I waved my hand through the water in the bathtub. Between my fingers, water trickled down smoothly. When I opened my fist, all that remained in my hand were wet traces of water—nothing else.
I came empty-handed and I will leave empty-handed. Such is the unchanging truth about life and death. I have nothing to take with me from this world, not even Ares.
Even after I depart, he will remain here, living out his life to the fullest. Happily. Joyfully.
Today, Leia introduced me as the ‘pillar’ who defines her as a ‘villainess’.
So, when will the next ‘pillar’ appear? Where will it emerge from, and what will its content be?
Leia must have been greatly shocked to see Ares embrace me at the ball today. Ares, who was once her uncomplicated friend, began to distance himself bit by bit, and today, she must have felt completely abandoned by him.
For Leia and Ares to have their happy ending, not only must I die, but the emotional distance between them must also be bridged. Judging by the current situation, Leia and Ares will definitely not end up happily together.
In that case, could the next ‘pillar’ possibly bring about some emotional change between Ares and Leia? After all, this novel is from Leia’s first-person perspective, so as long as Leia’s emotions provoke some change, a ‘pillar’ could certainly emerge.
In short, even if Leia mistakenly thinks, “Oh, we must be in love!” alone, it signifies that a ‘pillar’ in the novel will emerge.
In the narrow-minded aristocratic society of the capital, one must maintain basic etiquette no matter how much one dislikes the other person. Therefore, regardless of how uncomfortable or awkward Leia makes me and Ares feel, we cannot behave rudely towards her in public places.
Furthermore, if I were to behave rudely towards her, it would be like directly undermining the etiquette issue that I’ve consistently pointed out to Leia all this time.
Even if Ares tries not to give Leia clear boundaries and reasons for misunderstanding, women in love have a knack for attaching great significance to trivial things. It was unknown how clueless Leia would interpret Ares’s manners to suit her own desires.
Moreover, according to the original novel’s setting, since Leia is already in love with Ares in some way, it’s impossible for her to just give up and quietly watch over our couple from afar.
Damn it, even if I really wanted to live ignoring Leia, as Ares suggested, it’s not a situation where I can afford to ignore her!
With a sob, I left the bathroom and went straight into bed, feeling completely drained from experiencing so much in just one day.
As the room grew darker and quieter, I closed my eyes to try to sleep.
Then, like a vivid fantasy, sensations from receiving Ares’s kiss in the palace came flooding back. The solid chest pressing against my body, the intense scent, the warm and soft touch of his lips, the rough sound of his breathing…
Gasp! I blinked my eyes wide open again. It felt like I was lying back on that bench once more.
My heart was pounding. No wonder my whole body felt so warm.
No, no, this won’t do. I have to get up early tomorrow morning when there’s no one around to go to Metis’s salon. If I oversleep, it’ll be a disaster!
I closed my eyes tightly again and tried hard to think of something else.
But despite my desperate efforts, the melting warmth and softness seemed to linger on my tongue without disappearing.
Oh dear, my face must have been burning bright red for sure.
The bigger problem is, after a kiss like that, the next steps keep crossing my mind!
Honestly, was I ever this kind of open woman? I’m supposed to be the epitome of grace and elegance in high society… Argh!
Next time I see Ares, I really hope my face doesn’t turn beet red. But I’m not confident I can keep a poker face in front of him…
In the end, I spent the entire night wrestling with the aftermath of my first kiss. It wasn’t until dawn that I finally managed to fall asleep!
＊ ＊ ＊
However, habits can be scary things, so thankfully I succeeded in waking up early in the morning.
After having breakfast with my family as usual without any issues, I immediately prepared and headed to Metis’s salon.
I was worried that I had arrived too early and the salon might not have been open yet, but luckily, I was wrong. Metis, who is more diligent than anyone else, was already out supervising the servants cleaning the salon.
“Metis.”
“Oh, Bianca. Somehow, I had a feeling you’d come early today. As expected.”
She greeted me without much surprise.
This must be the synchrony of long-time friends. As well as I know Metis, it seemed she could predict my actions as well.
While the servants busily cleaned around the salon, I entered a small room with Metis.
“After I left the banquet last night, how did things turn out?”
“Thanks to Her Majesty the Empress personally stepping in to handle things, the atmosphere was cleared up sooner than expected. But that’s not what you’re curious about, right?”
I chuckled at her words.
“I bet Princess Ariel and Leia enjoyed the rest of the banquet?”
Metis narrowed her eyes slightly and smirked.
“Oh yes. They must have had a blast. Princess Ariel was summoned by Her Majesty after you left, and Leia’s partner, young Sir Eunsik, disappeared and was nowhere to be found, so she didn’t dance at all.”
Ah, right. Come to think of it, I was curious about who Leia partnered with, but I forgot to ask her yesterday.
