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Chapter Sixty-Two –
Today was the day Annette was going to host a wine party at the Flores mansion.
(M.M.: wine party = a party for drinking wine... like tea parties and such.)
“It would be a nicer place.”
It bloomed
Flowers in the garden.”
Annette looked at the garden and mumbled sadly.
The beauty of Flores Palace was originally located in its picturesque garden.
The main building and its annex buildings were far apart, so that the entire huge space between them was covered by charming gardens.
There were also trees all around the place, so it looked like it was a house in the middle of the woods.
But Theodore lived in such a beautiful house without caring for the garden.
There were no flowers blooming now, so there was a gloomy atmosphere hanging over the palace.
“Why leave this beautiful garden untended?”
Annette asked why, but no answer came from Theodore.
“It is
Spacious
Very beautiful, but exposed
For neglect
A lot
Because of you
“
“No one
He visits her
So
The
Decorate it
will be
Waste
For money
“Just.”
Considering the size and beauty of the Flores Palace, it was worth it to host parties all year round.
It was a house built to express the former emperor's love for his mistress.
However, ironically, the current owner of the palace lived quietly out of sight, so no tea parties let alone balls were held in the place.
Also, no future social gatherings would have taken place without Annette.
So all those who were invited to Flores Palace today will come with great expectations and even greater curiosity to see this place that no one usually visits.
“But even so, it is not appropriate for a person to live
Bright
And nice looking
Like you
In such a dreary place
And the dark
“
"I?"
“Didn't you know that?
You look like...
Bright
And beautiful
“More than any type of jewelry.”
Annette touched Theodore's face with her soft fingers.
Every time she saw him, Annette felt that he was more brilliant than all the fine jewelry in this world.
With his shiny silver hair and sharp, small nose, Theodore's face looked like an expensive piece of art.
At first glance, he seemed very elegant and noble to everyone, but his harsh eyes had a strangely terrifying look.
Annette continued to look at him silently while her fingers touched his face as if examining him, so Theodore furrowed his brow and held his breath.
He felt a tingling sensation all over his body as her soft fingertips touched him as if tickling his jaw.
Theodore looked at Annette's hand that was touching his face and held it in his own.
“Are you saying that I...
I look like
Bright
And beautiful
!
Really?
“Sir, the carriages have begun to arrive.”
Theodore had not heard Annette's answer yet, but the butler informed them that the guests had arrived at the palace.
When the first guest arrived, the carriages of other guests entered one after another.
The Grand Duke and his wife welcomed the guests without interruption.
“
Hello
How much?
Mr. and Mrs.
Reuter.”
“It's like a dream.
Who would have expected it to happen?
Our invitation
To the first wine party at Flores Palace.
On my way in,
I saw
The garden
And I thought
“I am in a scene from a fairy tale.”
“After hearing your kind words,
I feel
Happy because all the effort you made
His suit
In decorating the place he did not go
In vain
Scattered
.
I hope
Of both of you
Enjoy
With your time
All night, sir
And Sido
Reuter.”
Annette smiled kindly, took Mrs.
Reuter's hand, and led her into the living room.
Mrs.
Reuter felt as if she was going to cry with joy at the fact that she had been invited to the Grand Duchess's prestigious ball without even being from a noble family.
“I have never seen such a wonderful garden in my life before!
I never thought you would
By decorating
Your garden
With light bulbs instead of fresh flowers.”
Annette smiled softly.
It was her idea to decorate the garden with electric lights.
No banquet had ever been held at the Flores Palace, nor could they hold any large parties because the owner did not care enough about the palace to do so.
So Annette had to attract people's attention in a way other than the palace's size and unique architectural design.
Young aristocrats and conservatives needed an unobtrusive place to spend time, so Annette came up with the idea of decorating the place with electric lights.
Annette installed a generator and hung small light bulbs throughout the garden.
It was impossible to plant flowers immediately in an empty garden, so Annette thought of a way to turn the empty garden into an advantage.
