Princess Valerie's Invitation

Duke Devland departed from the palace that night. Princess Dione was certain she would be at the mercy of her siblings as soon as the Duke had taken his leave. To her surprise, three days had passed since that eventful announcement at the ball and she hadn't seen even a shadow of the Emperor or Valerie.

It was very strange but Dione was not one to crave trouble in times of peace and decided to contribute such tranquility to the guard that her fiancé had left behind.

"For the last time, Her Highness is not accepting guests. Please leave." Caleb's commanding voice softly penetrated through the thickness of Princess Dione's bed chamber.

"What a bunch of opportunists," Marianne, Dione's personal maid, mumbled under her breath.

Dione only sighed and shook her head, letting her attention return to the rose garden below her window. She did not disagree.

Ever since the Divine Bond ritual at the ball a couple of days ago, she had been practically bombarded with nobles visiting her. It was an inevitable development - with the deeply religious nature of the Salian Empire, word had already spread throughout the Capital about a God handpicking her as the Duke's Bride. It was said that the commoners were already proclaiming her and the Duke as soulmates loved even by the Gods themselves.

Because of this, there was no one that hadn't tried their hand at currying favor with the previously discarded princess. It was as if they had never whispered insults and openly attack her status after the death of the Late Emperor. She was once again valuable to them.

The only thing stopping them was the guard left behind by her soon-to-be-husband - a tall, burly man without a left eye and a nasty scar dragging down his face.

Caleb's appearance was terrifying and he towered over the average person, making him an incredibly successful deterrence. Usually, all it took was one look at him and those scheming nobles would run for the hills so neither Dione nor Marianne paid much attention to the chattering at the door.

A few minutes later, the incessant chattering had still not ceased.

"Shall I go take a look, Your Highness?" Marianne asked whilst preparing a cup of tea. When she received Dione's silent approval, she strode towards the door and opened it, the muffled voices instantly striking the once tranquil bedchamber.

A haughty voice slammed against the Princess' temples, "You lowlife barbarian - you dare to stop me like this? I will not leave this post until I receive an audience with Princess Dione!"

"For the last time, regardless of whose orders, the Princess is not accepting visitors. Do not make me resort to force, ma'am." Caleb's voice sounded exasperated as if the woman was treading on the last of his patience.

Dione frowned. That voice was oddly familiar and stirred an unpleasant feeling in her chest. She craned her neck from where she sat by the window and caught a glimpse of an older maid with graying hair.

Her eyes darkened. It was Princess Valerie's exclusive maid, Mavis, that she inherited from her mother, the Empress Dowager. Mavis was an extremely scheming woman who was viewed as an extension of Valerie. In the past, she took it upon herself to torment Dione's mother on behalf of the former Empress and after her father's passing, she tormented Dione on Valerie's behalf.

Since the death of the Late Emperor, the various torment methods this servant used against Dione knew no end. From sending her rotten food from the kitchen and letting loose rats in her palace to destroying her gowns and stealing her things, there was not a single act that this servant would not commit against her.

Had Valerie sent her here to torment her once again? Was she finally making her move after lying low for three days?

It was clear that Marianne's thoughts were similar. Despite the hardships against them, Marianne's temper when it came to her Princess was always stubborn and hotheaded. She confronted Mavis immediately, "Have you gotten so old that your hearing has begun to deteriorate? Her Highness is not accepting visitors and she is certainly not accepting wild animals! It is in your best interest to give up and return to whichever cave you came from."

Mavis sneered at the younger maid who was slightly shielded behind Caleb's big build, "What bold behavior! It seems that even dirty rats will gain a bit of guts when they learn their mother's tricks and gain protection from a man."

Marianne only snorted in disdain. When hadn't she and her Princess been insulted for their illegitimate origins? Though such insults riled her up when she was only a child, she did not waste her breath on them now.

"Aren't you only saying so because my Princess is the destined bride of Duke Devland despite her status which you all loathe so much? This might be a concept lost on you and your master but it goes without saying that a man will protect his bride and not avoid her as if his life depends on it."

"You—!"

