Duke's daughter Part 2

"Oh, and? And what did Sir, Nacht say after that?"

"Well.... I'm kinda too embarrassed to tell you"

"Come on, all of us here will have lips sealed, promise. Right girls?"

"Indeed"

"Of course, you can trust us"

Selene was greeted by a Beautiful garden of roses and tables strewn across it. There were a dozen or so young ladies chatting away at their respective tables, while drinking tea and eating delectable fancy desserts. There were also maids around ready to serve the young ladies if they ever needed something from them.

Holy crap, there's more people than I thought.... And desserts... ME WANNA!

Selene started to unconsciously drool at the sight of dessert, thankful that on the outside she looked like she was glaring at the food placed on the table, making the others assume that she was some kind of dessert connoisseur. 

She also didn't notice that everyone stopped talking after her arrival.

They have brownies, cake and isn't that banana cake!? No way! OMG I wanna try.

"EHEM!"

Selene snapped back to reality, when Violet coughed intentionally to get everyone's attention. Thankfully for Selene, Violet was more preoccupied on trying to snap the young ladies back to reality.

Violet then gestured towards Selene, announcing her arrival to the tea party.

"Her Highness Selene has arrived, please treat her well ladies, now this way, Selene. You will be sitting with me for this event" 

Everyone got up from their chairs and knelt down, honoring the presence of a princess. It was required for every noble to kneel or bow if you're from a duke family, whenever someone from the imperial family was present in Vitoten.

"Thank you, You all may rise and continue enjoying your delectables" Selene gestured everyone to stand up in a pristine smile.

Everyone stood up and sat back down to their chairs, but the attention was still all on Selene.

"This way, Selene" Violet smiled as she led Selene forward

Selene followed Violet as they went through the whispering ladies. Selene found all of the participants' expressions amusing.

She couldn't hold it against them though. This was the first time Selene ever attended a tea party. It was only reasonable for everyone to be shocked by her attendance.

Violet guided her to the last table in the garden and gestured to her to sit there. Selene after thanking Violet sat gracefully on her chair and glanced at the two unfamiliar people who were sitting on their chairs, all of them looking to be around her age. One had brown bobbed hair with amber eyes, who was more on the petite side for her age and the other had dark blue hair and sky blue eyes, who looked to be taller than Selene herself.

And both visibly nervous with her presence, which made Selene chuckle in response.

They're way cuter than the game portrayed them to be.... I remember seeing these two characters always following Violet in the academy, though their names never came up,

Selene gave the two a friendly smile before speaking in an amicable tone.

"What's both of your names? I'm Selene Aventus, nice to meet you" 

"They are-"

Selene cut off Violet as soon as she spoke

"Thank you Violet but I want to hear it from them, don't be afraid, I won't bite, huhuhu" Selene chuckled at their trembling bodies.

The person with dark blue hair spoke first.

"I-I am Matilda from the Marquis House of Medici" Matilda bowing with her head almost touching the table

The browned haired girl spoke up next to introduce herself.

"I am Ella May, I am but a Baron, Your highness, Princess Selene" Ella was basically on the ground prostrating herself on the floor, afraid that any other move she did would get her executed.

"Hahaha, No need to so formal, please lift yourselves up, I'm here no to get worshiped but to make friends, so feel free to call me Selene but if it's too much for you two to handle, Princess is enough"

Both bowing people were taken aback, not expecting that the princess of the imperial family to be so carefree. 

Selene didn't try to pressure the two into calling her Selene, because of their lower Status. Violet was different after all, she was a daughter of a duke so it would be more natural for her to call her by her name. 

They heard rumors how everyone that offended the princess would disappear overnight, never to be seen again. One notable disappearance was during the princess's birthday almost a year ago, when some lowly Marquis harassed the imperial princess. The noble then would never be seen again. The territory they managed were also confiscated by the ruler of Neutrum, showing the mercilessness of the imperial family. 

This has happened a large number of times. Anyone that offended or harassed the princess would disappear from the face of Alethea.

"How about we go and eat some dessert and continue drinking our tea? I would also love to learn about the relationship you tree have" 

*****

"I see! You have a puppy named Orange! I would love to see it in the future! Just send me a letter and I'll definitely come and visit!"

