Kayla: "My lady, please wake up!"
Kayla opened the door loudly, waking Yen up and leaving her confused.
Yen: "What's.. happening...?"
She mumbled as Kayla helped her up the bed, urging her to change.
Kayla: "Sir Sei is waiting for you!"
Yen: 'What?!'
Yen jumped out of her bed and bolted down on her nightgown. She didn't care at all what he would think. All she was wondering was about the reason for his really early visit.
She spotted Sei wandering around the garden while making her way in the hall.
Yen: "Sei!"
He turned to see Yen running his way. It shook him at first to see someone randomly calling him, but once he knew it was Yen, he felt awkward to the fact she was wearing her nightgown.
Sei: "Why are you wearing your nightgown?"
Yen: "I tried my best to hurry. Sorry to keep you waiting out here."
Sei: "It's alright. I expected you to take your time though."
Yen: "What do you need?"
Sei had something behind him, to which he revealed as flowers.
Yen: "..?"
Sei: "It's.. an apology for not coming with you both yesterday. I know we really need to spend time together but I still have my duties to fulfil as a royal guard and future head of our house."
Yen: 'And he has to guts to apologize when it isn't even his fault?!'
Yen: "It isn't even your fault.."
Sei: "But please take these flowers. They symbol joy and purity."
Sei: 'And another one..'
The flowers were gardenias, and they were only about 5 to 10 of them, but it Yen didn't complain. She understood his responsibilities now that he's older.
Yen: "It's quite alright. Just make sure to spare some time for us, when you really can do so."
Sei smiled softly and nodded, before bowing and taking his leave.
Yen just touched the flowers and brought them closer to her face.
Yen: 'Bringing them personally to symbolize my importance to him.. it's sweet'
Yen just smiled and headed back inside.
Yen: "Kayla, please put this in a vase and decorate it somewhere in my room."
Kayla: "Yes, my lady."
Yen tried to hurry her way to her room.
Yen: 'I still need to change.'
She changed into some purple clothes, heading down to eat breakfast with her sisters.
Aquie was there, waiting with a serious expression, while Marione was of opposite, looking as carefree as ever.
Yen sat down as they all started eating until Aquie decided to start a conversation.
Duchess of Ceresé: "There'll be an auction held by House Aurora. They are well known for their yearly auctions and I was wondering if you'd like to join me."
Yen thought to herself, recalling any events she had in her schedule.
Yen: "When will it be?"
Duchess of Ceresé: "Later, this afternoon. I forgot to inform you two yesterday."
Yen: "Then I shall go."
Aquie: "..Marione?"
Marione just thought to herself for a moment.
Marione: "I'll go."
Aquie: "Alright. Then please get ready before lunch. We must leave immediately after."
____________________
Kayla rushed to Yen's side an hour before noon.
Kayla: "My lady! What do you want to wear for this afternoon?"
Yen: "Something that fits with me wearing black gloves and ruby earrings."
Kayla: "Of course, my lady."
After waiting for some time, Yen saw Kayla and other maids bringing in an elegant red dress. It was prettier than the one she wore in her debutante.
Yen: "Is this.. new?"
Kayla: "Yes, my lady. The Duchess has bought it for you yesterday, hoping you'd wear it for today."
The dress was that of a rosy color, with jewels and designs all over, and a black rose connected to the side of the lace on her waist. It was glittering, and Yen knew by look alone that this was custom made.
Yen: 'I must thank her later.'
Trying on the dress was hard, as Yen was worried she'd do something to it on accident.
In the end, nothing happened to the dress as the maids were working on her makeup and Kayla was working on her hair.
By the time they were finished was 10 minutes before noon came.
Kayla and the maids continued to compliment each other for the work, and even complimenting Yen for her looks.
Yen: 'This seems quite fancy for an auction..'
Kayla: "You must hurry down, my lady! Your sisters must be waiting for you."
As Yen entered the dining room, she saw Marione and Aquie, also quite dressed in fancy clothes.
