This ball, being hosted by relatives of the Claes family, wasn’t particularly large in scale, but I still had to undergo a battery of preparations in order to look like a proper lady. Fix your hair this, clean your skin that... After all that, come the day of the ball, Katarina the Villainess had been replaced by Katarina, the Not-So-Bad-Looking Villainess.

“Big Sister, let’s go,” said my escort as he offered me his hand.

“Thank you, Keith,” I replied, taking it. Riding in a carriage in my best dress, holding hands with a handsome boy, I really felt like a princess.

Being a duke’s daughter, maybe, I am a kind of princess? But the people around me don’t usually treat me like one, which was in part because Mother ordered the servants to be very strict with me.

As soon as the carriage started moving, Keith gave me a stern warning. “Big Sister, make sure that you don’t drink any alcohol!”

“Don’t worry, Keith. Mother has already nagged me enough about that.”

...Or rather, about that and a million other things. Don’t drink alcohol! Don’t flutter your dress about! Don’t eat too much! Don’t laugh too loudly! Don’t forget to smile! Don’t speak with your mouth full! Don’t run! Don’t wander away from your brother! Don’t eat things off the ground! (Seriously? Off the ground? Mother... What am I to you?)

“I made a mistake and learned from it! I never make the same mistake twice!” I said, only for Keith to give me a blank stare.

“...Yes, you never make the same mistake only twice... I don’t think I’ve ever seen you learn anything from your mistakes...”

“...”

Possibly rude, probably right. I just shut up. Keith kept piling warnings on me, and instead of a princess, I now felt more like a student being scolded by a teacher.

We finally reached our destination, where we met our host.

“Thank you for coming to my ball. Enjoy yourselves!”

After exchanging greetings and some words of gratitude with him, we entered the mansion to join the ball. Now we had to greet all of our acquaintances. Personally I didn’t have that many since I’d only been to three balls so far, but Keith had people calling out to him left and right.

Unlike me, he was never forbidden to attend balls, and he often joined Father when he met with other nobles. Still, surely he didn’t know this many people? He couldn’t take a step without an acquaintance greeting him. And most of these “acquaintances” were young girls...

No surprise there, though. He’s a duke’s heir and he still doesn’t have a fiancée. Plus he’s handsome and kind to top it off, so of course he’d have a lot of girls after him. I had no problem with that... What I did have a problem with was the way all of these girls looked at me.

It turned out that Keith had never escorted a girl to a ball before, so all these girls were suspic... curious about who I was. Explaining to them that I was Keith’s sister was enough to stop them from staring at me, but now they were saying that if he was only there with his sister, he might as well escort them.

Before I knew it, Keith had disappeared into the flock of girls. Mother told me not to leave his side for the whole evening, but she couldn’t expect me to go through... that. Anyway, I’m an adult now, and I’ve also taken all those lessons on manners! What’s there to worry about? I’ll just grab a quick snack before going back to Keith. I’m starving!

I approached the buffet with its impressive selection of dishes. Balls really are on another level when it comes to food! This meat looks so tender! And the salad! Oh, the seafood! I was almost drooling.

Where should I start? Go with the meat first, or warm up with something lighter? Hmm... There are so many dishes... I’d really like to try them all out... Okay! No point in keeping the best for last! I’ll take that meat!

“Are you Katarina Claes?”

“...Mhfg?” Hearing my name called right after I had taken my first bite, I was surprised and ended up letting out a weird noise in response. I’m sure I looked terribly dumb, since the meat was still in my mouth.

The question had been asked by a beautiful girl of around my age with flaxen hair and green eyes. She looked really surprised when I turned around, which is reasonable since she probably wasn’t expecting me to have my mouth full of meat. Then again, I didn’t think I knew this girl. She was beautiful enough to be in the same league as Mary and Sophia.

Wait, do I actually know her? I would remember a girl this pretty, I thought to myself while swallowing the meat.

She waited for me to finish eating, and then said, “It is a pleasure to meet you again after all this time. I am Marsha Catley.” It was the proper, elegant greeting typical of a noble lady.

Did she just say “meet you again”? Oh no, am I supposed to know her? Um anyway, I’d better return the greeting...

“Lady Catley, the pleasure is mine,” I said with my mouth finally free.

“By the way, Lady Katarina, are you still engaged to Prince Jeord?” asked Marsha, the beautiful girl who I had apparently already met before.

“Oh... Y-Yes, I am,” I stuttered, surprised by her question, and Marsha’s beautiful face turned red with anger.

“Renounce that engagement forthwith!”

