Chapter 52

"You saw it too?"

"... I didn't see it." Briallen commented.

"perhaps it's because you live far away." Asterix replied. "I didn't see it either, father told me."

"I saw it!" Eileen perked up. " The sky was full of stars, not a cloud in sight, suddenly boom! Clouds gathered, piu piu, thunder and lightning,... and scattered again. it was too weird."

"*Gasp*! Could it be a bad omen? I have a bad premonition..."

"you think it's because of..." Rotana covered her mouth with the fan and lowered her voice to a whisper, as if telling a big secret. "...her?!"

"It must be!" Briallen insisted. "lady Verita, if I were you, I would have kicked her out of our mansion immediately! She brings bad luck!"

"that's true, I wouldn't want a dog from the slums to take a single step into our mansion."

"when we first heard it, we all thought 'was the Duke out of his mind!?'"

"How unfortunate...it brings shame to all nobles. Perhaps you could talk your father out of it?"

Amourora, leading the group to the pavilion stopped. "what are you all blaming lady Aurelia for? It's not up to her."

She intentionally used her first name. This topic was also brought up last time, and Aurelia cried herself to sleep in her mother's arms that night, even if she concealed her hurt feelings now. That's how the mother and daughter's hatred and evil schemes started.

Aurelia, who carried herself with heavy steps, with tears pricking her eyes, felt a brief sense of warmth when someone pat her shoulder.

"it must already be difficult for her, don't add to her burdens." Amourora continued walking, trusting that the girls understood. "instead, we should support her."

"we apologize, we didn't mean it that way." the girls hurried to apologize, misunderstanding Amourora's words, and changing the direction of the topic instead of the topic itself. " it's not your fault, but that slum dweller's for not knowing her place."

" our sincere apologies for hurting your feelings, lady Verita. Please forgive us."

"yes, we are sorry. Don't take it to heart."

Amourora's brows scrunched in exasperation mixed with disappointment. She thought they were smarter, but children will be children, she can't expect them to be prodigies.

On the bright side, because they are still children, she can easily influence their actions, and hopefully mold their personalities to her liking. Their snobbish and spoiled personalities is what helped Victoria's supporters side with her in the first place, because she was the kind and benevolent fairy, and those were the wicked witches.

"I don't like giving insignificant people more attention than they deserve." Amourora ordered them to stop giving Victoria more space in their minds. "why are you ruining our special day talking about useless rubbish?"

"Her highness is right. Don't dirty your mouth talking about trash. " Asterix nodded in agreement.

The topic was shut tightly as they reached the Hopeful Hydrangeas pavilion, but she still had to think of a way to distract them from the subject, just in case it would be reopened again. She didn't want Aurelia going back home in tears again.

"isn't that..." something caught her eyes.

"who is that?" one of the girls asked.

"it's the third prince, prince Edmund." Avyanna answered for her.

A sudden idea popped in her mind, and a smile spread on her face. "would you like to meet him?"

*****

"really?!"

Just like Amourora wanted, Victoria was completely erased from their memory, as if it wasn't there to begin with, instead, all they could think about was prince Edmund.

Nylsa talked to her father about his sword skills, but the others seemed to have a different line of thoughts, his breathtaking appearance and background. Even the well-behaved Aurelia kept chipping like a little bird, talking about how wonderful her day went with great passion. "yes! The imperial palace was huuuge! And guards were everywhere. The gardens were so pretty and the flowers smelled nice, too. The princesses are so lucky to live there!"

"there's more than one princess?" Ilaria's eyes sparkled with curiosity. "did you tell them about me?"

"yes, it was princess Avyanna who gave me the bouquet and cookies for you. They would like to meet you one day." Aurelia smiled proudly for meeting them.

"that's nice, sweetie." Even the duchess, who has been on a terrible mood, smiled sweetly. "how about the poem?"

"It went well. We had a talent show, I am glad I was prepared. All the others were not."

"did anyone bother you?"

The duchess was growing more and more uncomfortable towards her husband's daughter. After she punished her last time, her husband went after her and broke all her words. He not only doubled Victoria's allowance and ungrounded her, but he also got on an argument with his wife. Their second fight since the beginning of their marriage, and it was concerning Victoria, as well.

"not really...everyone was friendly. " Aurelia ate the vegetables on her plate. It would be better to tell her mother the details later.

"that's great." the Duke said his first sentence since the beginning of the meal. "perhaps you could host the next tea party. It would be nice if you and Victoria had good friends."

"um..." Aurelia was put in a difficult situation. She didn't want her friends to meet with Victoria. What would they think of her when she introduces a common peasant to them? They might taunt her, they will say she is a farm girl, as well! She can't take it!

" actually, lady Luxotticelle's birthday is coming up soon, so she might send an invitation."

"then, you can take your sister with you, and include her in the activities." Duke Veritas glanced at his trembling daughter on her seat. "you did tell them about her, right?"

She was sensitive and sweet, and the rest of his family was being cruel and inconsiderate by ostracizing her. He wanted his family to all get along, and the duchess was making it hard, even influencing his daughters with her outrageous behavior.

" She came up..." tell them about what they called 'a slum dweller'? Only if she wanted to become the outcast of society!

"your grace, don't be tough on her, Aurelia had a tiring day and must have been very nervous." the duchess tried to ease the mood that took a sharp turn, trying to bring back the harmonious atmosphere from earlier. "Ilaria, won't you share some of those sweets with mother? What were they called?"

"chocolate chip cookies. " Ilaria, fascinated by the sweet taste, spared her mother no more than one cookie, planning to eat the rest with milk later. "here you go, mother!"

"it's tasty!"

"...may I be excused?" The one who asked wasn't Victoria, but Aurelia. "I don't feel so good."

The duchess watched her daughter leave with a different attitude than when she first arrived. Aurelia usually loved steak, and left it for after eating her vegetables, as a reward. The duchess especially ordered the kitchen to make it for her, but more than half had been left on her plate.

She hoped that the Duke would offer to go after her, just like he was willing to with Victoria, but her heartless husband thought calling a doctor would be sufficient enough.

"excuse me, as well." she followed her daughter to her room, herself. "Aurelia? Open the door, it's mother."

She found a pitiful girl sobbing under her covers, her splendid clothes tossed on the floor and replaced with a simple nightgown. A simple pink with a lace collar, already too short for her. Verena remembered how her daughter used to wear it more frequently after her grandfather's death a few years ago. She didn't know why Aurelia chose this dress in particular, but she had always found her donning it when feeling upset.

"Aurelia, dear..." she didn't know what to say, so she hugged her and caressed her hair, just the way she did when she was younger. "it will be alright."

"mother, I...don't know if it will..." Aurelia wasn't like the other children. She didn't express her ugly feelings so freely. She would bury them deep in her heart and until they pile up, then spilled them on her pillows when no one's around. "I don't like her, mother. Can't... Can't she just leave us be! Why did she have to come and...and ruin everything. Today...you didn't hear what the other girls said, mother. Mother...make her go... Please, mother. "

"... I will." she felt her throat tighten at her daughter's sorrowful state. She never had a mother to care for her, so she wanted to pamper her children and give them the motherly love she never received, and her children were well behaved and never gave her any headaches, which only increased her fondness.

"really?" she sniffled.

"yes." she consIed with a tender tone. "If our most precious Aurelia wants her gone, then gone she will be."

"She is not going anywhere. " a cold voice came from the door way.