Duchess of Ceresé: "You won't be wearing a dress?"
Marione was wearing a long sleeved polo shirt with a blue tie with designs for the Ceresé logo and a black vest suit on top of it and black pants.
Aquie, on the other hand, was wearing a dark red dress, filled up with jewels and designs and wearing a hat with it, that complimented the dress and her looks. She looked like some kind of goddess.
Marione: "I mean, I would've, but it might get in the way in case there may be trouble. I can just feel it!"
Yen: "Trouble? Is it dangerous?"
Marione: "Scandal kind of dangerous is what I'm feeling."
Duchess of Ceresé: "Then we must be prepared for anything that shall happen in the auction."
____________________
They hopped in the carriage as soon as they finished and left the residence.
Duchess of Ceresé: "Oh yeah. How do you like the dress? I had it custom made, and it was also requested to be comfortable to wear."
Yen: "It's quite beautiful, but it makes me seem like I'll be going to a ball rather than an auction."
Duchess of Ceresé: "Then you'll be able to stand out from others then."
Yen: 'So that was her intention..'
Marione: "You really want all the men out there to drool over our little sister?"
Duchess of Ceresé: "It would be nice to see others love her, but after that incident, I won't approve of her dating someone that easily."
Marione: "And you seem to rather enjoy working alone. Won't there be someone.to accompany you? Like a lover of some sort."
Duchess of Ceresé: "Marriage is already an option on the table, but I'd like to prioritize my work first. Maybe I'll try to do it next month."
Yen: "Had not you said that last month?"
Duchess of Ceresé: "I had, but workload increased so suddenly, I couldn't even go out for reasons other than that."
Marione: "What about the 2nd Prince of the Royal family? He's a year older than you and the twin of Princess Dianna. You both might be a great pair?"
Duchess of Ceresé: "..That will be for another time. But Yen, after working on the black magic crisis with Marione, the only clue we had was a female of 18, who has quite the deep grudge. It's impossible to imagine you'd do such a bad thing."
Yen: "If my mind goes to the right person, she's holding it too deep, even though she herself was the reason she became this way. Power is her source of greed, I must say."
Duchess of Ceresé: "So, who may this suspect be?"
Yen: "Beatrice."
Duchess of Ceresé: "..!"
Duchess of Ceresé: "That girl who cause you trouble when you were younger?"
Yen: "I don't know how she made that event hit deep through her heart, but I do know that things won't end well between us."
Duchess of Ceresé: "...So..when do you plan on taking action for this?"
Yen: "Patience is a virtue. If all goes well, her secrets shall be revealed."
Duchess of Ceresé: "That is what we shall all pray for."
The carriage dropped them off in the auction building, which was not far from Aurora's residence.
Yen: "I thought.."
Duchess of Ceresé: "They decided to change the location here. They do not wish to have anything else bad happen in their house."
Marione: "Something bad?"
Duchess of Ceresé: "There was a fire this morning in one of their buildings."
Marione: "I see.."
They were humbly greeted by the other nobles, most likely because Aquie was present.
Yen: 'Highly respected and the most knowledgeable person in the empire, even being called the best in the whole of dukedom. Because of that, it helped a lot of women who were called as lowly people'
One of the nobles: "Greetings to you, Duchess of Ceresé!"
A noblewoman: "No matter how many times I see her, I cannot believe if she's human or a goddess!"
Duke of Aurora: "I give my greetings, Duchess Ceresé."
They exchanged bows.
Duchess of Ceresé: "I'm quite excited for what you have in store for this year, Duke Aurora."
Duke of Aurora: "A lot of precious materials have been collected this year. It may be the best one yet."
Duchess of Ceresé: "Hm, how exciting."
Duke of Aurora: "Of course, I almost forgot to greet Ceresé's magician and Ceresé's star!"
Yen: 'star..?'
Marione: "Greetings to you too, Duke Aurora. But may I know why my sister is addressed as a star?"
