“Moreover, my mother the Empress will be very pleased if Letticia becomes her daughter-in-law. She always regarded the late Count Sharon as a father, so if Letticia marries my brother, she will cherish you like her own daughter.”
It was no secret that Empress Liliana treated the Count of Sharon as her family after the late duke and duchess passed away. However, it was unexpected that she would want Letticia as her daughter-in-law. They had never even seen each other properly before the formal audience!
“We also feel greatly indebted to the late Count Sharon. Without him, our mother would not have been able to marry father, and we would not have been born.”
“That’s right. Considering it this way, it’s like repaying that debt. So, Letticia, if you want, we’ll help you wholeheartedly. We’ll talk about you often to our brother, and we’ll ask him to visit Sharon’s mansion together. We can also send away the attendants so you two can be alone. Just say the word.”
With such an offer, Letticia couldn’t simply turn them down.
Letticia sighed and decided to speak frankly.
“To be honest, I’ve never thought about wanting to be with His Highness the Crown Prince. I haven’t even seriously thought about marriage. Preparing for my debut alone was overwhelming.”
The dress design took half a year, and on top of that, I had to study etiquette, practice dancing, and keep up with academy studies. It felt like a lifetime of learning compressed into a short time.
While other debutantes only had to worry about their peers, I had to constantly be aware of my powerful mother, Camilla.
It wasn’t enough to simply stand out among my peers. I had to become a diamond, recognized as the next generation’s Sharon Jewelry’s promotional model, independent of my mother’s influence.
Due to my relationship with the Empress, like a double-edged sword, I had to ensure everything was perfect to gain people’s approval.
I was so busy that sometimes I forgot about the original characters, and I barely thought about whom I wanted to marry.
“Trying to avoid comments about relying on my mother’s influence or the Empress’s favor required all my focus. So, when it comes to marriage, if you ask whether I want to become the Crown Princess… I’m not sure. Right now, I want to find someone I like and have a proper romance. While I don’t completely ignore looks or status, I can’t choose a lifelong partner based solely on those.”
Letticia observed their reactions while sharing her honest thoughts. Fortunately, they didn’t seem offended.
Since they were trying to help Letticia out of goodwill, she believed that showing her sincerity was the way to convince them.
And fortunately, it seemed this persuasion worked.
“So, you weren’t smitten with my brother at first sight. Many debutantes are, so I was wondering.”
Judith looked a bit disappointed. Letticia shrugged and replied.
“We can’t divorce or separate, so I need to choose carefully.”
“My brother is really a good person. Don’t you like him? He’s very handsome.”
“…My mother always said that no matter how good someone’s looks are, in the end, you need to connect with them emotionally to live together forever.”
“Living with Count Sharon and saying that it’s about the heart more than looks is a bit…”
Eustace looked genuinely surprised for the first time.
Even Letticia found it hard to believe, considering Patrick still looked youthful despite being in his mid-forties.
“Anyway, I understand. If Letticia asks for help later, we’ll help then. Forcing a marriage wouldn’t be repaying a debt.”
“Thank you for your kind consideration, Your Highness.”
Letticia bowed happily. She had successfully avoided the forced marriage the royal family was pushing.
Having dodged the Crown Princess route twice in one day, she could now focus on social gatherings and romance without worry.
“So, Letticia, what kind of man do you prefer? Since you do care about looks, you must have a preference, right?”
“Well, yes.”
“Really? What kind of looks do you prefer? Cold and handsome? Big and burly? Intellectual type? What do you like?”
“Hmm… I guess I prefer someone with a gentle appearance. Someone who smiles a lot and looks warm.”
“And what about hair color? Do you have a preference?”
“…Honestly, I find men with brown hair handsome.”
The conversation then shifted to Letticia’s preferences in men, her romantic fantasies, and hopes for love.
Letticia felt more at ease, grateful that the princes and princesses were more focused on repaying a debt than on fulfilling their own desires.
