Chapter Title: The Grand Ball
Geneviève climbed into the carriage. Inside, three other ladies were already seated.
"Peace be upon the goddess. Lady Geneviève."
Saoirse Foscari, leading the others, greeted her. Geneviève returned the greeting and took her seat.
Geneviève glanced around.
*Look at these girls. They're all dressed up like peacocks just to catch Lord Cesare's eye.*
Geneviève's sharp eyes scanned them up and down, appraising their outfits. The dresses, adorned with expensive gold lace, made her feel spiteful.
*They probably haven't seen meat on their dinner table for weeks to afford those dresses. How extravagant.*
Geneviève thought as she fiddled with her own dress.
The Malatesta family wasn't particularly wealthy. Her dress, made dazzling only by reusing all the lace from old ones, now felt irritating.
As she maintained a forced smile, Saoirse Foscari spoke up.
"The streets are festive as always today. Everyone looks happy."
Another lady responded.
"They say they handed out wine to the elders, meat to the young, and candy to the children. Even the food at the stalls is supported by the Bonaparte family."
"It seems Lord Cesare enjoys this kind of atmosphere. The previous Lords Bonaparte celebrated their birthdays more modestly."
"I prefer the current way."
"You just want the Solroxan porcelain given to all the ball attendees, don't you?"
"Oh my. You caught me! But really, when else would we get Solroxan porcelain?"
The ladies giggled. Then someone narrowed their eyes and lowered their voice.
"But... have you heard?"
This signaled the start of a secret conversation. Everyone opened their fans to cover their lips. Geneviève half-opened her fan made from carved ivory.
"They say Lady 'Adelaide Bonaparte' is officially debuting today."
A pair of lips said. Another pair of lips responded.
"Isn't it curious? A sister who never existed suddenly appears as soon as the agreement with the Della Valle family surfaces."
"It's natural to have such suspicions."
"But someone saw Lord Cesare and Lady Adelaide on Bella Stella Street. They said Lord Cesare was very kind and gentle with her?"
"And lately, he's been inviting Lady Lucrezia to the Bonaparte mansion instead. I wish someone would explain what's going on."
"I believe they are truly blood-related. They say Lord Cesare has already spent over five billion gold on her in Bella Stella Street alone. Would he do that if they weren't real siblings?"
"Well, that's true..."
"And she's said to be incredibly beautiful, isn't she?"
The whispers continued. But since little was known about 'Adelaide Bonaparte,' the rumors were mostly empty and speculative.
Lacking anything substantial to gossip about, the conversation soon shifted to other topics.
The lips that had scraped the bottom of old social gossip grew bored and folded their fans.
"This procession never seems to shorten."
"Next time, I might wear pants and ride a horse here."
"Oh my. Are you serious?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"But if you wear pants... it's hard to take them off, isn't it?"
"Oh my."
With naughty and playful laughter, the conversation regained its vigor.
The carriage finally reached the front gate after a long wait, passed the inspection, and stopped in front of the outer palace of Bonaparte.
"Oh! That was a long ride. See you all later."
The ladies scattered, each finding their escort who had ridden alongside the carriage on horseback to enter the venue together. Geneviève also went in search of her escort. Since she didn't have a lover, her brother Giuseppe Malatesta would be escorting her.
"Giuseppe!"
"Ah, Geneviève."
It wasn't hard to spot Giuseppe with his ridiculous curly orange hair.
*Lucrezia has such pretty straight hair, why is our family stuck with this curly mess?*
Geneviève grumbled inwardly as she approached Giuseppe.
"Make sure you escort me properly."
Giuseppe's face crumpled.
"Is that any way to talk to your brother?"
"If you're upset, find someone else to enter with."
Giuseppe fumed, but Geneviève, knowing he had no other ladies to enter with, just smirked. However, Giuseppe quickly changed his expression and grinned.
"Looks like even Lady Lucrezia got tired of your personality. You rode separately from her today, didn't you?"
"What?"
"I always wondered why someone like Lady Lucrezia would hang around with you. Looks like she finally saw sense."
"Have you finished talking?"
Just as Geneviève was about to pounce on him, their turn to enter arrived.
"You'll pay for this!"
Geneviève glared, but Giuseppe whistled and looked away.
The siblings composed themselves and approached the entrance to the Hall of Aria. The announcer glanced at them and then called out.
"Lady Geneviève Malatesta! Sir Giuseppe Malatesta!"
The siblings entered with smiles as if they hadn't just been fighting.
The Hall of Aria, the largest ballroom in Fornatie, was already bustling with guests. Some glanced at their entrance before returning to their conversations.
As soon as they entered the ballroom, Giuseppe poked Geneviève in the side.
"Hey, Jeanne. So, where's Lady Lucrezia?"
"Huh! Are you still after Lucrezia? She sees you as nothing more than a hairy sardine!"
"You never know. Now, show me the way."
"I don't know where she is either!"
Annoyed, Geneviève pulled her arm away.
"I'm going to talk with the ladies. Do whatever you want. Just don't be late when we leave."
"Hey...!"
Ignoring his voice, Geneviève pushed through the crowd.
*He's such an embarrassing brother. If only Cesare were my brother instead! How lucky Adelaide must be to have Cesare as her brother.*
And why were there so many people here? With even the southern island folks attending, she bumped shoulders with someone every few steps.
Geneviève finally found a group of ladies sitting on a chaise longue at the edge of the ballroom.
One of them recognized her and greeted her.
"Peace be upon the goddess. Lady Geneviève, you're here too?"
"Peace be upon the goddess!"
Geneviève replied, adjusting her loosened hair ornament. She looked around but didn't see Lucrezia.
"Have you seen Lady Lucrezia?"
At Geneviève's question, the ladies' expressions turned subtle. One of them slightly curled her lips and replied.
"I thought you'd know better, but I see you came separately today?"
*Oops.*
Geneviève smiled brightly.
"Yes! Lady Lucrezia said she would be late, so I came ahead."
"Oh my. Then I must have been mistaken when I saw the Della Valle carriage arrive earlier."
"...!"
Geneviève's face turned red. The ladies giggled.
*They never said a word properly when Lucrezia was around...*
But with Lucrezia nowhere in sight and not wanting to be a wallflower, Geneviève swallowed her pride and forced a smile.
"Maybe Lady Lucrezia was being considerate and told me otherwise..."
"Of course."
The ladies giggled again, and the gentlemen who had hoped to catch a glimpse of Lucrezia looked slightly disappointed.
"By the way, it's even more splendid this year. They must have redone all the decorations."
One lady remarked, prompting a gentleman to bow and respond.
"I heard the Stellone Trading Company's import volume increased last month."
"Ah, the 'Eva' arrived from Solrox?"
"Yes. With a 1,000-ton ship, the cargo must be immense."
"The market will be bustling again. As expected of Stellone."
"There's no competing with them now. Look, even the Duke of Sforza from the southern island is here?"
At that, everyone turned their gaze to the far end of the ballroom. Among the crowd, a rare face passed by.
"The Duke of Yvrea is here too. Wow."
"Among the Priori, only the Duke of Mudo is absent?"
"The Duke of Mudo has been troubled with his child recently... But he did send a letter, I heard."
Geneviève listened to the conversation, still searching for Lucrezia. But Lucrezia was nowhere to be seen.