Duke of Aurora: "Many others would call Miss Yen Ceresé as beautiful as a rose, yet most would agree she's as bright as a star. Beauty is quite what they see most in Miss Yen, both in looks and attitude."
Yen: "Thank you, Duke Aurora."
Duke of Aurora: "Now I must prepare, you may take your seats in the Ceresé section."
They bowed at each other and we're about to head to their seats, but they were stopped by a nobleman.
Duke of Grace: "Miss Yen, I'd like to speak with you about.. you know."
A smile was lit on Yen's face.
Yen: "Of course! Is there anything else that the Duke needs or are there any other problems that stand in your way?"
Duke of Grace: "Nothing. I just need help for any other words or compliments to say."
Yen: "Miss Irene will like any compliment you give her. It won't be a problem and I don't really think you need my advice for those kinds of things."
The Duke of Grace, Anthony Grace, is an engaged man and Yen was one of those who would help him plan the wedding. Many come to Yen's advice when it comes to love because her responses when it comes to that always seemed professional.
?: "My, I expected to see you here, but not quite this fancy."
Yen turned to see Beatrice smiling at her, holding a fan then to cover the lower area of her face.
Yen: "It's also nice to see you, Miss Bea."
Beatrice: "It also seems that the Duke of Grace is here. I give my greetings."
Duke of Grace: "It's nice to finally meet you, Miss Bea, but is there anything else you need?"
Beatrice: "Oh, I'm just wondering why Miss Yen is talking to an engaged man. I just want to check for Miss Irene."
Whispers were heard among many and Irene, who was within the crowd, couldn't believe her eyes. She was doubtful because she trusted Anthony but she was confused.
Yen: 'Trying to cause a scandal. Oh, when shall her hatred for me stop?'
Duchess of Ceresé: "Are you implying that my sister is trying to steal the Duke of Grace?"
Aquie, who has heard it all, finally took a step forward. Her deep gaze penetrated through Bea, which terrified her, but she had to say something.
Beatrice: "Oh, of course not, my Lady. I was just saying that such behavior is quite suspicious for someone who's already engaged."
Marione: "Oh my! You have no shame at all, have you?"
Beatrice: "Huh..?"
Marione: "Heavily implying infidelity to my sister is one thing, but switching up to the Duke is another thing. Once you realized who you were up against, you decided to blame the poor Duke upon everything."
Beatrice: "I-"
Marione: "If you were talking to an engaged man for business reasons, do you think others would say the Duke is cheating, without further evidence too? It calls for the behavior of an idiot."
Beatrice stayed silent. She wished to say something but she couldn't get the words out of her mouth.
Duchess of Ceresé: "Hah.."
That was all the Duchess said before leaving the scene with her sisters.
Beatrice: 'These Ceresés..! Monsters! True Demons from hell!'
Meanwhile, eyes were staring at her with pure disgust and disappointment.
Beatrice: 'I'll show you..'
____________________
The Ceresés reached the Ceresé section, where the chairs were designed well and nicely. Marione sat of the right, Yen on the left, and Aquie on the middle.
Duchess of Ceresé: "She's the suspect?"
Yen: "Yes."
Marione was just sitting there, fiddling with magic and using it to read some books and scrolls.
Marione: "Does she bother you?"
Yen: "She tried to attack me with words here and there, but it's the first time she's trying to start a scandal for it."
Duchess: "Let's just wait for her attack. We'll be able to make a comeback by then."
Marione: "You're quite calm and confident about this."
Duchess of Ceresé: "It's not like this is the first time it had happened."
Yen: 'Right, she once was part of a dating rumor with the 2nd Prince.'
Marione: "Everyone seemed to want to pair you with the 2nd Prince though."
Duchess of Ceresé: "It was expected, of course. I hung out with him and Princess Dianna a lot."
Marione: "But don't you find it annoying?"
Duchess of Ceresé: "It's not like problems would be solved that way."
Yen: "Let's just wait for them to start and enjoy the auction. So much has already happened, but we can talk about it later."
Both Marione and Aquie just nodded in response.