The Debutante Banquet
The members of the Eleonora Society nearby also seemed to tense up instantly.
“Oh, Your Majesty,” Isabelle said, breaking the stiff atmosphere. She lightly patted the arm she was holding. Every gesture dripped with a practiced, coquettish charm that was far from ordinary. “What a thing to say on such a wonderful day. I am truly, deeply grateful to the King of Ivanes. Even as a joke, such words make me terribly embarrassed, so please do not say them.”
She then turned her head and offered Chloe a dazzling smile. “Where might His Grace be? I simply must greet him.”
Yeah, he figured you'd do that, which is why he went somewhere else.
Chloe smiled back as she replied, “He will return shortly. He went to have a brief chat with Sir Oslo, the Glintland ambassador.”
“I see. I was so hoping to see the lovely couple together...” Isabelle tilted her head slightly. Watching her, Chloe couldn't help but admit that she was indeed an exceptionally beautiful woman.
Her soft cheeks were as pale and smooth as a newborn's, and her jawline was perfectly sculpted. Her straight nose and plump lips made her look like a fairy. Finding herself admiring the woman's face without realizing it, Chloe thought to herself:
If Grand Duke Berk sees this face when he gets back, is he going to tell me, “As expected, I must call off the marriage”?
“I believe you already saw us together at the wedding,” Chloe countered, pushing those thoughts aside.
Isabelle beamed. “Of course! It was a truly magnificent wedding!”
She lies without even blinking.
Regardless, Isabelle turned to greet the guard standing behind Chloe. It was Theodora.
“I hear Dame Thornier also played a significant role in this banquet? Thank you, for my sake...”
Theodora, who had excused herself before the banquet saying, “I am on guard duty,” was dressed in her military uniform. Pushing up her glasses, she replied stiffly to Isabelle's praise. “It was for the glory of Ivanes. Thank you.”
“And I did it all for you, Duchess!”
Someone suddenly chimed in. Everyone's gaze shifted to the side. It was Laura.
Interrupting a conversation in the presence of the King was incredibly rude, but Laura didn't seem to care as she cheerfully pressed on. “I am Laura le Gautier. I personally selected the tableware to match your exquisite grace, Duchess! Not to mention the color of the banquet hall's curtains, and even the carpet you are standing on right now!”
It was a massive exaggeration. A few young ladies nearby bit their lips. They looked as if they wanted to demand, You did all that? But doing so in front of the King would only get them scolded for their poor manners. Thus, everyone kept their mouths shut.
Amidst the silence, only Isabelle smiled brightly. “Oh my. How wonderful.”
Just as Laura, her expression growing even brighter, was about to speak again, Isabelle looked past her shoulder and spoke with renewed emphasis.
“You look exceptionally dashing today, Grand Duke Berk.”
Everyone's eyes turned to the space behind Laura. Laura spun around, her face flushing red as she hastily stepped back. Curtis Shan Berk, who had left to speak with the Glintland ambassador, had returned. His expression was as cold and dry as ever.
“Duchess of Glintland. You speak as if you have known me for a long time. Today is the first time we have ever met.”
Normally, anyone would back down after being snubbed so blatantly. But Isabelle was a formidable opponent.
“Oh, of course. But...” Covering her face with her fan, Isabelle spoke as if she simply couldn't contain herself. “Did you know? Portraits of Grand Duke Berk are immensely popular even in Glintland.”
“Is that true? Is it because he is so incredibly handsome?” Laura chimed in, as if she had been waiting for the cue.
Isabelle's eyes curved into a gentle smile. “Indeed. It is practically a given for young ladies to keep at least one newspaper sketch of Grand Duke Berk clipped out.”
“And what about the Duchess of Glintland herself?” the King asked, suddenly sounding intrigued.
Isabelle feigned shyness, her cheeks flushing as she lightly covered her face with both hands. “As for me, since I was originally the intended bride...”
