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Chapter 3 Spectacular Debutante
The ride of the rattling carriage was the worst, but once I got used to it, I seemed to adapt to the environment, and I got used to the unpleasant shaking.
(As expected, if you ride for two full days, you will get used to it …)
I was now on my way to the Royal Castle, which I could see in the far distance.
It all started with a letter given to me by my brother, who had returned after a month’s absence.
“What’s this?”
“The royal family sent this to you.”
“What?” I couldn’t help but speak in a hushed tone.
“Why me?”
“I don’t know.”
While eating freshly baked bread, my brother, Stanley Edigma, went to the back of the mansion. Perhaps he would go to father to report on the royal capital and the territory.
Unlike our father, who swiftly retired to the countryside, my older brother, Stanley Edigma, did not wish to go to the countryside and began traveling to the royal capital as soon as he assumed our father’s job. He comes back once a month to check on his territory, but nothing is going on in the peaceful Edigma estate or the countryside, and he seems to come back instead for a break.
When I turned the letter over, I noticed a familiar seal. The lion’s imprint is a king’s symbol, indicating that the letter originates from the royal capital. I believe I had seen this imprint several times during Rosemary’s lifetime. I sliced the seal open with a paper-knife and read the contents with trepidation.
“This is the worst.” I exhaled a sigh from the bottom of my heart.
“A letter from the royal family?”
My father came down the stairs, apparently having heard the story from my brother.
I quickly hand the letter to my father, which I don’t even want to hold in my hand. Upon receiving it, my father read it for a while and was surprised, “Isn’t this great?
“It’s a letter of recommendation for the royal maid. What do you think, Marie?”
“They’re looking for the crown prince’s fiancée.” My brother came out of my father’s study and interjected. The bread he grabbed is already in his stomach.
“Oh. Prince Risel was that old, already?”
Crown Prince Risel Diresias. For Rosemary, she is the son of Gray, a former fiancĂŠ, and Tia, a woman who has seized her fiancĂŠe status.
(I wonder if he was born about a year after Rosemary died?)
It seems that the baby born of a great romance was celebrated as the future king.
“No, it’s odd that Marie is a princess candidate; a local baron’s daughter can’t give any benefits, right?”
My brother agreed with our father’s point of view. I told them my opinion after a short period of thought.
“Because there’s no benefit. If the crown prince marries someone who will benefit him negatively, it may weaken the current monarchy; if that were the case, he would have selected a country girl. There’s no risk.”
I was sick of the power struggle that had afflicted Rosemary.
(Marquis Hubert arranged the marriage of Rosemary, who wished to strengthen his position.)
Rosemary’s father was the kind of man who was only interested in political power struggles. I remember that Rosemary, who was not given much love and affection, felt lonely as a child.
“Marie is so smart. That is something father would never have thought of.”
My father grinned happily as I laughed and joked with him.
My father now loves me. That is enough for me.
(I am happy now…)
“Well, the rest is probably because there are quite a few rumors about you.”
I was moved, but then I looked up to see my brother, who was devouring his second loaf of bread, said something.
“Rumor?”
“It’s your debut.”
“Ah~……”
My father and I both groaned at the same time. I’m having a flashback of a debut I’d rather forget.
Debut. The unveiling of a woman as an adult.
At the slightly late age of seventeen, I set my foot in the royal city. Even though I had no recollection of Rosemary at the time, my feet toward the location where I had already died were heavy, and I hesitated to visit the royal capital until I was just old enough. I had refused to go to the royal capital until I was just barely old enough, and with my brother’s threat that I would be unable to marry, I asked him to escort me to my debut.
The faces of those who looked at me as I entered the venue seemed somewhat surprised.
The reason for their surprise was my dress.
(I knew I’d stand out…)
While princess dresses with many frills were the mainstream at the time, I was wearing a mermaid dress with a simple design as its main feature, which was the exact opposite. I’m 17 years old, which is older than most people around me so I couldn’t wear a dress with a lot of frills, and to begin with, there were no fashionable dresses in the Edgemar region, which is a rural area.
I’d rather wear a dress that fits me than be laughed at for wearing something out of style!
With this in mind, I went to a skilled seamstress friend and looked at and listened to dress designs over the years.
When I looked closely at the materials, I could see how the fashion of dresses changed at regular intervals. A few years ago, mimosa dresses with a ladylike look, and before that, the empire line.
After considering the dresses that would suit me, excluding recently out-of-fashion dresses, I decided that a mermaid dress would fit me. I have a thin figure and am slightly taller than most women, and I began to work on it.
My outfit is a plain shade rather than a flashy one because of the vivid color of my honey-colored eyes and hazel hair. Rather than ornate decorations, the ornaments are thin. I used silver, which only sparkles when light reflects off it. Because it is too grown-up and floats too much in my eyes, my hair should be worn slightly down in the front and gathered up in the back.
They didn’t laugh at me as a result, but I did stand out.
“People still ask me about the dress when I’m at the castle,” he said. “They want to hire my sister.”
“I respectfully decline.”
Even if the dress was beautifully made, I wasn’t the only one who did it. It’s only with the help of my seamstress friend.
“There was something else, wasn’t there? I wonder if that was part of the rumor.”  I glared at my brother as he started to laugh at the rumors my father was talking about.
“Some viscount was teasing the Doze’s daughter, and suddenly Marie appeared! You know, something like that.”
Ignoring my glare, my brother deliberately strained his voice.
~
“Good day Viscount Nancherla. Also, Lady Doze, it’s been a long time. I heard that you discovered an excellent ore the other day. The queen was delighted with how wonderful it was. Isn’t that right?”
“I’m not lying. It was true that the ore came from the Doze territory.”
(T/N: This is the scene where Marie helped the daughter of Doze house)
~
“You just casually mentioned the queen and the other big names, and when he got scared, he left Lady Doze alone.”
“Thanks to that, we are still getting a thank-you note from the parents of Lady Doze, who you saved from embarrassment.”
I looked at my father, who smiled smugly, and my brother, who spoke with a grin.
I sighed deeply, really deeply.
(I shouldn’t have been conspicuous.)
I was amazed at how well I was able to act at that time.
I don’t know if that is from the knowledge of being a noble lady that was hammered into me at Rosemary’s time.
As a result, I was now on my way to the royal capital in a carriage with my brother, a journey that would take two days.