Chapter 46

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 46

Chapter Title: A Sparkling Entrance

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‘How brilliantly it would sparkle under the chandelier’s light.’

All eyes would turn to me.

“I’ll speak to your aunt myself, so don’t worry. As you said, it’d be such a shame to leave it behind like this. This dress suits your hair color far better anyway.”

“……”

Birna hesitated amid this sudden stroke of luck.

“Come on, Birna. It’ll look even better on you.”

‘Since Medea suggested it herself, Mother can’t blame me for it.’

Birna gently grasped the hem of the dress.

Even the slightly gritty texture of the diamond dust clinging to her hands felt delightful.

A moment later,

“Oh my goodness, Birna. You look absolutely stunning.”

Birna emerging in the diamond dress was breathtakingly glamorous.

Sparkling jewel ornaments nestled among her pink locks, right up to the tiara of diamonds and pearls crowning her head.

‘Even more! Make it more beautiful! So Medea looks like nothing but a mere attendant beside me!’

Despite the maids’ earnest pleas, Birna adorned her neck, ears, and slender arms with diamond jewelry as well.

Her reflection in the mirror was immensely satisfying.

Her mother’s warnings had long since vanished from her mind.

‘I suit it better. Your dress... and your place.’

“How do I look, sister?”

Birna asked, nose tilted triumphantly. Medea softly gave her exactly the words she craved.

“You’ll be the star of the ball tonight. No one will be able to take their eyes off you.”

The two girls, now fully prepared, stood before the carriage bound for the banquet hall.

“Just a moment, Your Highness. Please take this carriage. The ball tonight is being held at the palace.”

Medea’s brow furrowed slightly.

“At the palace? I never received any such report.”

“O-of course it’s a surprise party! You have no idea how hard it was preparing it without Your Highness finding out.”

Birna shot Medea a fleeting glance with her clichéd excuse.

As Medea stared straight at her, Birna grew anxious.

If her foolish cousin took offense and refused to attend, all this elaborate preparation would go to waste.

“Oh, Your Highness. I’m truly sorry for not telling you sooner.”

She quickly softened her expression.

Then, clinging to Medea’s arm like a petulant child, she flashed an adorable pout and wheedled sweetly.

“I just had to see Your Highness’s surprised and delighted face. Come on, you won’t leave Birna to get scolded by Mother, will you?”

Birna tugged at Medea’s hand.

“Let’s hurry. The ball has already started, and everyone’s waiting just for Your Highness.”

Baldina Royal Palace.

Nobles invited to the ball filed into the hall one by one.

“Oh my...”

The chandelier’s dazzling light welcomed them.

The attendees’ eyes darted busily over the opulent decorations and interior.

Gold-rimmed ice sculptures adorned every pillar, while the orchestra’s beautiful symphony filled the hall.

Golden candelabras glowed warmly, and the fragrance of hundreds of fresh flowers wafting from every corner perfumed the air.

Along the edges towered crystal champagne pyramids and mountains of pastries dusted with gold leaf.

Though most guests were high nobles, there were more than a few from the third and fourth districts.

“People freezing and starving to death in the streets... and here we have fresh flowers and gold leaf. Utterly extravagant.”

Someone grumbled.

Even the royal family was taken aback by the ball’s excessive extravagance.

The Queen Dowager frowned.

“Medea requested this ball?”

“Yes, Your Highness. The Interior Minister said as much, but...”

Marchioness Pinatelli eyed the Queen Dowager with uncharacteristic unease.

‘Everything is unfolding exactly as I planned.’

Catherine inwardly rejoiced at the crowd’s cooling reception.

“Dear, come here.”

Regent Duke Claudio beckoned his wife. He stood with a sturdy middle-aged man.

“It’s been a while, Count Montega of the Frontier. I trust your journey was uneventful?”

Catherine offered an elegant yet warm greeting.

Count Montega’s face was stern.

