The biggest problem was that they had already spent too much money on acquiring dresses and decorating the ball. She had thought her father was just stingy, but this was enough to anger even someone who wasn’t a miser.
Samuel, who was on Lizzy’s side, seemed to agree with Ariella on this point, unable to bring himself to deny it and bowing his head.
“As you can see… with the remaining budget, it’s impossible to hold the ball properly.”
Indeed, the remaining budget was small. However, Lizzy was not foolish enough to overlook this.
This meant that she had something else in mind.
“So, Lady Ari. Please tell the master to increase the budget.”
She must have thought that if she acted first and then apologized while requesting additional funds, the Duke of Abercorn would have no choice but to provide them.
Now that Ariella had been stripped of her authority, it would be even better if she could shift the role of begging for more funds onto her.
“If we hold the ball like this, Abercorn’s prestige will be tarnished. If that happens, the master will surely be very angry.”
The threat that if the ball went wrong, the one to be punished would be Ariella, the person in charge, was perfectly executed.
‘It seems the situation has changed quite a bit. To threaten me with Abercorn in front of me like this.’
Ariella chuckled, gazing at Samuel’s shameless face. Then she stood up and slowly opened her mouth.
“No. There’s no need to tell my father. This budget is sufficient.”
“What?”
“As the butler said, Abercorn’s prestige is important. But I can’t waste our resources on unnecessary things, can I?”
“That’s nonsense. How can we…!”
“Is it nonsense?”
Ariella’s voice suddenly turned cold.
“Right now, did I hear you correctly?”
Swallowing hard, Samuel looked at Ariella with trembling eyes.
Even though he was taller than her, and she wasn’t standing on a platform, he couldn’t shake the feeling that Ariella was looking down on him.
“Did the butler of this mansion dare to point out that my words are absurd?”
Ariella Abercorn had lost her name, but she had not lost her dignity. He realized this only too late.
“Th-that’s not what I meant…!”
He tried to protest urgently, but her intimidating gaze crushed his spirit once more. Eventually, Samuel found himself bowing his head in apology without even realizing it.
“I’m sorry, Miss. I overstepped my bounds.”
“I’m glad you know.”
“B-but please take another look at the documents. If you look closely, you’ll see that with the remaining budget, it’s simply-.”
“Later.”
Ariella cut Samuel’s words off sharply.
“I have an important appointment right now. I’ll have to postpone reviewing the documents for later.”
“Appointment…?”
What could be more important than the ball that was two weeks away? As Samuel frowned in confusion, Ariella smiled brightly, which was oddly out of place.
“I have to go get my dress fitted.”
***
Getting fitted for a dress could not be more important than preparing for the debutante ball.
Samuel seemed to think so, but he couldn’t bring himself to voice it.
To be fair, getting fitted for a dress was indeed one of the preparations for the debutante, and considering that there were only two weeks left until the ball, the sewing schedule was indeed urgent.
Thus, Ariella boarded the carriage heading to the fitting shop without any interference. And beside her, Amira, who had not given up her will, clung tightly.
“Are you really going to be okay?”
“Don’t worry, Miss. Just in case, I brought a club with me!”
Amira waved the wooden club she had brought with an exaggerated smile. Though she spoke confidently as if nothing scared her, it was clear that she was extremely tense.
Her eyes darting around outside and her overly tense hands all revealed her anxious state.
Before they set off, she had been carefully inspecting the carriage and conversing with the coachman, suggesting she was worried about a rollover accident or something similar.
‘Why is she so scared, yet she insists on following me?’
She looked like a prey animal suddenly thrown into a vast plain, terrified. Feeling a pang of sympathy, Ariella patted Amira’s hand to ease her worries.
“The carriage won’t overturn or explode. If that happens, Lizzy will be the first to be suspected.”
Even without that, it didn’t seem like Lizzy would try to kill her.
It took a considerable amount of will to deliberately kill someone, and somehow, it seemed that Lizzy wanted to push her into a reality more painful than death.
“Besides, Sir Adam is with us, so there’s nothing to be afraid of. He’s a knight well-known even in the capital. Not just him, but other knights are with us too.”
“Of course, that’s right. What’s there to be afraid of? I’m completely fine!”
“Good, then that’s a relief.”