“...Huh?” Noblewoman speech is always so hard to understand. Renounce the engagement for sweets? What?

“We only have the main courses here, but I’m sure we’ll also get desserts... I don’t think that’d be necessary...”

“What are you talking about?!”

What is she mad about? What’s going on?

“Look at you, pretending not to understand! Pretense! Lies! This is what your engagement with Jeord is built upon!”

Ohhhh, so it’s about Jeord! Jeord was really popular, so I was used to girls hating me for being his fiancée. “She’s not worthy,” “She’s not fit for a prince”... I’d heard it all. Well, to be honest I also agreed with those sentiments.

“Leave the poor prince alone! You have held him in shackles for seven years now! Are you not satisfied?!”

I never heard someone say such a thing straight to my face. And also, she was basically saying that I had forced Jeord into the engagement...

Her voice was so loud that the people around us, one by one, started noticing.

This is bad. If Mother catches wind of me standing out so much during the ball, she’ll probably give me a good scolding... How can I reason with this girl?

“Big Sister? What happened?”

“Keith!” My brother, as always, had come to save me from trouble, followed by a legion of girls. I tried to explain to him that this beautiful girl had just gotten angry at me for something related to Jeord, but she spoke first.

“Are you Keith Claes?” she asked him.

“Indeed. And who are you?”

“I am Marsha Catley. I have heard much about you. Seven years ago you became heir to the Claes family, did you not?”

“Yes, I did... And what of it?”

“You poor soul...” she said burying her face in her hands.

Huh? What? We just stood there, confused, then Marsha started shouting again.

“What a cruel thing to force upon you! And all because she knew that, being adopted, you were in no position to refuse! And on top of that, to even force you to escort her!” She then looked Keith in the eyes, and tenderly told him, “I shall save you too, Keith! Do not worry!”

Marsha then went back to staring at me and much less tenderly declared “Prepare yourself!” before turning her heels and leaving with an Until then! like some sort of movie villain.

Keith and I stared in silence, appalled, until he asked me, “Who in the world was that?”

“I have no idea...” She was probably one of the many girls who hoped to marry Jeord, but she was a bit more... enthusiastic than all the others. I thought that she was someone I was supposed to know but had forgotten, but Keith didn’t know her either. And she sure had some wild ideas about me.

I wasn’t the original Katarina from the game, and I would never force Jeord into becoming my fiancé. And forcing Keith to escort me? How could I ever do that?

It’s true that, having been adopted from a distant relative, some could consider him as lower-ranking than the rest of the family. But Father had always treated us equally, and Mother... Well, if anything, she liked Keith better...

But I’d never actually asked Keith himself how he felt about that. Whatever I ask of him he always nods and smiles, be it helping me with the fields, going to the city together, escorting me to the ball... I had never considered it, but maybe he really was doing all of that because he thought that, as an adopted member of the family, he couldn’t refuse. Had I forced my poor brother to suffer, being too oblivious to realize his real feelings? Did he actually hate me?! Why had I not realized?! Ahh, Katarina, you fool!

“Keith! I’m so sorry! Do you already hate me? I promise I’ll be careful from now on!”

I tried to apologize to Keith, but he only got even more confused. “Huh? Why would I hate you? What are you even apologizing for?”

I explained that I was worried I had been asking too much of him and that he only accepted because, being adopted, he couldn’t stand up to me.

“Big Sister, once you get a crazy idea in that head of yours there’s no stopping you, is there?” he said with a wry laugh, before tapping me gently on the forehead. “I may only be an adoptive member of the Claes family, but nobody has ever used that fact against me. I only follow you because I want to. I could never hate you,” he continued with a smile.

Phew! He doesn’t hate me!

I was so relieved that I forgot that I was in the middle of a ball and hugged him. “Thank you, Keith! My beloved brother!” He would usually scold me for not behaving like a proper lady whenever I did something like this, but for some reason, this time he just stood there, motionless...

Our hug was long enough that it became the subject gossip and eventually reached Mother, who jumped at the opportunity to scold me for my most unladylike behavior.

Father later told me that I had met Marsha the year before I got engaged to Jeord. “It was just once, and a long time ago at that! I’m not surprised you forgot it,” said Father, laughing.

I had to admit that he was right. I had forgotten her, and, knowing myself, I’d probably forget about her again in just a few days...

★★★★★★

My name is Marsha Catley, and my mission is to free my beautiful Prince Jeord from the clutches of Katarina Claes.

