"Lady Ely, are you ready for the party tonight? I heard your grandfather got you a new dress to make you fit better."
Warn silver eyes looked toward her maid before looking at the expensive dress. As soon as the maid saw that look, a feeling of doom overcame her.
She knew that look in her mistress's eyes and it never boarded well for anyone.
Not because her mistress was displeased or angry with her. It was the opposite in this case. Her mistress had a kind heart, far too kind and it would cause her problems shortly.
The maid could hear the words that were about to be spoken by her master.
"Nanny, how much did this dress cost? It looks expensive and I'm not sure I am comfortable wearing something this costly. It would be better if we sell this dress and use the money for children."
Lady Ely Zhen, the only granddaughter of Marshal Zhen spoke up.
Had it been any other young lady, the Nanny would have been sure that they were saying to increase their social reputation. Things like charity and such were done in upper circles as a means to further one's reputation and to flaunt their wealth.
But Lady Ely was different. She had a soft heart and a kind outlook on life which made it easy to take advantage of.
She was serious in her claim to use the dress money for the needy but that still didn't solve the immediate problem the maid had.
"My lady, we cannot do that. The Marshal gave this dress as a gift to you and I would be in trouble if you did not wear it today. Please, my lady, wear this dress for my sake."
The maid knew that making herself out as a victim was the only way to gain Lady Zhen's sympathy.
A normal maid won't dare to use herself against their master and a normal master won't care this much about their maid as well. This was a business relationship after all.
But Lady Ely had a habit of getting attached easily and had problems letting go of them. That is why the Marshal took special care to screen anyone who wanted to approach Lady Ely.
Too many ex-servants had tried to use Lady Ely's kind heart to take advantage of her.
"Nanny, are you being threatened by Grandfather? You know you can tell me about it and I will help you out. I will help you right any injustice you are facing."
'Foolish child. It's not about me but you. Your grandfather is just concerned about you and your reputation in the upper circles.'
Lady Ely had a bad reputation in the upper circle for being overly kind. The only other person with the worst reputation for being easy was Lady Tsurugi.
But if the recent rumors are to be believed, then that would be longer be the case. And with an easy target gone, her lady would naturally become the best target for those hungry sharks to go after.
"Don't say that my lady. I worked hard to choose this dress as well since I know you want to make a good impression on Lady Suzuki. Also, I heard that Lady Yoko Tsurugi was invited as well as an outsider guest."
The best way to get her lady to agree with her would be to make her forget the first topic. As long as the maid made sure to change the topic, her lady would naturally follow her lead.
"Sister Yoko is coming to the party? Doesn't she hate all the names she is called during the party? They can't be fun for her to attend. I wonder why she puts herself through it time and time again?"
It broke the maid's heart to hear her lady say this. Her lady was not in any better position than Lady Yoko when it came to back-talks.
But her lady was still more concerned about Lady Yoko than herself. What a kind heart she had.
"You see, Lady Yoko didn't have a choice this time. Lady Suzuki invited Lady Yoko herself so the lady could not disagree."
"Ah, is that so? But why would Lady Suzuki do that to Lady Tsurugi? Does she hate Yoko that much?"
For once the maid did not have an answer for her lady.
There were a lot of rumors going around about Lady Yoko and her sudden change. Many people were convinced that this sudden interest Lady Suzuki was showing was because of that.
While others were convinced that it was because of the broken engagement between Lady Yoko and Lord Helios. Both options could be true in this case.
"Anyway, I know my lady is interested in talking to Lady Yoko so why don't you take this opportunity to make friends with her? I am sure Lady Yoko would love to talk with you as well."
The maid had no idea if her words were true or not but her Lady looked significantly happy. She also seemed to have forgotten her criticism of the dress she had before.
Her Lady's naive brain was a double-edged sword.
"Nanny, I need to get ready for the party tonight. I want to dazzle everyone so that I do not embarrass Lady Yoko when I talk to her. I hope you will help me out."
The maid shook her head at her Lady's enthusiasm. Her Lady was a real piece of work, both kind and strong-willed when she needed to be.
Too bad that she was a poor judge of character and fell for people's words too easily.
'I hope that her romantic nature does not land her in any trouble in the future. I also hope that her decision to befriend Lady Yoko does not come to bite her back in the future."
