# 27
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“Okay, I will arrange an appointment as soon as possible once I receive word from you, Your Highness.”
"I love how efficient you are. Enjoy the party then, Duchess."
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The princess swirled the non-alcoholic juice in her wine glass and jumped to the other side of the room.
Once she was completely out of sight and I was alone again, I took a sip of the half-empty champagne, and surveyed the air around me.
“Hmm...”
Somehow, the air seemed a little different now.
But this made sense. When I first entered, most of the looks were filled with confusion and curiosity, but now several people were watching me subtly, as if waiting for an opportunity to approach.
'Okay, that's understandable.'
After all, both the Princess, who was a main character, and the hostess, the Duchess Prilloz, showed positive attitudes towards me.
Thanks to the way things turned out, the situation turned out to be very beneficial for me.
At this point, I almost felt grateful to Isabella and her group for teasing me.
'Well, my mood has improved.'
She handed the empty champagne glass to a maid, smiled and began to move.
Since the weather wasn't too bad, I might as well take a closer look at talents that could be useful to Diana.
As I was quietly wandering through the greenhouse, someone called out to me.
“Um… Her Highness, the Duchess?”
'What now?'
I turned to find another group of women approaching me.
This time, they were a little younger than Isabella's group, perhaps in their early or mid-twenties.
'Is this the second round?'
Although I'm good at online battles, I'd rather avoid the second round so soon.
I'm already exhausted from dealing with Isabella, the Princess, and the Duchess.
“…What brings you here?”
I asked with a polite smile, keeping my guard up.
However, the atmosphere was noticeably different from when Isabella's group had approached me earlier.
“Ah, well...”
“Mrs. Franklin, what should we say?”
“I-I don't know...”
As I watched them push each other and laugh nervously, I thought to myf,
'There's no need to fight this time.'
I didn't feel any threat.
After my calculations were complete, I smiled cheerfully.
“I'm not sure what you want, but there has to be a reason you're calling me. Don't hesitate to talk.”
“Well, we just wanted to talk to Your Highness.”
“Of course, you're welcome. As you can see, I don't have anyone to talk to right now.”
As soon as I gave them permission, their eyes lit up. Without hesitation, they gathered around me.
“Hello, Your Highness. I am Lizzie, the second daughter of the Logan family.”
“And I am from the family of Marquis Eckardt...”
She listened to their introductions with a warm smile.
“It is a pleasure to meet you.”
“It is a pleasure for all of us, to be able to meet you in this way.”
“You were impressive earlier!”
“Indeed, Your Highness’s charisma is difficult to match.”
“Exactly, I always knew that Ms. Howard would face a reckoning sooner or later. She has been picking fights all over the place!”
They also seemed to be very impressed with my verbal battle with Isabella Howard.
At this point, a question naturally arose in my mind.
What was Isabella Howard trying to achieve by picking a fight with me?
She didn't seem to gain anything from it.
Was she trying to rally allies behind her?
While I was immersed in these superficial thoughts, the young women exchanged glances and smiled at me warmly.
“By the way, Your Highness, your dress is very beautiful.”
“That's right! I've had a crush on him since earlier.”
"It's a style of dress I've never seen before. I've always been taught that symmetry is the most beautiful form of a dress, but this dress is not symmetrical, yet it is so elegant!"
“That's right. Is this skirt designed to resemble a rose?”
“I thought the shiny parts at the bottom were jewels, but they're not, right?”
“Oh my God, what is this?”
“It's like magic!”
“Now that I think about it, the princess was examining your Smokey dress cloy earlier...”
A warm smile spread across my face as the conversation quickly turned to my dress.
“Oh, this is a dress infused with magical light powder. I was hesitant to try this new style, but hearing your compliments brings me great joy.”
“Oh my God, magic!”
“In fact, I heard some young girls whispering as you walked in earlier, Your Highness.” One of the ladies whispered to me.
“I bet everyone is secretly trying to find out which salon made it!”
"This is correct!"
They laughed together, their youthful enthusiasm shining through.
Then one of them's eyes widened and focused her gaze on the brooch on my waist.
“But…as beautiful as the dress is, this brooch on your waist is truly stunning.”
"Oh my god, did you notice that too? I couldn't take my eyes off him either."
“Brooches are usually worn on the chest...”
Now, all their attention was drawn to the brooch on my waist.
“Yes, you have a good eye.”
I was pleased with their praise.
After all, this was a piece of jewelry I had chosen specifically to show off.
“Is that true? I chose this brooch especially for the party. It’s shaped like half a heart, and I made it specially to emit perfume.”
"Oh, my God."
The ladies elegantly covered their mouths in admiration.
“Half a heart...does that mean there's another half?”
“Ah, now that I think about it, I think I saw a similar brooch on the Duke’s tie earlier.”
“Oh my God, I remember that too...”
As expected, they had been examining every detail ever since she entered holding Ian's hand.
The ladies, who were in a state of ecstasy as they put together the pieces of the puzzle from my passing observation, looked at me with interest.
Their eyes clearly asked for confirmation.
Instead of answering, I simply gave them a gentle smile.
Yes, this is correct. That was intentional.
It didn't take long for them to interpret my smile as confirmation, and they began to buzz with excitement again.
“How romantic!”
“Actually. I think not all the rumors are true.”
“That's right. When the Duke kissed the Duchess's hand earlier, I felt my heart flutter!”
As I watched the conversation flow favorably in my favor, I allowed myf a faint smile.
'Did you see that, Ian Cloud?'
I told you this would be effective.
I felt strangely satisfied when I saw the nobles, who had previously looked at me with a mixture of curiosity and hostility, now approach to speak.
Of course, the real work begins now.
Feigning indifference, I brought my hand to my cheek and sighed softly.
“I didn’t intend to make it so obvious, but the Duke was very disturbed by the rumors circulating...”
“Oh my God...”
“No matter how much he pampered me as his new bride, staying trapped in the duchy all this time was my fault.”
The ladies seemed completely impressed by my sincere performance, and exchanged glances among themves.
'This should work.'
I showed the brooch, played my part, and set the scene for Ian Cloud to be positively re-evaluated once the party was over.
A Duke adores his wife so much that he stopped attending social events for two years, and upon his return, he showed his affection in front of everyone?
What an interesting rumour!
'Of course, only a few people will believe this right away.'
But starting is half the battle.
Reputation can be rebuilt slowly over time.
Although I was not happy to give a better picture to Ian Cloud - who was once the worst of the worst - I could bear to do so for the sake of the reputation of Diana, whom I loved.
“You should be grateful that you married so well.”
If it wasn't for Diana, you wouldn't have gotten anything, you idiot.
I was gritting my teeth thinking about Ian when one of the ladies clapped.
“Oh, do you think today's events will appear in the Aria Gazette? I mean the story of the Duke and Duchess!”
"Oh my God, that's right. It could happen!"
As soon as one person brought up the topic, the rest of the women nodded in agreement, their eyes sparkling.
I was the only one standing there aimlessly, unable to understand their conversation.
“The newspaper?”