Chapter 32
When Aveline woke up the next day, she felt incredibly refreshed.
“Wow.”
It really worked.
Not only did Theron not appear in her dreams, but she was able to sleep deeply without any dreams at all.
“So this is what a good night’s sleep feels like.”
She felt somewhat aggrieved that she had forgotten this refreshing feeling due to her entanglement with Theron.
After hurriedly getting ready and going down to the dining room, she saw her father and Ares, who had come down earlier.
However, for some reason, their expressions were not pleasant.
As if something unpleasant was right in front of them.
“Why is this here?”
As Aveline sat down, Ares pointed to the vase on the table with a disgruntled face.
The flowers in the vase looked familiar somehow.
‘Aren’t these the flowers Duke Ribes sent yesterday?’
Aveline looked around nervously at Theron’s presence reappearing before her eyes.
Whoosh.
‘Here too.’
Whoosh.
‘And there.’
Everywhere she turned her head, she saw the flowers Theron had sent decorating the place.
It seemed that when she asked Yoni to put them away appropriately yesterday, she had filled all the vases in the mansion with them.
“Ahem.”
Count Herolds also cleared his throat, seemingly very bothered by the flowers decorating the mansion.
Aveline’s gaze, which had been momentarily distracted by the flowers, finally turned to her father.
“Father. Are you feeling better…”
Aveline, who was asking about his well-being because of the mistake she made yesterday, trailed off.
‘…It’s dented?’
As the swelling on his forehead, where Aveline had hit him with a stone yesterday, subsided, the slightly dented skin was revealed.
To think she had really given her father a dented forehead.
Although it was fortunate that only the skin was dented, Aveline felt uncomfortable, weighed down by guilt.
“Count, a letter has arrived.”
At that moment, the butler approached.
Count Herolds, who received the letter, immediately opened and read it on the spot.
“It says there will be a party at Duke Nor’s mansion this evening.”
“This evening? Isn’t that too sudden?”
Ares, who had been poking the flowers in the vase with his fork, asked in surprise.
Usually, invitations for parties were sent out several days in advance with plenty of time.
“I knew about the party, but I had forgotten about it momentarily due to recent events. It seems the Duke has sent this as a reminder, probably guessing that.”
So the letter just now was closer to a reminder to jog his memory rather than a rushed invitation.
‘How considerate.’
Usually, someone of Duke Nor’s position would have considered their job done just by sending out invitations.
It was up to those invited to remember and attend.
Aveline became curious about Duke Nor, who had sent a letter despite not needing to be so attentive.
‘He was considerate last time too.’
It seemed a bit excessive to say he was just a kind person.
“The party being held later will be smaller than the recent royal party, but it will still be quite sizeable. Many people will attend regardless of their affiliations. And probably…”
Count Herolds’ gaze momentarily blurred as he continued speaking.
“Probably, His Highness the Crown Prince will attend too.”
Count Herolds, who added this quietly, even looked somewhat solemn.
It seemed that the Crown Prince’s inquiries about Aveline yesterday had been weighing on his mind.
“And Duke Ribes will come too, right?”
Ares chimed in.
“Can I just say I’m sick and stay home?”
Aveline, whose head was spinning at the illustrious guest list, quickly spoke up.
However, the response she received shattered her expectations.
“How long has it been since you returned to social circles? You need to establish yourself quickly at times like these.”
Aveline’s heart sank at her father’s indifferent response. She felt like she had made some sort of mistake.
In the past, she would have been intimidated by her father’s reaction and quickly retreated into her shell, but now it was different.
There was something she had heard from Melina Sroon.
‘Father doesn’t dislike me.’
If he had disliked her, he wouldn’t have gone through so much trouble for her.
Whenever she recalled this fact, Aveline felt like a pillar had been erected in her heart.
A pillar to hold onto and rely on whenever she wavered.
Even if it was a weak pillar that wasn’t very sturdy, it was a pillar Aveline, who always yearned for her father’s approval and love, was willing to cling to.
“I’ll keep His Highness the Crown Prince occupied, so don’t come near me throughout the party. It would probably be burdensome for you to deal with His Highness directly.”
At her father’s words, which seemed to show concern for her, Aveline’s heart, which had sunk slightly earlier, lifted again.
“Yes!”
Aveline, whose mood had improved, forcibly lowered the corners of her mouth that kept trying to rise, and turned her head towards her plate.