The Odentia Empire had begun using electricity not long ago after it was discovered by an enterprising scientist, but no one would have imagined that it would be used for decoration.
When Hans heard about the plan to decorate the garden with lamps, he said:
“I think it would be more realistic to tell everyone that flowers bloom in a different season.”
But still he did what Annette suggested to them in the end.
Judging by Mr. and Mrs.
Reuter's reaction, it seems that Annette's idea was a success.
“The park is full
With lights
It's like stars everywhere, so it became a place
Romantically
More than full gardens
With flowers
.
And you
You look like the moon
Surrounded
In the stars tonight, Your Highness the Grand Duchess, you are truly more beautiful than…
“The garden is really beautiful, so I hope you enjoy the food
And wine
Here.”
Mr.
Reuter's face turned red when Theodore interrupted him with a cold tone.
After walking together for a short while in awkward silence, everyone arrived at the living room.
They had said that they would move to the banquet hall when all the guests had gathered, but in reality, the purpose of bringing them to this place was something else.
“Not
I have
What
I show you
He's in the palace
Because
No
I care
By decorating it
A lot, but please
Feel
Comfortable to walk around.”
“No, on the contrary, the place is very beautiful.
But that mural….”
Mr.
Reuter entered the foyer and admired the huge mural hanging on the wall.
But he immediately held his breath in shock.
It was because he recognized the identity of the painting that adorned the wall.
It was a painting depicting the scene in which God chose the first emperor and made him emperor.
The content of the painting was not the problem, the real problem was that the original owner of this painting was Crown Prince Hugo.
Originally, the former Emperor Dominic presented this painting to his grandson on the day he was crowned crown prince, so it became a major painting decorating the entrance to Hugo's palace.
“Fortunately, I have
He presented it
I have His Highness the Crown Prince as a gift.”
Theodore called it a gift, but everyone knew very well that it had never been received in such an elegant way.
This painting was the prize in a bet that Theodore won during a mermaid statue competition.
This painting was, so to speak, the spoil that Theodore had plundered from Hugo.
Taking someone else's master plate was a method only used to humiliate nobles who lost their title and became commoners in order to make them miserable in front of others.
It was not any other ordinary painting, but rather a painting that the grandfather-emperor had given to his grandson, the crown prince, who would become emperor in the future.
Bringing this painting was like a declaration of war that would take away all the pride and legitimacy of the Crown Prince in front of the people.
But Theodore was bragging about her in front of everyone, even though she belonged to an opponent that no one wanted as his enemy.
Suddenly, Mr.
Reuter sensed Theodore's evil tendencies.
But no matter how mean and malicious it seemed to him that Theodor was, Mr.
Reuter could only say one phrase.
“
“It is a wonderful painting.”
“You're right, I love her too.”
Theodore smiled sincerely from his heart.
* * *
The peaceful dinner was over.
Tonight's meal was well thought out and the wine was good and satisfying.
Thanks to the wine that was prepared by adding some liquor to it, all the guests' cheeks turned red.
As the atmosphere in the place changed, the men went to the smoking room and the women went to the living room, and then everyone began to gossip about a lot of unusually personal stories, perhaps because the alcohol made them feel more comfortable with each other.
As the words began to go out of bounds little by little, the words Mrs.
Reuter said made Annette very uncomfortable.
“Who
Funny
How
She looked like that
The girl
Rural
In those
Clothes
Soiled
“
“It was
Funny
Extremely.
It's just
Girl
Clumsy
In the countryside, but it was
By herself
Extremely while she was wearing it
The dress
The luxury gift that His Highness the Crown Prince gave him at the hunting competition party.”
“His Highness the Crown Prince is very kind.
If only he had not considered what happened as a simple accident and stood up
By scolding me
For what you did,
It would have been
Ms
Yvonne May
Aroused
Fuss
And I made
It seems
As a problem
Big while
That she is
Angry
To excite
Attention
Others have it.”
It was Mrs.
Reuter who spilled the drink on Yvonne's dress at the hunting festival.
Annette had previously wondered who the woman was who did the evil Annette thing, but now she finds out that it was Mrs.
