Her two friends, who had come in with her, at least looked somewhat apologetic, while the heir of Neuhaus was completely focused on Rowena.

"Why would it be a comedy, Lady Neuhaus? As far as I was made aware, it is customary for there to be a hunt open to those with less experience as well." Of course, she was made aware by the novel, not anyone within her family or circle of acquaintances.

That usually referred to the female family members or underage boys. Monsters or even animals that went through extraordinary evolution, like Tevak Horses or drakes, would still be roaming the Granbell Mountain Range, but there was regular game to hunt as well. They were a part of this world, nothing would keep them from it, not even blessed earth underneath their feet.

While she was asked, Sheila Neuhaus had to take a seat, like everybody else. It was Elina Hershley, who seemed the most embarrassed, sitting right next to the Grand Duke's daughter, much to her demise.

Rowena saw her twitching uncomfortably, trying not to look at her neighbor. Seeing as there was already friction within the glasshouse, nobody would want it to collapse from the pressure. One could not even appreciate the presence of all types of exotic flowers that were grown to perfection around them in this atmosphere.

'Why would you need to hold a tea party, if nobody truly wants to speak to one another?'

Surely, it was because of the bad apple the Princess had brought in – that's what they all believed to be true – but in the end, Rowena didn't invite herself either. And she really didn't like feeling left out.

"Who did you hear this from, Lady Rowena?" the Princess suddenly asked.

"Oh, wasn't that common knowledge?" If there was something faulty with her insight, she couldn't just kick it into someone else's backyard.

"Not this year, I'm afraid. For the… less experienced hunters, there will be no hunt during this year's Hunting Festival. And even if there was, the grounds accessible to those less experienced hunters is far from the one that your family would be heading out to."

It didn't sit right with her, to be called an inexperienced hunter. With a bow, barely anyone would be her master. But she knew that it wouldn't be smart of her to claim such a thing, especially within the Imperial Palace.

"In my opinion," the Marquis's daughter started, while elegantly holding a cup of tea close to her lips, "even if there was such a possibility this year, you should not attend. Who knows where your arrows might fly?" She took a sip, as if to make a point of having said all she wanted on the matter.

'Everyone and their grandmother would know what you're trying to say, so why bother covering it up?' The Neuhaus lady didn't especially like Rowena, that much was obvious, but throwing holy water at someone, and trying to deliberately shoot people with sharp arrows meant for hunting are very different offenses. 'Priests throw holy water at people's faces all the time, so why can't I?'

The Princess delicately brushed one of her gold woven strands of hair off of her shoulder and leaned forward just a bit with a smile on her face. An eerie feeling started to creep up within the lavender haired lady, especially when she heard a fake cough coming from one anxious looking Saintess.

"Would that really happen, Lady Neuhaus?" she asked Sheila, but her eyes were fixed on Rowena, "It couldn't be true to assume that you are still holding some resentment toward the lady for what happened back then, isn't that so? That wouldn't be very noble of you, as it had been such a long time ago." She pointed at her friend next to her, making her fake cough a real cough. "Seeing as even Lady Scarlett was able to forgive what has happened only two months ago. Or is that what makes her a Saintess?" She seemed to consider in earnest.

'Back then?' Rowena had no clue about what the Princess was referring to.

Norina started getting antsy as well and Sir Sean felt a bad feeling well up inside him. Surely, their mistress had started to turn over a new leaf, but what if this was going to bring out her bad side? She definitely still had it, she simply handled it quite differently now.

However, they did not expect what came out of their lady's mouth next: "I'm not sure what occasion you are referring to, Your Highness?"

Now, truly, everyone was speechless, directing their gazes blankly and blatantly at the Grand Duke's daughter.

Then, without notice, there was loud laughter to be heard. The Princess had put a hand up to cover her eyes, while laughing with her mouth open, which was not proper etiquette at all. For a second, she seemed to have gone mad in Rowena's eyes, but the Saintess didn't appear to be surprised.

