Chaos For Tea

"Carina... I know that Jane is not your blood sister, but she is still your sister! How could you do a thing like this?" Vanessa whined, eyes watering as if she were hurt too.

Carina really had to commend them for their acting ability.

They were doing all this as if they had forgotten that Prince Spencer was there, making the whole show seem just a little more believable. Carina gazed at Prince Spencer carefully, wondering if he noticed that this was all a farce.

Prince Spencer's expression wasn't all that telling, though, so she had no idea what he was thinking.

"What exactly have I done, Stepmother?" Carina asked, with a nonchalance that worried Vanessa. "Surely you don't think I'm the type to attack Jane with backhanded tricks like this, do you? If I wanted to hurt her, I would've done so with these two hands."

At the threatening gaze in Carina's eyes, Jane began to shrink back, whimpering a bit under her breath as she subconsciously moved to hide behind her mother.

Prince Spencer blinked in surprise at Carina's actions, the fierceness she was presenting now a drastic contrast to the gentle beauty he had seen from her at the banquet.

Vanessa noticed his calculating eyes, and resisted the urge to smile, knowing that her plan was working.

Carina, personally, didn't care what the prince thought of her. If he was stupid enough to be swayed by a silly little show like this then he really wouldn't have been worth her time anyway. In a way, this was Carina' own method of testing the prince, to gauge whether he would be worth her investment or not. If he let her down now then she'd simply cut off her ties with him and let them go back to being strangers. If he could prove his loyalty, though.... honestly she was less sure of what that would entail. She'd appreciate it, for sure, and she knew he would make an excellent ally, but he was looking for more than friendship. Carina supposed that if he proved to be a good match for her, she could attempt to take their relationship a bit more seriously.

Having such a good looking man as a boyfriend was sure to have its merits.

"Jane has clearly explained it. This was the work of your maid, who only takes orders from you! How else would you explain this situation?" Vanessa huffed.

Carina was all of a sudden glad that Vanessa wasn't related to her in any real way, or else she might've inherited that stupidity. Like poor little Jane.

Instead of responding to Vanessa, Carina simply raced forward and grabbed Jane's wrist, squeezing it hard under her grip.

"Is this the truth, Jane? Did my maid really do this to you on my orders?" Carina asked, innocently, despite clearly gripping Jane's wrist with a force that had her squirming under her touch.

"Are you insane? Let go of me!" Jane screamed, clawing at Carina's hand to get her to let go.

Carina didn't. Instead, she snatched Jane's other wrist, making Jane's struggling useless and futile.

"Answer me, Jane." Carina calmly spoke, even as the rest of the room gasped in horror at her actions. "Did my maid really do this to you?"

Jane tried her best to free herself from Carina's grip, but no matter what she did, she was no match for Carina's strength. After a few minutes of her grunting and groaning in an attempt to escape, she stopped and began to sob.

"I made it up, okay?! I lied, now let me go! Please! It hurts!"

Carina smiled at Jane's response, and Jane relaxed a bit thinking she was finally going to let her go, but instead of doing that, Carina suddenly jerked her head forward. Before anyone could react, Carina had headbutt Jane so hard that Jane lost consciousness, her body falling backwards and landing on the floor with a thud.

"Jane!!" Vanessa screeched, losing all of the composure she had earlier.

"You better call the doctor in quick, Stepmother, or else who knows what will happen to your precious little girl." Carina spoke, her voice cold and chilly.

Vanessa had no time to be angry, instead loudly yelling at all the maids around her to bring Jane's body back up to her bed and calling for the butler to search for the best doctor in town.

Prince Spencer, who had been silent all this time, suddenly rose to his feet and cleared his throat.

Everybody in the room had actually forgotten he was there for a moment, and all heads turned to him in fear, wondering just what he would say.