The Ladies Have Arrived

During the next week after the incident, Eos began preparing the venue at the gazebo with all the decorations that were simplistic in nature but still grandiose enough for a tea party for noble ladies. The menu of a full course meal was enough for the four ladies, and she took care to tailor the menu to the girl's preferences which was surprisingly it was widely diverse. The people that were assigned to provide the utmost hospitality to the guest was Eos' own personal maid and newly appointed chef. Thankfully, most of the wounds that were on her arms and hands were fully healed by the time this party was to happen, however, the bruise of her forehead was still very visible, so she had Lisa use some light makeup and hair to cover it up.

The wounds on her back were the most severe and still were quite tender to the touch. Thankfully, the tea party was with close friends, so the dress code was not too formal that they had to dress to impress. The billowy dress that she wore was dusty pink with cape-like sleeves that would flutter at her slightest movement. Thankfully, the heels that she wore was low to the ground since it was an informal tea party otherwise blisters would have already begun to form. As she was fluffing out the flowers at the gazebo to make them more presentable for her guest, "Eos!" Lilith called out to her followed by Arachne, Courtney and Cybele who greeted her respectively.

Eos gestured the girl to sit at the table where the tea party would be hosted. They all handed her gifts; a pair of leather gloves, a bolt of fabric for future dresses, high quality pen and quill, and a homemade marmalade made from quince and plums with a hand knitted blanket, "What's with all the gifts?" Handing the bundle of presents to Lisa who immediately went to place them at a nearby table that was reserved for the placement of the other ladies' purses, fans, and other miscellaneous items.

All the girls sat at the table waiting for Eos, "Well, we have to treat our beloved sleepy saviour to receive grace from Lady Luck." Arachne patted Eos' head feeling the softness of her hair that was silky smooth with a slight wave to it. All the other girls began to seat themselves to the table to which Lisa bought in a rolling cart with beautifully decorated plates of delicious entrees, "Oh! I see that you have all of our favourites." The gentle waft of the food began to whet the girl's appetite mad it was soon bought in front of them. As the food continued to stream from the kitchen to the table as the ladies began to talk about all the parties that had attended, all the gossips arising of scandals and upcoming trends.

Eos who only had attended the debutante ball starting the social season was quite entertained by the talk of the girls as she quietly sipped at the peppermint tea that was provided, "Did you know that Vanity Mask has release their new lipstick collection?" Cybele praised the revolutionary product that was introduced by a select few influential people in high society that were able to test and advertise the product. Eos' lips were moistened from the tea was bought to a slight tilted, but it was hidden by the cup as she looked over to Courtney who had a twinkle in her eye as she stared back at Eos.

Lilith's eyes teared up as they glimmered at the mention of Vanity Mask, "The new lipstick collection is so popular that I couldn't get my hands on it." Grimacing over the fact of the popularity of the new cosmetic products has skyrocketed since its grand opening. A few of the top ladies of society have been promoting it even before it had official opened its door to the public.

Courtney then bought out four boxes of that had the Vanity Mask's signature logo, a slick green gold lettering of the business while there was a mask that rest against the lettering as it was encased by a ring of webs, "I have presents for the four of you." The white box was a limited-edition customisable collection box that contained all the cosmetics that were released in Vanity Mask as well as unreleased products that were waiting for their debut, "A small gift for only the most trusted friends I have." Courtney's face immediately turned into a reddish-pink hue that was covered by her lace fan that was fanned out, turning her head away in the opposite direction to hide her embarrassment.

The rest of the girls including Eos began to coo at Courtney as they crowded around embarrassed Courtney who began yelping for help from being smouldered. The cold exterior was only a front as a mean to deal with people and often many people wouldn't approach her because of that combined with her beauty that was on par with the rest of the group, "It is only a small gift." Courtney began to gossip at the tea provided, "Why overreact like such?" She softly reprimanded the girls but despite this the rest of the girl chuckled at Courtney's soft nature towards them.

If the girls were entertained as such the conversation that would occur in this private place would always be lively. Eos continued to slowly sip at her tea at the same interval since she had nothing to contribute to the conversation, "I heard that you had just hired a tailor from one of my shops." Arachne smirked as she rested her head on her chin, the twinkle in her eyes was expecting something extravagant. Eos had always a good eye for spotting talents and promising subordinates regardless of where she went therefore Arachne was always looking for the next big tailor in fashion.

The attention soon shifted to Eos who sighed, "One of your tailors was able to produce a fantastic fabric however it is a working in progress project of the tailor." This surprised the group who had known that Eos was quite hard to please especially with a lot of fabrics.

But Cybele being the new addition to the group had no idea that Eos was such a person, "What's so special about this fabric?" The tilt of her head emphasises her innocent image which was akin to a rabbit or a fawn. As Eos reveal the luxurious nature of the fabric to the group which immediately sparked interest into the unknown tailor who would soon become the sole tailor to all five of the girls, "Wow, that sounds like the folklore back where I live!" After hearing the retelling of the fabric Cybele immediately drew some connection with a local story back at her home.

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A small village was ravage from the tyrant that do not yield to the people and often hoard all the resources to himself. A villager girl wandered around in the forest trying to find some natural fibres to make some fabric however there the day had already disappeared so there was no way for the girl to properly navigate the forest and many feral animals.