'That wasn't in the book.' One more thing for Rowena to note.

"It seems you wish to give the Lady of Neuhaus a way to excuse herself, by pretending you have wronged her many times," she said and her eyes narrowed to slits, "or are you pretending not to remember it even happened? I did not expect that kind of callousness of you."

Indeed, the shortsighted and ill-advised way she was known to have handled herself in the past would not have made it possible for her to stay this calm. Especially when being reminded of the incident that got her basically black listed from society for years as a minor.

"Well, I aim to please," Rowena perplexedly stated in a blunt manner, 'I shouldn't have said that.'

"You are indeed very entertaining, Lady Rowena."

'Why is the Princess calling her by such an intimate name?' Sheila thought to herself, as she felt humiliated by what transpired, but then couldn't hide a grin. 'Right, there's nothing noble about that lady. Why even bother pretending that brute is a part of society now? Because of her debut? Laughable.'

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'I really wish I knew what happened,' Rowena thought to herself, while shooting a glance at Norina and Sean over her shoulder, 'They do know, don't they?'

Suddenly, someone inched closer to her, amateurishly holding her tea cup to hide her mouth behind.

"They were referring to that incident at Lady Sheila's ninth birthday party at the Marquis's mansion," Elina Hershley whispered discreetly in a nervous tone, "when you were invited and spat in her face in front of all of her guests."

If Rowena hadn't accepted already that the real Rowena was a tad extreme in some ways, she might have reacted involutarily. She didn't react, instead, she just drank her own tea while gently closing her eyes and thinking for a second.

'What the hell, Rowena?' She also felt that Lady Hershley must be quite the gullible lady, if she was naïve enough to be the only one at the table believing her story of not remembering anything. 'I mean, that Neuhaus brat is about as old as I am, right? What nine-year-old can pull a stunt like that and forget about it? A human doesn't live that long.'

But there was at least one other person who had even better hearing than Rowena at the table, who just started to feel confused.

'I thought she was just saying it, but there's a bit of turmoil. Perhaps because she was reminded of the incident?' But she scratched that thought. 'Princess Isobel should have already managed to bring her to shame in that case. Or maybe hearing it being put into words was what made her finally feel ashamed of it.'

Her senses sometimes made her life more complicated than it had to, but right now, it helped her understand a bit more about the young lady of Varnhagen – at least, that's what she thought.

In her eyes, there was a girl with a lot of pressure on her, with a turbulent childhood. It wouldn't be fair to hold it against her forever, now that she tried to come to terms with the responsibility she held.

"Why don't we change the subject, Princess Isobel?" Scarlett said, "And I wish to have a new cup of tea, mine has gotten cold."

Immediately, someone lined up at the wall jumped up and went to the kitchen. Rowena didn't see who it was, but it was surely the servant brought by the Saintess.

"Say, Marquis Nerena surprisingly showed up at the Victory Banquet yesterday. I had heard he wasn't in good condition, so is he feeling better now?" Scarlett continued, as neither the Princess, nor any of the other ladies held against her opinion, "Since you have never attended before, I will use that opportunity, Lady Rowena. I hope you don't mind."

Again, everyone watched Rowena, but this time, their gazes alternated between her and the Saintess. They were all curious about the Marquis, yet it hadn't occurred to them to ask his granddaughter, who happened to be sitting there with them.

"I don't mind, Lady Scarlett-"

A loud clanging noise interrupted her words, as the servant had already returned with a Pot of fresh tea, setting it on a tray next to the table in such a harsh manner, it wouldn't have been surprising if the tableware had been cracked.

"What are you doing, Illic?" the Saintess spoke in a reprimanding voice that was not known of her.

"I apologize, Young Lady." He had promised to behave, however he couldn't handle how casual this brute was talking to his dearly beloved mistress.

Rowena faked a cough, looking down at her tea. "My grandfather seems to be doing fine these days. Of course, we are all relieved. I'm sure he will live for many years from now, and…"

Blinking as she looked up, the man who had been rude just now was finally in her field of vision, as he was pouring hot liquid into a fresh cup, while a palace servant took away the one she had abandoned.

