Garett never allowed me to see his coming of age ceremony in the end. I did not feel like seeing Prince Erik either for some reason for his. Charlotte dragged me out anyways and we watched the ceremony together be on the equivalence of a miniature festival.
I am glad that she did because the sight of Prince Erik traveling down the main road in a high seat with decorative jewels all over him was a sight that I could never forget.
One thing has changed...
On Prince Erik's birthday, I would often go out and buy Pince Erik the same presents I would in my first life and place them in the chest to preserve the memory. Now, I only continue to write letters. The letters became much like a diary from how frequently I wrote them.
Even after writing maybe over a hundred letters, I continued to write with the usual letter format and envelope. I have gone to the stationary stores so often that they now do delivery service only for my residence.
I also began regularly exchanging letters with Garett. If I were to compare the amount of letters I would send to Garett and the amount I left stacked with my letters to Prince Erik, they were nearly the same amount with Prince Erik slightly in the lead.
I found it a bit odd how Garett used the same tone of writing as royalty. It must be because direct lineage and indirect families are taught by the same Royal Tutors that ask everyone of the bloodline to write a certain way in order to preserve their heritage.
"Young Miss, a package has came from you from Sir Garett," Stella said as she came in with a large pastel yellow box with an evergreen colored ribbon.
"...This is his way of saying that he is not coming," I said dejectedly.
"He must have had good intentions, Young Miss," Stella said.
"...I will look at it later," I said as I placed the box on my bed.
My debutante entrance went off without a hitch. I started wearing more effeminate dresses that complimented my newly grown and ever changing body and had perfected my braiding skills for my hair.
"You have become very beautiful, My Fair Lady," Randall Maddox my cousin of the same age said.
Randall Maddox was part of Kaya Ouchi's posse back in my first life. I do not doubt that Dolton had a part to play in bringing Kaya Ouchi in to meet me. I just do not believe that he alone had enough prestige or the brains to sneak her in. Multiple people must have been at work.
The main people of power beside Kaya Ouchi were a follower of the church sect Gavin Lord, my cousin Randall Maddox, the son of a high ranked official Channing Wells, and the son of a Knight, Dolton Grass. Obviously, the first one I would expect is my family member.
The people that can hurt you the most are always the people closest to you...
"Thank you for coming, Randall," I said with a professional smile. Holding in my contempt for him is more difficult than it seems. "It has been awhile... For cousins, it is odd for us not to meet often."
"I have heard of your business adventures."
I had been able to launch off my make beauty product line after my success in my shampoo and conditioner line. My failures from my first life helped propel my success much faster than if I had not used my past memories.
"...It is a bit rude to talk about business so early in catching up."
"...My apologies for that. I think that talking about what you have been doing is part of catching up. It is just that my mother has been interested in your company's products."
"Oh? Really?"
I know exactly how my uncle's wife has been applying for my products. She is not someone directly related, so I know that it is difficult for her to assert herself using her name in order to move up the waiting list.
His mother sent Randall to me in order to build relations with me in hope that could move up the ladder. A woman's greed for beauty has no bounds.
"I was wondering if My Fair Lady would be willing to make an exception to the waiting list for my mother?"
Randall has not done anything to me yet... How can I keep him submissive to me instead?
"I will always make an exception for my cousin," I replied with a sweet smile. "I wonder if you are willing to do the same."
He seemed taken aback my smile. I was emotionally unattached for the first few years of my life. It was only until I met Erik that I learned that I had emotions and became more invested in expressing myself because it proved to be more politically advantageous. Falsifying your facial expressions depending on the situation gives the person more edge.
I learned from my mistakes and bettered myself for the sole reason of eliminating threats.
"Of course I would do anything for you, My Lady," he said.
"My business is looking for a few interns to help with calculating finances. I thought that since you were top of your class in mathematics it would be an easy transition for you to come in and handle."
"...You would like help in your finance department, My Lady?"
"...Yes, there is just so much to be done since it is a new business. I believe the experience will be good for you as well. Even without you asking about the matter of Auntie wanting to move up the waiting list, I would have made an exception because we are cousins. I really hope to work with you like old times," I said as I held his hands and smiled widely. "Also, it will give us an excuse to see each other more often."
His face became a bit flushed.
"I would be honored to serve you then, My Lady," Randall replied with a smile.
"I look forward to working with you."
I felt like throwing up.
With that face that once looked at me with contempt will slowly turn into an ally. I hated that woman Kaya Ouchi. I dislike the people that stood by her almost as much.
Even if I bring Randall to my side, I do not plan on letting him in too close to my heart. I will act kind in order to win his favor and make it so that he will not be able to fall in love with Kaya Ouchi by making the both of us seem as though we were on good terms. I will slowly pick them off one by one and make it so that Kaya Ouchi will not have a place beside any of them.
This is my role as the villainous...
My debutante was deemed as a success from how I received multiple marriage offers from several good families. I believe that most were from wanting to further themselves with my family's prestige or something else they could take advantage of.
I was not particularly fond of having multiple men I did not know come up to me and striking a conversation with me.
Randall seemed to sense my troubled feelings at one point and would occasionally help me out of nasty situations.
Am I wrong in my ways?
I thought that not letting my cousin become close to me would help me think more clearly from an unbiased standpoint. Randall was never particularly rude to me in our early years together. We just drifted apart and the appearance of Kaya Ouchi brought new feelings to surface.
However, men are easy to cast their past feelings for a heated moment... That was especially true for those who were intoxicated with Kaya Ouchi's scent. There was no guarantee that he would not be poisoned later. As I thought, I cannot trust him either.
I will use his familial and business obligations to make it so that he would lose everything if he were to ever cross me... If he does bite my hand, he will never have the power to bite me again.
When I got to my room, my first instinct was to take off my heavy dress and change into my more comfortable nightwear. Afterwards, I removed my makeup with and jumped into my bed with my arms spread wide.
My forehead came into contact with a large box while I was rolling around in my bed. I had left Garett's unopened present on my bed before I left for my debutante just so that I would not forget to open it.
"He did not have to get me anything..."
It has been roughly a year since I last saw Garett. I felt that it would have been strange to invite a male who was not my fiancé or lover to my residence without any kind of event, so I waited until my family had any gatherings or until now to invite him over.
He never accepted any of my invitations. I should have expected that he would refuse to come this time around as well, but I had a feeling that maybe this time would be different because of my birthday.
A gift came from him as a replacement for his presence.
I unraveled the neatly tied bow and opened the box to find a nearly identical bear to the first one I received from Garett. It was a beige bear with light pink and white lace ribbons around its neck and one sewn on its ear. At the bottom of the crate was a letter.
"Happy Birthday, Arielle."
"...If you were going to give me something so wonderful, I would have preferred getting it in person."
One more year before I enter the Academy...