The day of the tea party has come; Titania wore an elegant yet refreshing dress to keep her cool from the hot weather. "Just remember what Astra taught you." Titania nodded to the Archduke's continuous reminders.
After naming Bonbon as Sol, almost all the people in manor did the same. Only Titania and her maids continued calling the kid with the name the young miss gave him.
"Also, don't forget to distract Vivica. You must act well to—"
"I know already. Shut up."
All the knights froze after Titania cut Sylvester's sentence off and with rude remarks, to be exact. "I'll bring Bonbon with me." Sylvester quickly rejected what she said and grabbed Bonbon away from the lady.
"It will only cause a ruckus since the nobles are not used to seeing demi-humans. Now go and make me proud."
'What the hell is he talking about? He's not my dad,' is what Titania thought as she grimaces at what the Archduke said.
"Blaze and Marie would accompany you, so relax and do great." Titania just nodded, "Yeah yeah, when you're being talkative and out of character, how could I fail?" Astra suppressed his laugh due to Sylvester's changing expression; they couldn't believe how the lady made the Archduke change his expression a lot. When just before nothing could change his cold stare and chilling vibes.
When the young lady was about to enter the carriage, Sylvester placed his hand on her head and whispered into her ear. "Be careful." He pushed her inside right after making her sit on the floor of the carriage. With her face turning red due to surprise. 'What was that for?'
"Milady, are you feeling hot?" Titania tried to get back her composure as she sat on the seat with elegance. She cleared her throat and smiled at Marie, "I'm fine. It's just a little hot in here." The lady said as she fans herself.
She thought that maybe it was the natural reaction of Titania's body towards the Archduke. Who knows, maybe she did like him too before, just like the story's main protagonist.
"Oh yeah, where does Marquess Byron's manor located?"
Marie opened her notes, "They have a manor located in the East side of Alynthia, but their main manor is here in Luthren City."
Titania wondered why Marie has notes of people from this Empire, 'Is she planning a revolution?' After thinking about that, she shook her head; maybe she's been reading too much fiction that she even thought about something so ridiculous.
They arrived at Marquess Byron's manor with guards greeting them. They wouldn't even let Blaze in because they said a knight didn't have to come in, but it was the Archduke's command to accompany the lady all the way through the place where the tea party would be held.
"Let them go. One knight wouldn't be a problem." Their gaze shifted to Vivica's voice. She's wearing a red-coloured ball gown. And a tiara on her head as if there's going to be a ball or something. 'What a show-off.' Titania rolled her eyes inside her mind as they followed Vivica from behind.
Vivica brought them to the drawing-room where all the other guests are at. They decorated it with crystals that make the room sparkling and maybe sprinkled perfume that's too strong, and it hurts Titania's nose.
"Titania's here." The lady hated hearing her name coming from Vivica's mouth; she doesn't know why but it doesn't feel good.
"Lady Titania, we met again." Laria Venas greeted Titania as she held her hand. 'It's the supporting character I met in the Imperial Palace.' "I've been wanting to see you again after your engagement party." Her face slowly turns red as she smiles shyly at Titania.
Titania roamed her vision to see all the guests. They're all well-known nobles from wealthy families. Her eyes slowly widened in shock upon seeing Cassandra talking with Vivica like they're the best of friends.
She quickly turned around, avoiding eye contact at all cost. 'He didn't inform me that his real fiancée would be here.' is what she thought as she frowned.
"There's a lot of news about that vigilante group that attacked your family's business, right?" The others began talking about Marquess Byron's bank being attacked by armed and unknown men. Since this morning, it was the talk in the newspaper, but Titania couldn't bother herself with it.
Laria noticed the sudden changes in Titania's expression. "Do you feel alright, Lady?" Titania was about to excuse herself when Vivica suddenly announced that they should gather up at the table to have a lovely tea.
The lady was forced to sit beside Cassandra, who was happy to see her again. She even said that she wanted to attend their engagement party but couldn't because of her Father.
When Titania was about to talk to Cassandra, Vivica suddenly clapped her hands, catching all the attention. "I have invited you all to this tea party because I wanted to congratulate our dear Fairy Queen once again." Titania felt shivers as she faked a smile, "Why don't we bring some boys to celebrate with?"
'HUH??? IS SHE SERIOUS?!! THIS ISN'T SOME KIND OF BRIDAL SHOWER!'
"I'm just kidding Titania, the Archduke will probably kill any men that will make a move on you." As if Vivica's eyes changed, Titania felt weird upon the women's gaze at her. 'This is not some kind of new bullying, isn't it?'
And so the so-called tea party began with Vivica insulting almost everybody in the drawing-room. No one could say anything back because they knew that it wouldn't end peacefully; since it's Vivica, she'll chase everybody that will go against what she wanted.
Vivica deliberately smiled at Titania, "Let's toast for Titania, for seducing my fiancée." All the other ladies felt awkward as Vivica raised her glass.
