Chapter 76 - Is The Tea Cancelled?
Mars had expected his mother to pass out after listening to such shocking information from him, so he prepared to catch the woman's body as soon as she fainted. He quickly carried her in his arms.
"Open the door!" the man shouted to the servant, who hurriedly opened the door from the outside and gave him way.
Emmelyn, who was admiring the queen's garden, was shocked to hear Mars's panicked voice. She rushed over to Mars, but before she could reach him, the man had disappeared behind the door with his mother's body.
The four soldiers immediately blocked her path with their swords. They all looked at her menacingly.
"Please wait here, my lady," said one of them in a firm voice. "You are not allowed to leave the room."
Emmelyn was stunned when she saw their swords. Soon, realization dawned on her.
Ah ... how could she forget that she was just a prisoner here? Of course she shouldn't go around so casually. This was not her home in Wintermere.
Without saying anything, the girl walked back into the lounge and sat down on one of the chairs gracefully. She could only guess what happened to the queen.
Did Mars tell Queen Elara earlier that Emmelyn was a prostitute from a brothel? And so, since Mars could touch her, he decided that he wanted children from her, and that was it. There was nothing between them but sex to produce heirs for him.
Hopefully, he did. So, that the queen would not expect much of Emmelyn.
The girl felt very uncomfortable when she entered this room and Queen Elara treated her so well and warmly.
Jeez... what was that about? the queen hugged Emmelyn so warmly as she would hug her own daughter.
[I am NOT your daughter.]
[I am not your future daughter-in-law either.]
[Don't treat me well. You will regret it.]
Emmelyn did not want to be on good terms with the queen since it might sway her from her main mission: to seek revenge.
Gosh.. she almost fell for the prince. She shouldn't fall for his mother too.
They were her ENEMIES.
She could already see how excited the queen looked, thinking Mars had found the right girl for him. Her attitude earlier when she greeted Emmelyn was so sickening.
Eww...
Ughhhh.
That's why Emmelyn immediately took drastic steps and crushed the queen's hopes to pieces. What better way to stop the queen from hoping that Emmelyn would marry her son than by claiming to be the worst possible woman?
If the queen thought Emmelyn and Mars love each other and that they would get married and start a family ... then she was dead wrong!
Thinking of the queen's beaming face, Emmelyn felt her stomach turn nauseous.
She poured tea from the teapot into a cup and drank quickly. She was so upset that she took the cakes from the tray and started munching.
"Who are you?"
A woman's voice from behind her stirred Emmelyn from her reverie. She looked up and turned to the direction the sound came from.
Behind her, stood an elegant woman in her late 40s, wearing a beautiful dark blue dress with a brown leather coat. This woman looked like she just arrived from outside. Who was she? Was she one of the queen's ladies-in-waiting?
This woman's face was not beautiful, but she looked very smart. Her black hair was fashioned on top of her head as a simple bun, and she had a lot of jewelry on her body.
Somehow, Emmelyn immediately disliked this woman. Her attitude looked so arrogant, as if she was the queen in this palace. Not even Queen Elara acted this arrogant, Emmelyn thought.
"My name is Emmelyn. Who are you?" Emmelyn asked in a completely unfazed manner. She often saw noble ladies like the woman in front of her around her mother in Wintermere, sucking up to the queen.
They were the wives of the court officials or noblemen who thought they were better than others just because of their blue blood.
Emmelyn couldn't care less about this woman and her condescending manner. After all, Emmelyn was a princess herself. She was not an ordinary woman from the lower-class who could easily be intimidated by the upper-class ladies.
"Ahh .. apparently, this is the woman Her Majesty had talked about," said the woman with a smile. Her eyes squinted and, even though her lips were smiling, her gaze didn't seem kind at all. Her attitude was so cold and condescending. "My name is Lady Preston. I am one of the queen's ladies-in-waiting."
"Hmm, okay..." Emmelyn just nodded and returned to her tea and cakes. Completely ignoring her.
Emmelyn was a very simple person. If the person she just met treated her well, then she would be nice to them too. But if they were arrogant and look down on her, then she would do the same.
"Tch...!" Lady Preston seemed displeased with Emmelyn's disrespectful attitude. No matter what, she was older and came from a very respectable family, and she was also quite close to the queen. She felt that the girl should show respect to her.
