Alfonso de Carlo was a man who made only promises that he could keep. It was his innate nature. However, today he found himself in a situation where he had to unwillingly break his promise to meet Ariadne at the masquerade ball.

“What? The Duchess of Valois is coming to the masquerade ball in San Carlo?”

Personally? From the Kingdom of Galico to Etruscan?

It was such an unprecedented event for foreign royalty to visit that it was almost unheard of.

Alfonso was having lunch with King Leo III and Queen Marguerite in the royal reception room.

The royal couple was supposed to have lunch together every Saturday as a principle of court etiquette, but King Leo III did not adhere to this well, so it had been quite a while since Alfonso had lunch with both of his parents together.

Queen Marguerite nodded at Prince Alfonso’s question.

“Aren’t all the major feast day celebrations and their eves in Etruscan famous? The Duchess of Valois said she really wanted to attend the masquerade ball on the Feast of Saint Michael. Isn’t it a once in a lifetime opportunity?”

It was an effort to somehow embrace her distant niece so that she would not be found fault with. However, despite his wife’s efforts, King Leo III laughed and replied,

“The Duchess must be so eager to marry into the Kingdom of Etruscan that your reputation has crossed borders, Alfonso!”

The truth was that when the dowry and bridal party negotiations with Etruscan did not go as well as expected, it was the Galico Kingdom’s plan to send the bride herself to gain favor from the Etruscan side.

The Etruscan side suspected that this was a lazy rehash of the plan that was set when the beautiful Susanne, the elder sister of Duchess Lariesa, was the bridal candidate. It was doubtful whether Lariesa would have the same effect.

Alfonso felt uncomfortable with King Leo III’s choice of words describing the foreign duchess as ‘eager’. She was also a collateral relative of a monarch and a precious daughter of someone else’s family, no matter what.

However, even Queen Marguerite, who disliked even a single hair of King Leo III, did not say a word about his current remarks. It was because it was a generous compliment to her son.

As Alfonso felt a slight skepticism about his parents’ attitude, Queen Marguerite entreated her son.

“You may have had other plans during the masquerade ball, but the Duchess of Valois is a guest coming to see you. You have to escort her from beginning to end at the masquerade ball.”

“Yes, yes. You must!”

“The Duchess of Valois will be unfamiliar with our language and of course the people, so you have to stay by her side and take care of her during the masquerade ball.”

Alfonso naturally had a prior engagement at the masquerade ball.

However, having already been scolded by Queen Marguerite specifically about Ariadne before, he could not make the immature remark that he ‘cannot escort the Duchess of Lariesa because he had promised to meet Ariadne’ in the presence of King Leo III.

Moreover, to get to the more fundamental point, this was in fact a state event. As a royal, it was naturally his duty to escort a state guest visiting the country.

Getting scolded was a secondary matter, and he was the heir to the kingdom’s throne who would become the father of the people, before he was a boy in love.

With a heavy heart, Alfonso reluctantly replied.

“Yes, Mother. Father. I will properly escort the Duchess of Valois at the masquerade ball.”

“Dearest Ariadne,

(Omitted)… There will be a state visit from the Galico Kingdom. I have been assigned the official duty of guiding them at this masquerade ball. I’m sorry I won’t be able to see you after a long time as planned. I’ll write separately later.

– With longing, Alfonso.”

Ariadne received Alfonso’s letter of apology but showed a surprisingly composed attitude.

Although Alfonso only mentioned that ‘a state guest is coming from Galico’, Ariadne immediately realized that the state guest from Galico coming to San Carlo was the Duchess Lariesa of Valois.

‘It’s okay, what was meant to happen happened.’

Prince Alfonso and Duchess Lariesa’s political marriage was a secret. In the current San Carlo, very few people knew that a marriage proposal was being exchanged.

The reason Ariadne knew that the distinguished guest from Valois was Duchess Lariesa was not because she had connections in the diplomatic field, but because this had happened exactly the same in her previous life.

In her previous life, the Duchess of Lariesa had attended the masquerade ball on the Feast of Saint Michael in San Carlo, completely fell for Prince Alfonso, and returned to her country deeply in love.

