I squared my shoulders. "I was actually really offended when you said 'how dare you' back then, but I held myself back because His Highness was there. See, even now. If you wanted to get to know him, shouldn't you at least politely ask me? I'm not here to just say yes to everything you want of me."
"What kind of nonsense is that? We're friends!" Dorothea retorted.
"…"
Thanks to Dorothea, it felt as if the definition of "friend" within me was about to completely shatter into pieces.
What in the world did "friend" mean to Dorothea? I didn't expect her to say anything particularly nice even if I asked her, so I just decided to shut my mouth.
It wasn't difficult to guess what would come out of hers.
"Let's stop this, Roth. I'm a little tired right now."
I was done leaving hints, anyway. The fact that I danced with Xavier earlier and that he was going to buy me a new handkerchief would be more than enough to ignite her jealousy. There was no more reason for me to continue this stressful interaction.
"Enjoy your time here, Dorothea," I said in parting. With that, I turned around. I could hear Dorothea call out behind me.
"Marie!"
Ugh, I'm actually gonna get sick of that nickname.
No matter how desperately Dorothea called out behind me, I continued to walk away.
***
"Oh my! Back already, My Lady?"
Florinda greeted me warmly as I stepped through the doorway. I smiled—a lot differently from back when I was with Dorothea—and addressed her.
"Have you eaten dinner, Florinda?"
"Of course, My Lady. It's already quite late." Florinda took my shawl from my shoulders. "But you came back much earlier than expected, didn't you?"
"I guess you're right."
Most nobles came back around midnight, though there were also many who didn't return until well past that. The worse ones came back the morning after. With that consideration, 8 PM was quite early.
"Are Mother and Father back yet?" I asked.
"I heard that they just departed."
"What about Mar—"
Just then, the bell rang from outside. I instinctively knew that Martina was the one standing on the other side of the front door.
Soon, the butler opened the door. Martina, who was beautifully dressed, beamed brightly as soon as she stepped into the doorway and gave a cry.
"Marie!"
Ah, same nicknames, different effect. A smile naturally spread onto my lips, and I hugged Martina as she ran towards me with a blinding smile.
"Welcome back, Martina. You're back early, aren't you?" I said.
"Yes! But you're pretty early, too," she noted.
"I'm a little tired."
"Tired? Oh."
Martina snickered, seeming to have remembered something. I could guess what thought had just run across her mind and blushed.
It was no surprise. Anyone in the banquet hall could not have missed me dancing with Xavier, let alone Martina, or even Count and Countess Bellafleur.
Martina gave me a coy look. "Right, Marie. How did it go with His Highn—"
"M-Martina, how about we talk in my room?" I stammered. Flustered, I quickly covered Martina's mouth and dragged her upstairs. Martina's eyes were creased in amusement even under my grip. She was still snickering. I finally sighed in relief as I dragged her into my room.
I released my hand and turned towards her. "Did you see?"
"See what?" asked Martina, smiling sneakily. "You dancing with His Highness?"
Yup, she saw.
"How did you end up meeting His Highness? Tell me everything, Marie. You couldn't even imagine how surprised I was to see you and His Highness together!"
"Geez, it's really nothing much. Sit first."
I took Martina to the tea table and took a seat.
"Did you talk to him first?" she asked, her eyes still sparkling.
More precisely, he was the one who spoke first. In any case, Xavier was the one who first told me that I had dropped something.
I shook my head. "Well, I didn't exactly speak to him first."
"Whoa, really?"
"We bumped into each other, and a gem fell from my dress. We spoke first because he had picked it up for me. I don't know what you're thinking, but… there weren't any romantic events that you'd expect."
"Come on! How could you have ended up dancing with him otherwise?"
Lord, how am I even supposed to explain this?
It wasn't difficult to just tell her everything honestly, but the story would become way too long. Most importantly, there was a possibility for Martina to also become suspicious of me.
"Well…"
I'll make up a vague excuse for now.
"I accidentally dirtied his jacket when I bumped into him. He asked my name because of that… and we somehow ended up dancing, too."
