The Survival Strategy of the Contract Duchess - Chapter 124

An invitation to a banquet was sent out from the Ignote ducal residence.

First of all, the fact that the Ignote ducal residence was hosting a banquet was quite shocking in itself.

Duke Kyler, left alone, didn’t feel the need to hold banquets, and even if he did, it was hard to find a reason to hold one in a ducal residence where only a man remained.

Although the Duchess had entered such a place, no one expected a banquet nonetheless. It was rumored that she had grown up neglected in the Ivern marquisate without proper care or education.

Of course, because of this, the reputation of Marquis Ivern, who had been known as a kind man who did good deeds, and Lady Elina, who was beautiful and had a kind personality and was very popular, plummeted.

But there was one negative impact: the expectations for Sasha, the Duchess of Ignote, also dropped sharply.

Some busybodies worried about the affairs of the ducal family, saying that someone who hadn’t learned anything properly was now the mistress, while others thought it would take years to host a banquet.

That’s why everyone was surprised by the banquet invitation that arrived just one year after the marriage. Moreover, there was no one to help her.

Kyler’s only close friend was the Emperor, but the Empress would never help her.

“Really! To receive this! Almost every noble family has received an invitation, but I can’t help but be moved.”

Lada proudly held out the banquet invitation from the Ignote ducal family that had arrived at her house in front of everyone.

Rosehill, Aisy, and Piccola, who had gathered at Lada’s mansion, all focused their attention on one place.

They had all seen it once through their parents, but they looked at the invitation she held out again. Their parents were also bewildered but carefully kept the invitation, so they had never touched it.

They had decided to have tea at Lada’s house today, and Lada had brought the invitation her parents had given her and presented it to them.

“Wow, even the invitation is so luxurious. Look at the quality of the paper. The gloss.”

“Whenever the adults said that it would take years for the Duchess to host a proper banquet, I wanted to stick my tongue out at them, but it was true! Such a wonderful invitation!”

“I didn’t want to squeal over the invitation because it would look too childish, but I can’t help but be excited.”

There was a slight difference in the time it took for the invitations to arrive, but almost all the nobles received invitations.

Unlike the three excited young ladies who touched, opened, and read the invitation, Piccola looked a little gloomy for some reason.

Even though everyone was excited and said a word, only Piccola was quiet.

“Everyone is greeting each other by asking if they received an invitation. Most people have received it, but there are some families who haven’t. It might take some time for the invitations to arrive, but everyone is anxious because they don’t know if it’s late or if it’s not coming at all.”

When Rosehill shared the story she had heard from other young masters, the young ladies burst into laughter.

“I know, they should have treated her better from the start. They said Duke Kyler was scary and criticized him, and they ignored the Duchess so much. Serves them right.”

“But, do you think the Ivern marquisate got an invitation?”

Aisy cautiously mentioned a name at that time. Ivern, who had left Lady Sasha in the attic since she was young, treating her worse than the servants.

Like a rat living in a warehouse. They don’t bother to kill or chase it away, but they don’t provide food or help it escape the cold.

Everyone was shocked when someone made this analogy. But when you think about it, it wasn’t that wrong.

“Surely they wouldn’t invite Ivern, would they?”

“Still, you never know. They’re family…”

“Hey, that’s absolutely not allowed. If they invited them, I would risk my life to go to the Duchess. To ask her to keep them away. They deserve to be punished.”

The Ivern family was currently unable to leave their mansion. They were allowed to go to the territory, but they were punishing themselves by confining themselves even more because of the eyes of the people.

No one supported the Ivern family because they thought it was deserved.

The young ladies also knew this atmosphere, so they couldn’t even jokingly say that they would come to Aisy, who valued her family very much.

“Ah! More than that! Did you hear that the invited people are preparing gifts?”

Lada changed the main topic of the conversation again. The other young ladies’ eyes widened.

“Gifts? Gifts? Who?”

“Well, rather than saying who specifically everyone is doing that? I heard my parents are preparing too.”

“My parents will probably do it too, right?”