When my father was stripped of his power and forced to live in the country, I lost all of my useful connections as well as access to the capital. I could no longer follow my plan to force Katarina to renounce the engagement by spreading word of her wrongdoings.

I had to come up with something else. She was the daughter of a duke, placing her above me in the hierarchy of noble society. Complaining that she was not fit to be a princess would hardly do anything.

Unable to formulate a new plan on my own, I sought out other noble young ladies who, like me, used to be bride candidates for Jeord. They were able to provide me with information about Katarina. It turned out that she had not changed much in these seven years, and she still was not particularly beautiful, intelligent, or versed in magic.

All the other ladies shared my indignation in seeing such an undeserving girl engaged to the Prince. But as soon as I suggested that we band together to take down Katarina, their expressions of anger turned into ones of defeat.

“We should just give up,” said one of them.

Was Katarina threatening them into submission? Unforgivable!

Now armed with even more anger, but still no plan, I decided that my best option would be to confront her directly. I needed to see for myself what kind of harpy she had grown into over the past seven years.

With the help of one of my old connections, I found out about a ball that Katarina was going to attend — and made sure to go there myself.

It was a rather large ball in a rather large manor. It was nothing out of the ordinary, but there were a fair number of young ladies in attendance.

I was not so sure that I could recognize the grown-up Katarina amongst them. I had almost completely forgotten her face. But one face that I could never forget was that of the handsome Prince Jeord, so I thought that I could just look for him, since he would certainly be escorting his fiancée.

And, of course, I was also looking forward to seeing Jeord himself after all these years... which made it all the more shocking when I could not find him at the ball.

I started fearing that my connection had given me some unreliable information, and that Katarina was not actually attending this ball. I asked some of the other attendees and found out that while Katarina was indeed present, Jeord could not make it because of some official affairs, and her adopted brother was escorting her instead.

Poor Jeord, who could not stand Katarina’s company any longer, surely made something up to avoid escorting her to the ball... And I also feel bad for Keith Claes, who is forced to act as substitute for the Prince.

I had heard that since the duke’s only child had been engaged to the Prince, he had adopted Keith from a low-ranking branch of the family to succeed him. Katarina was probably bossing her brother around by leveraging her position as the duke’s natural child.

Forcing a helpless boy to escort her... What a monster. Unforgivable!

But oh, she will hear from me. Very soon.

I asked around to find Katarina, and I was directed to a brown-haired girl standing alone in a corner of the hall. I walked up to that corner, and, standing behind her, I gathered my breath and finally confronted her.

“Are you Katarina Claes?”

This was the first time I had seen her in seven years... Wait, what is this? I was so shocked that I froze. The girl who turned around to reply had the familiar sharp eyes of a villainess... but what caught my attention was how she had something... in her mouth.

Katarina, still chewing, stared at me with a dumbfounded expression. I waited, confused, while she finished eating.

What is going on? Did the rules of etiquette change while I was away from the capital? Why is she still eating nonchalantly? Am I just hallucinating, tired from attending my first ball in such a long time?

...Finally, she finished eating and I came out of my trance. She smiled at me inquisitively. That just now was nothing but a hallucination. I am positive. I shall just forget about it.

I was the one to call out to her first, so I had to at least greet her properly. “It is a pleasure to see you again after all this time. I am Marsha Catley.”

“Lady Catley, the pleasure is mine,” she replied. It seemed that she had at least learned how to greet her peers like a lady. I wasted no time and asked her whether she was still engaged to Jeord.

“Oh... Y-Yes, I am,” she replied with a nod.

I could not contain my anger at how impudent her matter-of-fact reply sounded.

“Renounce that engagement forthwith!” I screamed at her, raising my voice more than I had intended to. When I thought about my poor Jeord, the pain was so unbearable that I could not stay collected.

Unconcerned, she just muttered some nonsense about desserts.

What a detestable girl, I thought, becoming even more angry.

“Look at you, pretending not to understand! Pretense! Lies! This is what your engagement with Jeord is built upon!”

She had been using a tiny scar to maintain an engagement that, with her less than excellent qualities, she could normally only dream of.

“Leave the poor prince alone! You have held him in shackles for seven years now! Are you not satisfied?!” Angered beyond my predictions, I kept shouting in Katarina’s face.

She just looked at me in silence, unruffled. She probably thought that someone of lower rank than her was not worth arguing with. After all these years, she was still just as arrogant!

As I bit my lips in anger, we were approached by a young man.

“Big Sister? What happened?”

“Keith!” Katarina greeted him.

I realized that this could be the rumored brother, and he confirmed it as I asked him whether he actually was Keith Claes.

