I Was a Supporting Character

Wow, my dress was shining as if it were adorned with jewels! Mother! You are truly amazing! Honestly, even I couldn’t take my eyes off my dress!

“Bianca… This is…”

Ares, who was standing right next to me, seemed at a loss for words.

Desperately managing my expression, I pretended it was nothing and said coolly, “I told you you’d be surprised. Hmph.”

“….”

Hmm, Ares’s expression was really peculiar.

How should I put it? It didn’t seem like he was newly captivated by my appearance, but whether he was pleased or displeased was ambiguous. It was a complex expression that was hard to describe.

Hmm, does he not like it?

Anyway, everyone’s eyes in the banquet hall were on me.

Yes! This is exactly what I wanted! Not a puzzling reaction like Ares’s, but these admiring gazes!

While pretending not to listen, I focused all my attention on the murmurs of the people.

“As expected of Lady Uranos! She is truly beautiful!”

“Just by her appearance in that dress, she outshines Princess Ariel! She is indeed the daughter of the marquis.”

“But in the end, it seems Marquis and Marquis Uranos didn’t come.”

“There were rumours that the invitation didn’t reach them, and it seems they were true.”

As the conversations of the people reached my ears, I wore a cold smile. The absence of my parents was even more pronounced because all eyes in the banquet hall were on me.

As we entered the banquet hall, people soon approached us. Not only were there people wanting to greet me, but many were also looking for Ares. My lover was a celebrity who drew attention wherever he went. Besides his family’s status, he was one of the highest-ranking men in the empire, where there was no prince.

We were quickly surrounded by people. Both Ares and I were busy shaking hands and exchanging words with those who approached us. Especially since I had dressed up spectacularly, I was busier than ever.

A bold lady asked me, “Lady Uranos, it seems Princess Ariel didn’t send you an invitation after all?”

“Unfortunately, that is correct. I wonder what offense we may have caused the royal family.”

Someone cautiously suggested, “Could it be that Her Highness made a mistake, as this is her first time hosting a banquet?”

I remained silent. Even if I didn’t speak, surely someone would…

“No way! If it had been a mistake, Her Majesty the Empress would have corrected it.”

“Then…”

…Yes. This way, people would speculate about Princess Ariel’s intentions without me having to say a word.

Soon, a heated debate began in the banquet hall about the royal family’s stance toward our family. Groups of people gathered, discussing why the Uranos family had not been invited to this banquet.

By tradition, the royal family appears after the banquet has started. This meant that Princess Ariel still had some time before she would appear in the hall.

I planned to lower myself as much as possible when I met Princess Ariel.

Of course, it was obvious that neither I nor my family had done anything wrong to the royal family. Therefore, I wanted Princess Ariel to say the word “mistake” herself. Then I would passionately express how much our family had suffered emotionally due to that “mistake.”

What was needed at this time? Tears that I rarely shed, that’s what.

I wanted just one thing. Princess Ariel’s childish provocation will be ridiculed by the nobles gathered in this banquet hall.

Since Princess Ariel was, after all, a member of the royal family, it would be impossible for me to stand over her head and demand an excessive apology. If I did, it could backfire unnecessarily. It would be enough if people just whispered behind her back.

Ultimately, the more her image as a reckless royal solidified, the closer my desired scenario would be to completion. The immature Princess Ariel and her equally immature friend, Lady Lea Saturnos! What a perfectly fitting pair!

At that moment, I saw Lea standing alone in one corner of the banquet hall.

In this palace banquet, it would be a breach of etiquette to enter without a partner. Who did she come with, after being rejected by Ares?

If I’m curious, I should ask. Besides, I had something to say to her.

I whispered to Ares, who was sticking close to me, “Ares, I’ll go talk to Lea for a moment.”

His expression immediately hardened upon hearing my words.

“…Should I come with you?”

I gave him a bitter smile and shook my head.

“If I get into an argument with her, your name will undoubtedly come up. I appreciate the thought, but no thanks, Ares.”

“Then I’ll stay nearby, just enough not to interfere.”

“I’d appreciate that.”

I flashed a bright smile at Ares.

He wished for me and Leia to get along, but unfortunately, according to the novel’s setting, that was impossible from the start. I had tried so hard not to become a villainess. Yet, I inevitably had to oppose Leia.

Leaving Ares’s worried face behind, I walked towards Lea with the clicking sound of my heels. I could feel people’s gazes turning toward me.

Lea, who had been looking down at the floor, lifted her head upon hearing my footsteps. Her expression froze with tension.

Hmph, so she thinks I’m coming to confront her. It’s good that she’s not pretending to be friendly; that would have been troublesome.

“Lea.”

I deliberately called her name in a friendly manner to start the conversation. Lea hesitated for a moment, then barely managed to smile and respond.

“Bianca. You look truly beautiful today.”