And then ‘that incident’ occurred, their marriage talks turned to nothing, and Prince Alfonso ended up marrying Isabella.

“It’s okay. If it’s the Duchess of Lariesa, it’s okay.”

She repeated that it was okay, but she couldn’t help feeling disappointed. She knew in her head that of course Alfonso had to go escort her since the Duchess was making a state visit. She knew in her head.

She knew that according to her previous life, the Duchess of Lariesa would not be matched with Prince Alfonso for political reasons, so there was no need to keep her in check.

But she wished he would come running to her, abandoning everything else. How wonderful would it be if he said he didn’t need any duchess or princess, and that he just wanted to be with her.

Ariadne smiled wryly upon thinking this far.

How selfish it was of her to want his conviction when she herself was not choosing Alfonso, abandoning everything else, when she was scurrying around like a dormouse looking for a safe zone.

Moreover, Alfonso had much more to lose than her. Ariadne decided to shake off her disappointment. It was in fact something she was best at. Forgetting resentment towards an uncertain beloved.

While organizing things in Ariadne’s study, Sancha approached and asked.

“Young lady, what’s the matter? You don’t look very happy.”

Instead of explaining, Ariadne handed the letter she was holding to Sancha. Reading Prince Alfonso’s letter, Sancha looked at Ariadne with a sympathetic expression.

“Oh no, our young lady… You were looking forward to it so much.”

Although Ariadne had never said out loud that she was anticipating it or that she really wanted to go, Sancha, who was always by her side taking care of her every need, could tell.

Since receiving Prince Alfonso’s letter about meeting at the masquerade ball, Ariadne had called for Mrs. Marini to make her outfit and discussed it much longer than usual, agonized all day over which mask to wear, increased her daily skincare time, and brushed her hair twice a day.

“No. It’s no big deal. I should have taken into account that the Duchess of Lariesa would come.”

Sancha tilted her head at the young lady who laughed in embarrassment.

“The Duchess of Lariesa? Who is that person again? How do you know if that person will come or not, young lady?”

Sancha looked into Prince Alfonso’s letter, but there was not a single mention of the Duchess of Lariesa.

Ariadne felt an overwhelming desire to pour everything out to Sancha.

‘Actually, I regressed. I know the future.’

Having a secret that one had to keep alone was a lonely thing. Especially when one’s actions had to be modified due to that secret that only oneself knew, and one had to make those around them understand that fact.

But regression was still an unknown territory with no known reason for why it occurred. Ariadne resolved to be cautious, very cautious, until she knew for certain.

In the end, it was a secret even to Sancha. Ariadne bit her lip, suppressing the loneliness that seemed about to burst out at any moment.

“There’s just… a person like that.”

Ariadne paused her words, then hesitated for a moment before continuing.

“It’s purely my feeling, but that person is not the prince’s companion. So Sancha, it will be fine. I’m not worried.”

Sancha thought there was a strange fervor flickering in her young lady’s eyes. It was the kind of gaze that a heretic of an unorthodox religion or a person engaged in a political movement would have, with a conviction that others could not understand.

An ordinary person would have been averse to it, but Sancha had already given her all to her young lady. Sancha could have taken Ariadne’s side even if she said she was going to commit murder.

For Sancha, Ariadne was the ultimate good and the very purpose of her life.

‘Even if I don’t understand, I just need to embrace the young lady to the end!’

Sancha clenched her fists.

Unaware of Sancha’s admirable inner thoughts, Ariadne continued to think about Duchess Lariesa and Prince Alfonso. It was okay.

When ‘that incident’ occurred, the marriage proposal with the Galico Kingdom would automatically fall through, and one of Cardinal de Mare’s daughters would become the prince’s consort.

And in this life, Isabella’s accomplishments were not as outstanding as in the previous life.

Considering Isabella’s various foolish acts and damaged reputation, the suspicion towards the eldest daughter of Cardinal de Mare, the reputation Ariadne had built, her somewhat favorable relationship with Queen Marguerite, and above all, the favor she had accumulated with Prince Alfonso himself, the de Mare daughter most likely to be chosen as Prince Alfonso’s consort was Ariadne.

