Chapter 8: Chaos

Sophia's POV

"Nous sommes dans une maison de culte, Révérend." ["We are in a house of worship, Reverend Thomas."]

"Duke?"

Why is the duke here? Shocks. This is hella embarrassing!

"Bonjour, Duc, mais pourriez-vous gentiment faire en sorte que votre sœur parte avant qu'elle ne cause encore plus de chaos ?" ["Good day, Duke, but could you kindly have your sibling leave before she causes any more chaos?"] The Reverend's words signaled for the Duke to look at me.

I was almost ready to smile at him, but his face was completely expressionless, utterly blank. My heart started to pound uncontrollably. His stare was terrifying. It felt like it could pierce right through me, cold and unwavering.

"Bediensteter, eskortiere diese Frau sofort hier raus." ["Servant, escort this woman from here at once."] he said in a low, chilling tone, his gaze still blank as he looked at me.

"Understood, Duke," Lea suddenly replied.

As soon as Lea spoke, the Duke left with the deputy captain and some other men I had never seen before.

"Hurry, young lady, let us leave this place." Lea held my arm, but I remained frozen in confusion.

What's happening? Is he kicking me out? Wow, really? Does he think I came here to pray? Just because he's handsome, he thinks he can act this way? Canceled! He's canceled!

I pulled my arm away from Lea and lifted my gown up to my knees, stomping out of the church. As I walked out, a few people glanced at me, and I just glared back.

"Young lady, it seems we may be in some trouble with the Duke. What shall we do?" Lea asked nervously as we left the church, waiting outside.

I lifted my gown to my knees and sat down in the corner, irritated. I put my arms on my knees and rested my chin there.

"Young lady, I beg of you, please sit with proper decorum. It is unseemly for a young lady to position herself in such a manner, and pray, request that you lower your gown? Your knees are exposed, such immodesty is not normal."

Knees? What would he think if he visited 2025, where people flaunt their curves? He'd probably faint.

"Ugh, that Duke is so annoying! Is he really that rude? Cold? Was he raised on bitterness?" I asked in an irritated tone.

"Pray, lower your voice. You speak of the Duke, and there may be ears listening. And that is simply the nature of Dukes. He bears the weight of both the duchy and the military upon his shoulders."

"That's no excuse for treating me that way! He's still such an emotionless prick!" I said, poking at my itchy back with my laced hand fan.

"Young Lady, pray tell, what are you doing to your back?" she asked, her eyes widening in astonishment.

"I'm scratching. This dress's material is itchy, Lea. I'm not used to it."

"Please hurry, someone might see you!" she replied, flustered. I almost laughed at her.

"Goodness, I feel as though I am tending to a child of five. You shall be the end of me, Young Lady."

"Hahaha! Okay, I'll behave now," I just said to try and ease her stress.

I leaned against the church wall with my arms crossed as people began to leave the church. I stared at the crowd passing by. They were all so well-dressed, and you could tell they were important figures in town. They looked like walking paintings, almost like something from the Renaissance.

I raised both of my hands and mimicked taking a picture with my fingers.

"Wow! All that's missing is a black-and-white filter, and it would be like I'm in an old magazine I see at Dad's library! Amazing!"

I was lost in my thoughts when someone suddenly stopped in front of me, making me look up.

"Have you truly no sense of decency?"

I was about to answer, but I froze again as I saw his handsome face. I was frustrated with him, but I couldn't stop getting lost in his looks. He was so breathtakingly handsome. How could this young, handsome man hold so much power?

"Shall I repeat myself?" he uttered again, his brow furrowed.

"I'm waiting for you here, okay?" I responded, pretending to be upset, but my heart was fluttering. It's ridiculous.

"Did I bid you to wait here? When I told you to leave earlier, my intention was for you to return to the estate at once," he answered, his anger completely erasing my excitement.

In such an intimate moment, I couldn't even utter a single word. He was about to step into his carriage when, unexpectedly, he turned to face me again.

"Prepare yourself for tomorrow. I shall introduce you to a gathering. Due to the disturbance you caused in the church earlier, I find myself compelled to present you to everyone," his brows met again in the middle, "sooner than I had originally planned," his jaw clenched as he spoke.

After that, he boarded his carriage and left, leaving me standing there holding my gown, my head down.

Wow. His words were almost piercing. Cold is an understatement. He is a freezer—no, a freaking Antarctic ocean! If I were an emotional person, I might have cried by now.

