Tatiana’s estate was styled like a massive opulent palace, it had vast natural gardens even deep inside the city. A large workforce of maids, butlers and cooks staffed an entire wing dedicated to Tatiana alone in the grand home.
As Gwyn hadn’t planned to stay over at her place tonight she didn’t have any nightwear, luckily it appeared that Tatiana had some spare for her. It was a little suspicious that the soft garments were exactly the right size for Gwyn, as though they were tailor made for her.
She chalked it up to Tatiana being her excessive self.
Gwyn had been here for a sleepover here before, usually it was with her other two friends in tow. Despite that she hadn’t had the opportunity to meet either of Tatiana’s parents as they were either working or in the other wings.
The night mainly consisted of Gwyn being dragged around by Tatiana the whole time, it was rather rude of her to call both Marion and Cécilia in order to taunt them about Gwyn’s stay. She was almost certain that she heard the pair swear vengeance upon her family line and that they were coming right over but she never saw them all night.
She did see them in the morning however with dark bags under their eyes as they waited at the train station. A rather smug Tatiana held onto Gwyn’s arm as she escorted her towards the tired pair.
“You!” Marion growled at Tatiana.
Cécilia stood behind the blonde haired menace and held her back, although Cécilia didn’t look too happy with Tatiana either.
“Are you two alright?” Gwyn worriedly asked.
It seemed to her that the pair hadn’t slept all night and today they had back to back science lessons, not something that should be attended on little to no sleep.
“Someone didn’t let us in their home last night!” Marion glared at the haughty Tatiana “who knows what she got up to!."
“Oh? Were you trying to get in? I thought those were dogs barking.” Tatiana taunted her.
“Let me go, Cécilia! I’ll bite her for you!” Marion growled once more.
“Don’t tempt me.” Cécilia was glaring her cold emerald eyes at Tatiana too.
Gwyn decided to play mediator as Cécilia had picked her side already in the burgeoning scuffle “Tatiana kindly offered me a ride after I was stuck outside too late into the night."
While it wasn’t the whole truth she suspected telling them it was Tatina’s fault would just escalate the fighting rather than stopping it.
“Plus we’re all going to have a sleepover at my place anyway."
At the reminder of Gwyn’s upcoming eighteenth birthday party, the group finally settled down and boarded the waiting hover-train. In a fit of spite Gwyn ended up being sandwiched between Marion and Cécilia while Tatiana was left to pout alone on the opposing bench, the sight of which made Gwyn giggle.
When they eventually left the train at the school station they noticed a growing crowd of discontented girls gathering around one of the holographic notice boards.
Upon approaching Cécilia read the notice outloud “‘Due to damage incurred upon the forest grounds, privileges to the city will be revoked for the foreseeable future.’”
Gwyn gasped, she had forgotten all about the broken branches in her excitement for her party and the system.
“Does this mean we can’t have the party?” Gwyn was heartbroken, she had wanted this party for so long. This was going to be her first party where she actually knew the people coming.
The trio shared a look of concern before Marion spoke up “Pssh, we can smuggle you out no problem.”
“Isn’t that against the rules?” Gwyn pointed to the notice which clearly said “revoked”.
Aside from her one time late night stroll she hadn’t broken any rules before, the idea of doing so was both terrifying and exciting. The girls shared a deeply amused look before reassuring her
“Don't worry about it, we’ll handle it if we get caught.”
Slightly appeased Gwyn led the group towards today’s lessons, which were all about science. Guest speakers from all over the world were invited from every scientific field to give enlightening lectures to the young bright minds. From Astrophysicists who showed them the stars above to microbiologists showing the small world below.
The wonderful classes made Gwyn's head spin but she was genuinely excited to learn. She was so invested that when the bell finally chimed at the end of class she didn’t want to leave, it took the combined effort of her three persistent friends to usher her out.
They all smiled fondly as she gushed on about the lessons they just had.
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Being smuggled out of the campus was a lot less dramatic than she was expecting. She had wildly imagined it would involve elaborate disguises or hiding from guards while dodging from shadow to shadow, in the end it was just plain old bribery.
Tatiana had just walked up to the security guard and paid him off.
Once quietly ushered onto the empty train Tatiana spun around posing dramatically “Tada, we are escaping successfully."
Gwyn gave a halfhearted clap to her antics.
“I thought you’d be more impressed?” Tatiana anxiously commented.
“It’s nothing, I just thought there’d be more sneaking about.” Gwyn wasn’t sulking per say, just pouting a little.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“I called it, pay up sucker.” Cécilia purred as she held out a hand to a grumbling Marion.
Gwyn pouted even harder at the sight, so what if she wanted to be childish sometimes, it didn’t mean they had to bet on it.
“Ignore those two louts,” Tatiana pulled Gwyn in closer to herself, “those guards are trained to find people sneaking about, the school does pay for the best.”
Speaking of sneaks “Did everything turn out ok with that spy?” whisper quietly to Tatiana.
Not quietly enough as the other two whipped their heads around and stared wide-eyed at Tatiana.
“Uhh,” she gulped at the attention, “they were taken care of, there won’t be a problem anymore."
“Ohh~ What spy?” Cécilia asked innocently with only a hint of promised violence.
Beads of sweat gathered on Tatiana’s neck as she was interrogated by the pair “there was an informant in my club last night, Gwyn helpfully spotted them and told me."
The two only seemed to get madder at this however.
“And what was she doing at your club huh?” Cécilia loomed even closer.
