They Still Couldn't Compare to Her
As the only daughter of the main branch of the Fawn family, Maple Fawn felt that this was the worst day of her entire life.
She was, at one point, excited to be at the 3rd Imperial Prince's First Debut. Not only did her family have the honour of being invited, her father would also be directly involved in the event!
Her father was Sycamore Fawn! An infamous man who rose through the ranks with cunning and intelligence. Starting a noble bloodline despite descending from servants! Maple didn't care that those purebred nobles would always look down on her and her family. Those bastards had forgotten their roots, many generations ago their bloodlines were also nothing significant.
She never cared when the people referred to them as "The Sycophant Family" instead of "The Fawn Family"....Why would she waste her energy on them? So many of those who would even bother to criticize her family were poor, talentless, incapable nobles who had absolutely nothing to offer the Empire other than their noble blood. Her father was leagues better than any of those useless dolts! Who cares if he sometimes had to suck up to those influential people? Isn't that what everyone did in the upperclass?
Maple scoffed at the idea of ever cowering in front of any of those bastards. She was known to be just as condescending as any other highborn daughter. Despite the fact that everyone seemed to believe that she should just bow her head and act like a servant because of her lineage she would never compromise unless it was fair to her.
She was born to a Count! Maple knew how to act towards those with higher rank than her. She constantly studied and revised her etiquette studies during her early childhood and even now. She wouldn't- couldn't- ever give them another reason to look down on her.
The girl was now 11. Two years ago when her First Debut was held the people doubted her. The event was held for 3 days that seemed endless, which was as many days as her family could afford at the time. For 3 days she fought for herself constantly. She couldn't even bring herself to sleep from the stress of it all. By the end of the three days her feet were rubbed raw with blisters from being on her feet in heels all the time. She had lost her voice from the incessant back and forth with those who needed to be put in their place, below her. Along with those few with higher ranks who still decided to act out in order to challenge her. By the end of it all she was tired and aching both physically and mentally. She earned her respect as a noblewoman, even if there were some who refused to properly acknowledge that fact.
When the invitation to the Prince's First Debut was received by her father her family was full of pride. Not only did their little Countship gain enough recognition to even be invited, they would also be granted audience with the Emperor himself! This must mean the Emperor trusts their judgement, trusts them to understand how to properly showcase his son's strengths! Imagine how they could rise even further after the other guests see that the Emperor trusts them!
....but now it all came crashing down.
How did it even come to this? The night had just begun and this was supposed to kickstart a good reputation among the guests. The Prince would see the situation and lightly reprimand Sycamore Fawn, then her father would observe the kid, decide whether he could handle a more complex disrespect or just apologize. Regardless! It would've been the first successful 'incident' of the Imperial Prince's First Debut! No matter how it ended her father was bound to benefit! He would be seen as a man with good judgement who was trusted by the Emperor....
What good judgement?! There was none! Sycamore Fawn sincerely cried out in his heart, he wants to go back in time and pretend he never received the invitation!!
Maple Fawn thought that this could still be salvaged. Prince Oleander gave her a chance to greet him next. Despite her nerves she would never forget her manners right?
Regrettably, she was doing too much thinking and not enough posturing. Her movements were jerky and hesitant even though she was trying to make them slow and graceful. She thought so hard, trying to unravel where things went wrong that she even forgot to speak her greeting.
She was looking for answers that weren't there. Nothing went wrong. It's just that, unbeknownst to her, the young prince was conducting an impromptu etiquette test. Unfortunately the little test came at the expense of her family's dignity.
Maple's personal pride was damaged even further because just after she bowed to the boy she heard his cold remark,
"....What a disappointment. All of them..."
Not only his words but the way he said it sent shivers down her spine.
The Fawns had expected this experience to bring great things to their family. Not to be humiliated by a little boy.
What child would act like this? It felt as though they were facing the Emperor himself.... And perhaps they were.
The Fawns weren't the only ones to have such thoughts.
In fact, it made more sense to the public that the Emperor would use his child to indirectly put these nobles in their place than it did for the young prince to genuinely be so ruthless.
Those that were meant to be involved in similar 'incidents' throughout the celebration all seemed to come to the same conclusion.
Was the Emperor so cunning? Did he simply set this up with the intention of degrading the nobles like this?
The idea of a terrifying man was less intimidating at the moment than the idea of a young boy who acted like this simply off of instinct.
Despite the wild theories in everyone's minds, the celebration continued on. The Fawns were dismissed by Oleander and miserably hung around a small section of the hall, their allies too intimidated to go make conversation with The Prince still in the room. Oleander continued to greet those who needed to be greeted but the few people who were also supposed to make a scene didn't....
Soon enough the first night of the celebration would come to an end, it would be time for a rest in their rooms, the first of the next two weeks.