TMM 14

“Sam” must be short for Samuel. The one who addressed him so familiarly was Mariabelle.

“Lady Mariabelle, would you refrain from calling me that?” Samuel said, turning to her, his tone gentle.

“But we’re friends, aren’t we? Just because it’s a ball doesn’t mean we need to be so formal,” she replied sweetly.

“That’s not what I meant.”

For a brief moment, Alicia’s attention was drawn to their exchange—but then she remembered the true purpose that had brought her here tonight.

While Samuel’s back was turned, she quietly slipped away from them.

Not long ago, she would have waited, thinking it discourteous to part from a dance partner without so much as a word. But after being deemed “unqualified” by the queen, Alicia felt no obligation to be so considerate.

And in the future, Samuel would stand beside Joshua as one of those who condemned her.

(Who was it that pinned the crime on me?)

In such circumstances, expecting only herself to remain impeccably polite seemed absurd. A faint stir of anger rose within her.

Careful not to draw attention, Alicia melted into the crowd.

Her light brown hair was unremarkable. It was easy to disappear.

Until now, she had lingered by the walls, waiting in case Joshua called for her, or followed close at his side. Perhaps that had made her stand out all the more.

And Mariabelle wore a far finer gown than Alicia’s, adorned with expensive jewels. No noble present could fail to notice that contrast.

From this night onward, Alicia would likely be looked down upon by all the nobility.

A fiancée to whom the crown prince did not even gift a dress.

The eldest daughter of House Wellston, wearing the same outdated gown as last year to the palace’s most formal ball.

But it no longer mattered.

More importantly, she had to find her grandparents. She had never encountered them at balls or soirées before, yet the likelihood that they were present tonight was high.

This was the grandest ball held at the royal palace, the one occasion when nobles from across the entire kingdom gathered.

As Alicia wove through the crowd, heading for the exit of the ballroom, a voice suddenly called out from behind.

“My lady, would you care to dance with me?”

She turned to see a pleasant-looking young man with brownish hair, smiling shyly.

She did not recognize his face, nor did she know his name.

His honey-colored eyes were rare in this country, and since he also seemed unfamiliar with her, she wondered if he might be a foreigner.

“I’m very sorry, but I’m in a hurry. Please excuse me.”

Alicia was desperate to find her grandparents.

After offering a brief bow, she hastened out into the corridor.

Ordinarily, she would have responded more graciously. But now, her heart would not allow her to linger.

In the hallway, Alicia caught a passing servant and discreetly pressed a tip into his hand, asking after her grandparents’ whereabouts.

The Alicia of the past would never have thought to do such a thing.

But desperation left little room for propriety.

Even if her nature could not change, surely the way she lived could.

Believing she still had choices left to her, Alicia had come here tonight.

She ascended the grand staircase, heading for the second floor.

The refined portraits of her grandparents now lay forgotten, gathering dust in a sealed attic room.

Yet their images lingered faintly in Alicia’s memory.

Her grandfather Edward, forever quarreling with Thomas. Her grandmother Barbara, wearing an expression of quiet sorrow.

Walking down the broad corridor, Alicia peered into the third balcony—and found them.

She recognized them at once.

They had hardly changed, still youthful in appearance.

“It has been some time. I am Alicia Wellston.”

Suppressing her nerves, she bowed deeply.

House Wellston had been cut off by them.

Alicia was prepared to persist even if they rejected her outright.

At the sight of her, Edward turned away coldly, while Barbara looked at her in surprise.

“I have an important matter to discuss with you.”

“I suppose you’ve come to cry for help after being treated as a nuisance at home. One look at that outdated dress and cheap jewelry tells me everything. You’re being mistreated in that house.”

Edward’s response was harsh.

For a fleeting moment, despair threatened to overwhelm her—but she could not give up now.

“You are correct. I am treated poorly at home, and I am not favored by Her Majesty the Queen. Just earlier this evening, I was told by Her Majesty herself that I am unqualified to be the crown prince’s fiancée.”

“My goodness, Alicia… how dreadful,” Barbara murmured, sympathy filling her violet eyes.

“I believe this engagement will eventually be dissolved, and that Mariabelle will become the new fiancée.”

“Ridiculous! Those women aren’t even of noble birth!”

Edward spoke heatedly, and Alicia blinked in surprise.

“By ‘those women,’ do you mean my stepmother and Mariabelle? Are they… not nobles?”

“Edward, let us not discuss this here. Alicia, summer recess should be approaching, should it not? We can send a carriage—why don’t you come visit our lands?”

The unexpected offer left Alicia momentarily at a loss.

“Barbara, don’t decide things on your own. More importantly, Alicia—you came to me because you had something to say, didn’t you?”

Though his gaze remained sharp, Edward’s tone had calmed, entirely different from moments before.

Alicia nodded.

This was the moment that mattered most.

Whether they believed her or not, she had resolved to tell them everything—just as it was.