Killing Three Birds with One Stone

Seeing the two sisters Reine gave such a warm smile, that it was hard to believe that she was just acting. In fact, if Aylin hadn't heard about the schemes concocted by the mother and daughter, she would have believed that Reine was really treating the two sisters warmly. However, after hearing their schemes and seeing her acting skills, Aylin scoffed and turned to take Aelia to her room. Meanwhile, Aelia just glanced indifferently at Reine and continued to walk past her.

Seeing that the two sisters did not pay her any attention, Reine gritted her teeth and thought to herself, 'Stupid bitches! Just act high and mighty while you still can. Wait and see, soon you'll be left with nothing! At that time, even if you bow down to me, I'll never give you any attention! Hmph!'

Nevertheless, Reine had to at least continue her act for now. In spite of being ignored by the two sisters, she went along with them and said, "Sisters, why are you two so excited? Did something good happen?"

Though she inquired with a genuine expression, she was thinking, 'You two sluts! How dare you be happy after sending my mom away?'

Aylin curtly replied, "It's none of your business!"

Though Reine felt angered and humiliated, she continued with a tearful expression, "Aylin, I'm also your sister now. I know that I've made some mistakes in the past, but now I really want to have a good sisterly bond with you!"

Seeing Reine acting like this, Aylin rolled her eyes and the two sisters just continued ignoring her. Reine thought that she had succeeded and continued tagging along with them.

After entering Aelia's room, Aylin quickly went to the bed and picked up the package. Seeing the stamp from the military outpost, from where their brother usually posted his parcels, Aylin exclaimed, "It's really a present from brother Az! Sis, quickly open it!"

Aylin handed over the package to her sister. Aelia glanced at the birthday card attached to the package. It simply read, "Happy Birthday! See you soon!" with a stamp from the military outpost. Though Aylin had a perfunctory thought that her brother usually sent a more detailed birthday greeting, she concluded that as they were about to meet soon, her brother had foregone a long message. She carefully unwrapped the wrapping paper of the present and was surprised to see what was inside. As Aelia took out the full-length gown, Aylin looked at it and sighed with admiration.

It was a full-length, salmon pink ball gown, with an asymmetrical neckline, an open back and short, semi-transparent off-shoulder sleeves. The body and skirt of the gown had exquisite three-dimensional embroidery of tiny white flowers connected by vines embroidered with golden threads. The gown looked exquisite, without looking extravagant and gave an elegant and delicate image.

Seeing the beautiful gown, Reine was overcome with jealousy. She had never seen such an exquisite gown. When she also saw that the gown seemed to be custom made for Aelia, her envy increased. However, after thinking that all these would soon belong to her as the two sisters would be driven out of the Romanov household, Reine cooled down her anger. Instead, she thought of a plan and said with a concerned look, "Oh my! The gown looks so beautiful! It's for your birthday, right? But you know that everyone has their own sense of style. I think that this dress is not quite suitable for you. How about this? Though I had planned to give it to you on your birthday, I'll give it to you now!"

Saying this, she quickly went to her room and brought back a gown. It was a simple pale blue gown with silver embroidery at the hem of the skirt. Seeing this gown, the expression on Aylin's face got worse, for the pale blue colour did not suit Aelia's skin tone; in fact, it would make her warm skin tone look sallow. She opened her mouth to scold Reine for her petty tricks but was stopped by Aelia.

When Reine saw this she thought that her plan and had succeeded and she confidently said, "Don't worry, you don't have to thank me for this. After all, this is your birthday present from me. Also, you don't have to worry about the gown sent by brother Az! It won't go to waste, you can just give it to me. After all, the gown won't suit Aylin's petite figure either!"

Actually, the gown that Reine gave to Aelia was gifted to her on her last birthday. As she didn't like the simple style of the gown, she had never worn it. Meanwhile, she was also fretting about what to give to Aelia on her birthday. Just thinking about spending her own money to buy a gift for Aelia, made her blood boil. But now that she was giving this gown to Aelia as her birthday gift, it was like killing three birds with one stone. The reason was, on one hand, she would not have to spend any money for the gift, on the other hand, she would be able to get the beautiful gown that was actually meant for Aelia. Further, when Azriel would hear that his sister had not worn the dress he had specifically gifted to her, he would feel sad but would be consoled by the fact that at least Reine had worn the dress. Thus, the relationship between Azriel and Aelia would be shaken a little, while Reine's bond with Azriel would improve. Reine was sure of the success of her plan because she always saw Aelia dressed simply at the university. So she had concluded that Aelia had no fashion sense. By just thinking about the success of her plan, Reine felt elated and the smile on her face deepened.

It was the typical case of counting one's chickens before the hatching of the eggs. In reality, being brought up in the Romanov family, Aelia had a good sense of fashion and elegance. She just liked to dress comfortably, thus she did not bother with pretty clothes or make-up while going to university. So, Reine's plan of humiliating her by making her wear the plain gown had been figured out by Aelia, after just a glance at the gown. Also, as Aelia was quite used to sensing people's emotions, she could clearly feel the hidden jealousy and anger of Reine towards her. Thus she could be sure that Reine would never give any advice that would benefit her.