The preparation started in the morning and finished in the evening. I would not go into detail about the suffering period of time.

Anyway, my appearance after the makeup was touched up was very beautiful.

“You really look like a doll.”

Chia repeated the words ‘beautiful’, ‘like a doll’, and ‘like a fairy’ several times.

I looked in the mirror and nodded in agreement.

“Truly.”

It was self-praise, but no one would think of me as arrogant. That was how dazzling Eureia’s appearance was.

She really looks like a doll.

Her thread-like platinum blonde hair was nicely combed and fell loose gently. Her white, bare neck was so thin that it could be caught with one single hand.

At first glance, the light reflected by the amethyst embedded in the earrings fell gently on her collarbone, as though it was replacing her necklace.

Her gown was navy blue. The dark colour of the dress emphasised her white skin even more.

“You have worked hard, everyone.”

I smiled with satisfaction and got up from my seat.

Just in time, the bell rang, signaling the start of the banquet.

As I left the room, Hillary approached me.

There was a long distance between the main palace and the detached palace where the ball was held, so we came there by carriage.

Hillary escorted me out of the carriage.

“I will be waiting here. Don’t worry, I will run to you right away if anything happens.”

Those with swords were not allowed to enter the ballroom. Knights and escorts were no exception. So Hillary decided to wait outside.

“It won’t take too long.”

To be honest, I didn’t intend to stay at the ball for long. I just intended to get a glimpse of the nobles’ faces, to have a rough idea what they look like these days.

As I entered, the gatekeeper announced my arrival. Surprisingly, no one paid any attention.

Well, I guess with many big names and faces gathered here, they wouldn’t pay attention to some young lady from a Viscount House.

Rather, it was more comfortable for me. To me, attention was nothing but a nuisance.

But for a while, the men who were blind by Eureia’s appearance began to approach me. I stepped back as far as I could to avoid them.

I was bored, so I got myself a piece of cake and some chocolate on the plate.

I hummed with delight after taking a bite with a fork.

As expected, sweet things are the best.

I liked sweets. Sweets made me feel good and energised.

Conversely, I hated the bitter taste.

For that, whenever I wanted to get drunk, I drank sweet wine instead of bitter alcohol. That was the wine of Cleréans.

Feeling better, I hummed while engraving in my mind the faces of key figures I had learned in advance.

That man is Count Lebrando, who has recently made considerable achievements in the trade business, and next to him is the heir of the Locked family, which is famous for its recent papermaking techniques…

Finding the big faces wasn’t difficult. It was because many large and small groups were formed around the grand figures.

The groups were disbanded for a moment when the gatekeeper announced the next entry.

“Princess Carlia Velvet and Lord Carlos Velvet are entering!”

T/n: As you must have already known, daughter of a duke is called ‘princess’.

At the brief and concise call of the gatekeeper, the noisy conversation was cut off.

I looked at the two people entering through the open door. It was a young duo of a man and a woman.

A huge figure among the big ones gathered here.

The siblings of the Velvet Duchy.

The Velvet Duchy was a prestigious family with numerous businesses.

For the record, there were more than ten businesses that were directly managed, and many more affiliated businesses.

In particular, the Velvet Merchant Guild, which was intensely operated, was only second to Cheshire.

We collide with the Velvet Guild in every way.

Currently, Cheshire was still the leading Merchant of the empire. But it’s just because the magic tool’s achievement was huge.

Had it not been for the invention of magic tools, we would never have been able to rival the Velvet.

Now that it’s mentioned, I remembered Duke Velvet was the worst.

He was a detestable person.

Whenever we met, he often ignored Cheshire’s staff, and did not hesitate to make all kinds of negative comments.

In fact, some even went to court battles.

After I disappeared, Cheshire Group’s growth slowed down, and they took advantage of this to thrive.

At this point, it would be a reasonable suspicion that the Duke of Velvet was the one who instigated my assassination. He had the power and motive to do that after all…

That must be his children.

The woman was Princess Carlia Velvet and the man was Lord Carlos Velvet.

They have really grown a lot.

The last time I saw them, they were only little kids, but now they had grown into full-fledged adults.

Both of them boasted such a beautiful appearance that could not be found anywhere else and no one could be compared.

Especially, the looks of the older sister, Carlia Velvet, was dazzling.

Her low-saturated red hair was similar to that of a rose, and her eyes reminded me of an elegant cat.

I remembered that the Princess was brilliant.

Having visited her academy a few times for business, I came to know that the status of Princess Velvet in her academy was great.

She was a gifted student who never failed to get the first place in the whole school since her admission.

There was once quite an uproar among the public, saying that she was a genius, along with Leone.

On the other hand, Carlos Velvet, the younger brother, was behind in grades and was often in trouble.

I watched as the distinguished pair of siblings exchanged greetings, surrounded by the crowd.

So the rumour about the duke’s condition being quite critical must have been true.

Since he could not attend such an important event.

Looks like the next successor will be decided soon.

If so, would it be the princess? That would make things difficult for me.

Since the princess was the eldest daughter and was much more intelligent than the young lord, it was likely that she would be the next head. As soon as she graduated from the academy, she took charge of one of their affiliated companies and achieved outstanding results.

Just as I thought that I must return to Cheshire before she became the next head of the duchy, I heard a whispering conversation.

“Did you know? About Princess Carlia. They say she is to be married off.”

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