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Chapter 85 Part 1 – I’m!! Heading into battle!! When feelings and fingertips come into contact.

【From the POV of a certain lady from a powerful faction of the red nobles who was charmed by Cornelia.】

…… We, red nobles, are accustomed to all kinds of social gatherings.

As the honor and reputation of the organizers are on the line, they are desperate to impress their guests with all the luxury and tricks they can muster. Ironically, that repetition wears away our sense of appreciation. We are no longer impressed unless it’s something really special. We often laugh among ourselves about it as a troubling luxury disease.

However, the first dance at the ball tonight made our hearts throb for the first time in a long time.

Countess Rosenthal and Duchess Wilhelm’s ‘Thunderbolt Polka’ was truly wonderful. It was such a pity that the strings of the musical instruments broke and the dance had to stop just before the final 4th stage. I wanted to see it through to the end. Still, the performance was so good that it will always be passed down as a legend of high society.

For the women of the nobility, the ‘Thunderbolt’ series has a special meaning. All of us dreamt of performing on a big stage and receiving a standing ovation at least once when we were a young girl. It is a Cinderella-like dream story that demands a staggeringly high degree of difficulty as a price. There is no such thing as the magic of a good-natured fairy in reality. We can’t imagine just how much effort it took for Duchess Wilhelm, who used to be terrible at dancing, to learn it. All of the women were deeply moved.

That’s why when Duchess Wilhelm, Cornelia-sama, finished dancing the ‘Thunderbolt Polka’, the atmosphere of disdain directed at her as a country bumpkin girl raised in the mountains had been swept away from the women.

In just three songs, the duchess had won over the majority of the hard-to-please women of the red nobility. The duchess made the only right choice. Contrary to the rumors, she is a wise person.

…… The duchess has made a name for herself as an unparalleled expert of archery in this kingdom. In fact, the duchess’s archery skills that she had displayed in her exchange with Countess Rosenthal were divine. However, even if her expertise in archery was displayed right in front of our eyes, that would not make her be truly accepted by the women of the red nobility. As long as she can’t make her presence be felt through a sense of value shared among the women, even if she can become a rare lion, she would still be treated as something different that exists outside the rules.

But the duchess won our respect within the rules in a fair and square manner with her dancing skills. She made our hearts tremble.

I can make a prediction. From now on, the only people who will refuse to recognize the duchess under any circumstances will be the obstinate Marquis Vygod and his wife.

For some reason, I can’t see those two people who would try to show contempt for their daughter-in-law, the duchess, at every opportunity in tonight’s ball. That’s fortunate though. From now on, whenever the ladies hear insults directed to the duchess, they will frown, cover their mouths with their fans, and leave the place in displeasure. We have already recognized the duchess as a companion that we are proud of. We wouldn’t want to have a conversation with anyone who speaks ill about her.

Standing in the center of the ballroom, the duchess looked radiant. It was as if the moonlight was pouring down on her as a generous compliment. She has proven that she could play the leading role in high society, not through political power or behind-the-scenes maneuvering, but through her own ability.

「…… That’s amazing!! Cornelia-sama!!」

The next thing I knew, I was running up to her, repeating like an idiot, 「That’s amazing」, and holding one of the duchess’s arms. I was like a little girl acting on her emotions.

It wasn’t a calculation. I was sincere about it. I lost control of myself so much that I blushed when I recalled it later.

…… I didn’t mean to do this at first. When I saw that golden carriage with the royal crest and the imperial guards, I coldly calculated that the duchess was worth using.

Moreover, the duchess has few contacts in high society. I saw it as an opportunity to bring her into our faction. My companions also agreed with that idea.

We, red nobles, are estranged from His Majesty the King. But through the duchess, who is clearly favored by the royal family, we might be able to forge a friendly relationship. And not only that, we would also be able to approach the Crimson Duke, who is famous for being misanthropic …… I was thrilled as I thought of his sagacious side profile that is always gossiped about each day in high society. If we can pull this off, we will surely get a lot of attention from everyone around us.

High society is a place of fierce competition for women.

If we do not constantly make an effort to assess the strengths of the people around us, we will become an outcast in the blink of an eye.

And yet the red nobles that were present on the scene when the duchess arrived still looked down on her even when they had personally witnessed her display of power. I bit my lips as I thought inside my mind, ‘How foolish’. It is exactly because of this behavior that we are being left behind by the emerging blue nobles.

We don’t want to get dragged into this situation and be considered as one of them. So our faction decided to leave that place and seek another opportunity to contact the duchess. There is a reason why she reigns supreme in high society. A chill ran down my spine when I passed by the smiling Countess Rosenthal in the corridor. She smiled as if she could see through our schemes, and it made me realize the height of the wall that loomed ahead of us. However, if we can win over the duchess, we will surely have a chance to surpass Countess Rosenthal someday ……

But she, the duchess, Cornelia-sama, stole our hearts with her dance. She blew away our scheming minds and conversely captured my heart.

My heart danced. I wanted to approach that person without any calculation. I wished to proudly boast that she’s my friend. I was tormented by the agony of my childhood years that I had almost forgotten. I used to dream of dancing like her. And not only me. Nearly everyone in my faction dreamed so. When we became an adult, we had no choice but to give up that distant dream, but we have not forgotten the longing we had for that dream. The first common topic of conversation that brought us together was dancing.

Words of high praise overflowed as if the dam had broken. We overlapped the dreams we had as a young girl on the duchess. Seeing the troubled look on the duchess as she was surrounded by everyone from our faction, I thought that Cornelia-sama looked really cute. She’s not used to being praised.

…… You all have really bad eyes. I can’t believe that you guys didn’t realize the value of this person. No, I was the same. A bitter taste spread inside my mouth. I was also guilty of joining in and speaking ill of Cornelia-sama.

It’s too late to apologize now. Besides, that would be so selfish of me. That is not something that can be forgiven by merely apologizing. So, let’s at least protect Cornelia-sama from now on. This person who is unfamiliar with the social world will surely be exposed to a lot of malice in the future. We will atone for our actions by becoming a defensive wall against that.

Without saying a single word, our faction had vowed to do so.

That’s why when Viscount Brewer insulted Cornelia-sama as a mountain monkey, we instantly stood up to refute him. Our speed did not lose to Countess Rosenthal. And not only that, our anger was genuine. Viscount Brewer tried to force the ladies to listen to him. What a cowardly foul play. Complying with the rules of high society, Cornelia-sama danced magnificently and fought her way through. Compared to Cornelia-sama, who had won our respect, his actions were an unforgivable act of violence.

However, our anger was frozen by a girl with bright red hair. .

「This is high society. Then it’s my battlefield as a woman.」

The girl named Scarlet said so as she held back the boys who tried to come in to help. She was petite and dainty.
And yet, she didn’t flinch at all when she faced the furious Viscount Brewer and announced that she would be his partner for the dance instead of Cornelia-sama and Countess Rosenthal.