"Ha! So what if you're handsome? You're so rude! I hope your horse gets a limp in the middle of the road!" I shouted at his carriage as it began to leave the premises.

"Young lady, are you alright?"

I ignored Lea and turned around, only to bump my forehead into someone's chest.

"How have you been, young lady?"

I looked up at him. "Friedrice?"

"Friedrich, young lady," he smiled, and I couldn't help but smile back. His dimple made him even more charming. "I saw you earlier in the church. Because of you, my boredom was alleviated. I nearly succumbed to slumber amidst the mass, but your presence stirred me from my drowsiness," he said, laughing softly.

I chuckled lightly. Was that a compliment? Right?

"Haha! You saw me," I replied, my face turning red with embarrassment.

"I've heard that you will be presented to the assembly by the Duke himself at tomorrow's banquet."

"Yeah, haha! I'll be—"

"Will you be in attendance?"

Both Friedrich and I turned to look at Lea, who was blushing while looking shy. I secretly smiled. Wow, looks like my little chicken is on fire.

"Aren't you Lea? The servant of the former Count Eltz?"

"Indeed, Sir Deputy."

"I am relieved to find you in good health. I merely wished to inform you that Count Eltz, the one who wronged you, is now confined in Heidelberg and will soon face trial for his transgressions."

"Thank you ever so much, Deputy Captain. Rest assured, I will find the proper moment to express my gratitude to you in due course."

"If that is indeed the case, I shall await that day with patience," he said, smiling, causing Lea's face to turn even redder.

"Well then, I'll be on my way. Good day, young ladies."

"Goodbye, sir—" I was cut off.

"Take care then, Deputy!"

I looked at Lea again. I didn't expect this shy girl to have such a sassy side.

"We shall meet again tomorrow night at the banquet, young lady," Friedrich said, smiling at me.

"Okay, I mean, sure," I smiled back.

"Hey! You have a crush on Friedrich, don't you?" I asked Lea as soon as the Deputy Captain left.

"Huh? Crush? What's that?" she asked, confused.

"Crush, uh, do you like him?"

She didn't respond but turned bright red.

"Aww, you like him! You have a crush on Friedrich!" I teased, nudging her in the side.

"Young lady, kindly lower your voice. Someone may overhear, and that would be most embarrassing!" she whispered, her face turning red, causing me to laugh.

"Hahaha, tell me, when did you start liking the Deputy Captain?"

"Like him?"

Both of us turned to see three women standing behind us, listening to our conversation.

"Servant, is it true that you harbor feelings for the Deputy Captain?" asked a woman in a pink laced dress.

Lea looked down, unable to answer.

"Why do you remain silent? Does that imply it is true?" another woman, wearing a blue dress, asked.

"I apologize, it's not true!" Lea replied quickly.

"You are utterly delusional! What folly possesses you to think that someone of your standing could have any affection for the Deputy?" the third woman, wearing a green gown, snapped.

"I'm sorry, young ladies, but we must take our leave now," Lea said, trying to pull me away, but just as she reached for me, one of the women grabbed her arm and shoved her to the ground. Not satisfied, the woman climbed on top of her. The woman in the green dress also crouched down to be on the same level as Lea.

Aha! These girls are like the evil stepsisters of Cinderella. What a bunch of brats!

I rolled up my sleeves and approached them. Quickly, I grabbed their hair and yanked it.

"Ow! Ow!" they both cried out in pain.

Not done yet, I pulled them both up by their hair.

"Ow! Let go of us!" the woman in the green scarf yelled.

"You don't want to get hurt, but you're hurting others?" I asked, tightening my grip on her hair, making them scream. "That doesn't make sense!"

"Release us at once! Are you unaware of who we are? We are the daughters of Herr Adolf!"

"Adolf? You mean, Adolf the red-nose reindeer?"

"Oh crap, I think it's Rudolph."

"Young lady, look out!" Lea shouted, making me look to my side, where the woman in the red dress was charging toward me.

Tss, as if I'm scared of her. As she got closer, I quickly raised my foot and kicked her in the stomach.

Am I really fighting these girls? Flips hair (came from a notorious school of bullies).

"Who do you think you are, daring to treat us in such a manner?" one of them asked.

I took a deep breath and raised an eyebrow.

"I am Sophia, uh... what was it again? Oh! I'm Sophia, not last, but first. Yes, I'm Sophia the First."

"What chaos is this?"

We all turned to look at the one who spoke.

"Princess?"

I didn't know who she was, but the moment our eyes met, a shiver ran down my spine.

But... what did they just say?

Princess?