“Yes, but what calls for such a grand affair?”

The road from the frontier to the capital was treacherous. Having witnessed the populace’s misery firsthand, resentment was unavoidable.

Catherine sighed at Count Montega’s question.

“Tonight’s ball wasn’t my doing.”

She pulled a woeful expression, lamenting how grueling it had been to indulge the princess’s every whim.

“As you know, how could we defy the desires of such noble blood?”

Catherine blinked innocently.

“Besides, with the Queen Dowager’s fondness for the princess, we can hardly afford any misunderstandings.”

“Montega, try to understand. Dea is still so young. It’ll be years before she truly matures.”

The Regent Duke clapped the count’s shoulder, supporting his wife’s words.

“With the king’s seal and her mother’s protection, what does Dea have to fear? Indulging her like this will keep things quiet for a while.”

“……”

Count Montega fell silent, seemingly deep in thought.

The Claudio couple exchanged knowing smiles.

“What choice do we have? From the moment I took on caring for the young Highness, I knew I’d have to endure such things—and I always expected a day like this would come.”

The Regent Duke quipped lightly.

But Claudio was unaware. The Montega he once knew was no longer a sheltered royal.

‘Claudio’s words and the situation all sound plausible enough. But... those eyes of his unsettle me.’

As frontier count, he had guarded against swarming beasts for over a decade. Life-and-death struggles had honed his instincts razor-sharp.

‘I’ll judge for myself once I see it.’

Thinking of the late king, he downed his champagne.

That was when it happened.

“Her Highness Princess Medea Casey de Baldina and Lady Birna Robin Claudio of the ducal house!”

The door attendant’s booming announcement halted the crowd mid-motion as eyes turned toward the entrance.

Two girls stepped in beneath the chandelier’s glow.

Birna drew the gaze first.

Her lively steps and the fresh waves of pink hair rippling with each stride. The diamond-dusted dress flashed endlessly under the lights.

Catherine nearly dropped her fan.

‘Why is Birna wearing that—!’

Oblivious to her mother’s horror, Birna lifted her chin proudly under the stares.

‘They’re all looking at me. They can’t tear their eyes away.’

To flaunt her presence, Birna subtly quickened her pace, stepping ahead of Medea.

The spotlight on her, the shocked eyes, the slack jaws.

If not for her etiquette training, she would have burst into gleeful laughter.

‘I belong here more. To Baldina’s palace, not the ducal house.’

Count Montega narrowed his eyes at Birna’s majestic approach.

The blinding sparkle of her dress gave away her identity.

“Princess Medea, Your Highness. Your humble servant Montega has returned from the frontier to pay his respects.”

“Y-Yes...?”

Birna blinked in confusion.

Who was this old man to suddenly—

“Birna!”

Then, ashen-faced Catherine called her daughter’s name without thinking.

Count Montega turned to the flustered girl.

He quickly noted how much she resembled his sister-in-law Catherine.

“If this girl isn’t the princess, then who exactly is the ‘Highness’ you’ve been referring to all this time?”

Catherine panicked.

What would become of everything she’d just said?

Her face draining of color, she barely managed a reply.

“This is my daughter, Birna. She looks quite similar to the princess since they’re cousins.”

“Ha, similar in looks alone?”

Count Montega shot back with a smirk.

“I may have been away from the capital for years, but I know full well how desperately my niece Birna wants to resemble the princess.”

His biting sarcasm left Catherine’s face ghostly pale.

“W-well, it’s originally the Highness’s dress, so why are you wearing it, Birna? You silly girl, making your uncle misunderstand...”

A strangled voice forced its way through clenched teeth.

Catherine itched to slap her foolish daughter’s cheek for derailing her scheme.

“I-I just...”

Birna stammered. Even she could sense something had gone terribly wrong.

“Don’t blame her too much, Aunt.”

At that moment, Medea stepped forward, as if shielding her cousin.