When Rosehill accepted it nonchalantly, Lada clicked her tongue and shook her finger with a solemn expression.

“Don’t be satisfied with that. We’re going to collect a separate gift. Got it?”

Lada was burning with enthusiasm. Rosehill, who was listening carefully to her words, nodded diligently.

“The Duchess invited us separately! It doesn’t have to be expensive, she’ll like it as long as it’s heartfelt.”

Lada’s overflowing enthusiasm spread among the young ladies. Everyone started sharing their opinions on what could be a gift for her.

“Isn’t that too cheap? Still, we’re going to a banquet hosted by the Duchess.”

Rosehill asked realistically, apart from agreeing. No matter what, they were just young ladies, so unlike Lada, who wanted to keep it simple, it didn’t seem possible to Rosehill, whose parents liked to give gifts to people on a large scale.

“That’s why we’re all gathering, right? The Duchess will like anything as long as it’s heartfelt, even if it’s not expensive.”

Lada smiled brightly with an unnecessarily positive face. Rosehill smiled in the same way as if she couldn’t help it and started talking about gifts in earnest.

And in the meantime among the chattering young ladies, only Piccola remained silent.

The invitation had not yet arrived at Piccola’s house. Since she hadn’t received it, the news was delayed, and she only learned about it this morning, and thanks to the young ladies in front of her who had just been chattering, she was able to hear the news that the nobles were in an uproar right now.

The girl’s mind was spinning complicatedly.

Why is it that only our house’s invitation hasn’t arrived?

When this group went to the Imperial Palace at the Empress’s call, she continued to doubt Sasha and kept asking questions.

Was it because of the question that she couldn’t let go of even while being scolded by the young ladies at that time? Is it because of me that our family didn’t receive an invitation?

Piccola’s mind became more and more complicated. It was taken for granted that Ivern would not be invited, what about me?

Is she the kind of person who acknowledges even those who doubted her?

How disappointed would Mom and Dad be if they knew this fact?

Piccola’s parents were proud of her when they heard that four countesses had been invited to the Duchess’s first gathering, and Piccola was included in it.

Why was I so shaken even though I participated in such a place?

“Piccola?”

Only then did the three young ladies realize that Piccola’s condition was unusual. Everyone exchanged glances, but Piccola was sitting there sweating profusely.

“What’s wrong? Are you sick?”

“You’ve been sitting there without saying a word since earlier.”

Piccola sighed deeply. Maybe she was waiting for someone to ask her. It was too uncomfortable to suffer alone like this.

Piccola, who was finally on the verge of tears, looked at her friends with tearful eyes.

“Sniff, the invitation didn’t come to our house. Sniff, I doubted the Duchess at the palace before Sniff, isn’t it because of that that our house was excluded?”

The young ladies froze for a moment because of Piccola’s words, who was speaking seriously with a face that looked like she was about to cry at any moment.

So, the invitation didn’t arrive at her house, and she’s like this now because she thinks it’s her fault.

“Ahaha! Piccola, what are you worried about?”

Lada laughed heartily again. Piccola finally shed a tear from her right eye and looked at her with a bewildered face.

“You kept saying nonsense back then, so we scolded you, but the Duchess didn’t care much. It was Lady Elina who made you doubt her so much!”

When Lada said a word to reassure her, Rosehill chimed in from the side.

“Yeah, when you think about it, that place seems to have been created to foster such doubts. So, she got caught nicely. Lady Elina, she pretended to be nice, but look how cunning she is.”

“That’s right! I think it’s even better that they didn’t come.”

Piccola stopped crying thanks to Aisy, who said that and gave her a reassuring look.

“Really, is it okay?”

“That’s it! Let’s break up for today. Go home quickly. If you go, the invitation will definitely be there today.”

Lada jumped up from her seat. Following her, who was the most active, the other young ladies also got up from their seats with a smile.

Piccola, who was afraid to go home, took heavy steps.

And what was waiting for her at the house she returned to was the Countess, who greeted her happily with an invitation from the ducal residence.

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