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The Crazy Daughter of the Duke's Family
Chapter 79: Drama with a Side of Tea (2)

Chapter 79: Drama with a Side of Tea (2)

'It's alright. It's just an invitation.' With a smile, she reached for the letter that was offered and nodded. "I would be thrilled to go, but with the banquet now and the festival right ahead, I don't even know what I should wear."

"Nothing too fanciful, Lady Rowena. It's but a small gathering of noble ladies in a casual setting. Please, there is nothing for you to worry."

'Is that so?', she thought, "I don't mean to be rude, but I'm not the most popular among nobility, you, of all people, should know that quite well, I'm afraid. Why would the princess want me to attend?"

With a smile, which could mean absolutely everything in Rowena's eyes, she gave the faintest shrug in response, then turned to look through the glass door behind them, showing the inside of the ballroom.

"You will have to ask her yourself," Scarlett finally said as she glanced over her shoulder one last time before heading for that same door she was looking through, "now we should get back inside, I fear you are being missed already."

Rowena could see it as well, as her eyes were searching for the people she knew inside. There was Lucan, restlessly looking at her and then somewhere else in order to seem nonchalant, as well as Colin, whose eyebrows were deeply furrowed.

The young man had not attended many occasions like this one, simply because he didn't have to. The Church was always first, so his studies in Aurora or at the Temple wouldn't need to be put on hold to dance among a bunch of other nobles.

Of course, he did attend some, and even though he was not the most social, he had always had their respect. Which was why he could not fathom how they all had the gall to be the way they were toward his sister today. Did they not know they were far beneath her, even with her attitude?

Colin had always thought that she was untouchable, but it seemed that wasn't the case. Aside from the fact that, somehow, their first brother didn't want them to be punished and their father looked like he wanted to do something, yet didn't, they shouldn't have the right to feel like they would get away with this behavior.

This was the only blood related princess of the Varnhagen Duchy, after all. They may not hold the same weight as Grand Duchies of other great nations, but within Arlen, they are the only ones with that title. That used to mean something.

He had been pondering this for a while, alternating between crossing his arms angrily and looking troubled, not even noticing the young girls and women crowding around him, whispering, and giggling, trying to get him to look in their direction. This was all too frustrating for him.

When she finally reentered the banquet, people were trying to figure out what she might have been doing outside, especially when she came in next to the Saintess.

"Saintess," a voice Rowena had heard once before came from behind her, "I was worried about you. Where have you been?"

"Oh, your Highness, I was merely out for some air. There is no need to worry, we are in the middle of the Capital, after all."

"Visitors are not the only threat there is, you know?" he said as if joking, but took a short peek at Rowena as he said it, as if trying to make a hint.

'I got it,' Rowena thought to herself, rolling her eyes a bit as she turned around, so nobody would see, "I will be on my way then, Lady Scarlett."

"How dare you address the Saintess in such an uncouth manner?"

"Because I asked her to, your Highness," Scarlett Baldwin immediately stopped him sternly, as he started to become enraged, "it was my decision, as we have become quite close – have we not, Lady Rowena?"

Truthfully, a bit confused by this sudden situation, Rowena faced them once more. "I guess we did."

"What foolishness…!" He seemed so annoyed, it almost made Rowena feel a bit happy. "You know this won't do you any good. How long will it be, until she harms you again?"

"You think someone could harm me without my knowledge?" she said, challenging the young prince for an answer.

She knew he couldn't deny her. How could he? As the Crown Prince of Arlen, the one who had the opportunity to at least witness some of her miracles with his own two eyes, he knew what she was capable of.

He was aware of her ability to feel emotion in other people's souls. She could tell if someone was hostile towards her even from afar. Of course, it wasn't omnipotent, like when she couldn't help the holy water from drenching her clothes and smearing her make-up.

Back then, she had known that Rowena was coming and that she had a lot of unclear, destructive emotions boiling inside of her. She even figured they were directed at her. But it never felt as if she was going to be harmed and really, what did that water do to her?

She was fairly sure of herself, that if someone truly meant harm, she would be aware and capable of reacting accordingly, as she had always been. That, aside from the fact that there was nothing remotely dangerous about Rowena now, and he was severely overreacting, as he had a tendency to do.

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There was no anger about all of it in Rowena, she was simply feeling annoyed. It's not that she didn't feel flattered about Scarlett trying to befriend her, but she didn't really know what to make of it.

'The Scarlett in the novel wouldn't have done anything underhanded,' that much she knew for sure, 'but that doesn't mean the princess deserves the same trust. I barely know her as a character, aside from the fact that she was one of the only people of a status high enough to declare the Saintess her friend.'

"Be that as it may, I originally came to ask you if you were willing to dance with me, Saintess," the prince finally showed his intentions, "only if you are fine with showing our relationship to the public."

"Relationship?" Rowena finally blurted out. 'Did they have a relationship this early in the novel?'

She had to ponder if the fact that "Rowena" didn't actually die, which had caused a bit of a delay to the Prince's new engagement talks out of courtesy, did some changing on this side of things as well.

"Are you still not on your way, Lady van Varnhagen?"

