Chapter 67 ??

Besides, the diary is in first-person narration, so there aren’t any names. It’s not like Evangeline’s mother wrote ‘Amaranth’ on the cover!

“Are you going to keep behaving like that?”

“Don’t worry, father. I’ll behave just as you told me when we’re at the imperial palace.”

The count, about to say something, closed his mouth at those words.

“You should be careful too. You should at least show some concern for your sickly, amnesiac daughter, don’t you think?”

In my opinion, the count is the real problem. He doesn’t care about his daughter at all, so he lets strange rumours spread unchecked. That just fuels the gossip, saying even her own father disowned the villainess.

The count remained silent, as if I hit where it hurt.

“Well, I’ll take my leave now.”

There was nothing more to talk about with the count, and Misya had told me to come early to prepare for the debutante, so I should head back.

And as soon as I returned, I regretted it.

“You’re late!”

Misya was waiting, her eyes blazing.

The moment I arrived, I was dragged off and managed from head to toe. I can only say I was completely duped. Since possessing Evangeline, no one had ever messed with me like this! Even with Gabriel, the male lead, all he did was hold hands and kiss the back of my hand! Yet here I was, being covered in so much essential oil during the massage that I smelled like flowers.

Under Misya’s supervision, Daisy and Henna took care of my hair and makeup. Kanna, not being particularly skilled, was shooed away by Misya and sat quietly in the corner.

My hair was sprinkled with gold and silver dust and styled into soft waves that held together without clumping, to the point where it dissolved smoothly when touched. This must be the work of a master craftsman.

The dress had also undergone some minor alterations. I thought it had been fully completed last time, but after the fitting, they found more to tweak. It was like the ‘final_final_final_final’ revision.

While the subtle adjustments were hard to notice, there was one noticeable change: the dress now had red rubies attached. Not just any rubies, but ones carved into flower shapes. In the past, bouquets were carried when debutantes, but now it’s been simplified and the trend is to use floral decorations as corsages or hairpieces.

“In particular, fresh flowers are in fashion right now.”

Since they wilt over time, some ladies even carry a maid whose sole job is to replace the flowers.

“You’d look great with fresh flowers, of course, but since you have a more mature look compared to other ladies, I wanted to add a unique touch.”

Misya skirted around the issue, saying I looked mature, but she was really commenting on my age. Debutantes usually happen around sixteen, so Evangeline was four years past that prime. It’s like having a senior about to graduate mixed in with a bunch of underclassmen who were just starting. In that case, I definitely shouldn’t wear flowers like the others.

Fortunately, Evangeline looked much better with the ruby flowers than she would have with fresh ones. The bright red matched my eye colour. As I toyed with the jewel, admiring it, Misya smirked slyly and winked.

“And about the jewel, it wasn’t prepared by me, but by Sir Gabriel.”

Gabriel? Suddenly, the jewel felt incredibly heavy. I mean, he’s just someone I’m stringing along, so why is he going so far as to prepare something like this? It’s making me uncomfortable…

And with putting on the white lace gloves, the preparations were finished. The gloves felt strangely warm, and it turned out Kanna had been holding them to keep them warm. Kanna added, full of shyness.

“Because it’s raining outside. What if you catch a cold because you’re cold, young miss?”

“The young lady catches a cold?”

“Yes! The young miss is delicate.”

“Ah… Kanna, you really worry about the young lady a lot.”

Misya admired. I shrugged my shoulders. Your family doesn’t have a sunshine heroine, right? This is what a sunshine heroine is. Whether it rains or snows, they only worry about me. Outside, it was full of dark clouds, but it felt like the sun was shining in my heart. I tried hard to pull down the corners of my mouth that were involuntarily lifting, and thanked her.

“Thank you.”

“No, young miss, you’re really beautiful!”

As Kanna said, all dressed up like this, I looked annoyingly beautiful. The flowing hair looked just like silver thread, and my lips and cheeks seemed more flushed than usual, like a living doll. That’s right. To be a villainess in a romance fantasy, you need to have this level of impact. It was a beauty that could indeed captivate the heroine and turn the male lead into a fool.

Is everything ready now? Misya, who looked me over once, closed her eyes as if satisfied. Not just metaphorically, she actually wobbled.

“I have no more regrets in life…”

“What? Miss Artemisia, please snap out of it!”¹

Daisy barely caught the collapsing Misya. Did she really faint? Worried, I checked her and heard a light snore.

“It seems she fainted from exhaustion.”

How tired must she have been to fall asleep standing up like that? It was an urgent dress order, and she hadn’t been able to sleep, so her fatigue must be no joke. I really should give her a hefty bonus….

“We can’t leave her like this, we should move Misya to her room.”

“Yes, young lady.”