He was very handsome, but his flaxen hair and blue eyes gave off a different, more sensual impression than that of Prince Jeord.

“I am Marsha Catley. I have heard much about you. Seven years ago you became heir to the Claes family, did you not?”

“Yes, I did... And what of it?”

Yet another victim of Katarina... She must not be forgiven!

“What a cruel thing to force upon you! And all because she knew that, being adopted, you were in no position to refuse! And on top of that, to even force you to escort her!” I looked him in the eyes, then added, “I shall save you too, Keith! Do not worry!”

I looked at Katarina once more, and, with my chest throbbing but my will unfaltering, I gave her my final warning before leaving the hall.

“Prepare yourself!”

★★★★★★

I always did my best to avoid interacting with him, but this time I just had to tell him. After all, if she went to another ball, he would likely be the one to escort her... unfortunately.

I was planning on sending a letter, but since Father had to go to the castle for his own reasons, I decided to go with him and meet Jeord in person.

When I reluctantly entered his room, the Prince greeted me with a smile. “Keith, rare for you to come visit me.”

His smile was unnatural; his mouth was curled but his eyes looked cold and unwelcoming. However, I was probably the only one to notice that his smile was fake. His servants waiting inside the room seemed none the wiser, but that was because they had never seen Jeord’s real smile, the one he only ever showed, as far as I knew, in the presence of Katarina.

Katarina must have been special to him. Which was why he strived for her as he did.

But she was also special to me, and I did not want anyone else to have her. This meant that Jeord and I were not friends, but rivals. Today, too, I was planning to leave as soon as I had told him about the ball.

“Jeord, there is something you should know about the ball the other day.”

Jeord’s handsome brows lowered the slightest bit. “Oh, the one where you took advantage of my official duties to escort Katarina? That ball?” he said with a malicious smile. He was still upset about it...

“Yes, that would be the one,” I replied.

You are always escorting her as her fiancé, is it that much of an issue if I get to do it just once? That was what I was actually thinking, but I did not want things to escalate. Jeord, in spite of his elegant, prince-like demeanor, actually had a very dark personality.

“A girl at the ball was berating Big Sister.”

“Berating? As they always do?”

Indeed, young ladies who used to be potential fiancées for Jeord never missed an opportunity to scorn Katarina. But they would do so between themselves, just loudly enough that she could hear them, without ever addressing her directly.

A normal girl, if she were the target of such harassment, would probably fall into gloom and stay there for a while, but Big Sister...

“The ladies at this ball weren’t very creative with their insults. They just used the usual ‘inelegant’ and ‘plain,’ but nothing original. It was so boring!” she said. By the next day, she seemed to have forgotten about it completely. Their insults just bounced off of her...

I never seriously considered putting a stop to this harassment. There were too many perpetrators to deal with them all, their words never escalated to anything harmful, and, most importantly, Katarina herself didn’t mind them at all. However, this time things looked more dangerous than usual. After all, that girl had basically declared war on Katarina.

I asked Jeord if he knew anything about her.

“Oh, that Marsha Catley?” he said with a bitter laugh.

“Do you know each other?”

Apparently Marsha had met Katarina before she was engaged to Prince Jeord (not that Big Sister remembered any of it), but had he met her too?

“We used to, somewhat. She can use magic, so she is probably back in the capital to enter the academy come spring,” said Jeord, before muttering to himself, “I am surprised that her father did not tell her anything, though...”

“What?” I asked him suspiciously.

“Worry not. I shall take care of Marsha myself,” he replied with his widest smile so far.

There was something unsettling about his smile, and it made me worry about what would become of that Marsha girl. Well, if she really planned to do my sister any harm, then she would be getting what she deserved.

“But now, Keith, there is something else I would like to ask you about,” asked Jeord, now back to his usual fake smile.

“What might that be?”

“I have heard that during the ball you got rather... close with Katarina. I would like to hear the details, if you do not mind.”

I stayed silent as his smile sent shivers down my spine.

“Come on, Keith, I am all ears.”

And, with that, I had to stay at the castle much longer than I had originally planned.

★★★★★

Mother scolded me for what had happened during the ball, but she didn’t forbid me from attending other ones, since my enrollment in the academy was getting closer and closer.

I would actually go to another ball soon, since Jeord had invited me and would be escorting me. Keith, who had escorted me last time, said that he had something to do and couldn’t make it. He looked really worried, so it must have been something important.

I’d feel better if he was there at the ball with me, but I just told him that it was too bad he was busy, and to take care.