"Ummmmm" Ella unsure how to reply to Selene's suggestion

"Selene, I think Ella won't be able to handle the pressure of a princess visiting her home, how about Ella bringing the dog here in the Rosenberg Mansion and you I'll send a letter when the dog comes to visit?" Violet suggested being there to direct the pressure from Ella.

Selene realized her mistake after Violet's suggestion

"Ah, Sorry Ella, I just love dogs too much and of course cats as well if you have some" Selene said as she scratched her cheek.

Ugh, talking to people my physical age just gets me too excited for some reason.... Maybe my age is reflecting my actions more than I can comprehend 

"I have a cat." Matilda mentions as she takes a bite of her cake.

Selene's switch suddenly got flipped again

"Really!? Then we most definitely should meet that child as well!"

Selene Aventus.... she's surprisingly.... innocent? Something doesn't feel right though....

Violet has been on guard by the sudden change in attitude Selene was displaying.

Before this, she had met Selene a couple of times and attempted to communicate with her through Balls and other events, but Selene would always look at her coldly and sometimes only present in balls or events briefly before disappearing. 

All the questions and answers from Violet's perspective Selene has given or brought up were all natural and didn't seem to have a lie in them. As a merchant she could easily see through people's deception and malice, easily. She had to deal with it her entire life after all, plus, her father was a Rosenburg, a person in charge of the economy of the nation, it was only right for them to have a good read on people to give scrutiny to any potential holes in the economy.

Kekeke, It's working. Violet contemplating, means she's weighing her impression of me.

Selene wasn't acting whatsoever, she just let her desires reign control of her body and just tried to become as honest as possible. In the face of a Rosenburg, any bit off lie and act you do would easily be detected. It was one of their family traits, so the best thing to do was just go with the flow and be true to her childish desire

It was the best card to play against calculative people like her. 

The cake is good, but not as good as Theo's.... Not that I want him to make me another one or anything.....

Before she could take another mouthful of cake, Violet interrupted her with a question.

"Selene, I heard you're engaged with the prince of Virtus, is it true?"

"Wha?" Selene, baffled by the question, dropped her fork with cake.

"I heard Princess Selene visited Neutrum to meet the prince for a month." Matilda said with sparkling eyes, ready to get some juicy news from the princess' love life.

Ella was too shy to ask, but her ears were perking of curiosity.

"Ah eh uM Uh"

Selene, who was caught off guard, transformed from the charismatic princess to a malfunctioning robot.

"I hear he was exceptionally handsome and tall for his age. So, Selene, Is he actually handsome or are they just some vague rumors that the people of Virtus made it out to be?"

Matilda's relentless. She looooves her 'tea' after all. I get most of it from her so it's as expected

Violet thought as she saw Matilda literally jumping from her seat in excitement.

Violet just sighed in resignation at Matilda's eagerness of the situation, she then glanced at Selene who changed in personality completely.

"He is? I guess... But his kinda... no i shouldn't say that..... I am engaged with him....Uhh" Selene talking like a broken record.

"I see you are engaged with the prince! So? How was it? The month you spent with him?" 

Matilda almost jumped from her chair from excitement.

"Matilda, calm down. I think we need to let Selene cool off a little bit more before you can start asking more questions" Violet touching the shoulder of Matilda to calm her down

"Ah"

After realizing her mistake, Matilda became distraught and hung her head down in shame

"I'm sorry Princess Selene, I hope I have not offended you" Matilda meekly said

Selena scratched her cheek and replied

"It's fine, I get it that you're interested in knowing more about me. I can... tell you a few things about him..." Selene said with her words slowly transforming into a mutter

But nonetheless was heard by the three other people at the table.

Violet smiled at Selene's display of genuine embarrassment

Very genuine and adorable to boot.

"Alright how about we start by how you guys met for the first time?" Violet asked with an intrigued smile.

******

"Achoo! Hmmm, Someone's talking about me."

<How do you know that master? You don't have kind of ability> Dawn

"It's a saying, if you sneeze without a reason randomly out of nowhere, it usually means someone's talking about you"

<I see, I believe I've heard something similar from my previous masters> Dawn