After dancing with the crown prince, Natalia found a way to escape from the banquet hall. She needed a place away from prying eyes so she made her way to one of the rooms for rest along the banquet hall. She dodged the few nobles that wanted to talk to her and blocked off the exit with magic.
{The repulsion magic in this palace is very strong but it is weaker inside this room. How are you feeling, Natalia?}
"Light headed. I haven't had a drop of alcohol but I couldn't stand for one more minute. If it's a bother to call you here, you can leave, Madaline"
{How can I leave when you're this weak? Who knows when you can get attacked?}
"It's fine. This is the royal palace, not my husband's home"
{...I'll heal you. Hold still}
"Hmm"
{You still don't want the antidote?}
"Keep it for me. By the way, have you seen the fairy I rescued? You can take her back to the forest"
{She's no longer a fairy. She's slowly turning into a fae. She's under Leilin's protection now so I only took her to the boundary of the forest}
"I…..see"
The fairy mother's expression was non-existent as always but Natalia could sense that she was a bit glum. It wouldn't be easy for her to see her child stray from her protection. The whole process of a fairy turning into a fae was unknown but the fae were almost inherently evil.
"I knew about the countess's illegal trade but I didn't think she had a fairy. I should've looked into it a bit more and saved the fairy earlier"
{There's nothing you could've done. This was….bound to happen whether you saved her or not. Although humans capture fairies regularly, those fairies are already in the transition process but since it's early, it's hard to distinguish them from normal fairies. Fairies never stray from their home unless they are banished or contracted}
"This is something you can't do anything about, right?"
{Ever since Leilin turned, there have been hundreds of fairies who have fallen prey to corruption and have become fae. Unless I can fully ascend to godhood, I cannot purify them. But I do not wish to ascend and the fae are corrupted of their own free will. This isn't something I can deal with easily}
"I understand now. Thank you for healing me and telling me your woes"
{Should the day come when you shed this mortal body and you have the misfortune of returning with your memories intact, I hope this knowledge I have provided would be useful to you, Natalia}
"You just raised a death flag, Madaline. I thought you didn't want me to die"
{I do not but the poison has damaged your organs very badly. You're barely holding on. You've only got a year to live at most}
"I'll use it well. I have faith in your ability to heal me, Madaline"
{...what a foolish child. Even after hearing about my inadequacy...}
"I haven't yet become fae, have I? So, it's fine. You'll be able to heal me"
After she was done healing her, Madaline disappeared. Natalia sighed, resting on the couch. Truthfully, she could feel her body deterioriating by the day. Her limbs grew weaker and it became harder to perform a simple dance that she would've finished very gracefully in the past. But it was all for her goal.
"It's sad to have a very stubborn brother. He won't even look at the princesses and the noble ladies" she sighed.
Back in the banquet hall, Sebastian found himself ambushed by a group of noble ladies when he went in search of his sister the moment he couldn't find them in the hall.
"Lord Sebastian, we heard an…..interesting rumor"
"Hold that thought, Lady Jena. Have you seen my sister?"
"We say the Grand Duchess leaving the hall earlier. Nobody has seen her since"
"And nobody has gone in search of her?"
"Well, she looked like she wanted to be left alone and..."
Sebastian sighed as the ladies floundered around him, trying to find an excuse as to why nobody cared enough to go look for his sister. Instead of being the flower of the capital, she was treated more like a beautiful wild flower that could be thrown away at any moment.
"Well, what do you want? I'm not exactly interested in rumors"
"They're saying the Grand Duchess wants you to marry a foreign princess. I know she's the Grand Duchess but wouldn't it be like treason for the future Marquis to marry a foreign princess?"
"Are you saying my sister isn't loyal to the kingdom and thinks about things like treason carelessly?"
"O-Of course not, my lord! The noble lord look up to my lord and we don't want to invite strangers in our midsts since there are very many noble ladies who are eligible for marriage in our society"
"There are a lot of men who are unmarried in the high nobility and there's his highness who they should look up to, not me. If you're asking me about all the noble ladies that are currently unmarried, none of them suit me"
"You can't possibly marry your sister, my lord"
"I never said I wanted to. You're the one who is weird for thinking that. I just said I wanted someone like my sister so if she's the one looking for a wife for me, I'll feel relieved because she knows herself best"
"So the Grand duchess hasn't found someone suitable amongst all the noble ladies in the kingdom?"
"I remember she recommended you to me, Lady Jena. She did think you were a good recommendation. I wonder how she would feel if she knows you're speaking like this behind her back"
"I wouldn't dare disrespect the Grand Duchess…."
"My sister is kind and gracious so she cares about her position of maintaining order and elegance in high society which means she doesn't care if you hate her as long as she gets the job done. I'm not as gracious or as kind as my sister. If you get on my nerves again, it won't be hard to block a Count's trading routes" he glared down.
"I apologize, my lord!"
"Whatever. You ladies are making me look like a villain so if you would please excuse me. Someone has to go look for my sister"
They parted and he walked away from their midst. Since a lot of ladies were gathered around him, he caught quite the attention, especially the attention of the Grand Duke who tailed him out of the hall.