Chapter 20: An Interpretation

Chapter 20 – An Interpretation

As always, the conversation between the young nobles was stereotypical and predictable—gossip at social circles hovered around topics like a new dress at a boutique, or the story of a young man travelling with another woman ahead of his wedding. Fortunately, when I heard something that I had read in the book, I was able to lead the conversation from time to time.

“Oh, by the way, did you hear? Duke Escliffe—”

“Marie?”

A voice suddenly broke through from the crowd. I turned around with a puzzled expression.

“It’s you!” the voice said.

I didn’t know if the owner of the voice realized that she had broken the flow of conversation or if she was just ignorant. Meanwhile, Odeletta was the queen of managing her facial expressions, and she greeted the newcomer.

“Greetings, Lady Dorothea.”

“Oh, Lady Odeletta?” Dorothea said, as if she just noticed Odeletta’s presence. “There you are. I didn’t see you.”

That was impossible. Odeletta’s pink hair was a rarity among the young nobles. Additionally, she was sitting right next to me… it seemed Dorothea’s incivility was on purpose. A wry chuckle inadvertently escaped from my mouth.

“Marie, I didn’t know you were here. Do you know how hard I’ve been looking for you?” Dorothea pouted.

“Haha…”

Honestly, I wished I could say, ‘Why didn’t you just socialize with other people by yourself if you didn’t see me? Did you have trouble finding anyone because you don’t have any friends?’ 

However, there were too many watching eyes, so I sadly kept my mouth shut. Keeping a convincing image as Maristella was just as strong as my desire to kick Dorothea out of here, so I smiled awkwardly.

Odeletta gave a casual smile and spoke to Dorothea. “Oh, I didn’t know that Lady Cornohen was looking for Lady Bellafleur. I brought her here as soon as she arrived… I apologize.”

“You brought Marie here, Lady Trakos?”

“Lady Maristella is not only a friend of Lady Cornohen, but also a friend of mine…”

Dorothea’s face turned visibly pale, as if she could only think of it as a joke. It was as if Odeletta had just said something equivalent to “I’m going to marry Lady Maristella.”

“A friend of Lady Odeletta’s?” Dorothea repeated in an incredulous voice.

“Oh, didn’t you know?” Odeletta smiled and took my arm. “In fact, we became friends at the Crown Prince’s birthday party. I remember that you were there at the time, but you must have forgotten.”

“…”

Whether Dorothea forgot or not, she pressed her lips tight. Odeletta did not stop there.

“Everyone may get tired of me saying this so often, but… I’m delighted to be friends with Lady Maristella, since she is very kind. She knows how to take care of others, and her heart is warm.”

“…”

“I am curious about how Lady Cornohen is friends with such a kind person,” Odeletta continued.

In other words, she was saying, ‘How could someone like you be friends with her?’

Dorothea was no idiot either, and she understood the implicit meaning in Odeletta’s words. Her pale face soon began to turn red with anger. I almost cracked a laugh, but I forced myself to hold back.

“I think I’m a good enough person to be friends with someone like Marie,” Dorothea announced in self-praise.

“Really?” Odeletta said, smiling as if she were possessed.

“Of course. There’s a saying that like attracts like, after all.”

I’m sorry Dorothea, but don’t say that we’re similar in any way. The person you got close to was the original Maristella, not me!

“Oh yes, I just remembered this story.” Dorothea smiled as she said something meaningful and another young noble took the bait.

“What story?”

“It’s a very interesting one… I’m sure those of you that already know know that.”

“What are you talking about?”

The moment I realized what Dorothea was about to say, my face turned pale, just like hers did earlier. She must be crazy. Dorothea, are you going to bring that up here?

“Not long ago, Marie was invited to Thurman Palace.”

The table became suddenly interested.

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“Thurman Palace…”

“You mean the Crown Prince’s Palace?”

“That Thurman Palace.” Dorothea flashed me a wide smile. “Right, Marie?”

“…”

Everyone’s eyes turned to me, and I flushed at the sudden concentration of attention. As I racked my brain on how to get out of this, I suddenly made eye contact with Odeletta, who also looked taken aback. I bit my lips without realizing it.

Dorothea…are you really going to do this?

“Yes, that is correct,” I replied honestly, and tried to give my sunniest smile. “Lady Dorothea’s words are right.”

“Ah, really?”

“Why? Did His Highness invite you himself?”

“Is that alright?”

Then, Dorothea’s voice interrupted the chatter once again. “She danced with the Crown Prince at his birthday banquet. Didn’t you all see it?”

“Oh yes. That happened, didn’t it?”

“I wondered who that lucky young lady was!”

“So you must be dating the Crown Prince.”

Before answering, I surreptitiously stole another glance at Odeletta. Her face was smoothly calm, but beneath it I could sense her shock. Then I happened to look at Dorothea’s face, and I saw her laughing at Odeletta. The moment I saw that, I was so upset that I wanted to ask her if it was alright for her to be so childish, but this was not a problem that could be solved this way.

Instead, I burst out into loud laughter while still keeping the smile on my face.

“Ahahaha!”

As I laughed loudly, I felt all eyes at the table, as well as the nobles from the crowd, focus towards this side. I was embarrassed at the attention, but this was the best way.

“Wait—wait a minute,” I pretended to gasp through my laughter. “Can I laugh for a minute?” After I said that, I cracked up again, and I felt the guests staring at me oddly.

After an uncomfortably inappropriate time had passed, my frivolous laughter began to die down. I still gave small giggles, and then spoke with a smile on my face as if I was going to die of amusement.

“Oh, I’m sorry if that was rude, everyone—but it was so funny that I couldn’t stop laughing.”

“What’s so funny, Lady Maristella?”

“You were all wondering whether I was in a relationship with the Crown Prince.”

“Y-Yes.”

“Is it not true?”

“Of course it’s not true,” I said with wide eyes, as if they had suggested something completely absurd. “I’m flattered by the misunderstanding, but that’s not the case at all. Yes, I accidentally spilled a cocktail on the Crown Prince’s jacket, and I tried to compensate him, but he said it was unnecessary. However, I didn’t think it was polite and wanted to make it up to him. He said he didn’t have a dance partner, so he suggested that I dance with him one time.”

“A-ah, really?”

“Wouldn’t the Crown Prince’s clothes be expensive? He must have been considerate.”

After I finished speaking, I looked around to gauge the reactions of the other young nobles. Fortunately, everyone seemed to forget the absurd idea from the exaggerated laughter. And of course, that wasn’t the end of the story.

“And the invitation to Thurman Palace was to give me back my handkerchief that had been stained when I cleaned his jacket,” I continued to explain. “He could have sent a servant, but he invited me in person. I was so touched. I heard that he had a great personality, but I didn’t know that he was that kind.”

That was a bit of an interpretation. Inviting someone to the palace to return a handkerchief was a little too much for common sense, but when wrapping it up with “The Crown Prince has a great personality,” it sounded more like a generous gesture to everyone.

The young ladies sighed at the Crown Prince over every little thing as usual, and I breathed in relief and glanced over at Odeletta. She looked better than before, but it seemed clear that she paid attention to Dorothea’s words.

I sighed inwardly again and made a note to talk to her. Since Xavier and I really had nothing between each other, it would be unfortunate to continue with this misunderstanding. In fact, I could even introduce Odeletta to Crown Prince Xavier.

“Lady Odeletta,” I ventured carefully, and she answered me in a casual voice.

“Yes. What is it, Lady Maristella?”

“May I talk to you for a moment?”

I had to correct this misunderstanding. This person was the one I wanted to be friends with even more in the future.

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