Chapter 6: Unexpected Invitation Letter (1)

I couldn't help but roll my eyes as I listened to the ladies at the table behind me gossiping about me. The topics they talked about were so repetitive that it didn't even bother me anymore.

I didn't understand why, despite my initial success, I was portrayed as someone who was jealous of her sister and had no qualifications. After seven years away from home, all I received was criticism and humiliation.

Even if I was called the noblest lady in the empire, at some point it was all filled with ridicule and contempt. That's when I understood the original Alicia Cloden better. She had endured more of these words and eyes full of contempt than I had. And she didn't even have anyone to support her.

Her life was spent being compared to her sister and always living in her shadow. Unrecognized as an individual, she eventually succumbed to her own power and chose to be the villainess this world always said she would be. Because at that time Alicia was known for her evil deeds after her death.

This was different for me. I didn't stay in the empire like the original Alicia, I found a teacher and a mentor and I discovered that there were different things that I loved in this life of turmoil.

So such statements meant nothing to me when I was leaving soon. But that didn't change the fact that this was the last time I would answer them. I got up from my chair a little noisily and the three ladies sitting behind me turned their attention in the direction from which the noise had come - to my table. Their faces paled with fear as their eyes widened at the sight of me.

I looked at them with a bright smile on my face."Your conversation was quite interesting," I said, and the one who was the most chatty about me turned even paler.

"I'd like to hear it again if you don't mind."

"I-I think there's been a misunderstanding, Lady Cloden."

"A misunderstanding?" I asked, tilting my head to one side, and she shook her head quickly.

"We weren't talking about you," she said, and the other two people sitting next to her looked at her with wide eyes.

"Ah, but I never said you were talking about me," I said, startled to realize that the young lady had admitted that she was talking about me.

"Ladies, don't you know that if you can't take responsibility for what you say when you talk about someone, you should keep your mouths shut?"

I clicked my tongue as their faces hardened with every word I said. Then I left the restaurant, leaving them behind. When the coachman driving the ducal carriage that was waiting nearby noticed me, he went to fetch it.

When he returned a short time later, I got in the car and watched out the window as he drove toward the duchy. As the sounds of the crowd filled my ears, my mind calmed down with the thought that this would all be over.

As much as I loved the empire, what I disliked was the bigotry and arrogance of the nobility. And soon I would be rid of them. When the carriage stopped in front of the duchy, I got out of the carriage and entered the mansion.

When I noticed that the place was more crowded than usual, my eyes fell on the hall. There I saw Estelle, Duchess Cloden, a lady I didn't recognize, and more than ten servants milling around them. When I saw the shoe boxes, jewelry sets, and clothes scattered around, I knew this was for Estelle.

Estelle's green eyes sparkled with everything she saw and her cheeks were flushed with excitement. Her green and silver embroidered dress matched her hair and eyes so well that she looked elegant and beautiful, like a forest nymph.

"Have you heard that Lady Estelle is to attend the ball with the second prince?" a servant's voice said quietly, and my attention was drawn to them.

"Yes, I did, but I thought it would be better if Lady Estelle attended with the first prince."

"How can that be when the first prince didn't even send an invitation letter to her ladyship?" she clicked her tongue in disappointment.

"Our lady must be very upset. After all, she loves the first prince."

"It's a pity her feelings are one-sided!" Summoned by the head maid, I quietly went up to my own room, unseen by anyone, as the two walked away.

"Shouldn't she have received an invitation from him by now?" I muttered to myself as I remembered the content of the novel.

Normally in the novel, the First Prince Caelus sends a letter to Estelle before anyone else to accompany her to the ball. The servants on Estelle's side chattered about it so much that Alicia cried every night when she heard the news.

She did not receive a letter from anyone asking to accompany her, so she had to attend alone. Others criticized her for this, but I was fascinated by Alicia's confident demeanor despite her sadness.

"I can't believe the first prince still hasn't sent a letter." The second prince also attended the ball with a lady who was then a relative of the empress. What did it mean that it was different from the novel?

When there was a knock at the door, I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at the maid who came in. She approached me holding a tray.

"What is this?"

"A letter from the palace, my lady," she said, and I took the letter on the tray.

"You may leave." After the maid left, I opened the letter with an envelope opener. As I read the contents of the letter, my face began to harden with every sentence I read.

"Ha! You must be kidding me!" I received an unexpected letter from an unexpected person.