She meant that since she had his actual portrait, a mere newspaper sketch was irrelevant. With that, she blinked her eyelashes in a display of newfound modesty, gazing toward the Grand Duke. To anyone unaware of the circumstances, her moist, lingering gaze made it look as though Isabelle la Glintland had utterly fallen for him.
“My, it seems the guest of honor and the Grand Duke must share at least one dance!” the King finally bellowed.
What on earth is he talking about?
Curtis glared at the King with a sharp gaze, but the King merely clapped him on the shoulder like a jovial friend and boomed, “Well, what can we do? I shall graciously yield a dance with the Duchess to the Grand Duke!”
“Setting aside whether you are in a position to 'yield' anything, I have not even shared the first dance with my wife yet,” Curtis shot back instantly.
Naturally, at these sorts of banquets, it was standard etiquette for a married couple to dance with each other first. Yet Curtis Shan Berk had not danced with Chloe once, even now as the banquet was in full swing.
“Aren't you going to dance?”
“Do you want to dance with me?”
“No, but you have to dance with me first so you can dance with other people.”
When Chloe had pointed this out, exasperated, Curtis had replied as if she were being ridiculous.
“That's exactly why I'm not dancing.”
In other words, because dancing with Chloe would obligate him to dance with other young ladies afterward, he was avoiding it entirely. It was his way of keeping the floodgates firmly shut.
Then why on earth did you make me wear this trailing gown, and why did we practice dancing together? Chloe had wanted to protest, but since they were at a banquet, she decided to save it for later. Instead, she had made sure to slip in a sarcastic remark.
“At this rate, when will you ever date anyone, let alone get remarried?”
When she whispered that, he had glared at her with an absolutely terrifying look.
Chloe cursed Curtis in her head. Didn't I tell you? Don't even dream of dating. The Grand Duke, dating? Please. The clause in their contract forbidding her from interfering in his love life was absurd to begin with. He had to actually have a love life for her to interfere!
Regardless of their silent exchange, the King standing before them snorted. “It is clear the Grand Duke does not love his wife!”
Did you just figure that out? Chloe barely suppressed the urge to snap back. While she held her tongue, Curtis asked nonchalantly, “What do you mean by that?”
“Is today's banquet not essentially the Grand Duchess's debutante ball, which she worked so hard to prepare?”
A debutante ball? Did he mean those events where twelve-year-olds gathered with ribbons in their hair, holding their mothers' hands, boasting about how well they could toddle around? Chloe, who was attending only the second banquet of her entire life, thought to herself. For the record, at her first banquet, she had somehow ended up publicly dating Curtis. Thinking back to that moment made her feel slightly nauseous.
I think I'm going to hate any event with the word "banquet" in it from now on...
Still, the King's comparison wasn't entirely off-base. Chloe had never debuted in high society, and today was effectively the first time people were interacting with her as the "Grand Duchess of Berk." That was why, despite her lofty title, she had been scurrying around the banquet hall from the very beginning. It was truly the first time she had ever felt like she might die from greeting people.
Even so, Chloe was certain Curtis would never dance. After all, the purpose of this banquet was clear. It was a stage set by the King to humiliate her. In other words, it wouldn't end until she was thoroughly disgraced.
“At a gathering like this, if the Grand Duke snubs the Duchess of Glintland, then the Grand Duchess's banquet will be deemed a failure, will it not?”
Oh, seriously? Chloe began to think that her life as a semi-noble, completely detached from high society banquets, had been vastly superior. After all, it wasn't as if the tableware or the guests would vanish into thin air just because they didn't dance. And look at Grand Duke Berk. Look at that displeased scowl on his face! It practically screamed that he didn't care whether Chloe failed or not, and that he refused to even engage with the King...
“Chloe.”
Chloe blinked. Curtis Shan Berk, letting out a deep sigh as he brushed back a stray lock of hair, was holding his hand out to her. “What do you say?”
What do I say? I say this is absurd. Of course, she couldn't actually say that out loud. She pondered for a brief moment, but the answer was already decided.
“Go ahead.”
Curtis glared at her.