"Aww, that's it?"
"What did you expect?" I grinned at her and continued. "Right, my handkerchief was also dirtied because I tried to clean his jacket with it. So he offered to send me a new handkerchief. That's honestly it."
"Wow, you still got the chance to dance with His Highness."
"It's really nothing much."
"Nothing much? There are so many ladies in the palace who only wish they would dance with His Highness! Do you have any idea how envious the ladies around me were when you were dancing with His Highness?"
Of course, there must also have been many people who spoke toxic words. I didn't have to hear it to know about it.
"What if my sister really becomes Her Highness, the Princess Consort?" Martina said eagerly.
Now that was truly hilarious. Laughter burst out of my mouth despite my effort to hold it back.
Oh, stop, my child. How many love rivals do you think there would be? In addition, they're none other than the original story's heroine and the villainess.
"I'm not at all interested in things like that. I just want to live in peace and die in peace," I said dismissively.
"Why are you speaking like an old hermit? If someone else heard you, they'd think you're an old grandma with not many days left to live."
"A position like that sounds tiring." I firmly shook my head. Martina stared at me in silence for a little while before moving onto another question.
"Did you also happen to get the chance to meet the Duke, Marie?"
"I don't… think so?"
I mean, I might have seen him, but I didn't even recognize the Crown Prince. There was no way that I would have recognized the duke. As far as I knew, Duke Escliffe had mixed brown-and-blond hair, which was incredibly common within this Empire.
In fact, the Crown Prince's hair color was more unique, but I still wasn't able to recognize him. Even if I had run into the Duke, I would have passed by without even realizing that it was him. Well, since he's supposedly good-looking, I might've considered that he was handsome while passing by.
"I didn't see him."
Martina pouted. "Aww, that's too bad. Still, you'll get to see him next time. Don't be too disappointed."
"When was I ever disappointed? You look more disappointed than me."
"That's actually kind of true. You should have seen how handsome Duke Escliffe is, Marie!"
"Well, I guess I'll see him someday." I replied nonchalantly. Just then, a different person popped up in my head.
Odeletta—who had told me that she wanted to be my friend. I wondered if Martina also knew about Odeletta. I suddenly became curious of Martina's opinion of her, and I decided to subtly scout it out.
"Martina, do you happen to know Lady Odeletta?"
"Of course. Marquis Trakos' only daughter, right?"
"Yeah, that's her," I said with a nod. "Is she a good person?"
"I don't really know Lady Odeletta myself… but my friend's sister is good friends with Lady Odeletta. From what I've heard, she seems like a nice person. She says everything that she needs to say, and she's always confident. But what's this about Lady Odeletta all of a sudden?"
"I-Its nothing," I said evasively. If I were to confess what I was plotting to Martina, she would definitely be dissatisfied with it.
Since the carriage ride back, I had been planning for Xavier to get together with Odeletta. The result itself would basically be the same as the original story. There, Xavier took Odeletta in as the Princess Consort.
However, the process would be different. Since Xavier fell in love with Dorothea first in the novel, he didn't have any space for Odeletta in his heart. But what if he met Odeletta first? There was a good chance that he would like her back. Odeletta was a confident and beautiful woman, both inside and out.
Most importantly, there was no better revenge against Dorothea. Xavier had only made Dorothea his concubine because he loved her so much, not because he desired both Odeletta and Dorothea.
Just for reference, the greatest reason why Xavier married Odeletta instead of his beloved heroine, Dorothea, was not just because of the central nobility's disapproval. It was because his father, the Emperor, was not particularly fond of Dorothea—something about her seeming toxic and whatnot.
In the original novel, the author described King Henry XIV as fairly evil, as he actively opposed Xavier's marriage to Dorothea. However, Henry XIV was correct in my eyes.
A grown-up's wisdom never fails, after all.
If I grow closer to the Crown Prince, wouldn't it be easier for me to introduce Odeletta to him?
Naive as I was, that was my plan. It was only possible for me to think this way because I didn't know what was to come.