Chapter 17
The year-end party two days later was a last-minute affair, but the preparations were not delayed.
"I did it."
Seria arrived at the hall with a slight disappointment because she was still worried about it, but her fears were unnecessary.
She was very pleased to see the hall transformed to suit the year-end atmosphere. The two days of riding piggyback on Elliot had been worth it.
The sweet melodies of the beautifully dressed musicians tickled her ears. She stood on the quite angular staircase of the second floor and looked around the hall.
There were many nobles, although the official party had not yet started. They were busy in pairs, lightly dancing to the music or gathering in groups to talk. Probably more than 90% of their conversation was about her.
The official reception started in the evening, and the only thing she had to do was appear along with Lesche.
When she returned to her room, Begonia was already there waiting.
"Do I have to call you Grand Duchess now, my lady?"
Seria smiled at Begonia's amusing words.
"It’s a kindness that His Highness did to save my life. It was a kind of slavery contract, and the role of temporary hostess was that of a slave..."
Actually, she was still a little busy. However, the help she had received from Begonia in many ways was so great that she gladly accepted the request to meet with her.
"I see there are cases where favors turn into destinies," Begonia said, smiling kindly but with a keen eye.
She was now carefully looking at the dress on the mannequin.
The pink-beige dress, along with the wedding dress, was commissioned by Kalis for her to wear at the supposed wedding reception.
But the reception had suddenly turned into a year-end party, and Begonia had come to see her in an emergency.
"The dress you wear at a wedding reception is very different from the dress you wear at a year-end party. The former is an extension of the wedding and can be orderly and clean, but the latter has to be more glamorous. If I'm not careful, it could look shabby."
No designer wants their work to look shabby. That’s why there were suddenly so many jewels on the dress.
With Begonia’s simple instructions, her assistants began dressing her. Her hair was braided in place and carefully decorated with jeweled pins as well.
"Would you look at this dress in the mirror, my lady," Begonia said, pulling it out suddenly from a square leather case.
"Would you like to see it? It's a perfect dress for a spring picnic."
It was a beautiful lentil-colored dress that Seria naturally admired. She wholeheartedly praised Begonia.
"It's very pretty."
"It's one of my main pieces for the upcoming season," said the euphoric Begonia, laughing seriously.
"I will give you this dress, Lady Seria, with one condition."
"Yes?"
"Would you make some changes to your current dress contract with me?"
"What changes would you like to make?"
"I would like to change the client of the contract to Lady Seria instead of Marquis Haneton. Can you do that?"
"That’s not difficult, it was my dress anyway. Please give me the contract."
"After all, Lady Seria has a kind heart. That’s good."
As if she had decided to say this today, Begonia immediately pulled out a paper from her pocket. It was a dressmaking contract signed by Kalis a few months ago. Seria looked at the familiar name for a moment, then quickly drew a line and wrote her name next to it.
"Here you go," she said, confirming her signature and looking as refreshed as someone who had had a tumor removed.
"Very well. That’s the end. How troublesome it was."
"Why?"
"Because the Saint wanted me to make her a dress."
"Lina?"
"Yes. It wasn’t a dress for the year-end party. I didn’t have much time to spare. She wanted a dress to wear when she went to Haneton Estate."
"A dress to take to Haneton Estate?"
"Yes. At that time, I still had a contract with Marquis Haneton, so the Saint wanted to add another dress."
Lina must have ignored that Kalis had requested a divorce. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have asked for a dress to wear at Haneton Estate.
After tomorrow's year-end party, all the nobles who came in the name of celebration must leave the castle, and Lina would also have to leave Berg Castle in a few days. She was a Saint, so of course, she had to return to the Grand Temple, but going to Haneton Estate...? The question arose.
Does she really hate the Grand Temple so much?
With only the priests around Lina, everyone would have nothing but good things to say about her. Speaking objectively, New Castle Country, with its grand temple, was a beautiful and magnificent city.
Of course, the food was a bit unappetizing, but the priests would never say it was a disadvantage.
Seria really didn’t understand this since she had been to the temple after being possessed by the original Seria, just to see the famous places.
In any case, Stern's divorce would take quite some time, and until then, Lina would be the Marchioness of Haneton.
The title of Saint was elegant and special, so Lina would always be called Saint.
"Speaking of which, I must return the Marquis Haneton's ring."