He then said that I should take care, very much so. I assured him that this time I wouldn’t do anything that could stand out, but he frowned and said that wasn’t what he was talking about.

“Then what is it?” I tried asking him, but he wouldn’t tell me. I never found out what he was talking about.

As it turns out, this ball would be bigger than the last one, with more people attending. If I mess up around this many people... I could already see myself locked up in Mother’s room, or the lecture room, as I liked to call it.

“Be careful,” said Mother with a creepy smile just as I was ready to leave for the ball. I’d better be...

“Let me take your hand, my sweet fiancée,” said Jeord without any trace of embarrassment. As expected of a prince from an otome game. If anyone else tried to pull off a line like that, they would be met with cringes.

This would look much better if he were accompanying a beautiful princess instead of a villainess, I thought while entering the ball’s venue hand-in-hand with him.

Once we stepped inside the crowded hall, it was time for the greetings. Greetings were always a pain, but they were even worse when being escorted by the prince. Pretty much everyone called out to us, and pretty much all the ladies stared at me sideways... which was par for the course whenever I was in public with Jeord.

At first I tried to stay by Jeord’s side and greet people with him... but I soon got tired of it. I’ve greeted enough people for today, right? Right.

I aimed for one of the few moments when no one was greeting us to tell Jeord, “I am a bit tired, so I will be resting for a bit,” before quickly getting away from him.

All these years running from Mother had taught me one or two things about swift escapes. I managed to get away, not because I could run faster than Jeord, but because he was stopped by one noble after another trying to greet him.

While feeling sorry for him, I made my way to the only enjoyable part of any ball: the buffet.

“I see, it’s desserts in this house...” I said to myself, nodding with my arms crossed in front of the refreshments.

This was my fourth ball, but, considering that one of them was at Claes Manor and one was at the castle, it was only the second time I had attended one at the home of someone unrelated to me. I realized now that the food looked really different at each ball.

My first ball, the one held at my home, had an incredible selection of all kinds of foods. What with the Claes family being so important and it being my high-society debut, the buffet was fit for a king. And of course, the buffet at the actual king’s castle was even better. However, last time I found out that the lower-ranking noble families aren’t as extravagant in feeding their guests. That being said, they had different varieties of salads, all delicious.

This time, it was the desserts that were the best part of the offerings. Maybe, even if they can’t afford to make the whole menu luxurious from start to finish, nobles have some courses that they just can’t compromise on. As expected of fancy people.

The hosts gave their best to provide us with these no-compromises delicacies, yet everyone was so busy greeting each other and dancing that the food was almost untouched! What a waste! It was up to me to do right by that buffet. I took a dish and started with the salads.

When I was busy chewing on a piece of fresh, crunchy lettuce covered in delicious dressing, someone called out to me.

“If you like that, you should try the one over here as well.”

“Mphh?” I replied with my mouth full of salad. Between my weird reply and the leaf sticking out of my mouth, I must have looked pretty dumb. The other person, probably surprised by said dumb look, stared at me with a confused expression.

I felt like I was having deja-vu. That confused expression was familiar — it belonged to a very beautiful girl around my age, with black hair and green eyes... Who is she?

I didn’t know, so I just kept chewing and swallowed the salad. She waited for me to finish, then smiled and offered me a glass.

“This drink is delicious. Would you care to try it?”

She hadn’t introduced herself, so she must have been one of the many people I’d greeted together with Jeord... To be honest, there were so many that I couldn’t be sure.

Saying that I forgot her name and asking for it again would’ve been very rude, so I gave her my “nice-to-meet-you-again” smile and thanked her, accepting the glass.

Inside of it was a light-purple liquid, probably either grape juice or wine. I sniffed at it to make sure that it wasn’t wine (Mother and the others told me to stay away from alcohol), and it smelled sweet and delicious, like juice. No problem then.

I smiled again at the girl who had offered me the glass and drank its contents, which turned out to be sweet and delicate. Wow, this really is delicious... I could go for another one.

“This is delightful! Where can I get more?” I asked the girl, who promptly offered me another glass. She’s so kind!

“Thank you,” I said before starting to drink the second glass.

...Uh? What is this feeling? I’ve felt it before... Why is everything spinning? What’s going on?

Those were my last thoughts as my consciousness started fading away.

Just before I completely lost my senses, I heard a voice. It sounded like my friend, the perfect noble lady who was the star of the ball...

★★★★★

A few weeks had passed since I, Marsha Catley, had confronted Katarina Claes at the ball. Seeing how she had grown into the villainess I expected her to, I became even more determined to punish her.