"Hello, everyone." Suddenly a voice came from behind Lady Preston. Not long after, a lovely woman appeared. She had blonde hair and wore a beautiful pink dress.
Emmelyn felt like she had seen this woman somewhere. She frowned, trying to remember. Where did she meet that woman?
"Oh .. Lady Athibaud, did you hear just now that Queen Elara fell ill and had to be taken to her room by the crown prince?" asked Lady Preston to the woman who had just arrived.
Aha. Now Emmelyn remembered where she had seen the beautiful woman who had just arrived. Apparently, this was Gewen's mother, the perverted general who tried to flirt with Emmelyn at the training ground earlier. No wonder her face felt familiar.
"Oh .. I didn't. What happened? This morning when we met, the queen was still fine," said Lady Athibaud. She just noticed Emmelyn's presence in the queen's private lounge where they used to gather for afternoon tea. A smile curved up on her face when she saw Emmelyn. "Ah.. are you Lady Emmelyn?"
Lady Athibaud knew who Emmelyn was because this morning Queen Elara told her that she planned to invite the girl to the palace. Lady Athibaud's attitude was very different from that of the arrogant Lady Preston.
"Hello, my lady. Yes, my name is Emmelyn." Emmelyn curtseyed to Lady Athibaud because the woman had greeted her with a kind attitude. Emmelyn deliberately wanted to show Lady Preston that she could be friendly and respectful to other people if she wanted.
"Ah .. good day, Lady Emmelyn. I'm happy to meet you." Lady Athibaud cleared her throat. "The queen and I went to the prince's castle this morning, but we didn't get to meet. My name is Rose Athibaud. I'm glad Her Majesty invited you here. It must be boring to stay in the prince's castle without meeting other women."
Lady Athibaud knew that almost no woman was allowed to roam the crown prince's castle because of his condition. Hence, she suspected that Emmelyn must be lonely.
"I've only been there for a month," said Emmelyn. "I haven't had time to explore outside."
"Ahh .. you should come to visit our house sometimes. I have two daughters of your age. They will certainly be happy to meet you," said Lady Athibaud again.
Lady Preston looked displeased when she heard how Lady Athibaud was being so nice to Emmelyn. She suspected that Lady Athibaud was sucking up to Emmelyn because she thought that the girl was the crown prince's future wife, who would later become the future queen of Draec.
Lady Preston cleared her throat. "Lady Athibaud is too kind, but a bit naive. Are you going to let your girls hang out with random people? We don't know who this Lady Emmelyn is yet."
Emmelyn glared at Lady Preston and rolled her eyes. What a vile and jealous woman, she thought.
If only Queen Elara hadn't forbidden her to talk about her life 'as the daughter of a prostitute who was born and raised in a brothel', Emmelyn would have deliberately made Lady Preston vomit blood by mentioning her fake background blatantly.
However, she had to hold back for now.
"I'd love to visit you, Lady Athibaud," said Emmelyn with a sweet smile, and then threw Lady Preston a side-eye.
She thought there was nothing wrong with fulfilling Lady Athibaud's invitation and meeting her daughters. Emmelyn would be able to get the latest information and gossip about the Draec kingdom that she could use to help plan her revenge.
"Ahh .. that's good. I will send invitations to the prince's castle. My son, Gewen goes there almost every day to train his soldiers. Maybe you have met him?" asked Lady Athibaud again.
Emmelyn hiccuped when she heard Gewen's name mentioned. She hurriedly shook her head innocently. "I'm sorry. I've never met Lord Gewen."
"Oh ... is that so? Ahh .. it's okay. You don't miss anything. That son of mine is a bit ...." Lady Athibaud did not continue her words, but she instead massaged her forehead.
She thought that all women in the Draec kingdom must have known about her son's reputation as a womanizer by now. Lady Athibaud then decided to change the subject by looking around and commented. "So, is our tea party canceled?"
"No, no ... it's not canceled."
Suddenly, Queen Elara's soft voice rang from the door. The beautiful woman walked gracefully by holding on to her son.
She looked a little pale, but still showed a sweet smile on her face. "Sorry, I had a headache earlier. Now, I'm fine. Have a seat, and let's have tea."