Henna and Daisy supported Misya from both sides and headed out of the room. Misya was taller than both of them, so her feet dragged along the floor. Isn’t there another better way to carry her?

“A corpse came out of the young lady’s room…!”

“She’s still alive.”

But, unfortunately, there seemed to be others outside. Since the door was still open, I could hear Henna’s explanation. But… Henna, doesn’t ‘still’ imply that Misya will eventually die? Well, everyone dies someday, but still….

“Since she fainted from exhaustion, would you mind taking her to her room?”

“Yes, yes….”

It seemed like it was too much for the two of them to carry Misya, so they asked the servants for help. By tomorrow, there would probably be another rumour in the mansion that I had made Misya faint. Though technically, it wasn’t entirely wrong, since she fainted from overwork making my dress.

Another rumour added to the pile. As I clutched my head, the two who had finished handing off Misya returned. Misya was asleep, the preparations were done. Should we depart now?

“Young lady, should we leave right now?”

“When does the party start?”

“It starts at 8, so we have about 3 hours of free time.”

“Really? Then… ask the Count when we should leave.”

Since I’d never been to a party before, I wasn’t sure when the right time to go was. Should I arrive early and engage in some socializing? Hmm, probably not… the protagonist should arrive late.

As I was engrossed in recalling the clichés of romance fantasy novels, one of the maids cautiously spoke up.

“Y-young lady, the Count has already left.”

What?

It didn’t take that long to get ready, yet he left without even waiting for me? The party’s still far off, and he left without a word? I wasn’t planning on riding the same carriage with him anyway, but it was still irritating.

Fine. Then I’ll just take my time. Since Madam Toten hasn’t contacted me yet, Bishop Maric will be my chaperone. If I go early, I’ll just be nervous in front of the exorcist.

As I was playing with Pudding to pass time, Jelly, who was watching the window, suddenly called.

“Master.”

That ‘Master’ again. Ever since he teased me in front of Raphaela by calling me that, Jelly has stubbornly stuck to it. Even if I told him to just call me Evangeline, he wouldn’t listen.

“Someone’s coming.”

“Who?”

There shouldn’t be anyone coming. Who would come in this pouring rain anyway? Could it be Gabriel?

I moved beside Jelly and looked out the window. All I could see were streaks of rain. Come to think of it, Jelly is a beastman, so his eyesight is good. No wonder I can’t see anything yet.

As I stared hard in the direction Jelly was looking, a vague figure appeared in the distance, and then suddenly a horse rushed into view. Ah, it’s clearly not Gabriel. The horse Gabriel rides looks like him, a pitch-black mare.

A person wrapped in a soaked cloak jumped off the horse and stopped outside, unable to enter as the front gate was closed.

“A stranger… but they seem to have business with you. Shall I bring them over?”

Perhaps because he got scolded last time for arbitrarily handling surveillance that had been placed on me before, Jelly carefully asked for my opinion. I nodded, and Jelly wagged his tail excitedly. It felt like I was playing fetch with a dog, which gave me an odd feeling. Is Jelly really a wolf, or could he be a dog?

“Don’t hurt them, bring them carefully.”

I hastily added the condition, worried he might break something while bringing them. If they were trying to secretly watch me, they wouldn’t reveal themselves so openly. If it was a knight sent by Gabriel, or simply a guest coming to see me, I couldn’t let them get hurt.

“Understood….”

Jelly replied with a grumble, his voice trailing off, and then he disappeared. Before I could even blink, he reappeared in front of me, having brought the cloaked person.

Jelly! I meant for you to go down and escort them up, not to teleport them directly in front of me! Why don’t you just tattoo ‘magician’ on your forehead?

“I brought them safely, just as you said.”

“That’s not what I— never mind, good job, Jelly.”

What more could I expect from you? Ignoring the pounding in my head, I focused on the cloaked person Jelly had brought. The person was soaked, their cloak completely drenched. From within the wet cloak, an unexpected voice emerged.

“Young lady Rohanson….”

“Madam Toten?”

Cautiously removing the hood revealed a face I hadn’t anticipated. Why is Madam Toten here? She hadn’t sent word for so long, yet suddenly appeared dramatically just before the party? Are we filming a movie? Well, since this is a romance fantasy, I guess a dramatic entrance is fitting.

Madam Toten’s complexion was pale, probably from the rain. Even though she wore a cloak, the fabric couldn’t block the downpour. The distance from the Toten Marquis’s residence to our house was considerable even by carriage, and yet she rode in this rain. No wonder her condition wasn’t great.

As she continuously mumbled to herself, she suddenly seemed to regain awareness at the sound of my voice. Looking around in confusion, her eyes widened.

“What is this? Wasn’t I outside just a moment ago?”

¹: Daisy called ????? ? (Artemisia-nim). I was confused what to use for the nim so I ended up picking ‘Miss’.