26 A Party to Remember

Dante and I shook hands signifying our new partnership. With him on my side I'm sure we can destroy Ilene and her family easily.

Dante spoke, "We should head back before anyone gets worried."

"Yeah, good idea. I still haven't gotten any cake yet."

He smiled at me, "I think cake may be the least of your worries."

"You clearly don't know my priorities."

As I turned to leave, he grabbed onto my arm. I turned to look at him with a scowl and noticed he wanted to say something.

"What is it?"

"Please don't tell your father about what happened earlier."

"Earlier?"

He nodded and looked away refusing to meet my eyes. A grin spread across my face, "Oh, you mean how you saw me 'naked'."

I saw the tips of his ears flush. His face started twitching in irritation, "Stop it. Someone might misunderstand."

"Perhaps I should go up to my father and say: Daddy Daddy! Dante took me to the bath house so he could watch me take a bath! He's such a pervert."

I felt a hard tap hit the top of my head. I grabbed it, "Ouch! You just hit me!!!"

"Did not."

"You definitely did! Didn't anyone ever tell you not to hit a girl?!"

"I didn't hit a girl."

"What?! You did!!! Wait. Are you saying I'm not a girl?!" He snickered in response. I glared at him, "I'm definitely going to tell my father now."

He looked at me with an expressionless face that sent chills through my spine. Eek. I think I may have went too far. He looks so scary.

I forced a smile, "Just kidding. I won't tell him that you saw me naked."

He quickly began to walk away with clenched fists. I hurried up to follow him. Oh f*ck. He's super angry. He wouldn't kill his partner in crime? Right?

As we walked back to where everyone was at, I could immediately tell it was going to be annoying. Ilene was standing and sobbing by her parents. Ilene's father and mother looked like exact replicas of her. Her father had a scheming and disgusting looking face while her mother looked like a ditz. Such a perfect family.

Around them was my father, Queen Luna, and William. My father looked obviously pissed off to the extreme and appeared to be in an argument with Ilene's father. Queen Luna stood with a serious expression making it hard to tell how she felt about the situation. William looked very angry and stood with his arms crossed.

Lona looked concerned and was the first to notice me and Dante. She rushed over to me and grabbed my arm. "What were you thinking?"

"Thinking? Right now I'm thinking it should be time to eat some cake."

I felt her grip tighten. Uhoh. That's never a good sign.

"How could you be so stupid?! Even after I told you to behave yourself."

She dragged me over to where everyone else was at. Dante quickly followed. I looked over and saw Millie who was hiding behind a tree afraid of what was happening.

Ilene's father noticed me and glared, "Is this the brat who attacked my daughter?!"

My father looked as if a vein in his head would burst, "Brat?! Who do you think you are, calling my daughter a brat?! It's obvious that your spoiled daughter attacked mine first! I should-"

Queen Luna interrupted, "Seri. Explain yourself."

I met her serious gaze and almost faltered. I took a deep breath. I can't falter now. It's time to show Dante just how capable his new partner is.

I looked to the ground and started shaking. I grabbed onto my dress and started sniffling.

"I'm sorry Queen Luna. It's just that, I was so excited to give William my home made gift, that I didn't even consider how Miss Ilene would feel about it. She got angry with me and started to make fun of my gift."

"What?! I did not!" Ilene shouted at me no longer sobbing.

Oh, hunny. You're such a bad actor. Sit back and watch how it's done.

Queen Luna glared at Ilene, "I've already heard your story. Now it's her turn. Interrupt again and I can't promise that I will be kind." Ilene instantly froze. Queen Luna looked at me, "Continue."

"After she made fun of it, I started crying. I just worked on it so hard. I thought it was amazing so it really hurt to have someone make fun of it."

"I see. And then?"

"I suppose I made her upset because Dante and Millie were trying to comfort me. She grabbed juice and threw it on me. My hair and outfit were ruined. I was going to walk away, but then Ilene grabbed me and started pulling my hair. She said that I didn't deserve to be in Queen Luna's presence because I was trash."

Ilene's father glared, "Enough of this! It's clearly a lie!"

Queen Luna glanced at him, "You know what's interesting? You and your daughter keep interrupting, but earlier Lord Kane allowed you to finish without saying anything. Is this the manners you teach your child? How unbefitting for a future Queen."

Oh snap. Get em girl.

He looked away still clearly angry. Queen Luna nodded at me and I continued, "I'm ashamed to admit, but after she pulled my hair I pinned her to the ground to get her to stop. I'm sure you are aware of how much stronger I am because of my knight training. I made sure to hold back so I didn't hurt her. But she still scratched me up! See?"

I showed her the scratches. Truthfully, I got this because she was trying to stop my attacks.

"Oh my. Those look awful."

I nodded, "Yes. Thanks to Dante he was able to stop her and bring me to safety. He got me a new outfit and let me use the bath."

Queen Luna had a hint of a smile, "So that's why you are in those clothes. Is that all?"

