"How did you get hurt?"

It took everything in Ave's willpower not to actually hit or respond to Madeline's insult and anger directed at her when the brat had been the one to let her pour the tea all over the place. Ave had heard how the Banzai kingdom was so important that even the Emperor would do anything to please them. If she were to lay a hand on their Princess, she wouldn't only bring trouble to herself but also get herself killed.

Swallowing her pride, Ave took a few napkins from the table and bent down to clean up the mess without paying attention to any of the murmuring going on around the table about her being jealous of Madeline because she would be marrying Lucian.

"I have lost my appetite; let's go away from here," Madeline said to her other friends at the table, who were cursing at Ave and calling her names.