“-Ah.”
Lizzy let out a small groan as she stared blankly at her dress.
She couldn’t hear the murmurs of the crowd, Aaron’s angry voice as he regained his composure, or Catalina’s screams as she was dragged out by the lord. It felt as if time had stopped.
Yet, even in this horrific moment, time continued to flow steadily, and the blood-red stain only spread further.
Drip, drip. Only after the red droplets flowed down her white legs and stained her feet did Lizzy finally grasp what had happened to her.
She had been drenched in wine.
‘And at my debutante ball.’
It felt as if the thread of reason had snapped. She wanted to scream and run away like a madwoman. Or perhaps grab Ariella and Catalina by their hair and tear them out by the roots.
However, Lizzy barely managed to hold onto the little patience she had left.
Defeat. Yes, she had lost to Ariella today. It was a reality she didn’t want to accept.
But at least she could choose whether to leave this place in disgrace, screaming, or to exit with grace, even if it was her last moment.
To repay this humiliation someday, Lizzy decided to choose the latter.
As she made her decision, her trembling body calmed down.
“Aaron, I’m not feeling well, so I think I should head in now. Would you kindly escort me to my room?”
The urge to express her grievances surged within her, but she refrained. She knew that whatever she said now would only be seen as petty excuses.
When Lizzy, her face pale, made her request, Aaron hesitated for a brief moment, deep in thought.
If it were up to him, he would have made an excuse and asked another servant to escort her.
He didn’t want to escort Lizzy, who had clumsily ruined her own image with her foolish antics… and above all, he wanted to talk to Ariella as soon as possible.
However, if he did that, Lizzy’s already plummeting reputation would fall even further.
There might be talk of discord between the royal family and Abercorn, and the Duke of Abercorn would surely be furious.
After all, his fiancée was Lizzy.
‘It’s unfortunate… but there will always be another opportunity.’
Biting the inside of his lip, Aaron reluctantly offered his arm to Lizzy.
Placing her hand on his arm, Lizzy mustered her strength to keep her swaying body upright and walked across the Violet Hall.
As a result, the ballroom was left with only the guests, all the protagonists having departed.
As the bewildered nobles began to gauge the situation, Ariella lightly clapped her hands to draw attention.
“The commotion of passionate youth is something that has always occurred at parties, hasn’t it?”
As she smiled with her elegantly slanted eyes, the guests began to chuckle one by one.
Although the status of those involved was too high to dismiss it as a mere small disturbance, as she said, it was not uncommon for young nobles to act recklessly in their fervor. Thinking that way, it was easy to laugh it off.
“We cannot waste our guests’ precious time any longer. So, shall we resume the party?”
As Ariella gestured, the musicians, who had been waiting for a cue, began to play in time with the rhythm.
As the lively dance music filled the Violet Hall, Ariella stepped forward to the center.
Originally, it should have been Lizzy and Aaron, the protagonists of the debutante ball, who danced first, but with both of them absent, she was the only one to lead the party.
However, there was one problem: she had no partner.
The male nobles, who had come without partners, could not hide their racing hearts as they subtly approached Ariella. With the jealous Aaron absent, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Even if Aaron had been present, the nobles would have disregarded him. Unlike before, Ariella was no longer his fiancée, and they would be willing to take any risk to claim such a beauty.
As four or five men moved forward with competitive spirits, Ariella gazed intently at a certain spot as if she were waiting for someone.
In fact, she had noticed it earlier.
In a corner of the ballroom, where people were not paying attention, a man with a towering physique stood beside a tall column, watching her.
The man, Nobert Ashbon, stood there like a tree rooted to the ground. When Lizzy brushed Ariella’s hand away, he exuded a menacing aura as if he had been struck.
Just like with Fletcher, it seemed he could leap out at any moment and grab Lizzy by the throat.
Other than that, he made no particularly noticeable movements and simply existed quietly… yet strangely, his presence became a peculiar strength for Ariella. It felt as if she had at least one ally in this hall.