Titania already expected this kind of treatment, but she didn't know Vivica would be straightforward and attack her right away. "You should have chosen the Emperor. If you did, then you'll be the Empress of Alynthia." Titania tried to hold her frustration in as she clenched her fist.
"Uhm, lady Vivica I think we shouldn't—" Cassandra's effort of making Vivica stop from harassing Titania went into waste as Vivica continued to glare in the young fairy's direction.
"I don't know why men go crazy for you when you look like a supporting character." Laria, standing beside Titania, silently felt terrible as she looked on the ground because of Vivica's remarks.
One of Vivica's friends, Clara got in between, "Vivica, why are you doing this to the lady? Didn't you invite her to get along?" Vivica suddenly glared at Clara because she was meddling. "If you keep this up, I wouldn't want to be your friend anymore."
"Then go. I don't need you."
Clara's eyebrow rose, "I couldn't believe you." She stood up from her seat and made her way to the door. Without even looking back, she went out and slammed the door.
"T-That's right." All eyes went to Laria. "I-If you i-invited us here j-just to bully T-Titania, then I would like to go home now too." Vivica chuckled, "You can't even speak properly."
The sudden change in the atmosphere made Titania stand quiet for a moment, 'This is why I don't want to be here!'
"Let's see, why don't we talk about Titania breaking up with Sylvester?" Titania couldn't hide her expression and was almost caught, "Don't you think you're better suited to be with the Emperor? He looks nicer and kinder than Sylvester anyway."
"But he can't protect me."
The ladies turned their heads in Titania's direction. "Excuse me, Miss Vivica, I know where you're coming from, but I like the Archduke. No matter how many times you persuade me to give him to you, I can't. Because he's not an object that I could claim to be mine."
What she said fueled Vivica's anger even more. "You must be hot with your clothes on. Why don't you have a refreshing juice?" Vivica intentionally splashed Titania with the juice in her hand.
Cassandra quickly reacted and began wiping the fairy's face. "How could you do that, Miss Vivica?" Titania felt relieved because of how kind Cassandra was towards her. If she ended up like Vivica, she wouldn't be able to conceal her anger this way.
"I am sorry. Should I accompany you to the bathroom?" Titania wanted to laugh at how Vivica changed her expressions, 'She's as fake as a Barbie doll,' is what she thought as she shook her head and let out a smile.
"No need. I can go by myself."
"Alright then. Just go left, and you'll find it there." Vivica smiled. "Now begone nuisance." Titania heard her mumble, which made her smile even more.
This is good luck for her since she didn't come here for the tea party. The Archduke gave her a mission, and it's easier to accomplish it if all of their attention is not on her.
"Miss Titania!" She turned around after hearing someone's voice calling up to her as she got out of the room. "Shall I help you change clothes?" It was Cassandra with a flushed face. She must have run to chase Titania.
'No, please. I have a mission.' Titania smiled. "I appreciate your offer, but I can handle this." Although reluctant, Cassandra went back to the drawing-room, making Titania feel relieved since she didn't push it to her.
"Now, let's find that damn office." Titania pretended to be finding the restroom when the truth is, she was trying to locate Marquess's office where the documents were. But what could her mission be about?
Back to what happened yesterday, when the invitation from Vivica came, it brought light to Sylvester's mind. "I need your cooperation." is what the Archduke said to the young fairy, trying to ask for her help.
"The Marquess is allegedly involved with the selling of demi-humans and slaves." Hearing that made Titania's skin crawl, the memories on Viscount Wyman's manor came gushing back into her mind.
Those screams and dead bodies that she wanted to forget kept lingering as if they didn't want her to stop thinking about them.
"There's this said Auction Hall that is owned by Marquess Byron." Alger said, "This is where the demi-humans the Viscount caught goes. They sell demi-humans, peasants, slaves, and other interesting creatures illegally. Since there's a law in Alynthia that it is forbidden to sell a living being except for animals." He added.
"We failed to get the location, and so we're trusting you to get it there."
Titania blinked a thousand times until she absorbed what they were saying. "No way in hell I'm going to walk in the tiger's den."
"But you wouldn't want other demi-humans like Sol to suffer again, right?" The lady glared at Sylvester after he said that. "He's Bonbon, and you're right! I don't want anything like that to happen again, but why does it have to be me?"
"Because we can't have them be suspicious of us."
Titania remembered Archduke's words. She thought that it was fair for her to help them since he's keeping her safe but then realized that now that she can wield Titania's power, wouldn't she protect herself?
"Where's that office?" She roamed her vision. She could feel dizzy any minute by now because of how vast the manor is. It took her so long to memorize the ways on Gailtrum Archduchy. There's no way she could memorize this one right away.
"Milady." Her head quickly turned after hearing Blaze's voice. "This way." He led her to the said office and planned to help her find the documents, but Vivica and an unknown man suddenly walked their way, making Blaze disappear, leaving Titania all alone.
"What am I supposed to do?"