Like all high-tradition nobles, Marquis Haneton had an emerald ring that had been passed down for generations. The emerald ring that Kalis had when he proposed to her still rested peacefully in her jewelry box.
She had forgotten about it because she wasn’t in the right mood. She wanted to see Kalis and return the ring as soon as possible, but Begonia frowned and sighed.
"The Saint is not good at noble etiquette, I don't know how she is so lucky for such a thing. Marquis Haneton has a request, so she may not know it’s difficult to reject the request of the person who becomes her husband."
"So you’ve decided to rewrite the contract?"
"Yes, from now on, when the Saint asks me for a dress, I can comfortably refuse."
Just like in the original, Lina wanted Begonia’s dress. Well, Begonia’s dresses are beautiful. It's as if they have an element that resonates in people's hearts.
Knock, knock.
There was a knock on the door, and a servant entered with a very worried expression.
"My lady."
"What’s the matter?"
"You have a visitor."
"Why are you being so suffocating?"
The assistants were startled when they suddenly saw a woman peeking from behind the servant. They immediately checked Seria’s state. Fortunately, she was still wearing her dress.
"Designer Begonia, you’re really here!"
"Saint!"
It was Lina.
She seemed able to walk on her own feet after a day.
She entered slowly, dressed in a beautifully decorated manner, as if she were attending a year-end party today. The pure white dress Lina was wearing perfectly suited her image, but Seria had a feeling the nobles were going to bite off more than they could chew. It strangely reminded her of a mini wedding dress.
Lina slowly approached and blushed when she saw the beautiful dress in Begonia’s hands.
"Designer Begonia. I was wondering if you would accept my dress request. I heard this dress was also commissioned by Kalis. If you don’t have enough money for the commission deposit, I can tell the priest to give you more!"
What should I point out first?
Seria was worried about that beautiful dress, that the thoughts going through her head and Begonia's thoughts weren’t so different.
No, Begonia seemed much more furious than Seria. Because she was a designer sensitive to “aristocratic elegance,” with a reputation even in the imperial court.
"Saint," she said in a severe but courteous voice. "This is Lady Seria’s abode. Therefore, it would be appropriate to address the owner of the place first."
Lina looked at Seria, intimidated by the severe reprimand.
"Forgive me. Good morning, Seria."
She hurried to greet Seria, but it was already too late. Begonia wasn’t Lina’s etiquette master, who would help her redeem her mistake, Kalis and Lina’s reputation was already ruined in Begonia’s mind.
"Not long ago, Lady Seria was changing her dress. It’s vulgar and improper to open a lady’s room door an hour before a ball!"
Lina’s face blushed, but this didn’t remove the cold and harsh expression from Begonia’s face.
"Above all, my dear Saint. I’m not a designer who calculates dresses simply in terms of money. So it was very rude of you to say I don’t have enough money."
"I didn’t mean it that way..."
"Once a blade swings, it can leave a mark on the sand. Please understand that I cannot accept your dress request."
"But that dress was also a commission from Kalis. It’s not difficult to add one more dress or something like that..."
"Unfortunately, not anymore. That changed at Lady Seria’s request. We’ve amended the contract, so now it’s difficult to add a dress for a Saint who has nothing to do with Lady Seria."
"What?"
Lina suddenly approached Seria with a look of bewilderment on her face. Then she took Seria’s hand abruptly.
"Designer Begonia, it's okay. I’m friends with Seria."
At that moment, a deep silence struck the room. Seria removed Lina’s hand from hers and spoke.
"We’re not friends."
"What..? Why…?"
"Why?"
Seria frowned.
In aristocratic society, "friend" doesn’t simply mean the same age group. You had to be as close as two people in the next order of family to talk about "friends" in a dignified manner. Above all, being friends with Lina could be seen as a way to forgive Kalis for his behavior. And she could never forgive him.
"How can I happily be friends with the current wife of my ex-fiancé? Can Lina do that?"
"Kalis and I aren’t officially married! Seria, you know that. I just had to do it to save him."
"That’s your business, and it has nothing to do with me."
Lina, whose face had just turned pale, said.
"But but..."
"Please leave, Lina. And don’t come back like this again."
"Seria!"
She caught Seria hastily.
"We can be good friends! I heard everything from my teacher. Your mother is a plebeian actress!"
