Chapter 71
Approaching the table, Elisha was wearing a pink dress that matched the dress code. The combination of milky skin, pink dress, bright green eyes like greenery in midsummer, and dazzling blonde hair glistening in the sunlight created a refreshing atmosphere. Whoever looked at her, would instinctively know she was the main character of this tea party.
“I came on time, right?”
Next to Elisha, who smiled and greeted, was also Olivia. Wearing a pink shawl that matched the original dress code and a navy blue dress, the dress code given by the Empress.
‘How- how the hell did this happen?!’
The Empress and Rose looked at the two women in front of them with slightly bewildered eyes. Elisha looked at them with a wide smile and recalled the memories of a few days ago.
A few days ago, after receiving an invitation from Rose, Elisha went to Count Hallos. Hallos County is one of the families showing an active interest in the glowstone business and had previously proposed a collaboration through Richard. Moreover, Countess Hallos was interested in the business of the family and was also involved in the actual management. She could not hide her joy at Elisha’s visit.
“Welcome, Duchess! Oh my, your body isn’t just yours anymore and you came all the way here. If you had notified me, I would have visited you at the Duke’s residence.”
After giving her a positive answer to the long-awaited glowstone business proposal she was looking forward to, Elisha asked subtly.
“By the way, did Countess Hallos also receive an invitation to the tea party from the Imperial Palace?”
“Ah yes. I got it yesterday afternoon.”
“If you don’t mind, can you tell us the details of the invitation? There’s a cat in the garden that I feed, and it took the invitation and…”
“Aah, I see. Could you please wait a minute?”
Countess Hallos gladly brought the invitation and showed it to her. For her, it would be beneficial to build a good relationship by helping Elisha, who has just become a business partner, rather than ignoring her being in a difficult situation.
Thanks to this, Elisha was able to check the invitation Countess Hallos had received.
‘The dress code is pink, the tea party starts at two o’clock…’ In the invitation that Elisha received, the tea party time was three o’clock, and the dress code was yellow. Elisha sneered. It was as she had expected.
‘Should I say it’s timid rather than clever revenge?’
Thus, Elisha confirmed the correct dress code and time for the tea party and attended accordingly. As she arrived at the Imperial Palace on time, she saw a person in front of her, probably, she had just arrived as well.
“Marchioness Beltane?”
“Ah, Duchess Rubellin.”
It was Olivia. As soon as Elisa saw her, she knew why the Marchioness was hesitating to go to the tea party. She was wearing a navy blue dress. Another noble young Lady, who was stomping her feet at Olivia’s situation, said:
“Madam, I’ll hurry home and get a dress that you can wear…”
“No. I can’t let the young lady do such a hard task.”
Elisha took off her shawl and draped it over Olivia without a hint of hesitation.
“Isn’t this enough?”
Elisha’s shawl, coincidentally, was pale light pink, so when Olivia wore it, it looked like she was matching the dress code and her own navy blue dress. The Marchioness looked at Elisha’s wit in surprise then smiled brightly.
“Thank you, Duchess.”
“It’s my pleasure.”
Elisha replied sincerely. Of course, half of the reason why she helped Olivia was to not let her be humiliated, but it was also to ruin the scheme of the Empress and give Rose a strong blow. In the end, Elisha and Olivia were able to attend the tea party safely.
Elisha, sitting with a casual expression on her face, did not miss the opportunity and spoke.
“I think some of Her Highness’ maids are trying to drive a wedge between Your Highness and me. They wrote down the tea party time and dress code incorrectly.”
“That…”
“You are the one who cares about me enough to call me to the Imperial Palace just a while ago, but I think everyone would misunderstand.”
Invitations were usually written by the maids. However, even if the maid is favored by the Crown Princess, no maid would dare to do such a thing in the name of the Crown Princess. Therefore, Elisha’s words were nothing more than an excuse to expose Rose’s scheme.
‘That damn girl!’
Rose, who did not expect that Elisha would reveal it in front of everyone, was flustered and quickly looked around. The noblewomen and young ladies were looking at Rose startled. Even the Empress, who worked together with her, also had a surprised expression as if she knew nothing. In an instant, from the soft-hearted Crown Princess to the foolish Crown Princess who made up a shabby scheme, Rose squeezed the hem of her dress tightly and called her maid in a rather nervous voice.
“Amelie. Were you the one who wrote the invitation to the Duchess?”
“Pardon? That’s right–”
Even before the maid named Amelie could properly answer her, slap! Amelie’s face turned away with a sharp sound.
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Rose looked at Amelie with cold eyes and said.
