You’ll Regret Stealing Him from Me — My Sister Who Took My Fiancé and Celebrated Was a Fool - Chapter 27

We somehow managed to prepare everything to a presentable state, and the day of the second party finally arrived.

This time, I will make it a success.

Inside the carriage heading to the venue, I repeated those words to myself over and over.

Beside me sat Roderick in formal attire. His expression showed no tension whatsoever. I wanted to say something to him, but I held my tongue.

I absolutely would not repeat the same mistakes as last time.

The carriage stopped, and we arrived at the venue. I took a deep breath to steady myself. It’s fine. This time, everything was properly prepared.

As I stepped out of the carriage, Roderick, who had exited first, looked at me.

“Is everything ready?”

His question was purely perfunctory. Not out of concern, but just to confirm. His cold tone only fueled my unease.

“Yes. There won’t be any issues this time.”

I answered with confidence. Everything was in place. I had given the staff detailed instructions. This time, it would be fine.

“I see. I’m counting on you.”

With just those words, he turned his gaze toward the entrance.

That was all he had to say, even after everything. No words of appreciation, no encouragement. The thought simmered inside me. Another layer of dissatisfaction piled up. My resentment toward him swelled bit by bit.

But for now, I had to endure. I focused only on making this a success. I steadied myself. Deep breaths. A smile.

We stood at the entrance, ready to greet the arriving guests. Soon, the first attendees arrived.

“Welcome, thank you for coming.”

A staff member checked the guest list and guided them in.

The first few went smoothly. Good. If things continued like this without incident…

“Next, please.”

The staff ushered in another guest, but they were moving too slowly. They meticulously checked the list, verifying each name one by one before guiding them in. Meanwhile, the next guests were left waiting.

What’s taking so long? Move faster.

A small line began forming at the entrance.

“Are we still not allowed inside?”

One lady voiced her displeasure.

Her words rippled through the crowd. Other guests began murmuring restlessly.

“Our apologies! We’ll guide you in right away.”

“I’ve never had to wait this long before.”

The lady offered a mild complaint. I approached the staff and sharply whispered instructions.

“Hurry up! Check the list beforehand!”

My voice was low but sharp.

“Y-yes!”

Finally, the verification was done, and the guests were guided in.

“Thank you for your patience.”

The staff member bowed deeply.

“…Hmph.”

The lady entered the venue with a dissatisfied expression.

Watching her retreating back, I bit my lip.

Throughout the exchange, Roderick had stood beside me with a troubled look. But he said nothing. He didn’t help. He just stood there, looking inconvenienced.

Of course, he wouldn’t help. He probably still thought it was better not to interfere since he wasn’t good at this sort of thing.

We had already stumbled right from the start.

Cold sweat beaded on my forehead. It had only just begun, and I was already exhausted.

As I hurriedly tried to make up for the delay in checking the guest list—

A loud shout came from outside the venue.

“Where the hell am I supposed to park?!”

A coachman was berating one of the staff.

I rushed over to find multiple carriages lined up haphazardly. The unclear directions had caused a traffic jam.

“Isabella, there seems to be trouble over there.”

Roderick looked at me with a helpless expression. Just standing there, looking troubled.

“It’s fine. I’ll handle it immediately.”

With that, I hurried toward the commotion.

“Park over there! Guide them in order!”

“Y-yes!”

I barked orders at the staff.

Running around frantically, I somehow managed to clear the congestion.

But some of the guests were visibly irritated. Noblewomen who had been kept waiting in their carriages stepped out with displeased expressions.

Even such a basic mistake.

My frustration with the staff grew. Last time, the carriage arrangements and guest guidance had all gone smoothly without a hitch.

Now, I had to oversee everything myself. As the host, I had to step in personally. It was humiliating. Truly humiliating.

The sight of the host directing carriages outside the venue. It was far from the elegant party I had envisioned. It was nothing like the image I had in mind.

Did I really have to endure this kind of disgrace just to make it a success?

I wanted to throw everything away.

“Lady Isabella, the next guests are…”

Another staff member came to call for me. I wished they could handle it themselves. I took a deep breath and forced another smile.

It was still fine. It wasn’t a disaster like last time. The minor troubles were manageable.

If only things could just proceed smoothly from here.

Holding onto that hope, I returned to the venue.

Inside, the guests had already begun mingling. Surprisingly, things seemed to be going decently. Roderick and I made our rounds, greeting everyone with smiles.

“Thank you for coming today.”

“Yes, I’ve been looking forward to it.”

Even if it was just polite small talk, those words gave me a sliver of reassurance.

After exchanging light conversation with a few people, the troubles seemed to have settled for the moment. If only things could just end without incident.

“The food hasn’t arrived yet.”

One guest voiced their dissatisfaction.

Looking over, I saw the staff had messed up the serving order. They were delivering dishes to the front tables first instead of starting from the back.

“Not there. Start from that table!”

I whispered sharply to the staff, but my voice carried. The guests’ eyes turned toward me.

Humiliating.

The host having to micromanage the staff. This wasn’t the elegant party I had imagined.

“My apologies. We’ll bring it right away.”

I apologized with a smile, but inside, I was seething.

A competent staff wouldn’t make such mistakes. Last time, they had handled the serving order and timing perfectly.

They had acted independently. Now, nothing moved unless I gave explicit instructions. Everything was going wrong. It was chaotic, frantic. This was just a disaster zone, not a party.

Just as I thought the food mishap was resolved.

“This dish is cold.”

A complaint came from another table.

What now?

Rushing over, I confirmed the food had indeed gone cold. It had taken too long to bring it from the kitchen.

“My deepest apologies. We’ll bring you a fresh, hot serving immediately.”

I gave orders to the staff. Again, all eyes were on me.

Humiliating. Truly humiliating.

If I didn’t run around giving instructions for every little thing, nothing would get done.

“Lady Isabella, the wine for this table…”

Another staff member approached with a question.

“Take it to that table! Hurry!”

My voice came out sharper than intended.

Once more, the guests’ gazes turned toward me.

—Just stop.

I wanted to scream it in the middle of the venue.

This made it seem like the host was the one failing. Even though it was the staff’s mistakes, it felt like I was the one being blamed.

This was nothing like the elegant party I had envisioned.

Time flew by in an instant.

Too busy putting out fires, I had no room to check the schedule.

No time to properly converse with the guests. Just constantly giving orders to the staff.

“Lady Isabella, when should the performance begin?”

The leader of the musicians approached me.

“Huh?”

I checked the schedule. We were already far behind the planned start time.

“Start now!”

“Y-yes!”

I gave the order in a panic.

The musicians scrambled to prepare.

Then, suddenly, the music began.

The guests looked up in surprise.

Right in the middle of conversations, the music blared out of nowhere.

I had told them to start immediately, but the timing couldn’t have been worse. Couldn’t they have thought it through a little more?!

Some of the guests wore displeased expressions.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.

Everything should have gone according to plan.

But because the staff was unreliable, everything was falling behind.

It was chaotic, with no chance to relax. This was the furthest thing from an elegant party.

Maintaining my smile, I screamed inside my head over and over.

This is another failure!

The hectic hours passed, and we finally reached the end of the schedule.

Somehow, we made it to the finish line. No fountain malfunctions, no ruined dresses. No one left early.

There had been no catastrophe like last time.

There were minor hiccups with arranging the carriages for departure.

“Is our carriage not ready yet?”

“Our apologies. It will be here shortly.”

The staff hurried off.

But compared to last time, this was nothing. No major issues. With that thought, I saw the guests off.