If the event that attracts the most attention during the social season in Leider is the hunting festival, then the event that everyone most eagerly awaits is the masquerade.
Makeup covered faces but could not hide identities.
The ball was a night of legal mingling between women and men that all young, immature nobles, both male and female, looked forward to.
Such a grand event was held under the patronage of a small family called Baron Nordark's family.
Of course, the family's surname was Little, not Palace.
(M.M.: In the order of nobility, the lowest title is the title of Baron.
The highest title is the title of Duke, followed by Marquis, then Count, then Viscount, and finally Baron)
The Nordark were a family that had more money than any other high-ranking noble through their investment in numerous companies and businesses.
Nordark's youngest son, Walter Nordark, approached Annette and Theodore who were standing in the middle of the sparkling ballroom.
“I am pleased to meet you, Her Highness the Grand Duchess!”
Walter asked Annette to greet him normally as a businessman without using his father's surname.
Walter was the son who inherited most of his father's intelligence as a successful businessman.
The Nordark were a family that ranked their children according to their ability rather than their birth order.
Therefore, the youngest son, Walter, stood out more than the rest of his brothers thanks to his distinguished skills.
Walter was also a special friend of Theodore, who was shunned by everyone because he had a high position in society, a bad reputation, and a very hot temper.
“Hello, Mr.
Walter.
What a wonderful party.
I heard that you were the one who arranged everything tonight?”
“If you like the arrangements and are enjoying the party, I will be very happy about it.
Of course, it is a bit scary because Her Highness the Grand Duchess seems to stand out today more than anything else in the palace.”
Walter led the conversation with his trademark soft smile.
Thanks to this, Annette talked to him for a very long time.
“Unfortunately, I think it's getting late, so we have to end this brief greeting here.
I can't afford to keep the party planner busy for too long for the guests.”
“Haha… Brief?
You two talked for an extremely long period of time.”
Theodore, who had not said much during the conversation, said these words wryly.
Annette couldn't understand why Theodore was suddenly in such a mood, so she looked at him as if she was asking him why he was upset.
“Was the conversation too long?
Thinking about it, I should also meet the ladies I met at the hunting festival.”
Annette wondered why Theodore's mood seemed a little different than usual, and then she disappeared into the group of women.
“Just today I finally paid the price for the life of humiliation I was living with Your Highness.
Seeing the famous Annette Scheringen right before my eyes makes me feel like a very blessed person.”
Theodore looked at Walter silently, wondering what kind of nonsense he was talking about.
But Walter didn't seem to notice his frowning gaze because his eyes were fixed on Annette's appearance, who today was extremely beautiful without limits.
Theodore didn't like the look in his friend's eyes toward his wife, but there was no time to argue with him.
It was because there were several men who were looking at Annette with the same annoying looks as Walter, so Theodore was just busy checking the identity of the people she was talking to.
Throughout the party, Theodore saw that all the men were drooling while looking at Annette instead of looking at their partners who were pinching the backs of their hands to come to their senses.
Annette was so impressive today.
“Your Highness, listen to me.
I have prepared something wonderful at today’s party to give the ladies the most romantic night in the entire Laider.”
“This must be one of your new money tricks.”
"What's wrong with helping others with their love lives so that I can do some marketing tricks as well?
Don't talk about it too much.
Fireworks will explode in the sky tonight and will capture the hearts of noble ladies, giving noble young men the opportunity to get closer to them."
Today's party was the place to show the result of Walter's investment in chemical research and her technological prowess to the civilian population.
His plan was to display fireworks at midnight.
It will be a romantic night with beautiful fireworks promoting modern technology and Walter will make a lot of money from it.
"If people react well today, it will be confirmed that I am the one who will inherit all of my father's business.
So I ask you to cooperate with me, Your Highness.
I will be in a difficult situation if you become a stumbling block for me today."
"I?"
“Tonight’s party should be perfect and the focus of everyone’s attention, but you are too handsome, Your Highness!”
Walter looked at the people as they scribbled something on papers in a far corner of the banquet hall.
They were the newspaper reporters that Walter had invited in advance to announce the success of tonight's party.
Walter made sure today's costume party was a success.
There shouldn't be any technical issues, but if there was one, it would be that someone might do something and get more attention than their party itself.
Walter's friend was very serious in this regard.
Theodore, one of the most talked-about people on the social scene lately, might do something to ruin the party.
So it was necessary to keep an eye on this dangerous friend.
“At midnight, everyone should only focus on my fireworks, so take care of that handsome face of yours and hide it somewhere.
Make sure not to draw anyone’s attention away from the fireworks because of your face.”
“No one here will care about me and no one will say much about what I do, so stop talking about this nonsense.”
“Are you blind or are you just pretending to be stupid?
Even though you act so rude and arrogant, all the girls only look at you.
Even though you are already married but… Damn, what an unfair life.”
Walter complained more and more, but Theodore didn't listen to him at all.
Who the hell would the Creator of Hell care about?
Isn't everyone just staring at Annette?
Men went crazy over Annette's dress, which had a deep slit in the back.
Annette was beautiful in his eyes no matter what she wore, but why did he become angry when she looked beautiful in others' eyes as well?
Theodore was upset and showed no interest in what his friend said.
His eyes actively followed Annette everywhere she went.