“…?”
In the brief moment she had looked away, the salmon on her plate had almost disappeared.
“Mm. Delicious.”
When she looked up, she saw Ares eating the salmon.
“I’ll be excusing myself first.”
Ares quickly got up from his seat, apparently having just eaten the last piece of salmon.
Aveline also hurriedly stood up, following the salmon thief.
“I’ll be leaving as well to prepare for the party.”
Aveline, who was about to leave, turned back.
“And… please apply the ointment well.”
It was because of her guilt over her father’s dented forehead.
After saying what she needed to say, Aveline left the dining room and looked for Ares.
“Where did you go!”
Ares was nowhere to be seen, having escaped so quickly.
* * *
The next time she met Ares was in the carriage.
“Salmon thief.”
Ares, who had already boarded the carriage and was sitting, was taken aback when he saw Aveline.
However, he quickly composed himself and retorted shamelessly.
“I thought you had no appetite.”
“I was savoring it, you know?”
“You should eat the delicious things first, why save them?”
Ares shook his head as if he couldn’t understand.
“People might think we’re starving you. I don’t understand why you’re all so obsessed with salmon.”
Count Herolds, who was the last to board the carriage, commented incredulously.
Meanwhile, the carriage rushed diligently and arrived at the party venue.
The party was being held at Duke Nor’s mansion.
“There really are a lot of people.”
Ares said, looking around.
As Ares said, the line of carriages waiting to enter was long.
It seemed that many people had attended, befitting a party hosted by Duke Nor, the Emperor’s right-hand man.
Before entering the venue, Count Herolds turned to look at Aveline.
“Ahem. The dress suits you quite well.”
“Thank y—”
“As expected of Lilia’s dress, I suppose.”
Lilia was the nickname Count Herolds used for his wife, Liliana.
Aveline, who hadn’t been able to prepare new clothes yet, had to worry about her party dress once again.
However, the worries ended quickly.
She had benefited from her mother’s halo last time, so she decided to benefit from it again this time.
Thus, what Aveline wore today was a dress that Count Herolds’ wife often wore before marriage.
Aveline had deliberately asked to be styled like her mother during her unmarried days.
-Oh my, you really look similar to the former madam!
And the evaluations from those around her were very positive.
The neat half-up hairstyle with a ribbon, the light blue dress, and the pearl necklace around her neck.
They were all her mother’s.
Except for the difference in hair color from her silver-haired mother, she looked quite similar.
“Thank you, Father.”
So Aveline wasn’t at all hurt by her father’s words.
Rather, she was pleased to have received recognition from her father, who only had eyes for her mother.
‘If Father acknowledges the resemblance, I must look even more similar to others.’
Now that she was fully prepared, all that remained was the actual event.
‘I need to capture people’s attention from the moment I enter.’
According to the indirect experiences she had accumulated from the novels she had read, the social world was an image battle.
Where showing something once with your own eyes had a greater impact than a hundred words.
“Is it alright if I enter with you today, Father?”
She had entered with Ares at the last royal party, so this time it was her father’s turn.
‘I need to clearly show that I’m not an outsider in our family.’
After all, outsiders weren’t welcome in social circles.
There was someone who came to mind as a typical outsider.
Theron Ribes.
But while Theron had the background and status to act as he pleased, Aveline did not.
“Well, I don’t mind.”
Although Count Herolds seemed a bit bewildered by Aveline’s request, he readily agreed.
“As you said, Father, I want to try to establish myself quickly in social circles.”
Aveline expressed her ambition without being modest.
She wanted to let him know that she was making an effort.
“It seems you’ve grown up a bit.”
Count Herolds nodded, seeming satisfied.
As she entered the party venue with her father, she could feel people’s gazes all focusing on her at once.
“Oh my, for a moment I thought it was Liliana.”
“It’s a bit surprising to see Count Herolds entering with his daughter. I thought she was the child he disliked.”
“Didn’t you see her at the last party? That splendid attire that silently intimidated everyone? He clearly cherishes her, even if he doesn’t express it.”
Sure enough, people whispered exactly as Aveline had hoped.
‘Keep talking, more!’
When she heard people saying that her father cherished her, Aveline felt happy even though she knew it was the intention she had planned to spread.
“Oh, Count Herolds.”
At that moment, Duke Nor, who had been standing nearby, approached with a welcoming face.