***
The next morning, the newspaper headlines all reported the same news.
<A Sensational Success at the Canotia Jewelry Launch Show!”>
<The Diamond Dress Becomes the Highlight of the Season!>
The articles featured the new product from Canotia Jewelry, which ranks fourth in the jewelry industry, and the photos from the launch show where the ‘jewel dress’ was unveiled.
“Wow, they’ve embedded hundreds of gems into the dress. They say it’s all real diamonds.”
Letticia, reading the newspaper, was amazed. She owned many dresses, but none adorned with so many gems.
Embellishing a dress with that many gems is an incredible luxury. Unless they were all hand-set, it must have involved a collaboration with the Magic Tower to develop special tools, which would have been extremely costly.
The price wasn’t listed in the advertisement, but Letticia estimated that each dress would easily exceed several hundred gold, perhaps even more than 1,000 gold.
‘I’d need to be prepared to buy one… but other debutantes would find it impossible.’
Debutantes usually receive an allowance of about 100 to 200 gold per year, which they quickly spend. The expenses required for a debutante are enormous, and purchasing additional jewelry or dresses often means relying on their parents. However, even those parents would find it hard to buy such a jeweled dress.
While Letticia contemplated the price of the dress and the financial situations of debutantes, her family discussed Canotia’s strategy and current status.
“They’ve adopted the latest Magic Tower technology, the Brilliant Cut, for diamond cutting. This was a strength we and Aner had, but it seems Canotia contracted with the Magic Tower for this season.”
“We never expected them to provide the technology exclusively to us, so that’s not an issue. The more important matter is their sales strategy.”
The family continued this discussion throughout breakfast.
Marianne from the product planning department and Aunt Alice from the technology development department discussed the technology seriously, while Uncle Brian and Lenoa talked about the quality of the gems and the harmony of the dress.
“Since the gems are mostly on the lower part of the dress, they don’t interfere with necklaces or earrings. Judging by the design, it seems to be inspired by the Milky Way.”
“We can’t tell from the photos, but they might not all be top-grade diamonds. However, the fact that the dress is embedded with diamonds is significant, so this won’t be a major drawback.”
This serious atmosphere continued into the evening. After their day jobs, the Sharon family members gathered the executives from the jewelry store for a meeting to devise countermeasures.
Letticia, who returned from an afternoon picnic in the park, also had to attend this meeting.
***
The meetings at Sharon Jewelry are conducted in a strictly formal atmosphere.
Even if someone belongs to the owner’s family, speaking informally to employees is unacceptable. Family members also address each other by their titles and use formal language.
Letticia, who had gained the title of promotional model for the external cooperation department of Sharon Jewelry after her debut, was attending the meeting for the first time. She was aware of these rules.
However, knowing and experiencing are quite different, and seeing her family and relatives speaking formally to each other made her hope they wouldn’t talk to her.
‘Especially if Father or Brother speaks to me formally, it would give me chills…’
These thoughts, which didn’t suit the serious situation, had to be suppressed.
Instead, she focused on the meeting content to assess the seriousness of the current situation.
“Half of today’s reserved customers canceled their reservations. Even the number of walk-ins is less than two-thirds of the usual.”
“It seems to be because of that jewel dress Canotia showcased. They reportedly had a record number of customers today.”
Aunt Irene, the manager of the capital’s main store, and Lenard, the deputy manager, reported the issue. The head of the PR department also added with a grave expression.
“Canotia announced that they would sell seven of the best jewel-embedded dresses this quarter exclusively to the top seven VVIPs. As a result, wealthy new nobles and some grand nobles are purchasing from Canotia to rank among the top seven spenders this season.”
“It’s an excellent strategy for short-term profit. Moreover, this event has greatly increased their publicity, which will benefit them in the long term as well.”
Patrick looked seriously at the newspaper.
The photos of the dress, with its hem adorned with diamonds shining brilliantly, showed how much effort Canotia had put into promoting this dress.
