Violette sat in her palace's garden, surrounded by hundreds of different shades of pink and reds. The table infront of her full of delicious snacks and warm tea. Her elegant fingers wrapped around the handle of a small porcelain cup.
Laura sat in a chair directly across from her eating a macaroon and happily gossiping in-between bites. Tea time was her favorite time of the day.
"I never thought that the Crown Prince could loose like that in a duel!" She waved her macaroon in the air excitedly. "I heard he stomped off the training grounds like a toddler throwing a fit." She then turned into a fit of giggles. The though of a grown throwing a tantrum was hilarious to her.
After plopping the rest of her macaroon in her mouth, she continued her story. "Sir Kai may have a commoner back ground, but his skills are not lacking in th least! If he wasn't so scary then I bet he'd have his own fan club by now. He is awfully handsome, but it seems like he might have a bad personality. Apparently, he doesn't talk at all, and I've never seen him smile even once."
Kai. That was a name she remembered very well. He was an incredibly talented knight who quickly raised in rank. He was only twenty four years old and had allready became a Sword Master, and rumor was, he could use magic as well. No one she knew had seen it in practice though. Despite being one of the strongest among those inside the Palace, had managed to gain quite the bad reputation.
In her previous life, Leanne had shown interest in him and tried to make him one of her Knights. She failed to properly bind his soul to her, so she was unable to obtain him.
This was something that had never happened before in the history of all Wisteria. Not being able to bind a Knight meant that their will was stronger than the caster.After that incident, Kai was banished for contempt towards the Royal family and sentenced to fight at the borders against the blight.
He fought bravely for nearly a month after all food supplies had been cut off and all reinforcements had withdrawn long before that. His whole battalion disappeared soon after without a single body to bring home to their families.
They most likely either turned from blight sickness, or were eventually devoured. Not even a Sword Master like Kai could survive against a horde of demons without food nor tactical support.
"The reason the Crown Prince challenged him was because Sir Kai didn't follow proper etiquette and pay his respect to him when the Crown Prince entered the training grounds. He was in the middle of a sparring match with another Knight. Of course he didn't pay his respects right away! How petty of the Crown Prince." She crossed her arms and huffed.
Violette brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "You mustn't speak ill of the Crown Prince, Laura. You never know who might be listening."
Laura waved her off. "I know, I know. But it's just us right now! Plus all the servants here know to leave you alone unless you call for them first."
She shook her head in disagreement."Just because you don't see them, doesn't mean they are not there. In this Palace, everyone but you are my enemy."
Violette tapped her nail against the side of her tea cup making a small 'click' noise. A habit of hers whenever she was lost in thought.
She looked around the garden intently. Making sure to scan everything within eye sight at least twice to insure no one was spying on them. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she felt the air shift. Just when she was about to brush her paranoia aside, a man with a small entourage shamelessly waltz into her garden.
She sighed. There was a saying in Wisteria If you talked about The Void out loud, it would come and swallow you. It may be dramatic to compare her Half brother to such an abomination of a God, but it was ironic he showed up right as they were talking about him.
Leo headed directly towards them with a smirk plastered on his face. He had rather delicate features for a man. Saying he was 'pretty' would be an accurate description. He looked like the man version of the First Princess, Leanne. Fitting considering they were twins.
Laura stood up and preformed a curtsey, flustered by the sudden arrival of the same Prince she just called petty moments ago.
After paying her respects, she quickly went to stand beind Violette like a proper maid would. Normally, she would be informal around Violette, but when others where around she had to follow Wisteria etiquette or else both her and her Lady would be in trouble.
Violette though, stayed in her seat still leisurely sipping her tea. Her expression was calm, but you could see a flash of annoyance in her eyes. She was sure he knew better than to stop by unannounced, but still pretended not to.
"Greetings, 'sister'." The way he 'sister' was more like an insult then a greeting. "I see you still play with maids in your free time." He laughed at his own joke out loud, but soon fell silent when he saw Laura's face drop into a frown.
