Romanoff Dukedom: The Heroine (9)

"Duchess Romanoff, your hosting is as phenomenal as usual. It never fails to astonish me how you can put so much effort into such a simple event."

A noblewoman put her all in showering compliments towards the madame of the Romanoff Household. They even stood up and made exaggerated gestures as if it would help them look better.

Freiyana Romanoff, on the other hand, simply drank her tea in silence, smiling ever so slightly in front of her cordial companions. Truth to be told, she couldn't care less about their compliments which she deemed superficial at best.

She knew perfectly that their words had no substance. Their sole purpose was to butter her up. However, it was not as if she didn't like the attention. After all, she had to keep as many people as possible in her faction.

"By the way, Duchess, I heard that the Empress Dowager is trying to reach out to our community yet again." The noblewoman, sitting directly opposite of the Duchess, uttered.

Her name was Marquess Elvier Chroly, one of the Duchess' trusted confidantes.

The Marquess noticed that the conversation wouldn't go anywhere near productive if she didn't intervene. Hence, she took the initiative to divert it, much to her and Freiyana's relief.

Laggardly lowering the teacup she was holding down to its saucer, the Duchess then responded, "Yes, Marquess Chroly, you are not mistaken. Let us provide our full support to the Empress Dowager who is ceaselessly working for the benefit of the empire."

Immediately upon hearing her answer, the lot surrounding the Duchess also articulated their approvals. They couldn't stop themselves from praising the Duchess who only had concern for the Empire.

Elvier Chroly inconspicuously sighed as she listened to the unharmonious chorus of the noblewomen.

'If only they knew that the Duchess doesn't care about their opinions, they would stop their useless small talk. They should be aware that they sound nonsensical rather than subservient.' Marquess Elvier thought, tired of dealing with the lower nobles.

The women continued chattering without much of Freiyana and Elvier's participation. The group occasionally heeded their sentiments, but soon gave up when the two persisted in giving one-worded answers.

A brief while had passed and suddenly, a maid nighed the Duchess, making the group assume a moment of silence.

The maid lowered her head, leveling it to the Duchess' ear, and whispered the news that Freiyana been waiting for.

"Madame, the Duchess of the Avret House has come to visit her son."

Freiyana merely gave a nod as a reply, proceeding to face her circle to address the situation.

Though before she was able to do that, the noblewoman beside her abruptly screamed out of pure terror. Her voice that resounded in the venue gathered the attention of the other attendees.

"Duchess! Blood! There's blood on your clothes!" The Baroness exclaimed as she pointed a finger at the shoulder area of Freiyana's garment.

Subsequently, she glared at the maid who was standing beside her and spouted, "You! What did you do?! Did you just assault the Duchess?!"

Once the term assault came out of the Baroness' mouth, the ambiance within the garden took a turn for the worse. A tension that could go past the breaking point promptly emerged.

Meanwhile, the servants didn't make a move since they would only serve to irritate the Duchess if they ever do something unnecessary. However, the main reason why they were motionless was that the strongest female shifter of the wolf clan in the empire was no other than Freiyana.

Unless she requested it, she wouldn't be requiring the help of mere human servants.

The Duchess sighed as she looked at the Baroness who was still hollering accusations at the maid.

"Baroness Tarlin, calm yourself down."

"But-"

"I said calm down." The Duchess spoke with a tone of finality, promptly shutting the complainant. She then shifted her gaze towards the maid and queried, "Well, dear, why is your arm bleeding?"

"I apologize, madame. I was assigned to Refecta yesterday and acquired the wound while taking care of a patient." The maid replied, clutching her wounded arm thereafter.

Blood could now be seen trickling down the exposed part of her limb. Her right sleeve was already bedraggled with it. Of course, Freiyana was aware that she wasn't attacked with the scent of the blood alone. Thus, she was able to retain her partiality regarding the matter, but not on the Baroness.

"Erwin, Dorothea, come here."

Once she called their names, the figures of the Head Butler and the Head Maid emerged from the sidelines.

"Both of you, get this- What's your name, dear?"

"It's Zarya, madame."

"Right, get Zarya treated, Dorothea. In the first place, why is she even working?"

Bowing her head, Dorothea gave her rejoinder, "She did get it treated earlier, madame. I assigned her to attend to the young master of the Avret House's needs. Withal, the young master told me that it's fine to leave him alone, so I advised Zarya to go back to her post."

"I will pardon you for now, but there won't be a next time."

"Thank you, madame," Dorothea said as she straightened her body.

Following that, she turned to Zarya, giving her a nod. The young lady returned the gesture and shortly caught up with Dorothea. As they disappeared in the mansion, the Duchess faced the Head Butler and gave him a command.

"Erwin, dismiss the congregation. I am not in the mood to entertain with this atmosphere. Report to me once they're all gone."

The instant that the Baroness harkened Freiyana's statement, she got down from her seat to kneel for forgiveness. The other noblewomen immediately lowered their heads, afraid of meeting gazes with the Duchess.

"Your Ladyship! I apologize for what I've done! I didn't mean to incite trouble. I was only concerned for your safety! Believe me, please!" The Baroness proceeded to crawl towards the Duchess, "Please, I won't do it again!"

Nevertheless, the Duchess simply left the table sans another word.