CREAK
"Finally, we must be at our destination." Tanya peered through the window and saw a mansion around the same size of her own. As it seemed, she was already parked in a courtyard at the front gates, not yet entered into the property.
"Young miss, just wait a moment. The gates should be opened shortly. Also remember what I told you." Penelope straightened her clothes and checked on Tanya. She seemed to be pretending as if nothing happened just a few hours ago.
"Yes yes, I will definitely attempt to befriend the other noble girls and become familiar with them. That is an easy task in itself, you don't need to remind me twice." Tanya chuckled and moved her face closer to Penelope's. With a smug smile, she gazed into the maid's eyes.
"Mmm… smells like peppermint… my… Penelope, were you planning on meeting someone today?" Tanya twisted her legs around Penelope's hips, sitting firmly on the latter's lap.
"No…! This was for…"
"Penelope, you look so yummy." Tanya licked her lips.
THUMP
The carriage started rolling again, prompting Tanya to go back to her seated position. This left a flushed Penelope huffing and puffing on the other side.
'Hmmph! Terrible timing.' Tanya pouted and crossed her arms.
The carriage then slowly made its way to the front of the mansion. After a moment of pausing, an elderly butler appeared and opened the door for Tanya and Penelope.
"Welcome to the Duchy of Jeanne. I sincerely hope that you enjoy the tea party and grow fond of our hospitality." The butler bowed and usher the two into the mansion.
"Today's tea party is hosted by none other than our beautiful Young miss, Diana. She just so happens to have celebrated her 16th birthday yesterday, so this tea party is very important for her. Perhaps the young miss of house Vermillion would be interested in becoming acquainted with her?" The butler spoke warmly as he described Diana, as if speaking of his own grandchild.
"Diana's Brother is so charming, always taking the spotlight away from her. This makes things tough for her, so I would appreciate it if you be kind to her."
"I understand. It seems Young miss Jeanne doesn't get as many visitors as her brother, how pitiful. I will be sure to cheer her up." Tanya smiled brightly as she followed behind the Butler.
"Thank You, Young Miss Vermillion."
"Hmmph!" Penelope pouted and looked straight to the side, away from Tanya.
'Jealous?'
"Don't worry, you are in for a show today, Penelope." Tanya leaned in close and pushed her head to the side where Penelope was looking, giving a suggestive grin.
"!!!" Penelope instantly began to blush again.
"And we are here." The butler waved his arm forward and revealed a huge beautiful green garden that was filled with young noblemen and noblewomen mingling about. The birds were chirping and the atmosphere was as sunny as the blue sky.
Tanya looked around and saw many faces that she had already seen through her studies, noting down who they were with and what they were doing. More importantly to her, were the various noble girls. Not many of them exuded a desirable enough aura for her to find attractive, even if their faces and bodies seemed well made.
It seemed too much like plastic to her.
'Boring.'
"Oh? If it isn't Tanya Vermillion? Evan's fiancé." A beautiful purple haired girl approached in a blue dress, fondling a patterned black and white hand fan. There was indeed a certain charm about her, similar to a villainess; arrogant and fierce.
"I see you came here without a partner… It seems the crown prince wasn't interested in coming along with you… oh wait, he is over there with the other girls!" The purple haired girl giggled with her bright scarlet eyes beaming like a laser.
"Yes, I did not come with a partner." Tanya stepped forward, keeping a delightful expression at all times. With a smile as graceful as an angel's she became closer and closer to the purple haired girl.
"May I know your name?"
"Diana Jeanne! I have status equal to yours, so don't even think about using your background here." Diana's eyes sparkled with confidence as if this was her only chance to have fun today.
"Well, Young miss Jeanne. You don't seem to have a partner." Tanya moved closer and closer, closing the distance to the point where Diana could see her individual strands of hair.
"Diana… would you be my partner for the tea party?" Tanya knelt down and grasped Diana's hand softly, slowly moving her face closer to the back of Diana's palm as if she was going in to bite.
"..." Diana blushed all of a sudden. This was the first time this had ever happened to her, no one had ever asked her to dance before, regardless of her beauty. She had long since known that a man might never ask her, but she didn't know that a girl would.
"Pardon...?!"
Smooch
With a kiss on the back of her palm, Diana felt the figure of the subject she had just tried to mock, moving closer to her face.
"You can tell me if you don't like it~" Tanya drifted more towards a pillar away from the rest of the tea party, pulling Diana along with her.
Slowly, Tanya's lips trailed along Diana's arm until it was just hovering over her neck.
"Ehng...STOP!!!" Diana jumped back and ran away with a crimson red face, sweating like she had just seen a murder happen.
*facepalm*
Penelope, who was watching from the sidelines, placed her palm against her face and shook her head.
'Is the Young Miss going to scare away all of the girls? Is this her tactic to get more opportunities to talk to boys? I already have the answer.'
It truly was pitiful. No one was watching the scene because no one felt interested in the girl who was hosting the very tea party they were gathered at.