[*Note: the conversation in this chapter is conducted in French]
Ivy trotted along the hallway until she reached the dance floor. The smile on her face had long perished. Her face was now devoid of any emotions and eerily calm.
She patiently made her way across the crowd and towards the exit. As soon as she got out,the night breeze greeted her fair porcelain skin. Although it was summer, it was still chillingly cold.
She looked around, checking her surroundings before she turned left and strode along the street. She made a turn at a small dark alley and proceeded deeper into it.
No one had noticed, in this small abandoned alley, a black Ducati was sitting nicely under the camouflage of the night.
Ivy ran her fingers gently on her baby and stopped when her hand met her leather jacket draping on top of the Ducati.
She grabbed the jacket and swiftly wore it. She then put on her black helmet before she sat on top of the motorcycle.
She jumped start the engine and made her way out of the alley in a fast pace. She raced down the highway, making her way to Elizabeth Palace in a matter of fifteen minutes.
It should've taken her around at least thirty minutes to reach The Bay, the luxurious district of the capital where the riches made their residence. It was located at the central of the city.
All the high-end apartments and famous companies building, including department stores selling branded goods were built around this area for its strategic location.
It was a bustling business area during the day, while at night a nice place for shopping and lavish dining. One could also hang out at the chic cafes around the area. A lot of them even had a famous international patisserie at their disposal.
Ivy took off her helmet as she reached the lobby of the apartment building. The moment the securities saw her face, they approached her and slightly bowed at her with reverence.
Ivy responded with a nod. She handed her helmet to them and walked away towards the lobby.
Both of the receptionists saw her and quickly bowed at her with a smile. One of them then went ahead and called the security line.
"Young Mistress has returned."
All the personnel in the room quickly made their way to their seats and watched the security cameras carefully.
Then five agents from special forces who were residing in the building silently made their way towards the top floor.
Ding!
The elevator door opened at the top floor. Ivy stepped out into the hallway.
The reason why this apartment building was called Elizabeth Palace was because it was designed in Victorian style, mimicking a European Palace where the royals used to reside with red carpet covering the marble floor and gold railings and majestic Apollonian sculptures. Thus, it was called a "Palace" rather than an apartment.
The palace was completed with a vast yard of garden at the back where its residence could enjoy horse ride or an outdoor French cafe with its own patisserie.
As Ivy went past the tall mirror on the right-hand wall with exquisite golden linings and two angels residing atop its two edges, she stopped at the room number 2029.
She rang the bell before she knocked on the door once.
The door was quickly opened and a Caucasian man with a neat hairstyle and fashionable attire greeted her in French.
"Bonsoir, Princesse Elizabeth."
Yes, this "Elizabeth Palace" belonged to Princess Elizabeth Allaire Ardent a.k.a Ivy, second in line to the throne for the Ardent Royal Family of Country S which still adopted a monarchy system. The family itself had affiliation to the old French monarch and aristocrats.
Presently, in this modern era, the family had also taken roots in the business world. Known for their vast connections with other countries' governments and the elites, as well as their chain of various businesses spread across the world, the Ardent royal family was not someone to be trifled with.
The Caucasian man bowed slightly. He smiled happily at his princess and the source of his inspiration.
"Alexander," Ivy greeted him back.
He then moved away to welcome her to his room. It was a two-storied flat with a Victorian style design.
"Where have you been, Princess?" Alexander asked her worriedly. He seemed to have noticed something as he frowned.
"Where is the royal blue cardigan that I have designed for you, Princess?!"
"Chill, Alex!" exclaimed Ivy. "And stop with the princess, I told you, you can just call me Lisbeth or... Lisa sounds nice. Oh, but you should call me Ivy for now."
Alexander felt like his head was going to explode in the next moment. "Whatever this is, Princess?! What Ivy? What in the world is going on?"
"Alexander," Ivy suddenly called in her authoritative voice. She gave him the gaze of that a royal blood.
"Princess." Alexander calmed down instantly.
Ivy motioned her hand towards the couch in front of her. "Sit."
Alexander obediently sat down. He looked at Ivy with reverence.
"For now, call me Ivy. I need some practice before I get used to it," she said.
Although Alexander didn't quite understand and his head was full of questions, he still obeyed her without question.
"Princess Ivy."
Ivy chocked. "Just Ivy! Omit the princess."
"Yes, Miss Ivy." He couldn't possibly call the princess with just her name.
However, Ivy nodded with satisfaction. She knew it was his limit and it didn't sound weird as well. "Now, your cardigan."
"Technically, it's your cardigan, Miss."
"Whatever." She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, it got stained with blood so I burnt it."
Alexander immediately stood up, alarmed. He moved closer and started to check Ivy body for wounds.
"Stop! I'm not hurt. Don't worry."
"What happened, Miss?" Alexander asked worriedly. "Is it him again?"
"I think so." Ivy smiled indifferently. "So, I just killed his subordinate again."
Alexander face went pale.
"He had a gun and... I guess you can say I borrowed it? I wasn't thinking much and just went ahead and shot his head. I was extremely pissed at that time when I heard his man spoke his name. Thus, I didn't think of the possibility the blood would splashed onto my cardigan."
She pouted. Sticking her tongue out, she apologized to him, "Sorry."
"I really like that cardigan though. You designed it beautifully. I'm sorry I couldn't take care of it," she continued.
By the end of her speech, Alexander face had become extremely pale and his mind went blank. His body was frozen stiff.
No matter how many times he had heard it, Alexander could never get used to hearing his princess killing someone effortlessly like it was nothing, as if it was a part of her daily job.
Alexander was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't realize Ivy was calling him relentlessly.