“Hehe, thank you. But this time, I don’t want to hear compliments from you.”

“What do you mean…?”

My voice was neither too loud to draw unnecessary attention nor too quiet to be considered a whisper. Even though I confronted her, the music in the banquet hall continued to play uninterrupted.

“Leia. Please be honest. You dared to ask my lover to be your partner. And yet, you can still smile at me?”

“Bianca. That was a mistake on my part. I thought you wouldn’t be able to attend the banquet because you didn’t receive an invitation.”

“It’s been quite a while since you arrived in the capital, and you still don’t know such basic etiquette?”

“Really, I only realized later that I had committed a serious offense to you and Ares. I’m sorry.”

Lea’s large eyes began to fill with tears.

Oh dear, it’s troublesome if you start crying already. Tears shouldn’t be so cheap.

“When you asked Ares to be your partner, there were still two weeks left until the banquet. You didn’t consider the possibility that the invitation might be sent out late?”

“….”

Leia lowered her head and bit her lip.

Hmph. She wouldn’t have anything to say even if she had ten mouths. She must have known that Princess Ariel deliberately didn’t send the invitation.

I pressed Leia, who was hesitating and unable to answer immediately.

“Come on, be honest. Saying you wanted to help Ares was just an excuse, wasn’t it? You had other intentions, didn’t you?”

In this world, I believe there are no completely good people and no completely bad people.

However, how would Lea, who was created by the “author” as the epitome of goodness in this novel, respond to being accused of being a villainess? When her hidden desires masked by ignorance were exposed, what would she say?

Leia looked at me with a face that seemed on the verge of tears. But I continued to stare at her with a cold expression.

Come on, speak up, Leia Saturnos. Deny that you harbored ulterior motives and approached a man who already had a lover!

Leia briefly turned her gaze away from me and discreetly wiped away the tears welling up in her eyes.

Oh, so she doesn’t want to show me her tears after all.

“…I just wanted to restore my relationship with him.”

Oh-ho, so this is her response.

“What kind of relationship are you talking about? What exactly was the relationship between you and Ares?”

I asked with a slightly provocative tone, although I didn’t really need to ask. Clearly, Leia was Ares’s closest friend, even destined to be his companion in the novel’s setting.

Yet, I posed this question to subtly warn her to stop pestering Ares so persistently. Whether she would catch on was uncertain.

Certainly, Leia seemed unaware of my underlying meaning. Instead, she snapped back at me.

“You’re the one trying to come between me and Ares! I was Ares’s friend! Even before Ares and Bancia became lovers!”

Her voice grew louder.

People who had been observing us since earlier now completely surrounded us. Thank you, Leia Saturnos, for setting up this stage so perfectly.

In contrast to Leia’s heated response, I calmly and coolly replied.

“I’m curious. What exactly do you think I’ve come between you and my lover?”

“Since Ares started dating Bancia, he began to distance himself from me. Before that, we were friends who confided everything to each other. There was nothing to hide!”

“And so?”

Leia seemed taken aback by my straightforward question.

“Ares was always a good friend who understood my position! He helped me in many ways to adapt to social life, even though I was inexperienced in etiquette!”

Tears slowly trickled down her cheeks.

‘Huh, shedding tears while arguing, and she can’t even bear that?’

I silently waited for her to finish speaking. Leia choked out her words.

“Since when did he start criticizing me just like he does Bancia? He used to understand and help me with my lack of etiquette, but now he’s getting angry with me! Just like he does with Bancia!”

Heh, she’s grateful when he points things out to her.

“Maybe it’s because the time for understanding has passed. At first, I understood you too.”

“And how will you explain him refusing even to see me now? Before he became friends with Bancia, I could visit him anytime and spend time together.”

I sighed deeply.

“Are you done speaking?”

“No! I thought the three of us could be good friends! But how could Young lady betray my trust like this?”

I raised an eyebrow slightly.

Do you think I betrayed you? When we were friends, and two of us were dating, they called it betrayal. Hmm.

In any case, her tearful protest continued.

” I went to see him that day to try to mend the awkwardness between Ares and me. Because Ares and Young lady are now lovers, why should it strain Ares’s friendship with me? I just can’t accept that!”

She wiped away tears with a quick swipe of her hand.

I stared at her silently. It wouldn’t be easy to call my feelings for Ares simply ‘friendship,’ but she expressed it so easily. I could never do that.

From the moment love intervenes in one’s feelings toward another person, friendship disappears—it’s already gone. That’s why I didn’t separate my affection for Ares from friendship. It was better not to have any relationship at all than to remain just friends.

Well, I don’t know about Leia’s views on love, but now it was my turn to talk to her.

“Sigh… I understand what you want to tell me. But there’s a major misunderstanding you need to clear up first.”

Leia glared at me as if asking what misunderstanding she had made.