Princess Sarra watched the events with amusement.
She had not expected Lady Chernin to come with the prince so quickly. Of course she had gotten this information from her.
The earl's daughter had made her move, now it was Lady Fleuret's turn.
"That is correct," she admitted openly and then tilted her head. "But what does one have to do with the other?"
Huh? Surprised, Princess Sarra paused in her movement and finally put her cup down again. Was this woman really so ignorant that she didn't understand what she was being accused of?
Lady Chernin also seemed slightly taken aback. "Well... you said that you couldn't refuse the royal family anything and yet you humiliated the prince."
"Ah! Now I understand the confusion," laughed Lady Fleuret calmly. "I didn't say I couldn't refuse the royal family, but our princess. Which shouldn't be very surprising. Just look at her! It's like a forest fairy is sitting right in front of us."
The princess noticed how her cheeks grew warm. What was this woman saying? She was used to lavish compliments, but she had never received one that was meant so seriously.
"I... I understand," stammered the surprised count's daughter.
Sarra had expected more. She had to make Lady Fleuret go to the garden where her brother was already waiting. "I am not worthy of such compliments," she waved them away with a laugh. "But you are a very beautiful lady yourself. You must take after your mother. In fact, you don't look much like either your sister Duchess Castillon or your dear father." She looked at the ladies and they took the hint immediately. Lady Chernin immediately took the lead again. She had probably not forgotten her defeat from before.
"How true, I have heard that the Countess must have been of a breathtaking beauty."
At the mention of her Mother, Lady Fleuret had to smile slightly, as if on the one hand she remembered her fondly, but on the other it seemed painful.
It made Sarra think of her own sickly mother and she was overcome by a guilty conscience. She would have liked to stop what was about to happen, but she had to pull herself together.
"She was indeed very beautiful. I wish I was half as beautiful as she was," Lady Fleuret confessed.
"Too bad, though, that after her father's betrayal she was nothing more than a simple woman without a title.
With nothing but her looks, which at least opened the door to the Earl for her," laughed Lady Chernin, causing her counterpart to stiffen.
"Oh please, this is not meant as an insult to the deceased Countess. In her position, she did the only wise thing and married as quickly as possible before it was noticed."
Lady Fleuret opened her mouth hesitantly. "Before what was noticed?"
The earl's daughter quickly slapped her hand over her mouth and exchanged a look of mock concern with the other ladies. "Oh dear, it's probably just bad rumors, but they say you don't look anything like the Earl."
Even Lady Fleuret had to know that she had just been scolded as a possible bastard and her mother as a light woman. One look at her and her suspicions were confirmed. She was so white in the face that the princess feared she might fall off her chair.
"Well, after she was stripped of her title, all her education was probably forgotten too..."
"Lady Chernin!" cried Sarra so loudly that everyone turned to her table.
+++
Celia flinched at the princess's loud call, as if she was being snapped out of a dream.
The princess herself also seemed surprised and cleared her throat. "I think that's enough about the Fleuret family for today. There are other interesting topics."
The ladies laughed uncertainty and agreed, happily, before they started talking about a new cafe in town.
What an angel! She must have noticed how this topic was getting to her. And as if she had read her thoughts, the princess leaned over to her and put her hand on hers.
"If you want to go for a walk for a bit, I can understand. These events can be... exhausting."
"Thank you for your generous offer. In fact, I have a bit of a headache. A little walk will do me good." That wasn't even a lie, these tea parties were more exhausting than expected. The duchess really hadn't exaggerated.
The princess nodded sympathetically and summoned one of her maids. "Lady Fleuret has a slight headache and would like to go for a walk. Take her to the rose garden. I don't want her to get lost on the way there."
Celia got up gratefully and followed the maid to the other garden. Once there, the maid curtseyed briefly and then disappeared again.
That was fine by Celia, she was very exhausted and preferred to be alone.
The scent of the flowers made her relax and she felt all the tension fall away.
She sat down on the princess's favorite bench and closed her eyes for a moment. She wondered what Alek was doing at the moment. He was probably busy with work as usual. If he had been there today, Lady Chernin probably wouldn't have talked about her mother like that.
But perhaps she was just jealous because her fiancé was so handsome. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense and she began to feel sorry for her.
Her fiancé was a desirable man and even the princess had taken her side.
She felt much better and opened her eyes.
"What a beautiful sight."
"Ahhh!" When Celia opened her eyes, the crown prince was suddenly standing in front of her. She quickly jumped up and curtsied a little uncleanly. "Forgive my exclamation, you startled me Your Highness."
Caius didn't look too thrilled by her reaction, but forced a smile.
"Not at all, Lady Fleuret. It was my mistake, I should have made myself known."
And how you should have! As if the day hadn't been stressful enough, now she had to meet him. She had better get out of here as quickly as possible. "I didn't know you were here. I don't want to disturb Your Highness privat time any further and will return to the ladies."
"Not at all," the prince hastened to say. "I am very pleased to have some company."
"Please, let's sit down for a while," he said with a smile, placing one hand on her back and pointing with the other to the bench where she had just been sitting.
Celia immediately got goosebumps, the prince's touch felt so unpleasant. Nevertheless, she did not dare to resist him and bowed to her fate.