Before the confrontation between the two maids could heat up any further, Dione called out, "Let her in."

Truthfully, she wanted to avoid any and all confrontations with her siblings and that did not exclude their servants. But, Marianne was young and had a knack for never holding that spicy tongue of hers and she was facing an even nastier maid. Being that Mavis was Valerie's exclusive servant meant that the consequences for going too far would be something that she would not be able to shield the young maid from.

Only after confirming with the Princess three separate times did Marianne begrudgingly allow the older maidservant to enter the bedchamber. Even then, she stood protectively behind Dione, her brown eyes shooting poisonous daggers.

Mavis did not put either woman in front of her into her eyes. To her, they were just little girls with a sullied background and did not deserve even a smidge of her respect. They could not even compare to a single hair on Princess Valerie's head!

She did not even greet Princess Dione and lifted her chin loftily, tossing a sealed envelope onto the small coffee table between them, "Princess Valerie has generously extended an invitation to her tea party tomorrow at noon. Your presence is expected - this is not a request." At the last part, her eyes narrowed slightly as if challenging the Princess to reject.

Dione subtly glanced at Marianne in a silent order to reign in her anger. The young maid's body emitted waves of anger at the blunt disrespect displayed by the older maidservant but she dare not disobey her mistress' orders and remained silent.

Not acknowledging the rude servant, Dione leaned forward and picked up the envelope, elegantly cutting it open with a letter cutter. Her amber eyes scanned the letter that was pretty much straightforward. It was indeed an invitation to Princess Valerie's tea party but it was addressed to Dione.

That was it. Just Dione, without recognition of her title as a Princess.

Dione's lips formed a wry smile. Her lovely elder sister still found the pettiest ways to insult her, didn't she?

Mavis began to grow impatient as she watched the Princess examine the letter without speaking to her. Her nose flared in annoyance, "Well? I am not as idle as you and still have many tasks to complete, where is your response?"

"Are your tasks my responsibility? Is there a reason that I should care for them?" Dione's eyes slowly raised in a mocking matter, "Even if you were made to stand there all day like a statue, where did you get the courage to complain to me about it? It seems that my sister has spoiled you, Mavis."

Sharp laughter struck the room. In front of Dione, the maid laughed, her eyes holding nothing but contempt in them. It was very clear that she did not take her seriously at all.

"It has not been that long since we last saw each other but you've seen to have grown quite high and mighty. I suppose it's easy to be that way when you're so used to leeching off men to protect you. First, it was that knight always following you around, then the Marquess, and now the Duke has become your latest victim." The older woman's eyes traveled to the guard outside the slightly open door meaningfully, "Who knows, it's likely that you've already sunk your claws into that one. No wonder he could disregard the words of Princess Valerie so easily. A shameless vixen just like your mother."

The temperature in the room dropped by several folds. Without uttering a word, Princess Dione picked up a pen and wrote her response before sealing it back into the envelope. She did not toss it back onto the table and instead stood up to hand it to her.

Mavis did not catch the dark glint in her eye. She simply smirked in cheap victory, assuming that Dione did not dare to refute her words any further. After all, she had insulted the girl and her mother many times before and the Princess could do nothing but glare at her through a tearstained expression with nowhere to express her grievances.

"It seems you've come to your senses—" Mavis's words were instantly cut off by a sharp, burning pain in her cheek. Her head whipped to the side and her mouth fell open in pure shock.

Princess Dione…that illegitimate Princess that she had always looked down on had actually slapped her! Just how humiliating was this?

Dione's gaze was just as dark as it was sharp and her body emitted a heavy, aggressive aura.

It was as if she were looking into the eyes of a true royal — Like Princess Valerie… No, no, it was even much scarier than that!

Before this girl could barely even raise her head up to her when she underwent her onslaught of torment and now she dared to look at her like this?

Mavis' body reacted before her brain did. She simply could not take such a humiliation from a little girl she did not put in her eyes at all. Her hand raised to return the slap but before she could even touch a silver of the Princess' skin, her body was yanked back onto the cold marble floor.

"Just what are you doing?"