I considered several options, but in the end, I settled on destroying her reputation, making her lose her position as Jeord’s fiancée and, eventually, destroying her position in high society altogether.

Unfortunately, my father’s connections were not what they used to be before his countryside exile, and I also had fewer friends willing to collaborate. I had to work on my own to lead Katarina into a failure spectacular enough to ruin her reputation. This was possibly a quite... underhanded way to confront her. But since she was deviously holding Jeord hostage, I would just be fighting fire with fire.

Of all the plans I had concocted, I chose the one that I could most readily execute and started working on it.

First, I would have to find out which ball she was going to and attend it myself.

Second, I would have to make her commit a catastrophic faux pas in front of everyone.

When my father still lived in the capital, he used to employ the services of a certain pharmacist who specialized in... questionable substances. They were not outright forbidden, but they were too dangerous to be available to the public at large. For example, odorless alcohol and a drug that greatly increases the potency of any alcoholic drink.

And those were the two questionable substances which I bought. If I mixed these two things and had Katarina drink them, she should become completely inebriated. Then I would just need to lead her in front of everyone and she would take care of the rest herself, entertaining the crowd with some unacceptable shenanigan.

It was a good plan, but putting it into practice would be hard. Since she already knew my face, and I had openly declared my intentions to her, she was likely to be very cautious around me. However I had nobody who could help me, and even if I did, I did not want to risk my plan failing because of them.

I put on a black wig, changed up my makeup, and went to the ball.

I had changed my appearance considerably, but would that be enough? After all, we had met but a few weeks ago. And even if I avoided being recognized, it would not be easy to trick Katarina into drinking the drugs.

Last time she was standing alone near the buffet, which would be ideal for my plan, but that was probably just a coincidence. There was no guarantee that she would be doing the same this time. My plan was unlikely to succeed, but at least it would be an opportunity to test how far I could go.

I joined the ball very early, waiting for my target. Suddenly the crowd became noisy, hinting at Katarina’s arrival. Of course it was not her, but her escort commanding such interest from the attendees... Prince Jeord Stuart. Smart, strong, and handsome — perfection made man. Young, old, women, men... everyone revered him.

I also took the opportunity to take a glance at him. There he was, after seven years! My prince, once a handsome boy, now an even more handsome man.

Seeing my love after all this time sent my heart racing. However, next to him was a woman with the sharp eyes and thin lips of a villainess.

Impudent! Detestable! I felt my brow collapse into an expression of hatred and disgust.

While I was intent on staring at Katarina, I noticed that — lucky day! — Jeord was looking at me. I froze in awe, and then he smiled at me.

Oh, my prince! I understand! You smile at me because you have been waiting for me, longing for me! I shall rescue you from that witch, fear not!

As all guests had finally arrived, the ball finally began and the attendees started greeting each other. There was no one waiting to greet a lady who had been out of the capital for seven years, though, so I quickly made my way to the buffet to wait for an opportunity to strike.

If only my father had not been relocated to the middle of nowhere. I could be the one standing in the middle of the hall right now, next to Jeord. Being better than her in every single regard, I am sure that I would be the star of the ball!

And yet there I was, hiding in a corner... Thinking about it filled me with anguish.

I saw a brown head of hair move in front of me, and, raising my eyes to take a closer look, I found that it belonged to Katarina. She was quickly approaching the buffet by herself.

I thought that such an opportunity would never present itself twice, but the heavens must have smiled upon me. I took out the drugs that I had brought with me thinking that I would never have a chance to use them. I then poured them into a glass together with some grape juice, and I moved towards her.

“If you like that, you should try the one over here as well.”

“Mphh?”

...Wait, what is this? I was so shocked that I froze still.

The girl who turned around to reply had something... in her mouth. Specifically, some kind of lettuce.

Katarina, still chewing, stared at me with a dumbfounded expression. I waited, confused, while she finished eating.

What is going on? Did the rules of etiquette change while I was away from the capital? Why is she still eating nonchalantly? Am I just hallucinating?

I get the feeling that... I have already seen this, somewhere... and recently, at that... No, that cannot be true... I must just be tired from all of this planning and thinking.

...Finally, she finished eating and I came out of my trance. She smiled at me inquisitively.

That just now was nothing but a hallucination. I am positive. There is no way that the daughter of a duke would be stuffing her face with refreshments like that... I shall just forget about it.

I mustered a smile and handed her the glass. “This drink is delicious. Would you care to try it?” She looked at me, and for a moment I feared that my disguise was not enough after the events of the last ball, and that she had seen through it.

