Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Come to the Ball as Repayment
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“Oh my, miss! What a beautiful dress! Will you try it on now?”
The maid urged Laura Carolline to try on the dress she had brought.
Laura nodded absentmindedly but couldn’t bring herself to feel happy about the situation.
It was too surreal now that something she had only imagined was actually happening.
‘Who sent such a dress?’
It couldn’t have been her father.
He was the type who wouldn’t even know there was a ball at the academy.
Then, Ellie?
That made even less sense.
While their friendship had started because of the novel, their similar circumstances had played a big role too.
A dress this expensive-looking? Ellie couldn’t have afforded it even if she wanted one for herself.
Lost in thought like that, Laura found her clothes changed by the maid’s skilled hands before she knew it.
The dress fit her body perfectly.
As if it had been measured to her exact dimensions.
Once she was fully dressed, the maid let out an exclamation at the sight.
“You look absolutely stunning, miss! This must be for the ball, right?”
“Y-Yes, I suppose so?”
“You’re going to have such a wonderful time! The gentlemen will be lining up to ask you to dance!”
At those words, Laura’s floating spirits came crashing back down to earth.
Right. Dancing.
She didn’t know how to dance.
As the fourth child of a poor family, she was useless even for political marriages, so she had grown up more or less neglected.
There was no way she had ever learned something like dancing.
So even with a fancy dress like this, she couldn’t possibly attend the ball—
“Oh, miss! There’s not just one dress? And shoes too, plus a letter! It must be from whoever sent the dresses!”
—There was another dress? And a letter?
Laura checked the other dress the maid had brought.
It was a simple dress that emphasized mobility more than the usual type.
Not as beautiful as the first one, but it didn’t look cheap either, seeming easy to move in.
Just who had sent her two such expensive dresses?
And when Laura opened the letter, she immediately knew who it was from.
[Please wear this dress today.
The shoes too.
Your friend.]
‘Laura…?!’
Laura stared at the neatly written short letter in shock.
How in the world?
She hadn’t said a word about not having a dress?
Realizing this, Laura’s face flushed bright red.
Embarrassment from having her situation and true feelings exposed.
Unreality from something she had given up on actually coming true.
And joy from her secret wish being granted.
All of it tangled up messily, shaking her mind to its core.
The maid, seeing this, let out a small chuckle.
“Looks like a gift from a fine gentleman? No worries about being a wallflower!”
At those words, Laura’s mood plummeted from the heavens back to the ground.
She had been too dazed by the sudden novel-like turn of events, but—
The maid’s words pointed out a very real problem.
‘Even with a dress like this, things won’t go well for me.’
A beautiful dress didn’t solve everything at a ball.
It was a battleground for noble ladies seeking partners.
The dress was just the bare minimum; to succeed there, she needed mountains of other things.
And the most important among them was the participant’s own charm!
At balls, men asked women to dance, and women accepted.
So women had to flaunt their appeal to be chosen.
Like flowers releasing fragrance to lure bees.
But not everyone could pull it off.
Naturally, some ended up standing alone, ignored, and left that way.
And those were called ‘wallflowers.’
Flowers adorning the wall, sought by no one.
And Laura saw her own future in that word.
‘I’m not beautiful like Laura, nor from a good family.’
Laura gazed at herself in the vanity mirror.
The dress was truly beautiful.
But she, wearing it, looked horribly out of place.
Like a nouveau riche indulging in ill-fitting luxury.
She had dreamed of wearing a beautiful dress and dancing at a ball, but—
Reality was always like this.
Even in a beautiful dress, she wasn’t beautiful,
And there was no man who would ask her to dance.
With that thought, Laura felt ashamed of her reflection.
She wanted to rip off the dress right then and crawl under the covers.
But Laura held back those feelings with effort.
‘I need to say thank you.’
It was her fault the dress didn’t suit her, not Laura’s who had gifted it.
So she had to meet Laura and express her gratitude.
And confess that her inability to attend the ball wasn’t just because of the dress.
She adjusted her expression in the mirror several times, then changed into the second dress and headed to the usual meeting spot with Laura.