“I was checking in on the order for my party,” Gwyn clarified before they could intimidate Tatiana any further “besides we shouldn’t be worrying about that, just relax and enjoy the weekend."
Gwyn gathered Tatiana in her arms to shield her from the duo’s ire, the girl relaxed in her arms and sent another smug smile at the others.
“Hey no fair!” the two complained.
In their attempts to wrestle Gwyn away from Tatiana they ended up squishing up onto a bench together. Gwyn began giggling even as bony elbows jabbed her in the side.
Once they arrived in the city they piled into a black town car Tatiana had called in advance, with the car it didn’t take that long to arrive at the archology that housed Gwyn’s modest apartment.
The apartment itself was fairly cozy by Gwyn’s standards. At first glance the single room looked fairly empty, only a lone couch sat in the space facing a blank wall. This was only because all the amenities were hidden in the walls, from a single person bed to the small bathroom and a kitchenette.
Along the far wall from the door a roller blind raised up to expose a window that encompassed the entire wall. The view from her room was simply incredible, she had a high vantage over the city that showed everything the city had to offer.
“It’s not much but feel free to make yourself at home.” Gwyn invited her friends inside.
Moving about the room Gwyn began opening up her hidden alcoves, if the night went as she’d planned she’d be too drunk to do it later. The last thing she needed was to fumble about looking for the bathroom. From a cupboard by the bathroom she hauled out a couple of beanbags to add to the room for her friends and at the touch of a button the blank wall clarified into a TV screen.
Thanks to Tatiana, the pantry was stocked with rows upon rows of booze and she had no idea about any of them. She’d just have to trust in the expertise of her friends, they were already eighteen and one even owned the club where the alcohol had come from.
She began ferrying the numerous plates of party foods to a low coffee table that rose from the floor in front of the sofa.
“Should we do presents now or later?” Marion asked as she popped a chocolate coated snack into her mouth.
“It’s traditional to do presents first.” Cécilia stated as she started pouring drinks.
“Mine first!” Marion declared as she scurried over to the small collection of gifts and secured hers.
The box Gwyn was present with was delicately wrapped. Opening it up revealed a double set of expensive glasses in Gwyn's prescription, she had been meaning to get a new pair as hers were beginning to get scratched up.
“Marion! Thank you so much!."
Gwyn swapped over to the dark green frames, not only were they more comfortable but they were also allowed her to see the world in much sharper focus than before.
Next up was Cécilia who nervously handed over another box.
“Here, hope you like it~.”
Inside the present was a small black device that fit into the palm of her hand. Upon examining it closer she noticed two metal prongs on the top and a small button on the side, when she pressed it a spark of electricity jumped between the metal.
“You got her a taser?” Marion spun towards Cécilia.
“It’s so cool!” Despite being a pacifist she had always wanted one, it was for self-defense after all.
Last but not least was Tatiana, she had a beautifully wrapped package in her arms. She looked uncharacteristically hesitant about handing it over. Gwyn had gotten enough books to know the distinctive shape.
“Here this is from me.” The suddenly shy Tatiana eventually handed it over.
After taking off the wrapping paper with care she found a romance novel she had never read before, The Princess and the Thief by Tatiana Rygiel.
When she read the author’s name she let out a gasp “you wrote this?!”
Tatiana replied with a shy nod and blushing cheeks. Gwyn enveloped her in a tight hug as her eyes moistened.
“I signed it for you too.” Tatiana shyly mumbled into Gwyn's chest.
“Damn she beat us.” Cécilia muttered with jealousy.
Gwyn snatched up the other two into a group hug, already this was the best party she had ever had. The night began truly when the booze started flowing, Gwyn relied on the others to choose what to have. Tatiana filled her glass with a ivory colored drink that bubbled away, when she sipped on it she felt it tingle on the way down.
Halfway through the party and halfway to intoxication Tatiana’s phone began to ring. The girl in question scowled a murderous scowl as she answered.
“What!”
Whatever the conversation was on the other end it just made the magnificent girl angrier.
“Well deal with it, I’m busy,” Her face grew darker as the conversion drew on until she spoke a final time “fine, I’ll send someone to deal with it.” and hung up in a huff.
“Is there a problem?” Cécilia spoke from behind a lime colored cocktail.
Tatiana turned her scowl upon the others “just some uninvited guests.” She clumsily threw her arm in the direction of the door, almost tipping herself over in the beanbag. Gwyn giggled at the act, she had also managed to tumble into Tatiana due to the angry girl’s actions.
“Go deal with them please, before they ruin the party.” Tatiana asked as she snuggled up to the still giggling Gwyn.
“Fine but you owe me one.”
Cécilia stood up from the couch with only a minor stumble and headed towards the door in a drunken walk. As she passed her bag she reached inside and withdrew what looked like, in Gwyn’s wasted state, suspiciously like a small pistol with a long suppressor on the end.
She had been taken a few times to Tatiana’s private gun range to learn how to shoot, so she could recognise it but her mind wasn’t at 100% at the moment.
“I’ll be gone just a moment, try not to get too wild without me.” She called back with a small slur to her voice as she closed the door behind herself.
After which a series of muffled cracks sounded out from the hallway followed by the repeated sounds of multiple somethings heavy hitting the floor.
“What was that?” Gwyn slurred.
“Ssh it’s nothing.” Tatiana was just as gone as Gwyn was and Marion was trying to crawl her way over to them silently, it wasn’t going well for the blonde.