Raised in Dungeon

The fourth day of the Whitmoon Festival ended at 3 o'clock without particular obstacles.

The series of murders suspected to have been committed by the Noctem Dolls simply ended there. After randomly killing more than 20 people on each side of the capital, they made no apparent movements.

Based on the investigation of the 3rd division knights and knights of the rounds, all the places the Noctem Dolls chose to kill were Whitmoon Festival travel routes. So the parade route on that day often changed. No one had any answers as to the motives behind the Noctem Dolls actions, but tensions ran high—so high that even the knight of rounds, who was meant to be attending Prince Francis' birthday party, felt they had no other choice but to remain at their post and help guard the castle that day.

Two hours before the prince's birthday party started...

"Aw!"

"I'm sorry milady, putting this on was a bit difficult."

"Be careful next time!"

Inside Felicia's room, Carla and Rachel were helping Felicia put on the dress Carla had made.

"What exactly is this? Is it really necessary?"

"Of course, to maintain posture. That support garment is commonly worn to hold and train the torso into a desired shape."

"What is this called? This is my first time wearing this."

"It's called a corset, milady."

"Don't make it too tight; I don't want to mess up my dance with this."

"I agree; it should be worn during dance practice, too," Rachel said.

It was getting late, and finally Felicia emerged from her room, the image of a beautiful princess emerging on the top of the staircase. After an hour of struggling with her complicated dress, she had come down the stairs, coming into view of her family that had already been in the living room below. Reynold, Ayde, awaiting the final touches of the night - Felicia.

The moment Felicia walked into the living room, everything seemed to stop. Ayde opened her mouth in awe, Reynold had his eyes frozen on his daughter, and Allen just stared at her, quietly taking in the sight of Felicia. Everyone in the room seemed to have been taken aback by the sight of her in that strange-but-beautiful dress that had taken so much time and effort to get on. It was so beautiful and elegant.

[ILLUSTRATION]

When Felicia came downstairs, Ayde immediately ran over to her and played with her cheeks.

"Felicia! You're so beautiful!" Ayde's voice seemed to make time go back, make everyone stop daydreaming.

"Mom! Don't touch me like that; you'll ruin the makeup," Felicia said.

"Oh sorry, you're too pretty. Your dress is amazing; I want them too!" shouted Ayde excitedly.

Then following behind Felicia, there was Rachel who was wearing her official maid outfit, along with Carla who was wearing the same outfit as Rachel. Carla would also be coming along to see her first-designed dress debut at tonight's party.

Felicia then looked at Reynold and said,

"How is it, daddy? It's enough to get you to invest in my company, right?" Felicia asked, as she prided herself.

Reynold turned his face away from Felicia and stood up.

"Alright, I was wrong for underestimating that peasant's ability before. It would be best if you hadn't done anything embarrassing with such a nice dress," said Reynold as he walked out of the room.

Hearing that, Felicia felt upset, as Reynold was still underestimating her. Ayde, who understood the matter, said

"He just can't be true to his word, just like you. It's not that he underestimates you," Ayde said as she smiled and stroked Felicia's head.

Ayde then walked out as well, but before she did, she turned around and said, "I'm sorry, Felicia, I've been cold to you," she said.

Felicia touched her chest and sighed with relief. She also smiled, feeling very happy that she might have opened her parents' hearts to her even if it was just a little.

After that, Felicia looked at Allen, who was still looking at her in silence with a flat-face.

"W-what's wrong?" asked Felicia nervously because Felicia felt that Allen's expression was more than just flat.

A few minutes later Allen was still looking at her

"H-hey! Say something!"

Then when Felicia started yelling at him, he turned his face away, and said

"Nothing, let's go," Allen said as he left the room.

"What the hell?!" said Felicia who was somehow annoyed.

Behind Felicia, Rachel was also a little upset that Allen wasn't doing what she told him to do. Rachel's annoyance was conveyed to Carla who was beside her, so Carla was a little afraid of Rachel at that time.

They finally left the house and went to the castle.

The Boldenville family members sat in the litter carriage. While Allen, Carla, and Rachel sat in the coachman's seat. Rachel drove the carriage horse while Allen and Carla sat beside her.

"What the hell was that Allen?" asked Rachel in a heavy tone.

Just a little, Carla could tell when Allen heard Rachel's voice; he shuddered a little.

"W-what?" said Allen while looking to the side.

"Don't say 'what,' didn't I ask you to compliment the lady in the dress?! Why did you just silence?!" snapped Rachel, but in a slightly lower voice so the person behind could not hear her.

"I'm just… tired of your orders," Allen said hesitantly as if the reason had only occurred to him.

"Allen, you promised that you would do the trivial things I asked you to do; that's why I want to cook you two different kinds of dishes every day. Then why didn't you do such a small thing?"

"I-I just couldn't say it earlier."

"Couldn't? What's so hard about saying 'you look beautiful, milady' to her?!"