She was snapping her fingers in front of him trying to wake him from his absent-mindedness. "Hey, Alex. Hello! Alex!"
Alex snapped back to reality when Ivy shook his body.
"Yes, Miss?"
Ivy pouted. "I'm sorry I couldn't avoid the blood," she said apologetically. "Please forgive me."
She thought Alex was mad that he ignored her.
"Wh-why are you apologizing for that, Miss? This servant does not care about the cardigan. I can make ten of them if Miss like it!" He exclaimed loudly.
Ivy was stunned by the sudden raise of his voice.
Alex seemed to realize his impudence for raising his voice against the princess. He cleared his throat and continued to speak, "Pardon me, Miss, for being rude. But, I'm just worried about you, Miss. If you got hurt, how would this servant answer to Her Highness and His Majesty? Even now, they're worried because you refused to stay inside the Palace with them."
Alex clasped Ivy's hands with his and with his pleading eyes, he urged her, "Just stop doing this dangerous things and go home, Miss."
The expression on Ivy's face became heavy. She shook her head. "Alex, my place is not there. At least, not yet. He would not let go just because I enter the palace. Rather than him knowing who I am and harm the royal family, I prefer to stay away from the palace and face him myself."
She gripped Alex's hands tightly. "Believe in me, Alex. When the time is ripe, I will finish him in one move. And then, I shall return to where I belong. So, for now, let me be who I am before you found me. Please don't speak a word about this to anyone."
Alex looked at his princess with tears welled up in his eyes. "How I wish we had found Miss first before you met him."
Ivy smiled bitterly. "One shall not dwell in the past, My Friend."
"Now," she clasped Alex shoulders. "If you are worried of me, do take care of that accident in the Fusion club."
She gave him a look. "You know what to do."
Alex nodded. "Do not worry, Miss. I will not leave a trace."
Then, she continued, "And find me a beautiful gown that can make everyone jaws dropped and all the ladies turned green with envy. I know you cannot design one for me in a matter of two days so, just find me a ready made one. You have such exquisite taste. I trust you, Alex."
"My, who told you I couldn't possibly finish a dress in two days? For you Miss Ivy, I shall accomplish it. And anyway, I have myself a ready made gown especially for you if the time does not permit me to sew you a new one. But, if I may ask, what's the occasion?"
"Well, I'm going to this masquerade ball held by the Ru family at the Ritz Carlton. They were celebrating their daughter's birthday."
She purposely left out the part where she was going with Oliver Wang. If Alex knew, he would be frantic and thought that Oliver was a possible partner for her. When in fact, she was just accompanying him to go teach his childhood lover a lesson.
"You are acquainted with the Ru family, Miss? How fortunate they are."
Ivy snorted. "What are you talking about, Alex? They are one of the affluent families in Country A."
"Still not on par with your family, Miss. Your family bloodline has come far from the past. Thus, it has a long history and strong foundation of its own. The Ardent family's influence has expanded to many different countries. Only people such as the Wang family or..." Alex stopped his sentence. His eyes darkened. They were filled with intense hatred.
"...or 'him'," she continued his sentence.
"Yes, only people like them can stand against us," he said.
Immediately, the atmosphere became bleak. There was a moment of pin-drop silence in the room.
Ivy smiled as she patted Alex back. "Hey, do focus on my dress, okay? I need to astound everyone in that party. I heard there will be a lot of influential people there."
Ivy was trying to distract Alex from the previous topic as she reminded him of her dress. It was one of the important parts of her plan on that day anyway.
Alex instantly became high-spirited again. "Well, of course, Miss. I will make you the center of attention on that day."
Ivy coughed at his words.
"Any dress code, Miss?"
"None. Just make sure that it doesn't defeat the birthday girl dress," she awkwardly responded.
Alex cleared his throat. "Ah, yes, too excited. Almost forgot."
Surely, Ivy didn't want to end up as a party crasher when she was just going there to execute her plan in order to help Oliver.
Suddenly remembering Oliver, her mood became better. She smiled as she recalled his shy expression when she asked if he was a virgin. His flushed cheeks was so cute.
She seriously couldn't believe that a man like him hadn't had his cherry popped yet. What in the world were all those ladies doing leaving a delicious prey like him alone?
Like nobody had ever tried to drug him or made him drunk out of his mind and bedded him?
Then she was reminded of Alice Hu. She shook her head. She needed to thoroughly check her eyes. Ivy did know who was the prince that Alice was getting engaged to. He was indeed not a match to Oliver Wang.
Ivy narrowed her eyes. That woman was indeed playing with these two men, especially Oliver.
"How shameless," Ivy muttered.
"Miss?"
Ivy was startled. She grinned at Alex.
"Well, I'll be waiting for my dress, Alex. Surprise me!"
"Your wish is my command, Miss."
Ivy turned around and headed out. But before she left the room, she looked back at Alex.
"Oh, by the way, I'll be visiting my 'dear family' tomorrow. To avoid their suspicion, do bring me a casual attire from an unbranded store, okay?" she stressed the words 'dear family'.
Alex face turned cold. He knew which family Ivy meant. "One day, I promise I will make them kneel before you, Miss!"
He scoffed irritably. "How I wish His Majesty and Her Highness knew about this. They would surely sue them for their actions towards the member of the royal family."
"Now... now.. Alex, calm your anger. Why are you so agitated when even I enjoy the drama. It is very amusing to watch those clowns act all mighty in front of me when in fact, they are just merely peasants. Do enjoy the show, relax, grab your drink. We will have the last laugh in the end anyway."
Ivy grinned widely.
Alex chuckled. "Indeed, Miss."
"Alright, I shall return to my room now. Good night, Alex."
"Good night, Miss."