"We do share the ballroom, your Highness the Crown Prince. Unless you wish for me to leave?"

Seeing as the bastard Prince was still eyeing her from the side and Lucan was obviously waiting for her to return as well, she was already exhausted. Being thrown out suddenly didn't seem like such a bad thing to happen.

On second thought however, she assumed it would leave quite a dent in her reputation to be excluded from a Victory Banquet held by the imperial family by none other than the Crown Prince of said Imperial Family. Especially, if said Victory Banquet happened to be the venue of her own debut.

As the Saintess cast a vicious smile at the Prince, he couldn't say "Yes" at her question. He also wondered about how Rowena behaved.

'It sounded as if she didn't care at all if I were to throw her out. Of course, I know she doesn't like going to gatherings of any sort, but she said it so calmly too,' he wondered while searching for the deceit in her words, but as the Saintess' stare grew into an aura, he had to give in, "Surely, I would never ask something like this of you over a minor issue such as this one."

'He didn't say it wasn't an issue.' With a polite bow, Rowena said her goodbyes and left the little group, in order to rejoin her own entourage.

"How are you feeling?" There was worry hidden in those deep green eyes, as Rowena took a hand offered by her dance partner.

"I'm fine," was all she said. There were a lot of things going on, but she didn't want to overwhelm herself and become careless.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," she said again, "I'm fine. So what has happened while I was gone?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary. The Grand Duchess has mingled with the noble ladies at one of the tea tables at the far end of the hall. The Young Masters have refused to dance with whoever has offered. The Young Lady was quite lively, yet doesn't seem to have found anyone to talk to for more than a moment."

"You were only watching my family then?"

"I thought you would be interested in that at most, as you don't seem to know many of the people here. Or do you?"

"You really did hear some strange rumors about me, didn't you?"

"They really did wish for me to marry you, so yes." He shrugged it off and it made her laugh.

It wasn't as if she didn't know about the things people said, at least for the most part. And it was logical for Lodden to have done at least a miniscule amount of research on an Empress candidate-to-be.

"Right. So what else has happened?"

"The Prince you were talking to has been involved with almost every noble lady in this ballroom. It seems he simply started with you."

"Which Prince?" She could think of at least two – excluding the one who had been talking to her a moment ago and the one that happened without Lucan near, though he had probably watched them have their conversation by the terrace doors.

"The one from overseas."

She looked over, where the prince and princess of Ashanti stood and indeed, he was busy wooing the daughter of Neuhaus a few feet away from them.

"Do you see the man over there?"

"The bodyguard from Ashanti?"

"Yes. I wonder why he's standing so far from the body he was ordered to guard." Of course, Rowena knew the answer to that question, but it seemed interesting to her to know if Lucan did.

"It isn't yet well-known, but an extremely high tiered Paladin has shown up in Ashanti. Rumor has it that he was assigned as the Imperial Prince's first guard."

"Isn't that an interesting rumor?" she said and smiled at her escort. 'And it's true, for once. Sandeep Sharma, the keeper of Jormungandr, Master of all Poisons.'

She looked to the side and saw in time as the Grand Duke moved slowly towards her. Had she done something wrong?

Seeing all the signs of an awkward conversation stomping over, she turned to Lucan and put a hand on his forearm. "Actually, I do feel a little lightheaded. Could you get me a glass of water or juice?"

"Do you need to lie down? Shall I get a doctor?" he asked instead, "You have never had alcohol before, so maybe it has something to do with that wine from before?"

She almost laughed. With her metabolism, alcohol wouldn't make her woozy that fast, even if she didn't have any before. She knew from others, and her body was a beast of its own kind to top it off.

"Something normal to drink should suffice, thank you."

With a worried expression, he hurried off to find some non-alcoholic beverage. There should be some, as there were young ones at this banquet.

"Excuse me, Lady van Varnhagen," yet another person invaded her space, leaving her no room to breathe, "these are for you."

Blinking, she looked down at his hands before looking back at his eyes. The first time she had seen his face, it was also those dull gray eyes that drew her in. There was something in them, she just didn't know what it was.

After a minute of silence ensued, the young man cleared his throat. "I heard you liked cobalt blue Cecilias, so I got you a bouquet. Congratulations on your debut, Milady."

"Thank you," Rowena answered warily, "you 'heard' I liked those flowers?"

"Oh, I heard from a friend. I simply wanted to give them to you. You inspired me with what you did in Lodden."

As she was handed the flowers, her face hardened in order to hide a frown. "I feel truly honored by the thought, Sir…?"

"Arthur Kane Shelton, Milady."

'What have they told them, really? As far as I know, we were all praised, but nobody in Lodden should even know what I personally contributed, so they probably blew everything out of proportion on their own,' she concluded, 'what a bother.'

Meanwhile, her father was closing in, while trying to maneuver through a sea of moving bodies.

Without an announcement, as the Imperial Family had already entered, which would make it disrespectful to call someone out as if they were the true highlight of the evening, the doors opened behind her back. The last thing she noticed before turning around was the Grand Duke's face as it contorted into a shocked grimace.