Chapter 13

"Churl?!" Rhys yelled. His eyes widened with disbelief.

"Shut your mouth! You're nothing but a servant!" His voice was shaky as he belittled her "How dare you speak to a guest like this!?" His low voice began attracting a bigger crowd. 

I want to get out of here. Marian will soon come since it's her tea party. Whatever she does cannot be good.

I grabbed Isadora's hand. 

"Elliot, Isadora…" I took a step forward. "We have to get out of here."

We tried walking out, but the crowd was thickening. I could hear the commotion between Rhys and that girl behind us. Rhys was getting louder as the seconds went by.

Suddenly, I bumped into someone while trying to maneuver out of the crowd. Looking up, I saw the fiery red locks and bright pink eyes of the villainess.

"Excuse me," She walks past us without looking back. There was a slight smile on her face.

Damn it, what is she going to do?

Technically, we were the ones who started the fight. The maid just happens to come in at a bad time. I'll be the one to blame if Marian finds out.

My hand tightens around Isadora's "Eck! Lady Violette!" Isadora squeals. I didn't notice I was holding onto her so tightly.

When I looked back…

Eh? What the? Why is Marian grabbing a chair?

No way! Is she going to beat him with it?! My mouth was agape in shock.

However, that shock didn't compare to the confusion I felt when instead, Marian sat down on the chair. She poured herself a cup of tea, crossing her legs as she watched this go down.

Wait, what is she doing?

"Rhys Hawks." Marian speaks his name. "You are the child of Lady Brooklyn. She is a rich merchant and wonderful alchemist. Her skills in alchemy made her famous, giving the wealth she has." She gives a brief summary. 

Upon hearing this, Rhys went stiff.

"As for your father…" Marian takes a moment to look into Rhys' red eyes.

"Sir Geovani Hawks. A skilled swordsman and a famous knight. He is said to be the greatest swordsman in the nation. What an impressive feat indeed." Marian lets out a chuckle. She sat up straight as Rhys gave her his full attention.

"Your parents are incredibly impressive," Her pink eyes reflected with darkness.

"Yet you, are an unremarkable child."

Rhys stumbled back. It looked as if someone had stabbed a knife into his chest. His face shared the same pain as a man who had been brutally beaten. "D-duchess Marian, aren't you being too cruel?"

"Whatever do you mean?" She raises an eyebrow, still smiling with dark eyes.

"I-I am merely telling this servant not to be disrespectful," Rhys tried to put up a brave face. However, his shivering body betrays him.

Marian couldn't help but smirk. To her, this has to be nothing more than an opera she was enjoying.

"I must say, the prediction I made when I sent you that invitation was not wrong," She plays with the rim of her tea cup "You are as stupid as the rumors say. I just wanted to see how you would behave with my own eyes."

It was as if someone told Rhys he was dead this whole time. His expression was no less than exasperated.

"M-me?!" He muttered.

"It is time for you to leave," The servant made her voice heard.

"A-are you hearing this, Lady Marian?" The boy stutters angrily. He was trying to change the subject "This servant! She's been bad mouthing me for so long now! Who does she think he is?!"

Everyone in the party was uncomfortable. However, no one dared to move or say anything. For they feared what Marian would do to them.

Marian was staring daggers at the young boy. Her grin was exaggerated, and her eyes were full of malice.

Crap! What's Marian going to do? My hands began shaking. God knows what she'll say to the servant. Or worse, what she'll do to him.

"What do I have to do with this?" She smiles, taking a sip of her tea. "By all means, aren't you the one who started this?" 

Marian was holding herself back. I can tell.

"H-ha?! To allow a lowly servant to insult your guests, do you have no shame?"

"Are you questioning my ways of educating my servants?"

Rhys didn't have a response to that. Even he knew not to say anything further than that.

"Let me escort you out, you mongrel," The girl sneered. There was venom in her voice as she held herself back. 

"Watch your tongue! What kind of maid speaks to a nobleman like this!" Rhys snapped. He was practically screaming at this point. His red eyes filled with anger. He was ready to keep arguing and yelling for the sake of his pride.

"Clementine," Marian said, a slight smile on her face, "Slap him." 

With a word or question, the servant girl takes a step forward. 

SLAP

Her hand whipped the side of his face. There was so much anger hidden in that hit. Rhys fell to the ground, his dignity falling down with him.

Everyone in that garden gasps. The maid slapped the young man. Everyone, including Rhys, had a terrified look of pain on their face. As if they had been slapped as well.

Marian stands up from her chair and walks forward. Reaching out a hand to grab Rhys' chin, she leaned forward. Mere inches separated both of their faces from each other. "When you are at my estate, you live by my rules!" Her grin was dark "You are not the master here! If my servants have done wrong, only I get to belittle them!" She was now grabbing his face with her hand.

Her voice echoed through the garden so everyone could hear it loud and clear. No one dared to step in.

"You dare come to my tea party, insult my servants and think you can lecture me on how I should educate them?! I was the one who offered you that invitation! You act how I see fit! Rhys Hawks, you are nothing but a worthless child who has nothing more than the legacy of his parents. Without them, you would be no better than trash in the streets! Compared to me, you are but dirt!!"

Mania. Absolute mania. Marian couldn't keep a straight face as she kept throwing insults at him. Her face was twisted with cruel enjoyment.

The man in her grasps began breathing rapidly.

"N-no wonder! What they say about you-! How you are a rotten woman with a tainted heart! Your reputation really matches with you!" Rhys forces a smile. He presented a face of bravado, but his body shook and twitched with each passing second.

Marian's hand tightened around him. 

"Frankly, I don't give a shit about my reputation!" The way she said it, as if she's trying to hold in a laugh "If anything, you wouldn't want word to get out about how you were so disgracefully slapped by a servant at the Duchess' tea party!"

Once again, that sadistic smile and twisted eyes were painted on her face. The expression that made others would question whether there is sanity behind those pink eyes.

"How would your father feel upon receiving such shameful news?"

It was as if the entire manor was against him. Their eyes were glued into the situation.

At this point, Rhys was shaking. His fingers fidgeted and his knees shook. Quivering like a freezing man, he was left speechless by the hands of the Duchess. With one last look at his frightened face, Marian shoves Rhys' face away from her.

"Now, Clementine," She shakes her hand, trying to get dust off of it. "Take this bitch outside! Beat him up if you have to!" Marian didn't look back as her maid dragged Rhys' by his collar out the door. The entire party was left in silence, stunned.They felt as if they mutter a single word, they would be next in line to receive a lecture from Marian.

"Haaa~ I'm so hungry~," Thankfully, Marian was the one who broke the silence. She shouts carefreely, as if nothing had transpired. Stretching, she begins to walk in my direction. I couldn't move. I was frozen in fear to move a muscle. Surprisingly, she walked past me instead. Surprised and relieved, I looked to see where she was going.

Marian stopped at the table, at where she had put the box of sandwiches.

She smiled at me, as if nothing had just happened seconds ago. 

There's just no way…

"These are good. Thank you for bringing me, Lady Violette," I felt my heart pounding against my chest. She put me in the spotlight after all of that. Is this her own way of punishing me?

Everyone at that party had set their sights on me. 

It was as if I had forgotten how to breathe. I was suddenly gasping for air as if I was suffocating. Sweating nervously, our eyes locked. Her arrogant pink eyes stared at my blacked ones which were filled with dread.

There's just no way I can befriend someone like that.

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