It wasn't that the Holy Knights actually hated the Imperial Prince of Lodden. They knew that they were not supposed to be fond of him or act friendly around him, but there was no reason for them to treat him unfairly.

At the same time, the little they knew about their bad relationship with the Lodden Imperial Family made them curious. Curious about who this man was, who was of the same blood as the family that had once done great harm to their church.

It also wasn't that they weren't talking quietly, but the Holy Knights had keen senses, and they weren't too far away either, so it wasn't hard for them to overhear their conversation. The young lady they didn't like, together with the young man they were acutely aware of these days, didn't they make quite a pair?

There was at least one Holy Knight who couldn't help but frown and another who scoffed as he looked into the distance, far away from the two noble youngsters.

Rowena was aware of their attitude as well. 'Well, it's not like he had made a fool of himself,' she thought and inwardly shrugged as she was helped into her carriage, 'what are they gonna do? Tell on him for his diligence? Not their place anyway.'

They were Holy Knights, after all, not some ruthless gossip circle.

"I hope to see you again soon, my lady," Lucan said after Rowena was safely seated and her door was still open.

"We may, as I hear I will be coming here for the next two days."

"You will be mostly alone during that time, I'm afraid." He looked genuinely regretful at first, then cracked another smile, "But I assume you will be attending the Victory Banquet?"

"Not that I have much of a choice," she answered truthfully, clearing her throat soon after, "It is my debut, and the nature of the event makes it mandatory, so yes, I will attend," she added to make it sound less scandalous of her to say she had to attend, as if she didn't want to.

In fact, she had more than one reason to know she would be there, 'whether I want to or not.'

"In that case, we will meet there at the latest. Would you like me to pick you up that evening?"

For a second, Rowena was confused as to what he could mean. Varnhagen had more than enough carriages and probably more influence than this young man had in her own homeland. It didn't occur to her what he could have meant until her maid intervened.

"I imagine Sir Sean or Young Master Alan would prefer to take you themselves, as you have been in a lot of dangerous situations lately, my lady." Norina wasn't against the young Imperial Prince, but she felt that he was someone to be wary of, so it never hurt to have a pinch of security.

Her sister, who hadn't met the young prince until today, looked at them without showing much of her curiosity, as Ava had taught her to keep her emotions to herself most of the time. Seeing Norina interrupt their conversation like that made Charlotte feel a bit nervous nontheless.

Rowena, on the other hand, had only just realized what his question had meant. And she felt like they were back in Lodden all over again.

"So you want me to step on your toes one more time?" she asked bluntly.

"If you can, I'd appreciate it if you'd try to hit the ground instead, but if it's unavoidable, I'm sure I'll survive. You are quite light, my lady, I hardly felt it."

"You felt it enough to notice," she remarked.

He had to acknowledge that and considered it. "Perhaps we should find time to practice?"

"I don't think we'll have that kind of time, since you have a lot to learn yourself. You wouldn't want to disappoint your Vicar, would you?" With a short laugh, she motioned for Norina to get the door. "I will give you my answer the day after tomorrow; I need to talk to my father about it first, you heard my maid. I will understand if that is too late for you."

She didn't even know if her father would be home to ask him anything until the banquet, but at least it gave her some time to either make a decision or find an excuse. It felt to her as if she would need to have one handy.

"I will wait with bated breath, Lady Rowena."

With a polite gesture, he saluted her departure as Norina closed the carriage door, whilst Charlotte gave a knock to the coachman who had waited there with them. The package from the temple servants sat safely on the free space next to their mistress.

There was a long silence in the room, which weighed heavily on the atmosphere around them and made the servants nervous. 'When would she finally snap?' was the question they were all pondering in their minds.

Just a few days ago, there had been this strange situation in the main house, which left them with mixed feelings about their second mistress' current attitude. In fact, they hadn't even thought about having a second mistress until that moment, which was why the topic was all the rage among the staff.

But now, all they could see was a quiet lady, sitting mild manneredly at the table with the woman she should have reacted most strongly to. Wasn't it her stepmother who had caused her whole derailment?

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Rowena looked down into her cup, not sure what to make of the aroma it carried as she picked it up to take a sip. It smelled a bit like roses, not that it was bad at all; she enjoyed the tea Norina made for her more, that was all.

She was never a big fan of tea to begin with. She drank it as a matter of course, but she wasn't exactly a connoisseur. And since tea was one of the first things she had learned to like in this world, Norina's tea was the best and she was happy to drink it.

'Not like they have Coke here,' she thought, 'beggars can't be choosey.'

'Good.'

'What is?'

'That they don't have this murky, bubbly drink here, that you like so much. I could never understand what humans see in that concoction.'

'You've had one sip and you still can't get over it?' He had manifested and she gave him some to try, but he had not taken it very well. 'You still act as if I had tried to poison you.'

'I am not suspecting you of anything, I was just sharing an observation.'

'Share it somewhere else then, why don't you?' she replied smugly, 'Oh, right, I forgot you're only sending on one channel. Nevermind.'

'Rude.' Pan didn't say anything for a good minute and finally came back with a low hum.