Lady Yoko was not a bad person, the maid knew that. But for some reason, there was a feeling of doom inside the maid's head. She felt like something dangerous was about to happen soon.
___________________________
"Ouch, it burns. How long will it take for my skin to go back to normal? I look like a tomato right now."
To say that the night had been a disaster would be an underestimation. Amane had been nabbed and scrubbed the whole night.
Even the pins from her dress fitting hurt her body. It was a wonder how Amane had not bled due to the harsh treatment she had received the whole night.
"Yoko quit complaining. It was not that bad and it was a small price for the smooth skin we have right now."
Sakura, who had endured the same treatment as Amane the night before, seemed to not be in any pain at all.
Sakura's pink skin had returned to normal already and her skin also shined due to the various beauty treatment she had taken.
Amane was jealous of her skin which was able to adapt to the waxing redness so easily. It had been two hours for Amane but her skin had yet to go back to its original color.
"I hate beauty treatment. I will never go to a saloon in my life again."
"Yoko, you know that is utter nonsense you are speaking. You are the family head so you need to look presentable at all times. Beauty trips such as these would become a routine in the future. Besides this, you also need to take care of your skin daily so you better follow your skin routine."
The more Amane heard the more she wished to take her decision back.
'Why did I think becoming the family head was a good idea? Enduring this harsh treatment is worse than facing off against beasts. At last, I can fight back against the beasts.'
Despite Amane's complaints, she knew that the beauty treatment had not been that bad. It had been a momentary pain for her but the result was good for her skin.
"Now we need to wait a few hours before the party starts. What should we do in the meantime?"
Amane relaxed her body on the couch. It was so soft that Amane felt her body sink into that comfort.
She almost went to sleep before Sakura shook her awake.
"Nope, you cannot fall asleep. You need to look over documents and fill out forms. After you are done with that, you can start on your school assignments. We can't have the Tsurugi family head fail their final school year."
Amane froze once she heard Sakura's words.
She expected to face the paperwork that came with her new post but the word 'School' caused her brain to short circuit.
"I'm sorry. I think I heard wrong. What did you mean by 'school'? Since when did I get to school? And why is this topic just coming up now? What about the previous week?"
Amane was sure her ears were ringing. She had no memory of ever going to school, nor did her room show any evidence of being a student.
"What are you talking about? You always went to school but we decided to declare an emergency last week after the incidents that happened. We could not have afforded to send you to school and risk a beast following after you."
So it had all been a big miscommunication thing? But still, could someone not have broken the news of the school gently to Amane?
'Does my schedule even permit me to go to school? Do I even need to?'
"Sakura, about a school-"
"It's non-negotiable. You will need to get a degree in beast theory at least to officially take over. Everyone was already informed that there was a change in the family head position but the real name on the documents still belongs to your father."
Ah, that did make sense. Sakura's father didn't look like someone that had any knowledge of beasts at all.
He was as much a 'placeholder' as Amane was right now.
But school? The very thought of it made Amane nervous. Especially since she had never gone to school before.
She had heard of the concept and even tried sending some of her adopted children back in the day before realizing that it was a foolish idea.
"Anyway, we can discuss more it later. For now, you should get ready for the party. I will help that half-demon kid you brought get used to this place so don't worry for tonight."
Amane wanted to say that she was not worried but the talk of school was like a bomb to her.
'Don't think about it and spoil your mood Amane. You will have plenty of time to form a strategy about it later.'
Amane was sure that there were ways to get an education from a remote academy in the future. The internet had said something about 'distant learning' when she had looked through it before.
It was a topic Amane would have to figure out about later. For now, she had a party to attend and a few people to dazzle into her corner.
Besides, Amane also had to make sure she doesn't fall into Suzuki's trap. Amane had no idea what that girl was planning but Amane wanted no part of it.
'I have a feeling that tonight is going to suck for me. But if that happens then I will make this an unbearable night for everyone else as well.'
Amane was not making a threat but a promise to herself. Her eyes moved around the room and fell on the sleeping phoenix chick.
Suddenly, Amane had a brilliant idea and the phoenix chick took a fearful step back in her direction.
"Oh dear, it's time to make your social debut. I am sure you and I will have a lot of fun at the party. Won't you be a dear and accompany me?"
The beast gave out a fearful squeak at the look in Amane's eyes. Even the small bird could tell that it was not safe.
All that was left for the atmosphere to turn demonic was Amane's cruel laughter.