“How dare you do this with my name. I am so ashamed.”
At the sudden commotion, both the noblewoman and young ladies looked at the scene in amazement. Rose turned to Elisha and apologized.
“It’s because I didn’t take care of my subordinates. I’m sorry, Duchess.”
Then she ordered Amelie.
“Amelie, go ahead and apologize to the Duchess for your ignorance.”
Elisha understood Rose’s intentions and smiled. It seemed that Rose was trying to control the situation by going hard on Amelie, and at the same time accusing her of all her own sins and withdrawing herself from the matter.
‘Yeah, I thought you wouldn’t just admit that you were doing it.’
Elisha didn’t like the idea of letting her slide on the matter, but she decided to step back at this point. Although Rose put all the blame on Amelie, the ladies present would have already figured out that this was Rose’s doing. In addition, she unknowingly caused animosity among the servants by blaming her aides for this. That alone was enough to consider this a victory against Rose.
Elisha stopped Amelie from kneeling in front of her. Then smiled and opened her mouth.
“I have already forgiven this accident. The young ladies seem to have misunderstood my relationship with Her Highness, so, in the future, shouldn’t we just show them that you and I get along well so this doesn’t happen again?”
Amelie, who was about to kneel, stopped and looked at Rose’s expression. She was biting her lips with a twisted expression on her face. As if she knew nothing, Elisha, who was just pretending to be a sweet and friendly duchess, was rather creepy.
“The Duchess is very generous.”
Rose said something that at first glance sounded thankful, but her eyes were not smiling at all as she said that. One of the ladies, who was paying attention to the strange atmosphere between the two, quickly changed the topic.
“A-anyway, was Countess Asna unable to attend?”
Rose, who quickly grasped her intentions, answered.
“Countess Asna replied saying that she needs to take care of herself since the birth of her baby is just around the corner”
“Ah, so that’s why Count Millite’s godmother came to the Imperial capital.”
Count Millite’s godmother was Countess Asna’s mother. In general, mothers who were about to give birth used to rely more mentally on their mothers than anyone else. It was because they were the closest family members who have experienced childbirth, and it was only before the moment of becoming a ‘mom’ that a woman could understand the heart of a ‘mom.’
But Elisha could not comprehend those feelings.
‘Mom…?’
To Elisa, a ‘mother’ was more like a stranger than a family member. Her mother in her previous life hurt her more than loved her, and the mother of this life did not even remain in her memories.
‘It’s fine. You can be a good mother even if you don’t know what a mother’s heart is. This child will not be raised as a lonely child who doesn’t know maternal love. Never.’
Elisha’s hand, who vowed so, touched her stomach tenderly.
“It’s not just another event, it’s the foundation festival. In a way, it’s the most historic, and commemorative event in the Empire. In such an event, we must thank His Majesty, who is the foundation of the empire, for his past grace and for giving gifts…”
However, the center of this meeting was Richard, the head of the only Dukedom of the Empire and the head of the noble council.
“As the Marquis said, the foundation festival is a meaningful day for all citizens of this Empire. Therefore, the remaining budget will be used to prepare food for the festival so that everyone can enjoy it.”
As if he didn’t need to listen to Marquis Dion further, Richard cut off his words and said his opinion. Then, Marquis Dion snapped.
“No, what’s that decision? What kind of one-sided meeting–?”
Richard looked at him indifferently and replied.
“Isn’t it the chairman’s duty to clear up the agenda that is not worth discussing and focus on the main subject?”
“Wha, what?”
Richard’s words were tantamount to saying that Marquis Dion’s opinion was not worth discussing. His face, whose opinion was ignored, turned red. His lips twitched as if he wanted to say more but was rendered speechless. Richard cleared the meeting without waiting for his rebuttal.
“Let’s end today’s meeting with this.”
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The imperial nobles seemed to have something more to say, but, under the pressure of Richard’s momentum, they left the conference hall without saying anything else. Even the Marquis of Dion grinded his teeth but eventually left without refuting a word. Through that break, Richard also left the conference hall, followed by his aide, Agail. His expression hardened as he headed towards the carriage and suddenly looked out the window.
‘I’m late.’
Worried about Elisha, who was attending a tea party at the Imperial Palace, he wanted to pick her up from the party, but he couldn’t because the meeting ended too late.
He wanted to hurry and confirm that nothing had happened between her and the Empress and the Crown Princess, he wanted to check whether her wellbeing was unharmed or not.
At that moment, as he was hastening his steps towards the wagon, he heard the gossips of nobles walking in front of him.