"Now then, I'll leave the three of you to chat," Teo excused himself, "the King Raxus will be arriving any minute."
Elys watched the knight walk away and disappear through the crowds. Aleksander was the same, his eyes full of hatred for the golden-haired vampire.
Out of the blue, a stout and plump man with a goatee came up to the duchess. She greeted the man with a kiss, and he gave her a sloppy kiss too on the cheek. "Ah, husband," Duchess Ravinia giggled, "meet the talk of the town, the very first slave princess!" the lady laughed.
Elys tried as much as she could to play nicely. The ball was just about to officially begin, and she wasn't that much keen to get into trouble should her temper get the better of her.
Aleksander wasn't doing quite well, either. The two of them can't be flaming balls of fury at the same time.
The princess knew she and Aleksander needed to reassess their plans. And for that to happen, she must keep calm and try to hold off the prince's anger for now, find an opportunity to get away, and then talk in private.
"I had thought she was ugly, but she turned out to be quite the looker," Duke Ravinia commented, and then turned to the prince with a sarcastic smile. "You are one lucky man, Prince Aleksander."
"Mhmm…" grunted the prince in response. "Indeed, I am. But not as much as you are, Duke Ravinia."
"How is your manor doing with another mouth to feed? If you need help, I can lend you money," the duke offered as he began to dig in his money pouch.
"That won't be necessary," Aleksander replied with gritted teeth.
Duke Ravinia shrugged nonchalantly, and then continued to converse animatedly with his wife regarding Elys and Aleksander's marriage and financial situation as if the two weren't in their midst. It was uncalled for how they blatantly mocked the prince and the princess.
Elys knew what was coming to her and the bastard prince, but she believed there should have still been some room for decency. At the very least the couple could have talked behind their backs when they left the conversation.
The word 'backstabbing' was made for a purpose after all.
When his wife wasn't paying attention, Duke Ravinia's eyes went up and down, settling his gaze on Elys' chest where her dress had plunged into a sweetheart cut. The vampire's mouth hung open like a thirsty animal.
'Gross,' Elys thought.
She was confident in her own skin, but somehow the duke's lascivious glances didn't sit well with her.
'Think, Elys,' she told herself, 'There must be some way we can get away from this situation without losing our pride!'
The princess scanned her memory of everything she had learned from Henry. He taught her a lot regarding the vampire hierarchy and a bit on political status of the kingdom, and Elys thought that it was definitely going to give them a lot of advantage when the time came.
In the span of three days, she made sure to dig up every detail she needed just in case, asking for Henry to provide background reports one after another.
'If I remember correctly, Duchess Ravinia and Duke Ravinia were from the Queen's side of the family,' she thought silently. 'There must be something we can use against them.'
As if by a stroke of luck, Elys recalled one tiny detail about the couple from one report Henry brought over, and the princess found herself smiling wickedly.
A silent chuckle rose from her, so criminal she was even surprised herself.
Aleksander caught sight of the princess' expression, and he leaned to whisper in her ear, "What is in your mind, my wife? You seem as if you are about to burn someone alive with those blazing eyes of yours."
Elys smiled sweetly at Aleksander, "I just remembered something very important, dear husband. Duchess," she turned to Duchess Ravinia, "I might have forgotten to say this, but I have heard much about you and your wonderful husband."
The duchess raised a thin brow and the edge of her lips curled into a narcissistic grin, "Our reputation precedes us, and it always shocks me so. What kind of things did you hear, princess?"
Elys heard her tone give emphasis on the title of 'princess'; and she immediately recognized the sarcasm in the duchess' voice.
This was the perfect chance to serve the Duchess her own dose of medicine. The princess will make sure the pretentious vampire ends up swallowing her own words.
The princess kept her face calm and she smiled at the duchess brightly, which caught the woman completely off-guard.
"I have heard," she paused for a dramatic effect, making her voice but a whisper keeping the noble couple on edge, "that despite the Duke and Duchess' extravagant living, the truth is that the Ravinia's are struggling financially due to the duke's gambling and high maintenance whores."
Elys spoke ever so elegantly as she leaned her head to the side. She rested the side of her temple on Prince Aleksander's bicep and continued, "Am I right, duchess? You seem like a cat got your tongue."
Duchess Ravinia's pale face turned livid, "H-how impudent! Where did you get such information? That is surely just tittle-tattle from enemies!"
"And yes, the travel Teo mentioned was staged. You didn't travel for leisure, but went off to the Southern Kingdom for a loan," Elys added in a matter-of-fact tone. "A bit embarrassing to acknowledge the Ravinia's are dirt poor, isn't it? And now I thought my husband was the lowest of all the vampires."
The duke and duchess were infuriated. They didn't expect Elys to know such a personal matter about them, and they mocked her and the prince as if they were so clean themselves.
"You shut your mouth," the duke pointed a grubby finger at the princess. "You don't know who you are going up against."
"Threaten us all you want, Duke Ravinia," Elys said coldly, "my husband and I have nothing else to lose. We are already at the lowest. But you and your wife - hah!" she laughed, "you will go down."
"You wretched witch," the duchess hissed, "keep your mouth shut."
She cocked her head, smiled at them and added, "Ohh, scary."
The princess pondered on giving her a little reminder.
The moment their secret gets discovered by the whole kingdom, whether true or not, Elys knew it would spread like wildfire, trapping the Ravinias with ill gossips.