"Yes ma'am." I bowed, "I'm sorry that I made such a scene at this event." I let tears fall down my cheeks and started whimpering. I looked at William, "I'm sorry William. I really wanted this day to be perfect for you. I didn't know my gift was so ugly. You can throw it away if you want."

He froze and glanced between me and Queen Luna extremely worried. He stepped over to me and started to rub my back, "No! It's not ugly. I really like it."

"Y-you do?"

"Yes! I would never throw away something so precious."

I nodded still sobbing. F*ck. I really want to gag.

Queen Luna watched this trying to hide her smile. She looked over at Dante with a serious expression, "Is this true?"

He met her eyes and nodded, "Yes, Queen Luna. I was surprised to see her crying so much so I let her use our bath house and brought her a change of clothes. I hope I haven't offended you by doing this."

She shook her head, "It is alright. After all I did buy those clothes for her to begin with. I didn't think she would look this adorable though."

Wait, what? She did? I guess it is strange that she had clothes just lying around that fit me.

She continued, "Wait. Did you say she was crying?"

He nodded, "Yes. Didn't you notice her eyes earlier? They were so red and swollen."

What? No they weren't you bastard!

Queen Luna nodded thinking back, "Now that you mention it, they were."

I can feel that sadistic bastard laughing at me. I'm so going to get him back for this.

Ilene's father shouted, "Are you seriously believing her?"

Queen Luna looked at him, "Dante has never lied to me before. I trust him."

I glanced at Dante and he met my eyes and smiled. Whoa. What a manipulative kid.

"What nonsense! How could you trust a bastard child over your own future daughter in law?"

She glared at him, "Millie. Come over here this instant."

Millie flinched behind the tree and cautiously stepped forward. She shook under Queen Luna's glare. Ah, what an innocent child. I almost envy her.

"I assume you've been listening."

"Yes, my Queen."

"Tell me, is what Seri said true?"

Ilene glared at her making it obvious she had tried to threaten her earlier. I became a bit nervous. I didn't think Queen Luna would bring Millie into this. I know that from the previous novel, Millie was an easy to push around character. She's sure to agree with Ilene.

Millie nodded, "Yes, my Queen. What Seri said was true."

I felt my mouth drop and quickly shut it before anyone could notice. Did she just go against Ilene?

Queen Luna nodded, "That's what I thought. Thank you Millie."

Ilene's father shouted, "Queen Luna! Surely you can't just believe her two friends?! My daughter had several witnesses that agree with her! How can you just believe them over everyone else?!"

"Duke Bayne. Don't you find it odd that Seri had scratches on her while your daughter only has dirt but no visible wounds? It's clear who attacked who."

Well, to be accurate I had intended on beating her black and blue, but I didn't have the chance because Dante pulled me off too quickly. I'm a bit glad he did now.

"Queen Luna. Are you trying to make an enemy with our family?"

She glared at him, "I don't approve of you threatening me, Duke. Not only will the King hear about this, but there will be repercussions. Seri is my honored guest and by insulting her, you've insulted me."

"But-"

"William. Please see these guests out."

"Yes, mother."

Ilene's father tried to speak to her, but she ignored him and walked away. He grabbed Ilene's hand, "Come on."

"But father!"

"Enough. We will talk about this when we get home."

The family shot me an angry glare before turning and leaving. I snickered under my breath. Dante walked over to me and smiled.

We both felt an overwhelming presence. We glanced up to see my father glaring. I noticed Dante tense up immediately. My father looked extremely angry at him.

"Did he do something to you?"

Oh sh*t! Did he know about what happened in the bath house earlier?!

"No, daddy. Nothing bad happened."

He glared into Dante's eyes, "If I find out you touched my daughter, you'll no longer have any hands to lay on her. Do you understand me?"

Dante gulped and nodded, "Yes, Lord Kane."

He growled and stomped away. Dante let out a sigh of relief. I giggled and jabbed him, "You are quite the liar, eh?"

"Shut up."

"Is it true that you've never lied to Queen Luna?"

"It's true."

"Then why'd you lie?"

He looked at me and smirked, "Partners in crime, remember?"

I smiled back at him.

"Well!" I clapped my hands together, "Now that that's over, I'm going to grab me a bite of cake."

"No cake." I jumped at the sound of Lona's voice. I forgot she was still here. She glared at me, "I know you lied. I won't tell anyone but as punishment you won't get any cake."

I groaned as she walked away. I came here just for the cake. What kind of torture is this?!

Millie tugged on me. I looked at her, "What is it?"

She quietly led me to an excluded and hidden area. Dante also followed behind us. There was a blanket laid out with cake and an assortment of sweets on it. I looked at her in disbelief.

She gave a faint smile, "I had a feeling this would happen. So I prepared something."

I threw my arms around her and hugged her tightly, "Millie! I love you! You're my hero!"

We all sat down on the blanket and began to enjoy the cake. As I munched happily, I looked at Millie and Dante. It appears I have some mighty players on my side.

Today, I've won the battle. Now it's time to win the war.