Rowena abruptly got up from her chair at that very moment, looking frighteningly grim to the understanding of the young women around her. Sir Sean felt a shift in the atmosphere, just like Scarlett Baldwin did, but they both did not know what had happened.

"You," came from the lavender haired noble, who had been beautiful and gentle looking mere seconds ago, her voice low and threatening, "how did you get in here?"

Scarlett had to get up as well, as to not let this get further out of hand. "I don't know what is going on, but I'm sure this is but a misunderstanding." Scarlett could at leas tell that the young lady was looking at her servant. "This one has been my servant for many years. If he has offended you, I'm truly sorry."

Tea stained Rowena's dress, as she had gotten up so quickly, it toppled her cup over, but she hadn't even noticed. It hadn't been hot anymore, thankfully, but even so, she should have noticed. Instead, she unconsciously grabbed the small spoon off the table.

As she looked at his gaunt appearance, even if she hadn't seen him as clear as today, there was no way she would have forgotten that face.

"He's the one who attacked us at the Lodden Capital. He's the terrorist who controlled the water of Lake Iota. You need to step away from him, Scarlett."

Scarlett wasn't even bothered, not to be addressed correctly, as she saw the amount of hatred that suddenly rose up and boiled over. Feelings so strong, it was hard to believe they came from one small lady alone – or any one person, for that matter.

It took all she had not to take the backend of the tea spoon and stab him in the neck with it, but she couldn't simply do such a thing in a place like this. Her head was filled with memories, seeing him hold her brother captive to manipulate her; the thought of not knowing what even their aim was, while still playing along like a marionette. She was seething to the point of it paralyzing her.

Her heart was beating in tune with her emotions, as hatred fueled it, pumping Mana like liquid fire through her veins, getting her ready to fight, to rip him to pieces, to take his head – or die trying.

She knew she had to calm herself down, this wasn't just her own anger. It was the heart's – Pan's anger.

'Don't let it control you,' he called out to her, knowing her new body had to get used to it all over again. In that aspect, she was like a newborn.

It was Mana that boosted up her hateful emotions, yet it was also Mana that had stopped her from jumping over the table. Not her own Mana thought, but someone else at the table started spreading her Mana.

She used that technique to further enhance her senses in a passive state, but it was also what was able to heal friends and slow down enemies. It was the power of the Saintess.

At that same moment, Rowena realized that she was emitting a form of aura herself. One that could not be put into words by mere humans without the power of Mana themselves, but Scarlett could tell.

'Is that the power of someone barely knowing how to use Mana? This is outrageous.'

And she wasn't, in fact, the only one with that type of ability. Wide-eyed and fascinated, the Princess looked at the one causing a silent ruckus at her tea party, but she wasn't angry.

"Please, calm down," Sir Sean, who had tried to get through to his mistress for a while now, was finally heard, "Are you sure that it's him?"

"Lady Rowena," Scarlett Baldwin started again, "he couldn't have anything to do with the attack on Lodden. I know, because we were at the Granbell Mountain Range together, he could have never gotten to Lodden in that short amount of time he wasn't by my side and come back."

'Right.' Like a loud bell tolling in her head, she remembered that he had been with her in the novel as well. The scrawny, over protective, obsessed servant of the Saintess.

This was a difference made by her changing the story, but why would the Saintess lie? No, Scarlett Baldwin wasn't someone to lie about a subject so important. She would have been the first to ask for the truth.

Suddenly deflated, Rowena's subconsciously clenched fists loosened a bit, making her look to her side, were a worried Norina held her right hands with her own, catching a bent out of shape spoon before anyone saw. Elina seemed too nervous to even notice a small detail like that, thankfully.

'But I know I saw him. I know it was him.' And the dirty smile he gave her in return felt like a confession to her. 'This fucking scumbag. How did he do it?'

After all, how could he have been in two places at once?