Chapter Title: Among Gilded Strangers
"Oh!"
Someone suddenly shouted. Adelaide turned her head.
She spotted a young lady with carrot-colored hair standing up abruptly near one of the tables.
It was the young lady who had approached her at the debutante ball, claiming to be a friend of Lucrezia.
*Geneviève Malatesta? I almost didn't recognize her.*
Back then, her hair had been curly. Now it was styled in waves similar to Adelaide's.
Adelaide looked back at Ezra.
"I see someone I know. I should go greet her."
"Someone you know?"
Ezra's gaze turned to Geneviève.
"Ah, Miss Geneviève."
His tone was kind but not particularly warm. He was stricter than she had thought. Adelaide revised her evaluation of him and tapped Aegir on the shoulder. Aegir naturally headed toward Geneviève.
"God's peace be with you. You are Miss Geneviève Malatesta, correct?"
"God's peace be with you!"
Geneviève shouted with an emotional gaze.
"You—you remembered me, Miss Adelaide!"
"Of course. We became friends back then, didn't we?"
Geneviève covered her mouth, her eyes trembling with emotion.
"Can I really be your friend?"
"Unless you dislike me."
"How could I possibly dislike you!"
Geneviève shouted immediately.
As people around them cleared their throats, she blushed and belatedly glanced at Adelaide's ankle.
"Oh. Miss Adelaide, your ankle…?"
"Ah, it's a bit embarrassing, but I injured it slightly."
Adelaide shook her ankle, which was wrapped in a red silk ribbon over the cast.
"I had a dizzy spell and fell while taking a walk during the day."
Geneviève blinked in confusion.
"I heard you went with Miss Lucrezia… Was no one around?"
"It turned out that way."
"Ah…"
Geneviève smiled awkwardly.
At that moment, Ezra interjected with a soft smile.
"God's peace be with you. It's been a while, Miss Geneviève."
At his smile, Geneviève quickly pursed her lips and blushed.
"G-God's peace be with you…"
Ezra smiled once more, then turned his gaze back to Adelaide.
"Miss Adelaide. It must be uncomfortable to remain in someone's arms the entire time. You should take a seat."
Geneviève, suddenly excluded from their focus, smiled awkwardly.
Adelaide glanced at Ezra, then at Geneviève, and finally at the curious nobles around them. She then spoke to Geneviève.
"Miss Geneviève. This is my first time here, so I feel rather out of place. Would you join me at my table?"
Geneviève's eyes widened like a startled fish.
"Really! I would love that! But would you truly be all right with someone like me?"
"In Fornatie, do they call someone lovely 'someone like me'?"
"Oh! Please don't tease me so. It's embarrassing!"
"I'm not teasing."
"Miss Adelaide!"
Adelaide laughed softly at Geneviève's blushing face.
"But I mean it. I would appreciate your company."
Adelaide said this and looked back at Ezra.
"Don't you agree, Sir Ezra?"
Her eyes curved into a smile.
*If you obtain something too easily, you lose interest quickly.*
Ezra, meeting her gaze, smiled calmly.
"Of course. I would be delighted if she joins us."
---
Adelaide sat with Ezra and Aegir on either side of her.
It was natural for Ezra, who had escorted her, to sit beside her, but Aegir was surprisingly stubborn.
"It is my master's order."
He said this with a stern face, making it impossible to push him aside. Cesare's name carried absolute weight in Santnar.
Geneviève sat next to Ezra, and a few others who had noticed him also came over and settled around them.
A servant standing in the corner quickly brought spumante and some brie cheese for everyone.
"Well then, since we are all gathered…"
"Yes, shall we begin?"
They all looked at Adelaide with sparkling eyes.
Ezra whispered to her as she froze in surprise.
"It is customary for the highest-ranking person to give the opening remarks."
"…"
*You should have told me. You should have told me!*
Adelaide gritted her teeth slightly. In her mind, books from the library flipped through rapidly.
She brushed her hair back and smiled brightly—a smile she had never made before.
"God's peace be with you. I am Adelaide Bonaparte. I hope this time we spend together allows us to reach greater heights through the universal reason granted to us by the providence of the universe."
She finished her speech and smiled graciously at everyone, drawing on Cesare's demeanor.
It was effective. They looked at her with wide eyes, seemingly having already forgotten what she had said.
Fortunately, she had simply said whatever came to mind.
After completing her opening remarks, Adelaide sank deep into the velvet sofa and held her spumante glass.
*"If you think you might make a mistake, raise your glass. Stare at the wine while swirling it to show you're not in the mood to answer."*
It was a lesson from the late Lady Flavia.
"Has anyone read Annianus?"
"If you mean Annianus, I have…"
Despite glancing at Adelaide, people started talking among themselves.
As she lowered her gaze and listened to their conversation, Adelaide thought first of Cesare.
She seemed to understand why he had wanted to take her to the Balladur Club on the first day of the season.
Adelaide subtly lifted her eyes to observe those seated around the large, round marble table, smoking pipes or savoring spumante in tall glasses.
Their ranks were those of second sons of noble families, scholars from the academy, third daughters who were not heirs, low-level officials in parliament… They were all such people.
To a shoe shiner, they were high and mighty, but from Bonaparte's perspective, they didn't even come close to her feet.
They were watching Adelaide with sidelong glances, hoping she might provide some amusing topic.
If Adelaide showed even a hint of unladylike behavior, they would immediately delight in tearing her apart.
*Cesare must have known.*
That was why he had tried to set an exemplary standard on the first day of the season.
A grand noble would not be so interested in Adelaide.
Thinking this far, Adelaide elegantly took a sip of spumante.
*Since I'm already here, I have no choice.*
If she could leave without making any mistakes, she would have succeeded. Ezra was already out of her mind. Adelaide lowered her glass, which she had been holding for too long, stretched out her legs, and leaned back.
She made certain to wear a slightly bored expression.
Normally, it would be rude, but she was a Bonaparte, and her brother was the notorious Cesare.
"Miss Adelaide, who is your favorite writer?"
As soon as she set down her glass, a young lady asked, as if she had been waiting.
"I heard at the debutante ball that you are interested in Durante, Giovanni, and Francesco."
Adelaide chose her words carefully and answered with a slightly haughty but polite tone.
"You're correct. It's difficult to discuss Santnar's literature without mentioning those three."
She said this and gently placed her hand on Ezra's shoulder.
"Of course, I also admire Calvino, like Sir Ezra."
Ezra's neck turned red instantly, but he smiled like a boy.
"I'm pleased to share tastes with you, Miss Adelaide. Calvino is one of my favorite writers. He has a piece about a man who climbed a tree…"
Whether he was quick-witted or simply kind-hearted, he skillfully diverted some of the attention meant for Adelaide.
Thanks to him, the conversation unfolded in a way that wasn't burdensome for her. It was even somewhat enjoyable. In Kimora, where she had been the only one who read books, she couldn't have imagined this. A reading club!
Contrary to her expectations that nobles would be arrogant and pretentious, they were all polite, kind, and considerate in their speech.
They shared favorite passages and moving moments from books.
If Cesare had heard, he would have laughed, but Adelaide thought that perhaps nobles and shoe shiners weren't so different as to be incapable of understanding each other.
*If it continues like this, there won't be any problems.*
After a long conversation—long enough for the spumante bubbles to dissipate—there was a brief lull.
"By the way, have you heard? There's been another fight in Kimora."
At those words, the nobles who had been smiling warmly suddenly wore displeased expressions.