"I don't know! Okay?! Don't push me!" because of the loudness of Allen's voice as he yelled at Rachel, Felicia who heard him ask from inside the train,

"Is there a problem, Allen? Rachel? Carla?"

"Nothing Lady! Everything is fine!" Rachel replied.

Rachel then looked at Allen, let out a long sigh, and said,

"Then it's not that you don't want to, but you can't? Explain to me why you couldn't. "I don't understand why you were silent at that time."

"Aaaah! I was going to say it! Okat?! But when she was suddenly in front of me, those words couldn't come out of my mouth! Are you satisfied? Now don't ask me about this again! And don't talk about this anymore!" snapped Allen, annoyed with Rachel who kept cornering him.

Hearing Allen's answer, Rachel… instead of getting angrier,

She smiled…

Rachel had been trying to get Allen closer to Felicia all this time. She had pressed him to do things like hold her hand, carry her around, and more - all in an attempt to bring Felicia and Allen closer. Though Rachel was pleased that Allen was willing to follow her instructions, she was irritated at his lack of enthusiasm. Offering no resistance, it seemed he had zero interest in Felicia.

'This is a good development! Allen had been compliant to all of my requests up to this point, seemingly with indifference. He never seemed to think much of whatever he was asked to do - His lack of care extended even to whatever the requests may have been. But this time was different. This time, he, surprisingly, had said no.

Was this sudden change in his behavior because of Lady Felicia? It seemed likely. Rather than saying no to my requests directly, he felt awkward to doing so face-to-face with the Lady. All of this may have been because of Carla's dress. The dress she had made suited Lady Felicia so well that Allen was clearly struggling to praise her! It was such a sight to behold that it must have moved Allen in some way; Allen must have thought that Lady Felicia looked beautiful in that dress; that's why he hardly said that because it likes saying his true feelings,' Rachel thought happily, thinking everything was going according to her plan.

But she still needed to encourage the two of them. So she made a whip and candy effect on Allen.

"Whatever, since you broke your promise, from tomorrow, you will only eat three servings of regular roast meat," Rachel said.

Carla then looked at Allen, who looked even more upset because of what Rachel had said. She was also confused; why would three servings of roast upset him? How much did the boy usually eat?

"But!" Rachel then continued,

"If you whisper it during the dance with the lady later, then I'll forgive you,"

Allen's face still looked upset; he was now fighting with himself. Should he say such an embarrassing thing? Or get a small portion to eat tomorrow?

Then after considering it for a while, he said,

"Okay, I'll tell her later."

...

.

.

.

MY NAME IS MARION JHONSON! I am the second child of Earl Jhonson's family and the most beautiful noble in the land!

__Inside a carriage, there is a girl named Marion Jhonson, a pink-haired girl with long flowing hair. She also wore a flashy hair ornament and a luxurious dress filled with all kinds of jewelry.

HOHOHOHO! Today at the prince's ball, I will be the most conspicuous person among all the girls coming today!

I'm wearing the most expensive dress in the capital, made by the best tailors and dressmakers, with the best materials!

On top of that, all the jewelry I wear is from the latest jewelry brand carved by the best craftsmen in the capital! It's all my hard work crying day and night in front of dad for a whole month!

With this dress and jewelry, I'll definitely be the most beautiful! And then I'll steal Prince Francis' heart!

I can't wait to see Prince Francis' face when he sees me. Will he be stunned with a very red face? Or maybe he'll walk up to me and ask me to dance?! Then he'll ask me to be his fiancee?!!!! KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! I CAN'T WAIT TO GET TO THE CASTLE!!!

Marion's beauty attracted many noblemen who wanted to be her fiancé. Especially because of Felicia's failure on her 10th birthday, she became the most famous because people who hoped to become Felicia's fiancé moved to her. Her birthday party was also vivacious, she almost danced with more than 20 men and never fell or showed her tired face.

"EARL JHONSON HAS ARRIVED AT THE PALACE!" The soldiers guarding the door would shout at the noble's arrival in the ballroom.

As Marion entered the castle ballroom, all the nobles in the room immediately looked at her, stunned by her beauty and elegance.

"So that's Marion Earl Jhonson?!"

"She's beautiful!"

"Is she the one who will be with the prince at the dance?"

"It seems so; I'll try to take my chances after the prince!"

Marion had a sharp ear; she kept practicing it because she liked to listen to the compliments around her; she puffed out her chest, trying to walk more gracefully; in her heart, she smiled very happily,

"Hohoho, keep praising me! I am Marion! The most beautiful girl in the world!"

But the sound of praise was only temporary...

"EARL BOLDENVILLE! HAS ARRIVED AT THE PALACE!"

Marion had been feeling completely self-conscious after all the stares and murmurs she had been getting from the crowd, but just then, she stopped hearing the praising voice, prompting her to pry her eyes open and look around.

To her dismay, the people had all shifted their attention from her to someone behind her. Annoyance flaring up in her, she angrily spun around to see who had caused them all to lose interest in her.

And, to her disbelief and surprise…

All she saw was a little angel…

who was far more beautiful than her.