He quickly looked away and Instead focused on his youngest sister. Today she was dressed in a pastel pink dress that complimented her flushed cheeks and dawn-tinted eyes. Her hair elegantly pulled up with a few stray strands left to frame her face. Today she looked much older than normal.
He grabbed the newly freed chair and plopped himself down infront of her. One arm lazily thrown behind the back of the chair, the other already reaching for one of the many snacks placed on the table.
Violette skillfully placed her tea cup on the table with the elegance only a noble would have. "How I spend my free time is up to me to decide." She remarked. "Last time I checked, this was my palace. You shouldn't make yourself so comfortable inside someone else's home when you showed up unannounced."
Her eyes locked with his, making him squirm in his seat. This was the first time someone looked at him so coldy, so intimidating. As if he was a mere insect crawling around her feet.
Violette had never looked at him like that before. It made the hairs on the back of his neck raise.
He loudly sighed and awkwardly ran his hand through his hair. "I didn't come to fight." He admitted with a defeated tone.
She scoffed. "Since when?" She smiled, but it was far from friendly.
It was just two words but it was enough to leave him speechless. Since when was his half-sister so snide?
Normally, she would always spoke politely and always had her head down. It was scarce to happen, but when she did speak, it was always some kind of apology. Even if she did nothing wrong, she would still always seem to make herself smaller. He hated that about her. It was what made him proposely try to proke her. He wanted to hear her say anything else other than 'I'm sorry'.
His mouth gaped for a moment from the initial shock of her drastically different behavior before finally re-gathering himself. He didn't know what to say, so he decided to get straight to the point of his visit. Though visibly uncomfortable while doing so.
"Ahem!" He cleared his throat louder then he meant to. "Your birthday is coming up. What do you want?"
Violette's face contoured with a mixture of disgust and disbelief. Before she could say anything in response, Leo began to stutter an excuse.
"It's not like I want to gift you anything! I just have to follow proper edict as Crown Prince!" His cheeks flushed red and he defensively crossed his arms across his chest.
She couldn't believe her eyes. The man infront of her was nothing like the one in her memory. Now that she thought about it, Leo never really did anything truly harmful to her, it was always Leanne that took it too far.
He had a smart mouth, but he never hit her nor publicly humiliated her. Though he was not considered completely evil, he still stood idlely by when she was accused of treason. He didn't comdem her, but he didn't help her either. She couldn't forgive him for watching her wrongfully being murdered by the rest of their family. The image of them happily chatting amongst themselves during her execution still fresh in her mind. She couldn't forgive him.
After a moment of crippling silence, Leo pushed himself up from the table with both hands, making the food and beverages shake. "If you don't want one, then fine! Don't expect a gift from me no matter what!"
As he was about to turn to leave, his eyes locked with Laura's. Her brown eyes looked like beautiful earthy plains to him. He flinched at his own thoughts and instantly turned a brighter shade of red.
Violette noticed his reaction and took a mental note of it.
Maybe this Crown Prince could be used one way or another. He seemed rather... simple compared to her last life. It would be in her best interest to not make him hate her so soon when she might need him later . One should keep their friends close, and their enemies closer.
"If you want to gift me something, then new stationary would be nice." She flashed a business smile. Cold but professional.
Leo raised both eyebrows. "Stationary? Wouldn't you rather have a new dress or some jewelry? Money isn't a problem for me." He crossed his arms.
She shook her head. "No, stationary is what I want."
Leo scratched the back of his head confused, before finally nodding in agreement. "If that's what you want.."
"It is." She confirmed. Wanting the conversation to end, she stood from the table and began to make her across the garden with Laura dutifully following behind. Before she passed Leo, she made one last comment before leaving him where her stood.
"Next time, be sure to inform me of your visit in advance. We wouldn't want rumors to spread that the Crown Prince has no manners, now would we?"