'What is it now?' Rowena shot back right away.

'Were you not going to have a conversation?'

She couldn't argue with that. Beatrice had told her she wanted to have a cup of tea with her the day before the Victory Banquet. After her lesson with Ballinger, Rowena went to see her immediately, as she had to visit the Temple for the last time after her tea.

She couldn't even have refreshments, as her only allowed food was the herbal brew they had given her, water and tea without sugar. It was for the inner "cleansing" that Arnaldo had been talking about.

'The only way this toxic waste is going to clean anything up, is when I throw up my intestines next time I smell that rancid odor.'

'Yet you had no problem drinking that brown stuff before,' Pan reminded once more.

'You're still going on about that? I get it, I won't drink it again,' she retorted in annoyance.

There was a certain displeasure in "eating" this herbal soup, but it also felt like she was already losing what little muscle mass she had gained from the miniscule amount of calories she got.

Of course, that wasn't really the case, but since everyone in the mansion was aware of her debut, she truly wouldn't get anything to eat. The problem was that they took it very seriously, as they all believed in the Church of Aurora and this ritual was completely normal to them, so she couldn't blame anyone for it. If anything, it would mean ill will if they fed her a steak right now, but she couldn't determine if she wanted to appreciate their sincerity.

At any rate, they had been sitting there for more than five minutes, but no one had said a word. It didn't feel as though Rowena had the right to question her stepmother first, since she was clearly the one who had something to say.

But as it was, this was growing rather tedious. "You wished to speak with me, Your Grace?" she finally said, as casually but respectfully as she could, while she looked into the pretty shade of her tea.

It was indeed something to say at the beginning of a conversation, but having said it after sitting there for several minutes, it became unnatural. The servants could feel it as well, while their mistress sat stoically, back straight, hair as perfect as ever, gracefully handling her own cup.

With a gentle smile, she closed her eyes and inhaled. "It has a very nice aroma, doesn't it?"

"It does, Your Grace," Rowena confirmed.

"After I came to Varnhagen, I found out that this tea exists. It's quite rare, made from a special kind of rose that only grows in the south." Rowena looked at the Grand Duchess in confusion as she suddenly talked about a seemingly random flower tea. "It's one of the roses that Isidora was bred from, the original lavender rose. The other part is quite infamous for containing a lethal poison, isn't it? But this one isn't It's not as beautiful without the silver stem, the color isn't as vibrant either, and it doesn't have a special name, but the tea made from it is more fragrant than any other tea made from roses."

"I didn't know that," Rowena truthfully replied, 'And is there even a point in knowing that?'

"Not many do," Beatrice said, finally looking into her stepdaughter's eyes, "I've always wanted to know you better, Rowena."

"I'm honored, Your Grace," the lavender haired noble said, not knowing where this was going as her hand tried to find something in the small crevice under her neck for the first time in a long time, "what is it you want to know?"

"Perhaps knowing is the wrong word," the Grand Duchess said, thinking of a better way to put it, "I wish to understand you better. When I came here, all I knew was that you looked like your mother, the late Grand Duchess."

Some of the servants stiffened, not knowing how their young mistress would react. Bracing themselves for objects flying across the room, one was already stationed at the door, ready to call the guards if necessary.

"I look like her, that much is true," was all she said. There was no emotion on her face as she stated this fact.

"But knowing what the other looks like doesn't mean you knows what is inside one's heart," the older noble said, "What is inside your heart, Rowena? That is what I wish to understand. I hope for us to develop a closer bond."

"I don't mean to be discourteous, but what brought about this change?"

"I can't say that there has ever been a change. I never wished for anything else."

Rowena was inclined to believe her. In fact, the only reason she kept such a neutral stance towards her, and even towards her daughter Arabella, was that she didn't really know what Beatrice was all about. She didn't know where to put her yet.

With the Crown Prince of Arlen it was easy. He had made up his mind about who Rowena was and taken it to his grave - or her grave, as the case may be. Alan and Colin, even her strangely acting father, they might have made their mistakes, but Rowena had been the one to push them, so she could at least follow.

Beatrice and Rowena, however, were a mystery she couldn't unravel. Rowena hated Beatrice, if the rumors and the subtext of "The Saintess' Unbreakable Shield" were to be believed. It all started with her arrival - or after her arrival.

Rowena was fine with her at first, but then she wasn't. As if something had happened; as if the Grand Duchess had done something awful to ruin their relationship for good.

At the same time, while all of this was certainly something to be suspicious of, Rowena remembered a line from the book that made her question everything she thought she understood about who the character of Beatrice van Varnhagen ultimately was.

"He was informed by his wife of a few years that she had no way to reach him on the battlefield; that she had no choice but to make the arrangements for the funeral herself, making sure there was at least one person mourning her demise."

With even Alan at the front, originally, and Colin away at the Academy in the Aurora Empire, there was no one but her who would have had any reason to attend. And so she did - alone.

For that reason, she couldn't hate her. "I would be delighted if we were to have a closer bond with one another."

And only time could tell if her decision was the right one.