Twenty Four

The host of the Celebration has already introduced the Crane family. Historia is just standing beside her brother Redam, who is standing beside his father. Historia looked around and noticed that the majority of the aristocrats, particularly the men, were staring at her. Who wouldn't be impressed by the Lady's beauty? Of course, some aristocrats were also staring at her especially women who is only the same age as her, murmuring about the lady, but Historia isn't concerned.

After introducing the Family Crane, she rushes down to avoid drawing the attention of everyone attending the Celebration, as she dislikes being the center of attention at such events. Historia went to the food stall to get some cupcakes and ate them. She couldn't believe how delicious the food was, prepared personally by their chef! She took five of them and looked around, where she noticed Trim Zandravel looking at her, his eyebrows raised in confusion.

Historia looked around and noticed no one was looking at them, so she raised her hands and gave the crown prince the middle finger, surprising him and wanting to fight her, but he was too late. Historia walks away from him, holding three cupcakes in her hands and laughing at the crown prince's reaction.

Seconds later, Typhis, in his animal form, hops onto Historia's shoulder and speaks. "I saw that." Typhis smirks, causing Historia to giggle once more before asking for a high five from Typhis and giving Typhis a cupcake to eat.

While Historia was eating, the ladies in a circle gossiped about her and looked at her with disgust, while others were afraid to look at her. Because the ladies are unaware that she is already behind them, she rushes in and listens to their stories.

"You know what, I heard Lady Historia were eating people at night. One of their maids saw her come out at night to find her prey that is why she is very beautiful as she always kidnapped women and drink their blood with ritual."

"Eh? I also heard that she have a lot of men. I feel very pity to the Duke. How did she bewitch him! Duke Zion is very handsome! He doesn't deserve a witch!"

Historia was surprised to hear such things. She immediately jumps into the conversation of the five ladies and speaks. "What the fvck, did I really do that? How many stories y'all know about me? I wanna hear it too," Historia says sarcastically. The ladies jumped in, surprised to see Historia behind them, making them bow their heads and perform the curtsey.

"My lady! W-we didn't know you were already behind us," the one with dark short hair stuttered as she kept doing the curtsy to her. Based on the dress she was wearing, it looks like she came from a low class. Maybe she is a daughter of a baron, but she still dares to gossip about the Duke's daughter and talk about things that aren't real. 'People,' Historia thought to herself, looking down at the five ladies.

She gave them her warmest smile and spoke. "It's okay, go on I wanna hear all of the rumors running throughout the empire about me. It is the first time I heard such things. I wanna know what I did after that," Historia says with a smile on her face. The five ladies looked at each other, thinking about what they needed to do. They simply bit their lower lip and bowed their heads.

They were about to speak when Historia interrupted them. "Never mind." Historia slowly approaches the lady with dark short hair and whispers in her ear. "Do it again in our mansion, and I will turn you into a frog and throw you into the dark forest, where you will be eaten by big monsters, you hear me?" The lady nods quickly and bites her lip, causing Historia to grin and draw her gaze to the right, where she saw the emperor looking at her with a smile.

She decided to walk away from them and into the hallway. "That's wild," Typhis says, still sitting on Historia's shoulder. "The emperor have been staring at you for minutes already. I am guessing he is here to check you," he went on to say.

"He could do that all day, maybe he is just observing my behavior after hearing such rumors that the Lady Historia Crane changed immediately after poisoning the crown princess," Historia goes on to say. "I am attending this celebration not to talk to him anyway, I am here to talk with the Brimrock but I guess they're still not here."

Just as she finished speaking, a horn sounded, indicating that someone was on their way to the Celebration. "The Brimrock Family is here!" exclaimed the announcer, causing everyone in the room to gossip. It is unusual for an introverted family to attend the Crane family's celebration.

"They are here!" Historia exclaimed. She saw Duchess Brianna with her granddaughter beside her, smiling at everyone. Historia felt at ease around the lady, which caused her to smile, and when the lady looked at her, she smiled back and waved her hands at her, surprising Historia.

"I guess the Brimrock lady has the opposite personality from the other Brimrock," Typhis says through their minds, prompting Historia to nod in agreement.

"You think I'll be able to talk with the Duchess? She seems powerful and intimidating, but she looks very respectful, and I think I'll like her personality," Historia replied to Typhis, who looked at her in amazement. She was considering enlisting the Brimrock family as an ally.

Historia was about to approach the Duchess when Vivian called her name, causing her to stop. She turned around to see Vivian smiling at her, a white falcon perched on her shoulder. "What a dazzling fox you have, Lady Historia," Lady Vivian says sweetly, smiling. She wore a plain white gown with a black ribbon in her hair and black accessories.

Historia just stared at her intently, then at the Falcon, whom she noticed staring at Typhis. "It is nice to see you here, Lady Vivian," Historia says, curtsying before smiling at her.