However, she thanked me and took the glass. I was honestly surprised by her obliviousness. Or maybe she found out who I am, and she just wanted to accept the glass to then throw the juice away?

Katarina looked at the glass and sniffed it, obviously trying to discern its contents. She knows! I thought to myself, right before she gave me a smile and drank the juice to the last drop.

Victory! I never thought that it could be so easy. It must have been my lucky day. And then she even asked for seconds. She really didn’t notice.

I smiled and offered her a second glass, and she thanked me again. As soon as she started drinking, she started swinging from side to side. The drugs had started working.

Now I only needed to bring her amongst the other nobles and watch her make a fool of herself. And if she tried starting something with me, all the better! I would just need to play the victim, and Jeord would no doubt come to my rescue.

I reached for Katarina, trying to lead her towards the center of the hall, but someone beat me to it.

“Katarina, are you alright?”

Helping Katarina to stay upright was a rather good-looking girl with burnt sienna hair, large eyes, and beautiful pink lips. I had never seen her before.

She stared at me as if demanding an explanation. I did not like that arrogant stare, but I could not resist the silent pressure it imposed upon me.

“I-It seems that this lady has drunk too much, and I was just trying to help her...”

“I see. In that case, she must be brought to an empty room to rest. Could you help me, Miss Catley?”

“Wh-Why do you know my name?!” I had never told this girl who I was.

“We met each other a few times at tea parties many years ago.”

Tea parties? Years ago? I had no memory of this girl and her intense stare.

Seeing my confusion, she smiled at me and gave her name.

“I am Mary Hunt, fourth daughter of the Hunt family. It is a pleasure meeting you again.”

Indeed, I had met the Hunt ladies at various tea parties at their manor. In particular, I had become friends with the oldest one, Lilia.

But... the fourth daughter? Mary?

...Right! That timid, sheepish girl!

I looked at her eyes once again. Her hair and eyes were the same color, and her face was similar to how I remembered it... but she gave off a completely different aura.

I remember her as constantly cowering, trying not to upset people. But the Mary in front of me looked dignified and commanding, a completely different person. Could someone change this much in seven years?

As I was pondering her metamorphosis, she spoke once again. “Now help out an old friend, won’t you Marsha? I found an empty room where Lady Katarina can rest. And there is also someone who would like to meet you,” she said with a smile.

I felt myself shivering. My instincts told me not to go... but I could not refuse Mary’s fierce eyes, and I ended up helping her.

This marked the failure of my plan, and I would have done better to leave the ball and go home that very instant, escaping from a situation I would come to regret. However, I did not know that yet...

During balls, it is customary to provide a few empty rooms for tired guests to rest, fix their dresses and makeup, or even enjoy a clandestine rendezvous.

There are usually a couple such rooms near the hall, or the guest rooms could be used for that purpose... However, Mary Hunt led me and Katarina into a room quite removed from the heart of the ball.

The room was excellently furnished, much more so than one would expect of a normal resting room. Was this prepared in advance for Katarina and Jeord in consideration of their high rank? I had never heard of such a thing, but maybe the customs had evolved in the past seven years.

I was intrigued, but I would not want to ask and risk being labeled a plebeian. I kept silent while helping Mary sit Katarina on the room’s gorgeous sofa.

Katarina still had enough energy left in her body to walk on her own feet (with some help), but the alcohol had made her ecstatic, and she kept on talking about food.

“You must try the desserts here! I’ve only tried the salad so far... That chicken looked so yummy...”

Once on the sofa, she closed her eyes and instantly fell asleep.

I had now done all that I could hope to do. I had told Mary, who apparently was a friend of hers, that Katarina had drank too much. At this point it would be unnatural to say that Katarina had drunkenly harassed me, and, since Mary appeared near her just as she had finished drinking, my lies would not stand up to much scrutiny.

She may have even seen that I gave Katarina the glass... No, that should be fine. After all I mixed the drugs with grape juice so that it could look like Katarina spontaneously drank too much wine. And, since she drank it to the last drop, there was no incriminating evidence left.

However, there was something distressing about Mary right from the start. I wanted to get away from her...

“I will be on my way, then,” I said, trying to leave the room.

“Please wait. As I mentioned earlier, there is someone who would really like to meet you,” she said assertively. Her face had the elegant smile of a noblewoman, but her hand gripped my arm with no intention of letting it go.

Realizing that following Mary had been a mistake, I was assailed by fear. I was unable to speak; I merely listened as she continued with that same smile.

