Cheer up

I won't lie, I was secretly elated when Ryan showed up at the party, but right now, I felt like cold water was splashed in my face. In order to not show my sour mood, I decided to head back on my own. As I boarded the carriage, I secretly hoped that Ryan would stop me or something, but I was just being delusional because he didn't. Throughout the journey, I did not say anything, and even my maids were scared to share the exciting things they had encountered at the party, and I could tell they wanted to. Not wanting to spoil the mood in the carriage and ruin it for them, I forced myself to start a conversation.

"So? How was it?" I said as I offered a small smile.

"Oh milady, you have no idea! It was exhilarating!" Wendy burst out like she was forever waiting for me to ask her that.

I chuckled a bit and said, "I guess Miss Harley is worthy of her fame."

"Absolutely, the design, the food, and the entertainment offered, they were spectacular." She continued

"Y-yes, it was brilliant." My other maid meekly said. Her name was Riley, and she was the youngest of my maids

"But miss, we did not get to help you with the task you assigned us." Wendy added, and at this realization, she looked a little bit sad.

" Oh, it is alright. You guys did your best." I offered because it appeared that the higher circles guarded their information well, so it would be impossible for these two to actually gather useful information for me, though I had a little hope.

" A-Are you sure miss? Are you not disappointed with our poor performance?" Riley asked

" Of course not. Even I couldn't get anything at all." Instead, I got pulled into a secret garden and almost got to be choked by that crazy woman who claimed to be in love with the duke. Sigh.

" Why are you sighing, milady? Is something the matter?" Wendy asked, and I just simply shook my head, and then she said,

" Oh, I know, maybe madam is missing the Duke!" She squealed then paused as though she had realized something and said,

" Oh, by the way, on my way out, I thought I saw the Duke at Miss Harley's party. I might have been mistaken, though, because I only saw the gentleman's retreating back." She explained Great, so it was no secret that the Duke attended miss Harley's party, my initially sour mood instantly came back and I had no desire to keep the conversation going so I cut it short.

" Ladies, I am a little tired, so I will rest a bit. Please wake me up when we arrive." I said, and they got the message and did not keep the conversation going any further. Wendy instantly looked guilty and said, " I am sorry, milady, I was out of line earlier. Commenting on your ladyship's relation with the Duke is considered an act of disrespect from me. Please issue a punishment for me."

After she said this, I felt a little bit guilty for ending the conversation so abruptly so I wanted to make up for it and make sure that Wendy did not blame herself for this although it was true that her comment was the reason I stopped the conversation.

So I found an excuse, " No, no, not at all. I did not cut you off because of that. It is simply because I am truly tired. Remember you guys woke me up in the early hours of the morning, so I am bound to be tired by the late afternoon, no?"

"Really milady?" She asked with a very worried look.

"Of course, I just want to rest up before going home because I have some activities I still need to complete when we get there." I reassured her, and she sighed a sigh of relief. To be honest, I had nothing planned for the reminder of the day I just said that to appease her. Now that I thought about it, though, I felt like maybe I should do something, something to cheer me up after such a long day, and I found it! I was going to make a meal for the family today! I will make a yummy meal and share it with everyone, i am sure that Jay Jay will love it. Yes, that will surely help me cheer up!