11 Crown Prince Banquet (1)

Anna was busy preparing for the banquet in the early morning. The banquet was said to start at nine in the morning, and the maids were busy decorating since dawn.

After the courtyard and ballroom had been well decorated, Anna took a bath and changed her dress to the cleanest maid dress she had in her wardrobe. Because Edith ordered her to serve the guests small snacks.

Anna recalled the night after she was done cleaning Crown Prince Ignis' room. She fell asleep for a while because of the cosy space, and gulped when she saw the crumpled bed. Thus she changed the bed sheet again and left the room as if nothing ever happened.

Satisfied with her work, Edith gave her the bonus and then said, "Anna, I will assign you as the maid banquet to serve food for the noble guests tomorrow, okay?"

"Ma'am… I'm just a new maid. I don't think I have the capability to—"

"Six hundred Eyr—" Edith said.

"CERTAINLY MA'AM!"

Anna sighed whenever she remembered that. "I really am weak to money."

Anna put on the maid banquet dress and brushed her wave hair before putting on the headdress. She put on a thin powder on her face, knowing that she was about to meet so many nobles from Lunaris and probably, also the Solares Kingdom, the neighbouring country.

'I wonder if I can get information about the White Swan in the banquet…'

Anna still hadn't forgotten about her mission to find the white swan and gave her happily ever after. She didn't know what kind of trouble she would get to provide the white swan with a happy ending, but for that prize, then she would do her best!

'For 750 thousand dollars! Fighting, me!'

***

The banquet was full of nobles with dazzling and colourful dresses. Their hairs were tied up high and adorned with gemstones. The younger noblewomen had thin makeup but bright dresses and accessories that blinded Anna a few times. Meanwhile, the older and married noblewomen usually applied thicker makeup but more mellow colour to signify that they were married or mature.

Anna served some noblewomen with snacks while overhearing few young noblewomen gossiping about Crown Prince Ignis.

"Oh my, I can't wait to see Crown Prince Ignis! My brother served in the military under his rule and said that he is such a majestic leader! He is also very handsome, especially his brooding eyes!"

"Oh, certainly! Don't you remember that Prince Ignis let a painter portray him in the military base when he was nineteen? That painting is only for military campaign purposes, but it was copied across Lunaris and Solares because Prince Ignis is just so… gosh, so handsome!"

The gossiping noblewomen giggled as they continued gossiping around the topic of how handsome Crown Prince Ignis was.

Well, Anna saw the painting of thirteen years old Prince Ignis, and he was indeed handsome even in his teenage years.

But it had nothing to do with her anyway. She was just a maid in this palace. There was no way she would get entangled with Prince Ignis or Prince Corvus, so she just shrugged it off and continued working.

"Attention, honourable ladies and gentleman! Crown Prince Ignis of Lunaris has arrived from his campaign. Please stand up!"

The announcement surprised everyone at the banquet. They looked towards the direction of the palace entrance and saw a royal carriage entered the main courtyard. Everyone stood in silence, waiting for the Crown Prince to step out of his carriage.

When the carriage door was opened, a tall, muscular man with domineering aura came out of the carriage. He had blazing red hair that shone under the summer sun. He had deep red eyes, sword eyebrows, and prominent facial features alongside his chiselled jawline.

He stood with his regal attire, a red royal vest that showed his perfect torso to waist ratio. His royal vest was adorned with many gold badges that Anna didn't understand either. Thus, when every noblewoman clapped for their majestic Crown Prince, Anna was nonchalant and continued taking the used plates before returning to the kitchen.

Ignis saw all noble men and women clapping at him with such worship in their eyes. He stood with cold eyes, as he was not interested in these overdressing nobles and their nauseating perfume.

His eagle eyes observed around the banquet until he focused his gaze on a maid that didn't clap at him. Instead, she just nonchalantly picked up the used plates and returned back to the kitchen.

Ignis remembered that face, the face of an insolent maid who dared to say that bastard Corvus deserved a second chance and was not an evil person. And after saying all those words, she decided to sleep on his bed carelessly.

Ignis' gaze darkened as his eyes followed her. He had a small smirk on his face, and he scoffed.

'Found you, Insolent girl.'