I gave a polite smile and nodded at the man who approached me so that he would understand that our conversation would be cut short.
It wasn't much of a rude act if I left to talk to my own father, the Duke.
We had a small chat about my academy days, which I assured him that they were fine.
'Did anybody bully you?', he asked but we fully knew well that nobody would dare to do anything in front of my face.
But by this question, I had a gut feeling it was about Ivy.
Although it couldn't be considered bullying, I still appreciated the fact that my father cared about me.
He looked at the King with a rather dark and ambiguous intent, and I interrupted his expression and tried my best to pry his attention away.
He was probably going to have a 'small talk' with His Majesty about the Crown Prince and the famous lover, but we couldn't have that at a ball.
As much as I would have loved my father to do that, it might also affect the Dukedom if he fought against the Royal Family's decisions.
Although I'm sure the King was aware of the whole Dukedom's displeasure, and he couldn't afford to offend us too much either.
"Ah, Roselyn, there's your mother and brother."
I noticed the woman who was dressed in a rather casual dress standing beside my dressed rather contrastingly brother.
My mother stood out a bit in this fancy ball due to her easygoing choice of clothes, which I found very confusing.
My father noticed my curious stare at her, and whispered in my ear, "Why don't you ask her about it? I'm sure she would be happy to tell you."
As soon as I stepped beside the happily chatting mother and son, their conversation came to a halt and my mother immediately gave me an excited expression.
"Roselyn!" My mother held my hand eagerly, and a sense of impatience and unease swept over me.
My mother was always a reserved person, fit to be Duchess and stand beside my father.
Even if she was excited or happy, she would always maintain a calm expression depending on the situation and place.
She always thought about the Dukedom's face over her own emotions, no matter what.
But if there was something that would drive her state into something this jittery in public, then it must have been nothing short of a miracle.
"Mother, please take care of your body more. I suggest that you don't bend down too suddenly like that.", Onii-sama told her.
With Onii-sama's statement, my confusion only grew.
Mother was aging, but she certainly couldn't be considered old.
She wasn't even considered middle aged yet, but the time was close.
Did she contract a disease that would wear her down?
Panic started to fill my heart, but her happy expression didn't make align with this thought.
"What a good son, I'll make sure to remember."
After telling my brother this with a bright smile, she then turned her head to me.
"You must be curious about it, right?"
She leaned in and whispered in my ears, "Soon, you might have a new sibling."
I stumbled back a few steps on this statement, and made no effort to hide my astonished expression.
My eyes wandered down to her belly, and I could tell that it was slightly bigger and rounder than the last time I saw her.
My mother wasn't someone who ate too much, and the natural shape didn't resemble fat at all.
No wonder she was wearing such a light dress to the ball, it wouldn't do her any good if she wore a fancy and tight dress.
No wonder my parents didn't come to the medical contest, unlike in the original storyline......!
***
I glanced around the ball, which was filled with many familiar and unfamiliar faces.
To my delight, Nurse Molly came in a simple but extravagant dress holding the Principal's arm.
The Principal looked like a happy little child with a bright smile on his face, and I wouldn't have dared to barge into their atmosphere.
In the otome game, Nurse Molly was simply a side character that would occasionally assist Ivy in healing magic, never to be mentioned again after Ivy mastered it.
The Principal technically wasn't even mentioned, his case being similar to Adriana's.
It made me a bit happy that even these side characters had their own lives, thoroughly reminding me that all these people are alive.
I couldn't find Albert anywhere I looked, but I was sure he was going to come sometime.
Onii-sama was chatting with another teacher with a glass of wine in hand, so I didn't bother to interrupt them.
Ellios was standing with the tall and domineering man that was his father, and nobody in the ball was brave enough to go near them.
I had to admit that Aaron was very much like his father, both in appearances and personality. They only talked when somebody approached them, and stayed overbearingly quiet otherwise.
On the contrary, Philip and his family were quite cheerful and rowdy, without any grace. If it weren't for their fancy uniforms, you would have thought that they were some commoners from the street.
But none of them ever took a glance at the girl in the corner, which I had expected at least one to.
But Ivy didn't look bothered by it at all, and instead the opposite of my predictions.
Ivy was giggling around with her bird happily chirping, while her father sighed with a smile at the side.
It was only them 2 from the Castria household, because Lady Castria would never attend this event.
The Lady of Castria's Countdom, who was also the wife of the Count hated Ivy, which was reasonable, but never did anything to her or Ivy's maid mother.
But, if I were to be honest, after observing Ivy for a while, she looked much better than when I saw her at the Nurse's office.
Before I could continue my train of thoughts, a loud voice severed contemplation.
"The Crown Prince of the country has arrived!"