“She had a partner?”
“Then he just came alone? Despite it being a palace banquet.”
“Well……”
According to Metis, Leia’s partner, Young Lord Rodrigo, was so ordinary that she couldn’t even remember his name. He was said to be a son of some noble, probably just someone she managed to find as a partner through connections. Not all young lords or young ladies are in love, so those like Leia who couldn’t find a suitable partner often resorted to asking friends to recommend someone in a similar situation. It seemed our heroine Leia, had followed this quite ordinary route to find her partner.
Metis continued,
“Anyway, the important thing is that Leia became completely ‘a flower on the wall’ yesterday. Still, she wasn’t totally alone, as many people approached her to comfort her.”
I clicked my tongue.
“Tsk tsk. What she needs isn’t comfort, but advice. Not to harbor dark intentions towards someone else’s lover ever again.”
Metis replied in a teasing tone,
“I was just trying to help a friend in distress, not plotting anything sinister.”
“Do you believe that?”
“Well, even if you do believe that a hundred times over, the fact remains that she revealed she doesn’t know proper etiquette for such events, so she certainly made a fool of herself.”
I smirked subtly.
Wow, making a face like this, I really feel like I’m becoming the villain.
But soon, Metis grew serious again.
“The problem is Princess Ariel. Whether she heard something different when she was separately called by the Empress, I don’t know, but there’s a chance she might hold a grudge against you. Be especially careful from now on, Bianca.”
“As Metis said, Ariel Princess seems more threatening than Leia, who’s too kind to do anything. I took her advice to heart.”
“After talking with the Empress, did the Princess return to the ballroom?”
“She did come back, but she consciously avoided any discussions about you or your family. Perhaps the Empress gave her a stern warning.”
“Why didn’t she just intervene beforehand, then? If it’s the Empress, she could have easily prevented her reckless provocations.”
Metis hesitated, rolling her eyes as if pondering, and replied uncertainly,
“I’m not entirely sure, but perhaps it’s a form of education? Why, even the Countess sometimes complains that you let things slide instead of intervening.”
I chuckled in response,
“Like teaching a lion cub the consequences of playing near a cliff. Until you experience firsthand how bold actions can backfire, it’s just nagging.”
It seemed that until one faced the consequences directly, all the warnings and advice were just noise.
The reason Leia kept neglecting etiquette was because everyone else coddled her. I was the only one who pointed out her etiquette issues. Ares might have chimed in later, but to her, it might have sounded like he was reluctantly advising her as her lover.
She needed to suffer a major embarrassment like yesterday’s to truly understand how casually she had been trying to enter high society. No, I really hoped she had realized it by now.
Metis chuckled lightly,
“It might be good to gather people. Ariel Princess probably realized she can’t handle you alone.”
I nodded in agreement with her words. Then a question crossed my mind.
“Do you think Leia will come back to this salon?”
“If she has any sense, she won’t.”
“That obliviousness is what we should capitalize on.”
Metis fell silent, at a loss for words.
I pondered deeply.
Should I prevent Leia from coming to this salon, or should I just let it be? If I act solely on emotions, I should chase her away from here, but surprisingly, I felt that I could gather valuable information on how Princess Ariel might react if I handle this well. Of course, this assumes she is as straightforward as I think.
Carefully, I opened my mouth to Metis.
“Metis, I have a favor to ask. I hope Leia can continue to come to this salon.”
“Leia? Why? She could become a formidable faction of Princess Ariel.”
I smiled meaningfully.
“Perhaps she might talk about Princess Ariel. She tends to get along with everyone regardless of their faction.”
This was the crucial difference between Leia and me.
She is the virtuous heroine of this novel, and am I not the villain? Hehe.
To establish myself in high society, I had to withstand jealousy and envious gazes directed at me. Even the ‘author’ thinks I achieved everything effortlessly, so how could others possibly have any valid grounds against me?
In such times, it’s best to boldly ignore those gazes rather than plead with them to stop. If they want to curse, let them. I know my path, and that attitude is what made Bianca Uranos, resilient and formidable in treacherous social circles.
Of course, outwardly I held my head high, but it wasn’t without some emotional damage that I just brushed aside. In those moments, I would quietly shed tears while writing in my diary or drawing.
My diary, where I poured out all my fragile emotions and messy feelings, was something even my parents couldn’t read, mainly because I always kept it locked.
Thinking back to when Leia made her debut in society at the Marquis’s party, she clearly didn’t know how to handle herself in the face of visible hostility towards her.
Perhaps Leia, rather than leaving those who harbour enmity towards her alone, would try to persuade and converse with them to change their views. For someone like her, gently coaxing them with “I won’t harm Princess Ariel if you tell me more about her!” might surprisingly be an easy task.
