A Meaningless Meeting

Lily tapped her fingers on the table, her emotional reaction from the second queen's vile words still bothered her. A mother who couldn't care any less about the life of her child, even going as far as saying hurtful words and wishing her dead. However, she could say her reaction was still understandable, after all, she now had the heart of a nine years old once again; a heart that loved easily, trusted easily, and wished easily. Hence, expecting a different reaction from the second queen was pretty understandable.

What should I do now?

The slow rthym of her fingers, tapping on the table stopped.

It has been four days since she visited the second queen in the dungeon, and the king has shown no will to release her, just like always, he watched from the sidelines, hence, she could only wait patiently for Count Herald, and he had been oddly quiet for the past four days, so much so that it was already getting on her nerves.

The tapping on the table continued as she sat alone in her room for the entire morning.

                           * ~ *

"Your highness!" Mary rushed into Lily's room, "Ha!" She drew in a deep breath and spoke, "The Count, Lord Herald requests for an audience."

Lily stopped flipping through the pages of the book in her hands, she glanced up at Mary and a smile adorned her lips. If Count Herald would go as far as requesting an audience then it has to be good news.

"Lead him to my drawing room." She smiled, picking up the hem of her dress.

"Count." Lily made an entrance, "I see Marchioness Helen is here with you." She added as soon as she caught sight of the familiar figure who was sitting beside the Count.

"It's a pleasure to be recognized by your highness." Helen smiled, bowing slightly.

"No, Marchioness, it is rather a great pleasure to have you here." Lily flashed a smile in return, she sat on the couch opposite them, placing her hands on her knees as Mary served them tea.

"And to what do I owe this sudden visit?"

Marchioness Helen was not one to make useless decisions, if she wanted to choose a side, then she would opt for the side with the highest winning rate, a side with more connection and support, just like Perez who's the first son, or Franz who has the support of the second queen. However, if Marchioness Helen was here then it proved that, the second queen being in the dungeon and the king handing the investigation to her really caught the attention of the nobles on neutral ground.

However, unlike what everybody thought, Marchioness Helen was the leader of the neutral nobles simply in cover, she ruled them externally but had no real power. Hence, having her here didn't really mean anything. The real power was hidden even during her past life, and they're still hidden now.

"I, for one, just wanted to see the First Princess in person." Helen raised her head, "After all, I have heard a lot about your highness."

"Hopefully, it is nothing bad."

"Not at all, Your Highness." Helen sipped her tea and placed the teacup aside, "I came with Count Herald just to officially hand over the case to you."

"Pardon me, Marchioness. I never knew you were part of the investigation team." Lily placed her fingers over the lower part of her face.

"Hahaha." The Marchioness chuckled awkwardly, "That's not what I meant."

Lily sighed, she knew she shouldn't push any further or try to provoke the Marchioness, but she was doing a terrible job as a paper leader, so much so that it was obvious that she was fake. However, Lily knew that only her could see through the Marchioness's facade, and that was simply because she had lived once before.

"Anyway, I heard that your highness would be turning ten in a few months, I have a son who just turned eleven, and..." Marchioness Helen smiled as she continued speaking. Meanwhile, Lily's eyes had long-turned dark; this was the real reason for the Marchioness's sudden visit - Not to give the support of the neutral nobles but to set up a match-making arena.

"Ahem." Lily coughed, interrupting Helen's frantic noise-making, "I still need some time to recover from the poison, My Lady."

"Right, Your Highness's health is just as important."

"So, I will take my leave now. Pardon me for but being able to see you out."

"Oh. No, not at all. It's fine, Your Highness."

"Great." Lily left the room with a scowl on her face, this wasn't what she expected after waiting for the Count for so long. But, one thing was sure, Count Herald handled the poisoning on his own, and with how the Marchioness spoke, it was obvious that the nobles on neutral ground knew nothing about this; this meant that he acted alone, his silence throughout the conversation was merely a way to stop himself from saying anything that might raise suspicion.

Oh, well. That's useful. Lily stopped in her tracks. As long as they was nobody powerful behind the Count, then it meant that... blackmailing him would be just as easy.

The scowl on her face was replaced with a bright smile; after all, it was time to take action.

"Mary! Let's go for a walk."

                           * ~ *

Mary panted, holding up the parasol with one hand and Lily's hat in the other.

"Why do we have to come this far to take a walk, Your highness? Good heavens." She placed her hand on her chest to calm her racing heart.

"My garden isn't well-groomed." Lily replied.

"T-then, we should have stopped at-"

"That one's to bushy."

"And the-"

"Too tall." Lily interrupted all of Mary's words as she sat on green grass under a tree. "Here, come sit with me." She patted the ground beside her."

"Oh, no! My Princess, we'd have placed a handkerchief there first!" Mary whined but Lily simply ignored her whining. The reason why she came to this particular garden was because it was open to the public, and a lot of people came by.

"Mary."

"Yes, Your highness."

"Hold my hands."

"Huh?"