She had to find shelter in the forest to hide from any feral animals and a thin wisp of smoke arising from a hole in the ground from the side of a mountain. The smoke that was streaming out of the side of the mountains where inside was a woman stringing up the most beautiful finer that reflected the light almost as if it was glowing in the dark. But the girl quickly noticed that the bottom half of the woman who was weaving the beautiful fabric was a spider which terrified her.

Running in the opposite of the spider woman who had noticed her and ran after her. The chase was quickly ended as the same fibres wrapped around her body, dragging her into the hole in the side of the mountain. The reason the spider had dragged the young villager girl into her cavern of wondrously woven fabrics that have been completely unknown to the world. It was to protect the young girl from the terrors of the night creatures known for ravaging any soul innocent or not to death to sustain their own lives. During the night both the girl and spider woman befriended each other in the cave where the spider woman taught the girl how to spin the cloth.

As the day rises to brighten the day, the girl takes the new valuable skill to teach the other villagers where it could bring about some sort of economy to the small village. However, the tyrant that reign wanted to bring that girl who weaved the most beautiful fabric abusing her abilities and knowledge. The spider woman that the girl befriended learnt of this fact and went to save the young girl to no avail. The young girl had already perished from the inhuman treatment of overworking, fatigue, and malnourishment. Enraged from the death of her friend the spider woman went on a rampage slaughtering those who caused who dwelled in the lavish castle.

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Lilith clapped at the end of the tale, "That is quite a tale." However, Courtney had a disturbed expression on her face as she drank the tea that was poured by Lisa, "I forgot that you dislike spiders a fair bit." Lilith grinned as she patted Courtney who couldn't handle the very thought of spider since they were disgusting eight legged creatures that were scary. The thought of a spider woman that would over-tower her completely terrified her. But as she began shuttering at the story a lack critter crawl on one of the pillars behind Cybele which caused her to stiffen in her posture as she gripped on Lilith's sleeve as she pointed at the spider.

This immediately caused everyone to go into a flurry of panic as they all jumped over to Lilith who was immediately smothered by the entire group. Servants came running to the site where the screams echoed throughout the residence, surrounding the gazebo that had the humongous spider. The head butler when to approach the spider who his gloved hand where he immediately cupped the spider into his hands before walking over to the garden and releasing it to the garden hedge. The spider's leg slowly stepped on the leaf where it climbed on the leaves where it disappeared away from sight before the girls who were once frightened, giggling out of embarrassment not caring for their appearance.

However, from the girls clamouring over each other from the spider that disappeared. Eos began to feel the wound on her back becoming ever so more painful most likely from the constant movement. As the girls climbed off Lilith who enjoying the scenario of being the protector of the group. Cybele gently tugged at Eos but flexing her feet to whisper in her ears, "The back of your dress is turning red." The warning caused Eos to quickly separate herself from the group using the excuse that she needed to relieve herself. Lisa quickly accompanied her to a spare dressing room where there was another dress that was like the one that she was wearing.

Lisa began to help her remove the bloodstained dress whilst also helping her redressing the bandages. Underneath the bandage showed her wounds festering as the scabs that were originally covering her wound had cracked causing a mixture of blood and pus to ooze out of the wound site. Lisa began applying some ointment on the wound which would help to moisturise the scab and prevent further breakage of the scabs that haven't broken yet. It would also serve as a protective layer from bacteria. The redressing of the bandage was quickly done by Eos and Lisa to help secure the wound also well as dressing into the new dress. As another precaution, Eos let down her hair down which gently bounced from gravity as she began to rearrange her hair so that she would part some of her hair in the middle letting her bangs frame her face while the rest of her hair remained at her back.

She quickly returned to the girl who had already relocated themselves to the courtyard nearby the gazebo that was being cleared up to provide space for the girls. Eos quickly re-joined them to where the girls sat on a picnic blanket that was make from some good fabric. Arachne and Courtney greeted Eos as they shimmied to the side to give her some space and they were drawn to the new change of dress and hairstyle, "Is it truly that obviously?" Eos enquired as she seated herself to the ground placing her legs to one side and she leaned on her arm for support. Both nodded but didn't continue to divulge into the detail too much since Eos always did something which intentions that had reason plus they already knew of the circumstance of the Monciaux Dukedom all too well.

It was an open secret that the Madam of the Monciaux Dukedom had never had good intentions and was looked down upon by many high influential women in society, but it was hard to knock her down her pedestal since she was tied to the duke's side. Also, it was also well known that the Madam did not take it well to Eos' introduction to the Monciaux Dukedom and no one knew of the extend of her wrath toward Eos.

The trio continue to sit quietly only casually talking amongst themselves occasionally while they watched over Cybele and Lilith who were making some flower crowns out of the random flowers that were blossoming on the courtyard. Eos decided to do the same as she began to weave the stems of the flower with each other and eventually she made a beautiful flower crown which she placed on Arachne's head who appreciated the kind gesture; however, Courtney began to sneeze as her hay fever began reacting toward the flowers that the girls were using to make the flower crowns. The girl quickly got rid of the flower and moved themselves to the now cleaned gazebo which was void of all the decoration that were placed on table. Courtney's servant handed her a small tablet which was used to relieve her hay fever since the pollen would always irritate her nasal passages as well as her eyes.