She could endure the Duchess of Lariesa for a short while. Time was on her side. She just had to wait. That would be the case.

‘Whew.’

Ariadne let out a small sigh upon thinking that far. It was a relieved face.

Although it was relief from calculating the possibility of marrying Prince Alfonso, it was unclear whether it was relief because it meant she could escape from the de Mare family and be safe, or because she thought she could have Alfonso.

The Golden Ratio who was watching Ariadne and Sancha from afar ‘snickered’.

– Can you really do that?

Gifts from Count Cesare arrived at Cardinal de Mare’s residence so frequently that a day wouldn’t go by without them. To what extent was it? It was to the point where Isabella would get annoyed and go into her room whenever the servant in charge of mail appeared.

It was obvious what the servant had brought.

Since receiving the saddle last time, Count Cesare had become emboldened and was showering her with an endless barrage of gifts. Now, Cardinal de Mare’s residence was so full of red roses that it seemed like a greenhouse.

After receiving the saddle, when excessively many gifts came pouring in like a flood, Ariadne sent a message saying ‘it’s too burdensome now, so please stop sending them’, but Cesare was stubborn.

Despite the continuous refusal, today’s items were a set of masks, a necklace, and a bracelet.

To be precise, the necklace and mask were one piece.

The mask was a volto mask that covered the entire face, with gold fleur-de-lis patterns decorating the white enamel material, so that at a glance from afar, it looked like a real face with only the eyes covered by a golden mask.

The golden decorations followed the edges of the mask down to golden ribbons that were meant to be tied behind the head to fix it in place. Moreover, the thin gold threads hanging where earrings would be continued down to the chin and neck, becoming an intricate gold filigree necklace.

The dense forest-like deep green topaz beads in between were exactly the same color as her eyes, as if deliberately matched.

The mask used only gold and green, but bold red tones were added to the necklace.

In the very center of the necklace, a deep blood-red ruby the size of a man’s thumbnail was filigreed, and rice grain-sized topaz beads were scattered finely around it in a fleur-de-lis shape.

The matching bracelet also had a large red ruby placed in the very center, with half-carat sized green topaz set in golden bezels around it and linked with gold threads to form a fleur-de-lis shape.

“Young lady, this is really too pretty!”

Sancha sighed in admiration.

“Are you really going to send it back?”

Ariadne had already ordered a mask for the masquerade ball. However, the item she ordered was unsatisfactory to her in many ways.

Not wanting to stand out, she had ordered the moretta mask that most women wore, but the moretta mask’s other name was ‘Moretta Muto’, ‘mute maid Moretta’.

The ‘Moretta Muto’ did have a sleek design that fell straight down without separate fasteners or clasps. But instead, there was a small clamp inside the mask that the wearer had to bite down on.

While wearing the mask, the wearer could not utter a single word. It was not called the ‘mute maid Moretta’ for nothing.

By the time Ariadne from her previous life was able to attend the masquerade ball, the fashion had already changed to the colombina mask that only covered the eyes and left the mouth exposed, so the fact that one could not speak while wearing the Moretta Muto was something she didn’t know when ordering it.

Having to keep her mouth shut throughout the party did not sit well with Ariadne. It was because she thought that 70% of her value after regression was created by her mouth and tongue.

She had been agonizing over whether she could order a new mask as the date of the masquerade ball was approaching, but now such a perfect replacement had appeared. And the volto mask Cesare sent was really very pretty.

Sancha urged her once more.

“Young lady, you were already concerned about the moretta mask. Just use this one without the hassle of ordering a new one.”

Moreover, Alfonso would be spending time alone with the Duchess of Lariesa throughout the entire masquerade ball. Although she thought it was alright in her head, it would be a lie to say there was no unnamed emotion coiling deep inside her heart.

Thinking about that suddenly made her feel bad. In the end, Ariadne also agreed.

“Yes, I already received the saddle once, so whatever.”