"Oh, that's Lady Anastasia, isn't she?" An older woman who was present at the Queen's table suddenly commented. The Queen had earlier introduced her as Countess Geraldine.
"Yes, she's going after the Prince I presume." Another one, Lady Davis, chuckled when she saw the young girl hurrying to catch up with the Prince.
"Your Majesty, probably she will be able to snatch him this time around. You might have a daughter-in-law soon!" Countess Geraldine said, making the rest of them laughed including the Queen.
"Well, I already have one now, so it will be good to have another in the family." The Queen patted Melissa's hand while she said that.
Melissa's gaze immediately followed the lady who was walking behind Prince Xavier. 'So this is the one. Her target is still the Prince.'
"Duke Kensington is so lucky to have such a lovely girl as his intended. Dear child, how are you two getting along?" Countess Geraldine asked kindly.
"We're doing fine, Countess." Melissa said, she blushed unknowingly when her mind drifted back to the kiss.
The rest of the older ladies recognized the shyness of a maiden and their eyes showed mutual understanding. They smiled and nodded their heads in approval. Everyone present was charmed by Melissa's humble attitude and her gentleness. She was truly a replica of her late mother, whom was adored by many when she was alive.
After chatting for a while, Melissa excused herself and went to get a drink. However, before she could reach an attendant to ask for one, a hand holding a drink appeared in front of her prompting her to look up at the person who's now standing before her.
"Benjamin! You're here." Melissa smiled at her newfound friend, who was also her landlord.
"How do you do, Melissa? Care for a drink?" Lord Benjamin extended the drink to her.
"Thank you. This is not spiked, right?" Melissa eyed the drink suspiciously, trying to tease Lord Benjamin.
Lord Benjamin was clearly taken aback by this statement, but seeing the cheeky glint in her eyes, he laughed heartily, causing the nearby guests to look in their direction. They had never seen Lord Benjamin laughed so happily in public. Most of the girls were envious of Melissa, but some threw nasty glances at them. Everyone who socialize enough knew how flirtatious Lord Benjamin could get with the ladies, he's the complete opposite of Prince Xavier and Duke Kensington. However, everyone also knew that beneath the flirtatious character lies a sleeping tiger, which if provoked, would erupt hell for everyone.
"I say, where's your fiancé, the famous Duke?" Lord Benjamin asked innocently.
"I'm not sure." Melissa also looked around but couldn't see Duke Kensington anywhere.
"I went to the building site that day. It's going on well. I think the renovation is almost completed?" Lord Benjamin asked while staring at the beautiful girl in front of him. Her looks were different than others, her temperament, her demeanour, everything she is sets her apart from the rest. How he long to have her in his arms.
"Yes, next week I will go over and have an inspection. Would you like to be there as well?" Melissa replied and extended the invitation to Lord Benjamin. As a landlord, surely he wanted to see the final result of how his building looked like.
"Thank you. Yes, I would love to be there." With that, both of them began chatting happily before they were rudely interrupted by a mocking voice near them.
"Wow, who would've guessed that one is not enough for her, she's targeting another two as well?" Princess Katherine's loud voice could be heard over the crowd. This statement caused everyone nearby to stop their chatter and listened on.
"What do you mean, Your Highness? Who're you talking about?" One of her minions spoke up.
"Who else, if not my dearest cousin-in-law? Oops, she's not my in-law yet. The wedding got postponed. I guess probably she's anxious and tries to hook up with someone else as a back up." With that, the Princess laughed together with her entourage.
Lord Benjamin's face darkened when he heard this. He was about to say something when Melissa stepped in front of him, facing the Princess.
"Well, if it's not my future cousin-in-law. I think you're the anxious one, not knowing when exactly the wedding will take place, aren't you?" Melissa's statement clearly held a double-meaning which was only known to the Princess alone.
Princess Katherine was furious when she heard this, especially after she was rejected bluntly not long ago by Duke Kensington.
"You! Don't think you're protected just because my mother and brother likes you! To think you're dreaming of marrying Zachary, and yet here you are flirting with another man! You ought to be ashamed of yourself!" Princess Katherine's words began to get nastier as angered seeped in her heart.
"Your Highness, which part of your eyes saw that I was flirting? If a woman and a man can't even have a decent conversation without being maligned, are you saying that this garden party which Her Majesty has personally arranged is flawed since it creates the very situation which you claimed to be flirtatious? I see many people in opposite gender are conversing with each other, are they flirting with one another? Most importantly, I also saw you talking to Duke Kensington, my fiancée moments ago, did you actually flirt with your own cousin??" With that last statement, Melissa dramatically covered her mouth with the back of her hand, acting shocked.
Lord Benjamin who was standing nearby chuckled when he heard this. To think this lady was brave enough to go against the notorious Princess. He would applaud if he could.
Princess Katherine was angered beyond reason when she heard her final accusation, in fact the statement hit all the right spot. She was ashamed of her rejection earlier and angered to death by this woman in front of her. Not thinking straight, Princess Katherine immediately pushed Melissa, causing her to stagger backwards and spilled her drink on her dress. Luckily Lord Benjamin was standing next to her, he immediately caught hold of her back to steady her.
Princess Katherine immediately stormed away, with her entourage following behind. Melissa shook her head and turned to thank Lord Benjamin.
"Melissa, you dress." Lord Benjamin looked at the dirty dress and looked worried for her.
"It's fine, it's just a spilled drink. I will go clean up." Melissa brushed off the incident.
"I'll come along. Who knows what else will happen to you?" Lord Benjamin said.
"That won't be necessary. I'll escort her." Duke Kensington's cold voice could be heard nearby.
Melissa turned and saw Duke Kensington walked over to where she's standing. He immediately held her hands and led her away without saying anything to Lord Benjamin.
Melissa turned to look at Lord Benjamin and managed to utter, "I'll see you around Benjamin." The other man smiled and nodded at her. However the moment Melissa turned away from him, Lord Benjamin's face soured and he finished his drink in anger.
"Zachary, can you walk slower, please? I feel uncomfortable in this wet dress." Melissa said, while tugging at the man's hand.
Hearing her plea, Duke Kensington's annoyance in his heart vanished and replaced with concern. He slowed down and turned to look at Melissa. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize."
She nodded and asked him to bring her to the nearest washroom. However, when the both of them turned around the corner, they spotted a lady and a man standing not far away.
The scene was really strange and there was a lot of tugging and pushing between them. What was strange was the fact that it was the man who was pushing while the lady seemed to be pulling the man towards her.
Duke Kensington and Melissa exchanged glances and both moved nearer to the couple to take a look. Upon closer inspection, both were surprised to find the man to be none other than Prince Xavier, and the woman was Lady Anastasia.