Reuter who spilled black tea on Yvonne.
Shockingly, she did this just for Annette.
It bothered her that Yvonne, who was just a minor aristocrat from the countryside, was better dressed than the Grand Duchess of the prestigious Scheringen family.
Even after her marriage to Theodore, Annet remained in everyone's eyes just an immature and vain woman who had a crush on the Crown Prince.
I felt like this was a vulgar way to approach her.
Annette felt insulted, not out of pity or sense of justice for Yvonne, but because everyone looked on her as the kind of lowly person who would marry one man while her heart was still with another.
Annette had to make an effort not to look with eyes full of pity at the women who sympathized with her and did this in solidarity with her.
In fact, evil Annette has had a longer history of being a more childish woman than anyone else.
Of course, the reincarnated Annette didn't do any of this, but she couldn't prove her innocence either.
Therefore, Annette decided to maintain her calm attitude as the evil Annette had done in the past.
“Is it a reason?
Hurting you
For miss
Yvonne is you
You think?
That I still love the Crown Prince?”
A moment of silence passed in the place.
Annette laughed lightly, but everyone knew that something was wrong with her mood.
There was a woman who couldn't understand the serious atmosphere due to the effects of alcohol and laughed with Annette, but the woman next to her pressed the back of her hand to inform her that Annette's mood was unusual.
“Does my marriage seem that unhappy to you?”
The others kept their mouths shut.
Even if Annette's marriage seems really unhappy, no one can say yes to her.
“I must
I take
This opportunity
To clarify
You have an order
Whatever
.
“I don’t love anyone but my husband, so I want you to forget everything that happened before my marriage.”
It was a gentle warning.
Annette told them that she was happy enough in her marriage not to care about Hugo or Yvonne anymore, and that she loved Theodore very much, so there was no need for them to bother Yvonne in the future.
The women exchanged glances with each other.
They would not have known that the topic they chose to please the Grand Duchess would come back to harm them.
So now, no one could ask her why she changed her attitude towards the Crown Prince and fell in love with the Grand Duke.
“Absolutely not.”
“
You two
Both
You look like
Very happy with
each other
“Some.”
“Actually, it was embarrassing
And the cute one
"It's a bit of a hassle to see His Highness the Grand Duke just staring at you all through dinner."
The topic of conversation barely moved to the love relationship between the Grand Duke and his wife.
It so happened that Theodore's attitude and looks towards Annette during dinner were full of sincere love and concern, so this was a good topic to change Annette's mood.
The ladies' efforts to change the subject were great, so Annette relaxed and listened to their praise of Theodore's behavior toward her with a generous heart.
Then they started drinking wine again.
* * *
Theodore left the room where the men were gathered to get rid of the smell of cigarettes.
In fact, these social activities were not to his liking.
If it weren't for Annette, he wouldn't have invited anyone to his home in his entire life.
The men were so absorbed in strong drinking and smoking that they did not even notice that the owner of the mansion had disappeared.
Theodore walked out of the smoking room without hesitation and took a bottle of wine.
This was the bottle of wine made in the villa that he didn't show at dinner.
The wine prepared for dinner was very good and expensive, but it did not satisfy Theodore's finicky palate.
So it was time for Theodore to enjoy a glass of delicious wine in order to reward his pathetic body that had been forced to drink crap that he had never enjoyed.
Theodore shook off the suffocating smell of cigarette as he went out into the garden and had a glass of wine, but then he saw a familiar person in front of him.
Annette was sitting alone on the balcony overlooking the garden.
Maybe it was because most of the place was decorated with light bulbs, but her blonde hair was very bright today.
Theodore thought her hair only glowed under sunlight or moonlight, but it also glowed under light bulbs.
Her beautiful hair would probably be shining without even any light.
“Theodore?”
Her beautiful lips moved and she spoke his name for the first time since he had first met her at the Elysia Sanatorium.
When Theodore heard his name, he felt as if his entire body had been electrocuted and his breathing stopped for a moment.