My Novel Antagonist is My Husband
Chapter 22. Debut Party

Four years later, Alissa was thirteen.

“Alissa, ready?”

In the doorway of my room, stood Theo wearing a noble outfit of white suits and white pants. On the chest were various insignia of the Glassheight Kingdom symbol. My body is now only as high as his chest. The shape of the face is more mature and blue eyes are very similar to Dad when he looked at me. If only his hair color was brown like his late father, people would have thought that Duke Alfred Valcke had come back to life.

“Oh, Brother Theo! Yes, I'm ready,”. I turned towards the door, making my lacy dress slightly flutter following the round of the body. I was wearing a light blue dress and a matching colored headdress. Red blush on the cheeks and lip polishing has been worn. My dress-up today was deliberately overstated, because today there is a party being held at the Valcke residence. There will be two important announcements that the mother will make to her fellow nobles and citizens.

First, is that Mother, aka Duchess Rinia Valcke, has finished her term to replace Father since she died. Last month, Theo was eighteen years old. Since one year ago, when Theo had entered the age category at the age of seventeen, Mother began to do her job little by little.

Over the course of a year, Theo is forged and educated to carry out whatever duties a duke has in the Glassheight Kingdom. Yesterday, Theo was finally named the youngest duke in the country. Tonight is the announcement party that Theo has officially become Duke Valcke.

Second, right today is my birthday as the thirteenth Alissa. Mom decided she wanted to have a birthday party, as well as a debut event for me. In Glassheight Kingdom, unlike men who entered the age of debut at seventeen, women can already debut at the age of thirteen.

Women are considered to be adults at that age, therefore they are allowed to look for potential partners. However, to be engaged, men and women must be at least sixteen years old. Marriage can only take place when the woman enters the age of at least twenty years.

Of course, it doesn't mean anything to me. I had no intention of finding a partner in this world I wrote myself. To me, they are all my physical children, even though in reality the world is not so much like what I wrote. Since I made so many changes, then this world also slowly seemed to change. If according to my novel, at the age of thirteen, Alissa should still live in the attic of the house lamenting fate, not in the spacious room with expensive furniture as I now occupy.

However, despite not wanting to find a partner, I am obviously looking forward to tonight's party for a lot of things.

First, tonight I will meet Prince Darren, the crown prince whose birth is a disaster for every baby boy born after him. The mother as duchess must have invited the royal family to come as well. I want to see what one of the antagonists I created looks like.

Second, after debut, I was free to go outside the first fortress wall of the capital alone. The capital of the Glassheight Kingdom was built with two fortress walls surrounding the entire city, to divide the citizens living by their strata. The first wall and the one on the innermost side was the territory for the nobles. There was a palace as the residence of the king's family, then there was also a noble mansion district. Luxury shops can also be found here.

Out of the first wall is the territory for the people of the lower middle class. Simple resident settlements are here, also including markets and squares where festivals are commonly held. In the past, Dad used to take Theo, Cass, and me to go to the festival in the second wall area.

Only those noble teenagers who had entered the age of debut were allowed to go alone out the first fortress wall to this region, as it was judged to be mature and had its own bodyguards, it is no longer a child that is prone to being the object of kidnapping.

“Why suddenly daydream?” ask Theo wonder. Maybe he realized that my eyes were blank for a moment.

“Ah, no.. I remember your father often take us to the square every time there is a festival.” I said to Theo, stepping out of the room. Theo bent one hand over his waist, so I could take a bite. Today, he will be my bodyguard to go down to the lobby where the party is held.

“Ah, it was indeed a pleasant moment,” said Theo with a smile.

“Then, let's take a walk to the second wall tomorrow!” Someone suddenly made a sound from the end of the corridor. Dark brown hair and green eyes, only Cass has these traits. He wore a white long-sleeved shirt and a brown vest, matching the color of his trousers. His distinctive grin did not remove the impression of childishness from his face, even though he was fifteen years old. His face is very similar to my mother's.

“Why are you here? I've asked you to accompany Mom below!” asked Theo while raising an eyebrow.

“You escort the cat!” he answered while pointing at me. Cass still calls me a cat after all these years. The difference, this time there is no word 'wild' embedded at the end of the nickname.

“Again, my mother was busy chatting with other women, promoting me to pair up with their children. How could I possibly feel at home standing next to him like that!” grouse Cass. Me and Theo laughed at hearing that.

“No, ah! That woman sucks!” sahut the second son of Valcke.

“Means, Alissa and Mom sucks?” ask Theo back. Cass shook his hand in disapproval. “If they are both, okay! Come!”

Cass did the same thing as Theo, offering his arm to be taken by me. The three of us walked into the lobby at the same time.

Alissa Valcke in the novel will never be able to feel having two handsome older brothers like them, willing to escort her to her debut party.

***

“Entering the room, Miss Alissa Valcke!”

The bodyguards have given me a warning to enter the room. The door has opened. Instantly ityu was also the light of the lobby room. Music was played as I walked forward. I was on top of the balcony with both arched stairs on the right and left sides. Under the stairs, the bansgawan seemed to be waiting for me. They all look at me.

“That's Duke Valcke's daughter? Beautiful once ..”

“Is that the rumored daughter illegal?”

“From her face, anyway, not similar to Duchess Rinia, just a little similar to the late Duke Alfred Valcke ..”

Unpleasant rumors sounded in my ears. How not, they were gossiping about others blatantly in front of the object!

Mother climbed onto the balcony and stood in the middle, between me and Theo. Meanwhile, Cass had already come downstairs to join the guests.

“Everything, listen. Today I will make two important announcements,” Duchess Rinia Valcke said. All eyes looked at him carefully.

“The first one, is my son, Theo Valcke,” Mother looked at Theo and held his shoulder, “has officially become a duke in place of my late husband. Let's pray, hopefully he can carry out his obligations as a duke in charge.”

The sound of a standing ovation accompanied the mother's words. Theo lowered his head, paying homage to the audience. The girls sparkled their eyes at my brother. His good looks are already famous throughout the country. The girls must be aiming to be Theo's partner.

“The second one is Alissa Valcke,” Mother turned towards me and held my shoulder. I did a little curtsy on the guests.

“Starting today, Alissa has turned thirteen. She is my daughter and is a legitimate descendant of Valcke. His real father was the younger brother of my late husband. I raised Alissa as a child, in honor of the last wishes of my husband and sister-in-law. So, it is expected that no more misunderstandings will occur regarding the identity of Alissa.”

Surely, everyone was stunned to hear Mother's statement just now. Yes, this is also the reason why this debut party is so important for Alissa Valcke's character. Now everyone knows of the existence of a princess in the Valcke family as a legitimate descendant.

“Then, without needing to be delayed again, we start the dance party!” exclaim Mother.

***