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Chapter 78 Part 11 – The fortune teller ‘Mother’ appears. The 「True History」 is starting to be revealed little by little. Our love story is beginning to move. Carrying various emotions, the curtain rises on the night of the dance ball.

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This is the main entrance to Countess Rosenthal’s mansion. Many ladies and gentlemen were gathered in the reception hall. Slightly faded fresco painting covered the entire surface of the arched ceiling that was reminiscent of a cathedral. The grand staircase in the back is splendid, but the handrail has a very old design. This was the appearance of Countess Rosenthal’s mansion before it was rebuilt.

However, none of the nobles considered it strange.

Because the power of the countess’s evil eye had returned their appearance and minds to what it was on the night of the ball 14 years ago and they are acting exactly as they had on the ball that night.

The nobles would normally leave their overcoat and hats in the cloakroom, relax in the parlor, and gossip to their hearts’ content, but now they are impatiently waiting for Cornelia’s carriage to arrive. So that they could make a laughingstock out of her, just as they had done that time.

Needless to say, it was because Marquis Vygod and his wife had spread the word in advance that Cornelia would be arriving in an uncovered carriage.

It was just as Scarlet had suspected. Cornelia had been set up by her parents-in-law.

A group of ladies covered their mouths with a feather fan as they chuckled and chatted in secret.

「I must compliment the duchess on what a lovely uncovered carriage she came in. I wonder how she will respond to it.」

「Ohohoho, I’m sure she’ll be soaring with joy. After all, that person doesn’t know anything about the rules of nobility. All she can think about is bows and arrows.」

「Oh my, how horrible. The high society that has always been so proper would be ruined if an untrained stray dog started to wander into it. And what’s even worse is that that stray dog is wearing a duchess’s crown on her head. Aaah, where have the gatekeepers called manners and culture gone to? The prestige of the nobility has fallen to the ground.」

A fat lady sighed exaggeratedly.
And a malicious and wicked light flashed in the eyes of a lanky woman next to the fat woman.

「Now is the time for us to unite as one. There is no need to train a stray dog. We just have to drive it away. The night is long. Let’s slowly take our time to thoroughly teach a lesson to this incompetent duchess, who is only good at archery. This is the duty of a noble. Engrave it into her heart that she doesn’t belong here. So that she will never again go near the glamourous high society. The dark and dank forest is what suits a fake.」

Their eyes gleamed as their foreheads pressed together.
They came up with one cruel plan after another.

「Oh my, what a lovely idea. What should have been a dreary night will turn out to be an entertaining one.」

「Your plan is very elegant …… Fufufu, the other party is not a human. She’s just a beast calling herself a duchess. I can’t even accept that she comes from a baron family. There is no need to hold back.」

The harmonious atmosphere that was filled with ‘Ohohoho’, ‘Ufufufu’, and wicked laughter were completely changed by the following remarks of a young lady.

「After all, Marquis Vygod and his wife even cried when requesting us to do this. They want us to drive out their rustic daughter-in-law in order to protect the family honor. I guess it’s not a bad idea to make them owe us a favor.」

「Oh my, don’t tell me, could it be that you’re aiming to replace that bitch?」

「Hohoho, I wonder. However, I do think that I’m quite suitable to be the spouse of the Crimson Duke.」

The droopy-eyed young lady laughed scornfully at the confident, slit-eyed young lady.

「Oh, you know, there’s a splendid full-length mirror over there. I hear that people tend to be fooled by the false images in their minds. Beware of that.」

「…… What do you mean by that ……」

「Hohoho, I wonder ……?」

The harmonious atmosphere completely vanished. The young ladies glared at each other from behind their feather fans and began to exchange verbal blows with each other. It is a well-known fact that the Crimson Duke Wendell is poor. As he is considered dangerous by the royal family, his parents, Marquis Vygod and his wife, have shunned and neglected him. He has received no proper rewards for his many meritorious service and has only been given a tattered territory. It is well known that he was disliked by the previous king and it is widely rumored that their discord became definite when Wendell turned down the offer of marrying the princess of the current king.

Even so, there is no end to the number of young ladies who are smitten by Wendell’s dignified and elegant appearance. They also hope that if they marry Wendell, they will have a child with his red hair and red eyes, which are the characteristics of the True Emperor. And it is not only the young ladies who are aiming for Wendell.

‘Heh, you little girls.’

The older ladies who are smiling as they watch the heated exchange between the young ladies are also aiming for Wendell.

Wendell is the ideal young lover to carry around as a status symbol. The woman he escorts so graciously would be envied by all the other ladies. Just imagining that scene tickled their self-esteem. In fact, it is not the young ladies who rely on their beauty and youth that have great power in high society. Rather, it is these ladies who have acquired enormous wealth, personal connections, and worldly wisdom in exchange for their youth. Compared to the ladies who are in a position to make the rules of high society, the young ladies are nothing more than kittens who have been allowed to act pretentious.

However, the endless game of charades between the foxes and the raccoons was interrupted by the thunderous sound of horseshoes.

The vibrations were even transmitted into the reception hall, causing the guests to stand up from their seats.

It was not a sound one would hear at a dance ball. It was as if an army had attacked.

But what was going to make them truly shocked had yet to happen.

In front of the main entrance, the gold embroidery adorning the red and blue brigandine armor shone in the moonlit night. The same design also adorned the horse’s caparison, which is the cloth that is spread over the horse’s saddle. Only one chivalric order is allowed to wear that design that was modeled after the flag of Hydrangea.

「…… Hydrangea Imperial Guards ……!?」