Chapter 1:
I’m Not the Star of the Show, Not Even on My Birthday
TODAY WAS MY EIGHTEENTH BIRTHDAY, AND A lavish party was being held at our residence. Sumptuous dishes and bottles of wine lined the tables, and gentlemen in fine clothes filled the main hall. A surprising number of people had gathered for a party held by a penniless baron house—except, despite the date, the star of this party wasn’t me, Marie Chandelan, but rather my older sister, Anastasia.
“My! What a beautiful dress! Thank you so much, Mother and Father!” Anastasia gushed as she twirled in her rose-pink dress.
Without a doubt, it was a beautiful party dress—and with the addition of countless accessories adorning her blonde hair, Anastasia looked like a princess. She was dazzlingly pretty, and her mannerisms were ever so charming. She was truly a belle above reproach.
I, on the other hand, was wearing a gray dress with unsightly embroidery. I wasn’t sure it really counted as a proper party dress. The fabric certainly wasn’t of the quality one would expect a young noble lady to wear in public, especially not at her own birthday party. At least my red hair wasn’t dirty, as I’d been allowed to wash it, but years of neglect had nonetheless left it horribly knotted all throughout. Frankly, the matted mess upon my head looked no better than a stray dog’s fur.
I looked at my parents, silently pleading with my eyes, and they sighed.
“Bear with it, Marie,” my father said. “You know we don’t have money. This was the best we could find for you.”
“We’re sorry, Marie, but there wasn’t any point in dressing you up, was there? Beautiful dresses wouldn’t suit you,” my mother added.
Well, she wasn’t wrong.
“Would you like to wear one of mine, Marie?” my sister offered kindly. “I have plenty.” I was sure she’d only offered with good intentions, but I shook my head.
“I’m too tall to wear your clothes, Sister…”
“I’m sure with just a bit of tailoring we can make anything fit!”
“Anastasia, Marie hates cute clothes,” my mother interjected.
That wasn’t true, but…I couldn’t deny Anastasia’s dresses wouldn’t suit me at all, so I was unwilling to try.
Anastasia knitted her brows as I sank into silence, but after a few moments, she bounced with excitement like a young girl and smiled brightly at me. “Your clothes are lovely too! You look like a cool, mature woman! It’s a style that suits you very well, Marie.”
“Thank you, Anastasia. What an adorable thing to say.” I wasn’t flattering her; I genuinely thought that Anastasia was beautiful and adorable, and I admired her for it.
We’d been born from the same parents, yet the two of us couldn’t be more different. Anastasia had soft blonde locks, while I had dry, red hair full of knots. She had a girly, petite frame, while I was as tall as a man. She was bright and sociable, while my favorite hobby was reading books alone. Our parents granted every one of her cute requests, while I never dared to talk back to them.
In a nutshell, Anastasia always shone brightly, and I knew I could never be like her. There was no point in even trying, which was why no one ever spent any money on me and I was always wearing the same tattered rags.
Well, almost always.
While the gray dress I’d been given was terribly unremarkable, it was new. I’d also been allowed to wash my hair with soap for today. All in all, I looked a little better than usual, I suppose. Even so, no one seemed to realize I was supposed to be the star of the party. For example, in the hall where the buffet was being served, Anastasia was the one guests approached with birthday wishes, while they ignored me as though I were a maid. When Anastasia tried to correct them, my parents stopped her and told her to smile and thank people for coming to the party instead.
Suddenly, a young nobleman kneeled in front of Anastasia.
“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lady Anastasia. I see rumors of your beauty hardly do you justice.”
“Th-thank you very much.”
“May I have the honor of one dance with you? I’ve crossed mountains and rivers for this very chance.”
It was then that I was hit with a sudden realization: This was never meant to be my birthday party. The whole event was for Anastasia. Now that she was twenty, she was of marriageable age, and this party was a stage our parents had prepared to find her a match.
Our parents had three children: Anastasia, myself, and our younger brother who’d only just turned six. While House Chandelan had preserved its peerage, we were a penniless baronial family on the brink of collapse, so I imagined my parents were eager to match Anastasia with either a rich man or a prominent nobleman who could lift us from the ashes before my younger brother inherited control. Ultimately, then, my birthday was nothing but a pretext to invite guests over to meet my sister.
So that’s how things are… Of course it is. I should have known.
With that realization, I snuck out of the hall. Needless to say, no one tried to stop me.
I sighed as I wandered aimlessly into the garden. When I approached the pond, I saw my reflection in the water under the moonlight and let out another deep sigh. Between my lanky frame, my pointy chin, and my cold, slanted eyes, I had not even a hint of charm. Anastasia had been blessed with all our parents’ best traits, while I’d ended up with nothing but their flaws.
I looked at the freckles that stood out against my dry, suntanned skin, and then at my unkempt red hair. Even my nails were dirty with soot, I noticed as I grasped my gray dress tightly.
Why was I born so ugly?
“Excuse me, miss.”
I turned around with a start.
It was a man. I couldn’t see his face well in the dark, but I noticed he was wearing unusual clothes. “Are you a servant of House Chandelan?” he asked as he walked up to me. “I’m here because I received an invitation for Lady Marie Chandelan’s birthday party, but…”