ariadne half of what he considered a desirable budget, 150 ducats, in advance.

And yet she returned with money left over! As someone who had been supporting his extravagant wife and children, he could only be astonished.

The secret was in bold omissions. The ‘storytelling tapestry’ was not the only thing Ariadne omitted while preparing for this debutante ball.

Ariadne, who made Sancha anxious by not deciding on the menu until right before the ball, instructed Sancha a week before the ball date to check if there were any farms among the few she named that had excessive yield due to inability to control production, choose from those, and purchase ingredients.

“What, you want me to go see the ingredients first without even deciding on the menu?”

Sancha questioned the lady about the instruction that deviated from common sense, but nevertheless, she faithfully checked all the places she was told to and returned.

When Sancha visited the farms, most of them refused, saying they had no room for large-scale deliveries outside of existing clients at the last minute, but indeed, one farm that raised black pigs handed over the secured quantity at a very cheap price, saying the original client canceled the contract at the last minute.

“My lady, did you know?”

Sancha, who widened her eyes in surprise after completing the contract at the farm and asked Ariadne, received the usual answer from Ariadne.

“How could I have known things like a pig farm’s contract being canceled or not in advance, even if I were someone who came from the future.”

It was just something that happened very frequently. Ariadne had become an expert in this type of purchasing method while managing the Etruscan royal palace’s housekeeping for 9 years.

It couldn’t be applied to huge events on the scale of national events that sweep up the entire output of a region, but it could be used fruitfully when holding medium-scale events.

Ariadne’s various event expenditure control methods were endless. Having neatly organized the household ledger, Ariadne presented double-entry bookkeeping to Cardinal De Mare.

“Yes, Father. It was possible by being frugal. The detailed ledger is here.”

When his young daughter, who was raised only inside the house, or more precisely, on the farm in Bergamo territory, presented a ledger kept with double-entry bookkeeping that was recently in vogue among Porto Republic merchants, Cardinal De Mare’s eyes widened once again in utter astonishment.

He had also only recently learned how to read double-entry bookkeeping due to an absurdly preposterous matter.

“Where did you learn this too?”

“I saw it in a book I discovered in Father’s study—.”

His daughter was undoubtedly a genius. Flipping through the ledger, Cardinal De Mare also confirmed that the calculations were exact.

The ledger even accounted for the loss that would have occurred from cutting down the white crepe myrtle shrubs in Bergamo territory. Shaking his head, he called the maid next to him.

“Go and bring Lady Lucrezia to this room right now.”