Edward and Agatha look at Duke Leo to confirm if he's not planning to change the order but it seems like he's planning to just be an onlooker tonight without participating in all the drama happening as if all the things that are happening tonight is by no means related to him.
Since their master the Duke has refused to be involved in today's drama or try to protect his so-called rumored lover tonight then they have no choice but to listen to their mistress.
Bowing slightly again, he replies:
"At once, Your Grace."
With a deep curtsy, she says:
"It will be done, Your Grace."
Immediately both of them spring into action, while the butler goes to get the maid to start cleaning the duke's room, the head maid goes to get some servants to come to the ballroom in order to escort Isla to get ready.
"Am I not generous my dear husband"
Vivian said with a smirk as she looked at the duke that he was still as expressionless as ever, there was no way someone could relate the currently calm man to the one who was shouting at her early.
"He really wears his skin like a snake," Vivian thought to herself, she still couldn't believe that the duke actually acted out of character just so that he could disgrace Vivian at the ball.
"Even though he disgraced her, he also doesn't care about his own reputation just to get what he wants, such an ambitious man," she thought to herself sarcastically.
"Since you people want to be together so badly that you can't wait any longer just to let the whole empire know of your love affairs it only right for me to help you as the one that loves you the most in this world, my dear husband"
"Now there's no reason for her to steal the host's first dance next time just because she wants the world to know that your heart belongs to her because starting from tomorrow the whole empire will now know that Lady Isla Aldwyne now officially belongs to Duke Leonard of Valerion," Vivian said with a wicked smile on her face.
Isla can see that the situation is getting out of hand with every passing minute and yet nobody is coming forward to help her.
All the men who used to fawn over her with the hope of getting her favor now act as if they don't know her, even the duke whom she gets in trouble with, he acts nonchalantly toward the whole thing.
"Is this the power of the archduke family princess" She can't help but ask Herself "So this is power, this is what I've always wanted" "Power!, the ability to control my own fate and that of other people, no I can not end like this, duke Leo is not what I want for myself, my eyes is on the post at the top of the world not an ordinary duke wife, I need to do something" she look at Vivian with her heart full of resentment.
Vivian Anne De Rose, a woman who is as dignified as her name, she has always looked up to her, she envied her, and also hated her, she is everything she has always wanted to be but will never be.
She has a face that can launch a thousand ships, a background that none can rival, and a graceful bearing with a heart full of nothing but kindness because she does not have to witness the other side of the world unlike her even though they are both nobles and beautiful, no noble man wants her as a legal wife and she has to work hard just to feed herself and debut successfully into the high society, seduce men like a lowly harlot to get what she wants while Vivian just has it easy.
Married to the man she wants even if it is against his wish, even though she is married there are still men making advances on her, she controls the noble circle like it's her playground, not only did she have a wealthy and powerful father, she also has a smart, talented and hard-working brother that is willing to do everything for her.
The Imperial Palace is like the second home that she can go and come in at any time, all the royal family members love and cherish her even more than themselves, what she wants she gets including what she does not want, the whole empire loves her including commoners whether old or young, she is the goddess in everyone heart simply because her father is the archduke and her mother is the princess.
She takes a look at the duke, at the end of the day he is her only hope of getting out of this situation and she knows how much he hates Vivian for deciding his fate so she can only hope her next action will wake him up and help her.
"Your grace you can not do this to me, you can't just decide what to do with my life just because you feel like, marriage is a lifetime decision and you are not my parents so you can't think that you have the right just because your family is more powerful than mine your grace, what you are doing is no different from a tyranny" Isla yelled angrily but still use the opportunity to take a look at the duke hoping he will react but she is bound to be disappointed.
Duke still refuses to try and defend or protect her, he just stands there watching the whole scene calmly as if he were a bystander, she should have known better than to believe that the Duke truly loves her when he never truly confessed to her, at the end of the day no matter how noble a nobleman present himself they are all truly animal underneath.
Vivian smirked as she heard Isla's words and saw the expectations as she looked at the Duke, she could see how broken she looked when she saw that the Duke had no intention of helping her as expected the female protagonist of a Mary Sue novel.
They are truly nothing without their male leads and heaven's blessing, take away the male lead support, and they crumble.
This is why being a villainess is way more better, the feeling of stepping and destroying your enemy's pride completely.
"So satisfying," Vivian thought to herself.