When she arrived, Laura was waiting there, wearing a similar dress to hers, unlike usual.
And upon seeing Laura in the dress, she smiled brightly, as if the air around her had come alive.
“That dress suits you too, Laura. You look so vibrant.”
“Laura… It was you who sent the dresses, wasn’t it? Two of them, even.”
“Yes. But don’t feel too burdened. Compared to what you’ve given me, a couple of dresses are nothing.”
Laura hesitated at her words, then smiled faintly.
She didn’t remember giving Laura anything nearly this valuable—
But the fact that she thought of it that way made her happy.
But before she could express that feeling, Laura continued.
“You’re wearing the shoes I sent too, right?”
“Yes, but why the shoes—”
“I thought we’d do something other than reading today.”
Come this way.
Laura led her along like that.
Laura was flustered by her unusually proactive behavior.
Laura was usually so gentle and naive about the world that Laura was always the one leading, with Laura following.
The feeling of having come back to reality was dragged into unreality once more.
And at the end of it, an even more surreal situation unfolded.
“Laura, you’re here. Is this the lady you mentioned before?”
“Yes. This is my friend, Laura Carolline. Laura, this is Kiara Mondial, a friend of Leonardo and mine.”
“Pleased to meet you, Lady Carolline. I’m Kiara, Leonardo and Laura’s big sister figure. Feel free to call me Miss Kiara.”
“Uh… Y-Yes…”
Kiara Mondial.
There was no way Laura didn’t know her.
She was the childhood friend of Leonardo Dominica, Laura’s favorite—
But more than that, she was a ‘real’ noble lady, completely unlike Laura.
Frozen from the encounter with someone she never imagined meeting, Kiara took the lead in the conversation.
“So, you’ve both come prepared today, right? My lessons are very strict.”
“Yes! We’ll definitely surprise Leonardo.”
“Good determination! Now, Miss Laura?”
“Um… What exactly am I here to learn?”
“Huh? Didn’t Laura tell you?”
“No…”
Laura shrank back at Kiara’s words.
It wasn’t her fault, but the pressure from a true noble lady was too much for her to handle.
Perhaps noticing that, Kiara said with a radiant smile.
“The ball is coming up soon—what else? Dancing, of course!”
Dancing?
The lady of the Mondial Marquisate was going to teach her to dance?
Laura stared blankly at Laura, wondering if she had heard right.
Laura returned her gaze with an equally radiant smile.
“Let’s do our best together! For the ball!”
Faced with that smile, Laura couldn’t bring herself to say, ‘I wasn’t planning to go to the ball anyway’—
And so, Laura ended up joining Laura in dance practice for the ball.
Dancing was harder than Laura had imagined.
She had lived a life far removed from physical movement to begin with, so even simple steps were a struggle.
The one silver lining was that Laura, practicing beside her, was no different.
“Not like that! Arms straight out! Twist your waist a bit, and widen your stance!”
“Hngh!”
“Haaah—”
But the difficulty didn’t make it painful.
Dancing at the ball was something she had dreamed of.
Though she had given up due to low self-esteem, now that the opportunity had come, she was giving her all despite thinking it wouldn’t work out.
Because, surprisingly, it was fun.
Her skills improved with every effort.
And once her stamina was completely drained, the negative thoughts faded away too.
Self-esteem or whatever—first, her body had to hold up, right?
She finally understood why the novel’s male lead swung his sword to clear his mind of stray thoughts.
Like that, Laura became so absorbed in practice that she forgot all about having to tell them she couldn’t go to the ball.
“Great! You’ve improved a lot! Keep this up, and you won’t embarrass yourself at the ball!”
“Hah… Hah… Th-Thank you…”
Laura’s efforts bore decent fruit.
Praise she heard for the first time, two weeks after starting practice.
Laura, who had collapsed first, looked up at her with a smile.
“You’re… really amazing, Laura…”
“Hehe.”
Laura grinned happily at the praise.
She was no longer afraid of not being able to dance at the ball.
She even thought she could enter the ballroom with Laura and enjoy the atmosphere together.
But there was still one thing.
One worry lingering in her heart.
‘Will anyone ask me to dance?’
