CHAPTER 90: TWO PEAS IN A POD [PART 1]

"Hmm...maybe our food here is making you less scrawny. You should be grateful you’re taken care of. Not many humans can boast about being pampered by a Lycan."

I knocked my fist against her head.

"Ow! Why did you do that?" She yelled, placing her hands on the spot, her bottom lip trembling.

"Giving a little brat what she deserves for having such a foul mouth."

"It’s not my fault you were malnourished!"

"This has nothing to do with that!" I raised my fist, but she quickly side-stepped, and I missed. "Stay still!"

"Why on earth will I do that?"

I sighed, adjusting my sleeves, and continued walking. "I don’t have time for this."

Dia hurried to walk beside me. "Wouldn’t it have been less hectic for you to ask why he told you no?"

"If he wanted to tell his reasons, he would have. I’m not asking for the obvious."

"Tsk! A stubborn pest you are. Here you are rambling about his reasons when you can just ask him and be done with it. Was your head made of stone or something?"

I shot her with a death glare, and she shifted away. "For goodness’ sake, calm yourself!"

"I’m calm," I said, giving her a charming smile.

Dia scowled in return. "You shouldn’t bother yourself too much. I’m sure whatever reasons the monarch had for excluding you from the Debutant Ball were vital. This ball will create the talk of the century, I heard. It’ll undoubtedly be all boring gatherings of noble houses flexing their wealth and all that."

I huffed. "Because the prince has a sudden interest in being out in society. If they all act that way, then wait until the princess makes her big debut. The empire will not shut up about it."

"Well, she already did."

"Really? When?"

Dia gave a smug grin. "When you were helplessly passed out on the floor like a weakling, she came out into court. Sadly, not as epic as this grand ball, but definitely more historical."

"I knew she helped me, but I didn’t know she came herself."

The princess went out of her way for me. My lips pressed into a soft smile. Who would have known that she took a liking to me, even though I only met her once?

Dia must have really put in a good word for me. She may be a little brat, but she was a good one.

"You should have seen it! The look on their faces, hehe."

"How did the Dowager react to this?"

Dia came to a sudden halt as her eyes softened. "Not well, but the princess was lucky the Dowager was confined after. But..."

"But?"

"The princess tried to visit the Dowager, but she wouldn’t receive her."

"Oh..." I murmured in a downhearted tone. "That’s heartless of her."

"Ah... can’t blame her. It’s the princess’s fault for betraying her mother like that."

"Betray? Why on earth will you think that way?"

Dia shifted her puzzled eyes to me. "Because she went against her mother’s wishes."

"If no mother is proud about her daughter making such an epic debut, then it’s quite a loss. Yes, the princess acted on her own, but that was really brave of her. It’s like stepping out of a shadow. Trust me, I know how that feels. I talked back to my stepmother for the first time in my life before leaving Beloria, and I still think of that day as a win. The little victories count!"

Dia stared at me with a sparkle in her eyes, and I could have sworn I saw adoration bloom in them, but then she quickly looked away.

"Oh, look, the leaves are dry," she mumbled, pointing to nothing in particular.

I smiled. "I’m sure you’re proud of the princess, too, for stepping up."

Dia cleared her throat. "O-Of course! She’ll be attending the ball too."

"Tsk!"

"I shouldn’t have said that."

"It’s alright, I don’t care about the ball anymore."

"Are you sure about that?"

"It was never about it."

"Then why are you so frustrated?" Dia got in front of me.

"Because it feels like he’s tossing me aside,"

I said, walking past her to the garden.

"Eloise!"

"I want to be alone, Dia." When I didn’t hear her coming, I was glad she respected my wishes.

Alone. I was mostly used to that, and it gave me more time to think. It was what I needed right now.

I crouched to watch the Koi fish in the water. I dipped my hand into the cool water and several glided toward it, their bright scales flashing with every paddle of their fin.

"Sorry, no snacks."

Breadcrumbs were thrown into the water, and it stirred gently as the Koi fish were lured by the scent, taking nibbles that left little bubbles on the surface.

"I told you I wanted to be alone," I said, when Dia squatted beside me.

"The monarch will never toss you aside," Dia said. "I don’t think he ever will."

I scoffed. "What do you know about him?"

"I know he’s stupidly obsessed with his human."

I snapped my wide eyes at her. "Isn’t that a bit rude to speak of your monarch?"

"He’s not here, so I can speak of him however I want."

Dia was truly odd. She wasn’t like the other handmaidens; she was different.

"You’re not really a handmaid, are you?" I questioned with a pointed stare.

She gasped in shock. "H-How can you say that?"

"Because you don’t act like one," I deadpanned.

"W-Well, I was trained personally by the princess. I’m like her mirror. I’m her legs and eyes, too."

This shouldn’t be heart-wrenching to hear, but it was. I couldn’t imagine how it must feel, all those years confined, and the way out was through her handmaiden. Now the Dowager suffers the same fate.

I do not like her, but she was the monarch’s mother. That meant something, didn’t it?

"How long will the Dowager stay in confinement?"