Chapter 61

We were invited to the dowagers personal gardens which stretched over a large portion of the castle grounds. It was simply the outskirts, but it was magnificient. The flowers of kinds I had never seen before, so well maintained and basically forming the inside of a palace of a completely different setting. Vines wrapped in roses hung from above like chandeliers and If I hadn't been so tense and wary I would've stopped to awe at the butterfly house. A cage that held creatures with the most eye catching prints I had ever witnessed.

But the feeling I felt was like a soldier experiencing his first drafting.

"I heard the dowager has a labririnth in her gardens - some people say the garden itself is a complete labirinth" Crystal wondered and then we saw the sight of the other ladies gazing around the gathering area. No tables or chairs in sight except a single throne decorated in gold flowers and leaves. The queen dowager was not present.

"Good afternoon, Lady Colter. I hope you are feeling well" Lady Sanchez came beside me, wearing a dress that was also very obviously given by the dowager. The same spider lace trailing along the dress.

I noticed every lady wore a dress with spider lace which meant we all wore the dowagers gifts. Nobody wore the daggers. Not even as display. It would a notion of treason even if it were simply decorative.

"Thank you, Lady Sanchez. I truly appreciate"-

"Nobody would think you were truly ill this morning" I heard the chiding voice of Lady Montgomery and Lady Sanchez snickered at her words.

"I would hate it if someone thought you were acting sick to catch the prince's eye. What a match" Lady Sanchez laughed and I felt my smile stiffen.

How would I dance my way out of this?

"The prince is simply too much of a gentleman. Please excuse me for ruining what should have been a delightful ball" I attempted the good girl approach but it was too late for that.

"Oh how she apologises- it is truly shameful to see a mere commoner act so coy" Lady Montgomery continued, although Lady Sanchez seemed thoughtful for a moment.

"I can truly attest that my cousin was sick" Crystal voiced, but Lady Montgomery shot her glance and then a pitiful expression.

"There's no need to soil your reputation because you're her cousin, Lady Hart. You're much too good to be spending time with such a lowly lady. The prince is simply using her as a means of entertainment".

I didn't reply.

Was Jules truly…

I decided to smile it off.

"I can assure you the prince has no such interest in me, Lady Montgomery. I would never think that I'm worth his attention" I wasn't sure how much I could handle rubbing myself in the mud.

"Then be sure to remind yourself next time" she snapped her fan closed and stalked away. The small audience we had gathered threw me looks of pity or amusement.

"Apologies Lady Colter- Lady Montgomery has always had high ambitions and she was truly angry when the prince left with you at the ball" Lady Raya, the red head girl came over and patted my back. "It was obvious you were truly ill. She was simply too jealous to acknowledge it".

"It's not a problem, Lady Raya. But, thank you" I smiled gratefully at her.

She returned it.

"I hope you're feel better" she smiled and then left to welcome Lady Willow who entered the place looking the princess she was.

I couldn't help but watch them with interest. They were close and they had been before too. I assumed they were childhood friends, but the status gap was pretty big between them.

"That Lady Montgomery has no right speaking to you like that" Crystal hissed angrily and I laughed, enjoying the sight of her dropping her formalities.

"It's fine. She has every right to be" I looked at the ladies and sighed. They all did. That was the difference between commoner and noble. How far you could get away with shit. Ironically, the royalty had even less freedom than commoners.

Just before I could get right into my depression dialogue of the difference between the status'. There was a clearing of a throat and we all turned to a refined older man, dressed clad as a butler. He looked familiar.

"Ladies, unfortunately, the dowager has lost her favourite necklace while she was preparing for the tea party. She was attacked"- there was a collective gasp, "by a fox cub who ran off with the jewel".

I raised my brows and made eye contact with Crystal. We were both thinking the same thing.

'Do foxes steal jewellery?'

"Luckily", he continued, "The fox has run off into the royal woodlands and there hasn't been any sighting of it leaving. The dowager is truly grievious over this event and feels very sorry to be the cause of such `trouble, but wants to make it up to you ladies by issuing a treasure hunt. Whick brings us to the first task of this round- to bring back a fox cub. We will expect each lady to bring back atleast one, but naturally the winner of this round will be the one to bring back the necklace" He smiled jovially at us as if he hadn't just told a bunch of well-bred ladies to go hunting.

"You mean for us to hunt?" Lady Sanchez spoke with a disbelieving scoff.

"That is correct. We have bought the dagger gifted to you from the dowager here to help you in this task" He raised an arm and the servants around us pulled out the daggers that were gifted to us. The same maid who had held out my dress to me earlier handed me the dagger I put in the drawer. It was eye opening to realise we were being spied on the whole time we were in the room.

Are foxes even dangerous? I had never really gone near any, usually opting to throw them a glance and ignore them. So I wasnt sure if I should be scared at all.

Crystals held her dagger with a face the colour of paper.

"We have to hunt a fox?" She muttered with a furrowed brows.

"A cub" I added, assuming it would make her feel better.

"Thats even worse..."

"It shouldn't be hard at all" Lady Raya spoke confidently, no doubt the blood of a true knight ran through her blood as much as it did her brothers.

"What colour is this necklace exactly?" Lady Willow asked boldly, silencing the unsettled murmurs of the rest of us.

"It's orange. A bright orange" The butler began guiding us to the woodlands while I thought about the colour.

Aren't foxes orange?

I frowned realizing this was simply part of the task. But ladies hunting foxes? how peculiar...