A ball wasn’t something you enjoyed alone, but with a partner.
She would enter with Laura, but Laura would spend her time with her fiancé, Leonardo.
So Laura would need to find her own partner—
Would such a person exist?
She had fantasized about the ballroom scenes in the novel hundreds of times,
But when she imagined herself as the protagonist, no image came to mind.
A man dancing with her at the ball.
What kind of person would he be?
With those thoughts, Laura arrived at the public dance hall for practice.
It was a bit late, so the hall was sparsely populated.
Neither Laura nor Kiara were there yet.
So Laura decided to start alone and took her position in front of a mirror in the corner.
And then.
Someone spoke to her.
“Excuse me, miss.”
“Yes?!”
Startled, Laura turned toward the voice.
And there, a man was walking toward her.
Incredibly handsome features and a sturdy build.
If you took Leonardo’s cool demeanor and added a touch of politeness, would it look like this?
He was exactly like Laura’s ideal type brought to life.
Seeing him, Laura felt her heart pound like never before.
‘Whoa. I thought he was calling me for a second.’
No way a guy like that is looking for me—he must be after someone else.
I wonder what kind of girl he hangs out with.
I’m so jealous it’s driving me crazy.
Thinking that, Laura looked around.
But strangely, there was no one else nearby.
Just Laura and the man.
And the man was walking straight toward Laura, looking right at her.
Realizing that, Laura’s heart began to race twice as fast.
‘M-Me? He’s calling me? For real?!’
C-Calm down.
Say something, say something!
Laura summoned the greatest composure of her life and replied.
“Wh-What is it?!”
Oh no, she blew it.
Barely holding back tears of shame, Laura looked at the man.
But he showed no sign of mocking her and got straight to his point.
“It looks like you’re practicing alone without a partner right now. Is that correct?”
“Y-Yes…”
“Then, could you be my partner for a bit? I need reference material for teaching dance, but I can’t get the form right alone.”
Laura heard the man’s words but couldn’t process them properly.
Her mind went blank at ‘be my partner,’ so everything after was lost on her.
But it didn’t matter what came after.
With a dazed expression, Laura nodded quickly.
The man gave a light smile, expressed his thanks, and offered her his hand.
“Lady, may I have this dance?”
A line straight out of a novel.
Hearing it in real life, Laura reached out her hand in a dreamy haze.
And soon, the two danced in the quiet dance hall.
It was an unusual hour for partners to dance, so a few people watched them—
But Laura couldn’t care about their gazes at all.
All she felt was the presence of this nameless man.
Supported by his firm arm, gliding smoothly as if swimming through the air, Laura lost herself in ecstasy.
‘This is social dancing.’
It had been so hard alone.
Dancing could feel this good…
But the happy time was far too short.
As the song ended, the man released her without holding on.
“Thank you, miss. Thanks to you, I got some good footage.”
“Ah…”
“I’ll repay you for this later. Goodbye.”
With that, the man left without lingering.
Seeing him go, Laura reflexively grabbed him.
“W-Wait!”
“Yes? Is there something else?”
“Um, the ball! Are you going to the ball?!”
“The ball? I don’t think so.”
“Why not?!”
“I have sword practice then.”
“Ah, oh…”
At those words, Laura despaired.
She had finally found the man of her dreams, and it was just this once.
But she couldn’t give up.
He matched her tastes too perfectly.
Missing him would be a lifelong regret.
So Laura mustered her courage and shouted at the man turning to leave.
“Repayment! You said you’d repay me!”
“Yes. Do you need something now?”
“Come to the ball as repayment! Would that be okay?”
“It’s no trouble, but is my attending the ball really repayment for you, miss?”
“Of course!”
At Laura’s soulful affirmation, the man looked at her for a moment.
Then he nodded with a smile that seemed a bit more genuine than before.
“In that case, I’ll see you at the ball.”
With that, the man left the dance hall.
Watching his back, Laura collapsed to the floor.
Then she threw both arms up to the sky and shouted.
“I did it! I actually did it!”
Gazes poured onto her from the sudden outburst.
But Laura didn’t care at all.
In this moment, she was the happiest person in the world.