"Miss Roberts... You haven't fallen for the First Prince, have you?" I looked at her. 'Please tell me you haven't... Not for that idiot!'
Miss Roberts looked to her feet and said, "Even if I did, he doesn't have eyes for anyone other than that commoner he fell in love with...."
"Commoner..?" I asked.
"Her name was Irene.... if I recall correctly..."
'Irene Reubel! That girl seriously went and grabbed the prince's heart!'
"Forget about that, Lady Saravelle. Why don't we step out of this crowd first... It's a bit suffocating." Miss Roberts tried to change the topic.
"That's 'Miss' for you..." I said.
"What?" She asked.
"I said, call me 'Miss Saravelle' please. We have finally become friends, isn't it a shame to still be polite and stiff with each other?" I smiled as I said.
"Mm. Miss Saravelle." She smiled as well.
We both stepped out of the crowd and walked towards a fairly desolate corner of the banquet hall.
"I know that you don't want to talk about it but I'm worried about you, Miss Roberts. I'm not going to poke into the topic too much... I only want to know if you love your fiancé and if you resent Miss Irene Ruebel for taking your place... You don't have to talk if you don't like it. I only want to know your stance on the matter and help you..." I said with a worried look. I truly was very worried.
Miss Roberts smiled. "It's fine. I don't mind telling you that much. It's not that hard to talk about... I... I never wanted him to love me... I only wanted the interest of my fiancé... He is someone I will marry in three years... I don't want to come in the way of his true love... I don't know what to do..."
I realized that the topic was making her sad. It was a royal engagement. It wasn't like she could back off just because he wasn't interested in her. It was a political marriage and I understood that.
I felt the need to apologize and change the topic but before I could, the Duchess announced to the attendees that she wanted to spend time with all the ladies present and would like to invite all of them into the garden for tea. Her husband, the Duke, stayed behind to entertain the male guests.
We all followed the Duchess into the garden and took our seats around the table. The only males present were the guards of the Duke's household that stood at the entrance so all the ladies let loose and started talking about girly topics they couldn't before in the hall.
"Lady Desmond! I heard that 'Der Rosengarten' released a new Lavender Handcream! I believe it would suit you a lot!" One of the ladies suddenly started talking to Lady Desmond, who somehow ended up sitting opposite to me.
"No! The Rose Handcream would suit Lady Desmond. She's so pretty! The sweet scent of rose would match her soft beauty, not the bitter scent of Lavender!"
The girls continued arguing about which cream would suit the beauty of the kingdom while they ignored Miss Roberts and me on purpose. I didn't mind at all. I enjoyed listening to these ladies that despised me talking about my products, completely oblivious of their maker.
Miss Roberts, however, sat a bit awkwardly, sipping her tea. She was sitting a bit far away from me to talk to, though...
While I was thinking about that, I suddenly heard someone mention the name of the subject of my thoughts.
"Lady Roberts, I heard that you started training for the position of Crown princess, but... " The girl paused for a bit before smiling with disdain and continuing. "It seems that you don't need it."