“Believe me, I would love to punish you myself for what you have done. Right now I am only following orders, so I will have to abstain from doing so, but consider this a promise... if you ever lay a finger on Katarina again...”

She closed the distance between our faces, and, with a menacing, low voice, said something that made me cower in fear.

“...You will regret it.”

Her expression was terrifyingly cold, and her words made it clear that she knew what I had done.

Scared, I tried to free myself from Mary’s grip by pulling her hand off my arm. It was then that the door opened and someone entered the room. This entrance was so refined and splendid that, despite my fear, I found myself fascinated.

“Marsha Catley... it has been a while,” said Prince Jeord with a beautiful smile.

“Y-Yes!”

Seeing him after all these years made my mind go blank. He came to see me! My prince! This must be like in the tales I read as a child. He is the dashing prince come to save me from my captivity in the countryside and bring me to the castle with him!

As I was fantasizing, the prince addressed Mary. “Thank you for bringing Katarina here. I will make sure to repay you properly.”

“I need no such thing. I did not do this for you, Prince Jeord, but for Lady Katarina.”

“Still, Katarina is my future bride. As her husband, I shall have to thank you for helping her.”

Jeord and Mary were completely ignoring me and talking amongst themselves... but they were not quite making sense.

“She may be your fiancée now, but who can tell about the future? Moreover, someone who is not there to help Katarina when she is in distress is not fit to be her husband.”

“That, as I have already explained to you, was part of our strategy. Most importantly, why is Katarina in this state? Had I not told you to prevent harm from befalling her?”

“Well... that is... Katarina moved more quickly than I had expected, and I... lost sight of her. I am very sorry. However, I have had people look into the drugs that would be used on her, and they were not particularly dangerous. I believe she will be fine.”

“Yes, I too had them researched. She will be fine.”

I stared at the two, whose conversation was getting further and further away from what I could hope to understand. There was one thing that caught my attention, however...

“Prince Jeord, I thought that you detested Katarina...”

She forced him into the engagement and kept him under her command, or so I believed. However, judging by his conversation right now, it would seem that he actually had feelings for his fiancée.

“Oh, you were one of those?” Jeord replied to my comment, before turning to me with the most stunning smile and speaking once again.

“I talk of my engagement with joy, and I advertise my love for Katarina at every occasion. Yet, for some reason, there are some people who still believe that I despise her. They are quite a nuisance, to be honest.”

“So... you are maintaining the engagement... of your own accord?”

And, he... loves... Katarina? But, she...

“But she is neither beautiful, nor talented, nor skilled in magic! She does not excel in anything! Why?!”

Upon hearing my words, Jeord’s expression changed into one so cold that he looked like a different person altogether.

“Someone who hears only what they want to hear and sees only what they want to see may fail to understand Katarina’s charm. That is a shame, but I do not care. What I do care about, and will not forgive, is harming my Katarina. Did you not hear from your father?”

Being spoken to with a tone more severe than had ever been used on me was terrifying, but I couldn’t fail to miss the Prince’s last remark.

“My... father?”

“So he really did not tell you anything. Or maybe you just did not listen to him,” said Jeord with contempt in his eyes. “You are the reason why your father was sent to the countryside.”

“What?!” I am the reason? Was it not just the fault of my father and of whatever he had done wrong? “...What do you mean?”

“Your father was removed from the capital to pay for your crime. The crime of spreading bad rumors about Katarina.”

“Because... I spread rumors about her...?”

The timing matched, but I had never thought that the reason could be... And more importantly...

“But who ordered it?”

I could not believe that it had been Katarina herself. Had it been Duke Claes, who so fervently loves his daughter?

Jeord interrupted my train of thought by coming closer to me with a smile. “Take a guess,” he said with lips curled upwards but eyes that showed no trace of a real smile. I looked into his eyes, and inside them I found endless cold... and the answer to my question.

Jeord ordered it.

“Ah... Ah...” Wordless sounds came out of my mouth.

Jeord, the perfect prince, the ideal prince, the prince of my destiny... All that I believed about him was crumbling.

“And to think that I had warned him that there would be no second time, and to make sure his daughter understood it...”

Indeed, Father had told me to behave myself once in the capital, but... who knew that something like that had happened? Why had he not told me? ...Or maybe he had, and, as Jeord said, I just did not listen...

“So, I will not excuse what you did to Katarina today.”

I could see in Jeord’s stare that he was utterly serious in his threat, and I started trembling. In front of me was not the prince of my dreams, but a nightmarish devil. I looked around for help, but the woman behind me was staring at me with eyes just as cold.

Nobody was going to help me.