In the midst of Theodore's constant surveillance of Annette, an insufferable man finally appeared and approached his wife with uncomfortable looks.
* * *
Annette felt all kinds of gazes fixed on her from all over the party.
Among them, there was an unusually strong and uncomfortable look, but she couldn't tell where it was coming from.
But Annette was grateful that the effort she had put into preparing herself for the masquerade had not been in vain.
Today, Annette was extremely beautiful even in her eyes.
She was wearing a soft silk dress that wrapped around her slim waist and had an open back to highlight her slim figure.
Even the butterfly-shaped mask that was covering her face fit her as if it was made just for her.
The large gems were heavy, but their body was light enough to float through the air.
Why was Annette feeling like the main character at tonight's party?
This party was like theater for her.
Annette felt like she was at a ballet after a very long time.
Of course, the performance here was very different from ballet, but that made it feel even more amazing.
Perhaps because she was wearing a mask, Annette felt like she was standing in the middle of a musical rather than a real-life party.
High shoes may be uncomfortable, but the feeling of walking on stage in high-heeled shoes made her body look as light as a ballerina.
All this time Annette lived with an underlying feeling of guilt because she was always living a lie in the middle of someone else's body.
But today was the day everyone decided to be fake.
These were the moments when a lie becomes truth, so today Annette was somewhat relieved.
Annette pretended to be Annette Scheringen at the costume party today.
The music played by the orchestra accelerated to a uniform rhythm.
Everyone admired Annette's spontaneity more and more.
Many men asked her to dance with them, and she never rejected their requests to dance.
All the men also asked her about her relationship with Theodore.
They were asking her if she would be willing to have an affair with them.
But Annette disappointed them all by saying that she was happily married and that she loved her husband very much.
Meanwhile, Annette is approached by an unexpected man.
“Miss Annette, no, I can’t call you that anymore.
Hello, Her Highness the Grand Duchess.”
It was Hugo.
Annette remembered Theodore insulting Yvonne that day in church, so she felt a little embarrassed because she didn't think Hugo would come to meet her first, but she quickly regained her calm and composure.
Hugo probably didn't come here to make a fuss about Theodore insulting Yvonne that day, so she had to find out why he approached her so confidently in front of others.
The environment around them had already become noisy.
This is because this was the first time Hugo came to talk to Annette first.
Annette wondered why he had come to meet her.
“How are you, Your Highness?”
“Apart from His Majesty the Emperor’s pressure to hurry up with the marriage, I’m fine.”
“What a pity.
If you had accepted my proposal when I asked you to marry me, you would not have suffered like this.
But in any case, I am lucky that you rejected me.
I fell in love with another man and married him, and I live happily with him now.”
“That's true.
But somehow, I think we were destined to get married and start a family together, but you were so quick to abandon me and go find another man.”
Annette made a light joke in order to find out why Hugo had come to meet her, but Hugo laughed lightly and made a joke that went too far while pretending that he meant nothing serious.
Annette felt a unique arrogance and pride in the words of the man who had never lost anything in his life.
“Did I ever tell you that I was very sad because I wasn't invited to your wedding?”
“Please forgive me, Your Majesty, but I did not invite anyone to my wedding.
But the most important thing is that we are a family now, right?”
"That's true.
But I wanted to meet you as Marchioness Scheringen.
I'm a little sad that you're part of the family now.
I think the title of Marchioness will suit you, as it did for your ancestors, more than the title of your husband, Grand Duke.
Of course, if it's okay with you, I would like to continue calling you Marchioness Scheringen in the future as well and not break the political ties that bind us together."
"I never gave up my title as Marchioness, so you don't have to worry about the Scheringen's political connections.
I don't know if you feel the same way, Your Highness, but I feel very fortunate that I am now married to His Highness the Grand Duke.
Anyway, if it weren't for me being the Grand Duchess now, you wouldn't have come to meet me first, Your Highness, or am I wrong?"
Annette seemed to understand why Hugo had come to meet her.
He wondered whether Annette had any intention of betraying her husband and putting her hand in Hugo's hand and supporting him as her father had done before.
Annette was now Theodor's wife, but she still held the title of Scheringen as the new head of the family, so Hugo wanted her to become a double agent for him and leak inside information about her husband to her.
His words were disrespectful to both Annette and her husband, Theodore.
Hugo still did not respect Annette and still did not recognize her as the Marchioness of Scheringen.
Did he think she was such a naive and easily led person?
Annette was rather grateful for this way of thinking.
Annette will be lucky if Hugo continues to belittle her like this, because only then will she be able to catch him off guard.
A hidden war of nerves broke out between the two.
However, Annette was feeling stronger gazes from another man who was standing behind her.
Theodore was looking at her.
Annette quickly realized that Theodore was probably waiting with bated breath to learn the information she had gleaned from her conversation with Hugo.
So Annette was in a hurry to deal with the enemy that was in front of her.
She didn't expect such an opportunity to talk to Hugo in the future.
Annette did not know what information Hugo wanted to know from her, but she would do her best to hide everything she knew, and on the contrary, she would try to catch a glimpse of his inner intentions.
“Would you like to dance with me to this song, Your Highness?”
“It is an honor for me, ma'am.”
Annette saw Yvonne standing in a corner of the ballroom, looking at them awkwardly as they headed towards the dance floor.
But she didn't realize that there were someone else's eyes watching her with mixed feelings.