BANG!
Again. Aisha's body swayed slightly. She kept repeating herself over and over again with gritted teeth. She was aware of all the eyes on her as she did such an improper act.
She was a dignified noble lady. When had she ever undergone such harsh and humiliating actions? At that very moment, she wanted to die.
Lady Emery couldn't take it anymore. She wanted to run forward and pull the pitiful Aisha up from the ground but Sir Caleb held out his hand to stop her. He would not give way or let anyone close to the scene.
She cried out, "Your Highness, I beg you to stop it! Isn't this more than enough? She's already bleeding so profusely, I'm afraid that she can't take any more of this."
"Hmm, I suppose that's enough." Dione nodded at Caleb, allowing Emery to help her friend up.
Though she wasn't yet tired of watching the show, it was better to stop here. Otherwise, the onlookers may take her as the villain here. Though she did not care what such hypocritical people thought of her, she did not want her actions to tarnish the reputation of Duke Devland.
It seemed that she had temporarily forgotten the Duke's nickname as the Heartless Duke. Why on earth would he care that she humiliated someone like this? In his eyes, something like this was rather generous. He would not have stopped until the other person died!
Lady Aisha stumbled to get to her feet. When she looked up, her face was completely bloody stemming from a single wound on her forehead. Despite how bad it looked, it was a pretty superficial wound and the bigger problem was the harshness she used against herself to hit her head against the ground.
She directly fainted in Emery's arms.
Princess Valerie's hands were clenched into fists at her side. Her nails dug deep into the palms of her hand, drawing blood.
She didn't care much about Aisha, that hardheaded girl was just a tool she used to humiliate Dione today. What she really cared about was the fact that Dione dared to publicly retaliate against one of her people right in front of her! What gave her the courage to do such a thing?
One must know that it had not even been a week since the ball. It seemed that Dione understood that it was not easy to touch her anymore and so she was doing what she wanted and would no longer allow herself to be subjected to bullying.
Discreetly, Valerie gave Nadine a look. This entire time, Nadine sat beside Dione without drawing much attention to herself. In fact, she had not even said a word and most people had forgotten that she was there. That was good, then. Nadine was her backup plan.
Valerie looked back to Dione with a newfound viciousness. She must absolutely destroy her today and take back what belonged to her!
Nadine, though slightly hesitant, nodded discreetly. This entire time she had tried her best to lower her presence and make herself as invisible as possible. Though she accepted being used by Valerie because of the agreement to help clear her debt, after witnessing what occurred today she was desperately hoping to escape.
She did not want to go against Princess Dione no matter what. But at the same time, could she really afford to so blatantly disobey Princess Valerie? Also, Princess Valerie assured her that she would protect her. Surely it should be fine then, right?
As Emery and some nearby servants fussed over Lady Aisha, Princess Valerie stood from her seat. "Because of the circumstances, today's tea party will end here. And Dione," she turned, her tone darkening, "I hope you keep in mind that it isn't wise to continue making enemies. One day, your improper behavior may catch up to you."
"I'll keep that in mind." Dione did not take the underlying threat in her words too seriously. Why should she care? Ever since she was a child, her sister would find any reason under the sun to attack. It had only gotten worse when her father died so with the Duke beside her it could only get better, right?
Ignoring the heated glares from Emery, Dione left Princess Valerie's garden which had now become overcrowded with palace doctors and servants running about.
When she had gotten far enough, Dione lowered her voice and turned slightly to Caleb as they walked. "The Duke said that I could use you however I wanted, correct?"
"That is correct, Your Highness."
She thought for a bit. "Mm. Then, I want you to spread rumors about Lady Aisha's actions here today. Exaggerate it as much as possible and if you could, drag Valerie and Lady Emery into it as well."
When Caleb showed slight confusion, she continued. "Why the surprise? Don't tell me you really believed that I would leave this matter untouched. Today has only bred even more hatred between us and it was already impossible for me to let her go. I would never allow a possible problem to fester until it grew enough to bite me back."
In reality, ever since Dione had forced Aisha to traditionally apologize to her, she never intended to just let this matter rest. Why would she pass up an opportunity to hit three birds with one stone? Not only would Lady Aisha be affected but Princess Valerie and Lady Emery would as well. As the three ladies with the most standing in the social circle, this meant a lot of weight off her shoulders. It would also act as a warning to others.
In response, the knight only chuckled. "In this regard, you are much like the Duke. He also has the style of cutting it at the root."
"Comparing me to a man nicknamed the Heartless Duke… Is that supposed to be taken as an insult?"
Caleb's eyes widened to the size of saucers as he frantically shook his head. "Ah, no no, of course not Your Highness-"
Dione laughed, "Sir Caleb, it's fine. I was merely joking with you, there's no need to take it so seriously. Besides that, I actually wanted to speak to you about Duke Devland…my fiancé." She added that last part softly, rolling the words around in her mouth as if she did could not believe this development.
She really did not believe it.
How on Earth could the Gods possibly proclaim them as soulmates? It felt unreal. Furthermore, she could not wrap her head around what that God had said to her. Why did that God speak as if she had known her? Almost as if…she felt sorry for her?
She had so many questions that she wished to ask Sir Caleb, hoping that he could shed some light. Maybe learning more about the Duke would be helpful to her, especially considering that their marriage contract would extend for three years. Before she could ask though, a flurry of footsteps sounded behind them.
Caleb pushed her behind him in a protective stance and drew his sword in one liquid motion. "Halt! Who are you?"
The dark-haired girl immediately shrunk back, timidly saying, "Nadine Finch. I attended Princess Valerie's tea party just now, Your Highness."
"Ah, Baron Finch's daughter."
Nadine nodded feverishly, as if afraid if she did not do so fast enough, a sword would pierce her neck. "Yes, yes! I truly did not mean any harm, I simply lost my way and wanted to ask for help."
Caleb eyed her suspiciously. He did not believe her at all but he put his sword away nonetheless. "Why did you not ask one of the palace servants to escort? That is their job. It is unladylike to simply wander around in someone else's house like this, much less the palace. As a noble lady, did your parents not teach you any manners?"
Much like a knight weathered by many years on the battlefield, he was blunt and straight to the point.
The flurry of questions made Nadine's face flush. "Ah, yes I tried. But with everyone fretting around Lady Aisha, no one paid any attention to me."
The knight still did not believe her.
Sensing his heavy gaze on her, she dropped her head sheepishly. In a lower voice, she added, "Truthfully, I do not get the opportunity to come to the palace often. It may be a little brazen of me, Your Highness, but as an avid lover of flowers, I only wished to see the garden that your mother once tended to. It has long been proclaimed as the most beautiful garden in the Salian Empire and it caused me to get a bit ahead of myself."
Dione's mother had always been her soft spot. She laughed softly, stepping forward a bit to get a better view of the girl in front of her. "Don't look so down, Lady Nadine. In the first place, Princess Valerie's tea party was meant to enjoy the palace gardens. Since it was partly my fault that it ended so abruptly, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to accompany you in viewing my mother's garden."
Nadine's head snapped up. Her eyes were wide with disbelief, "Really? Oh, thank you so much, Your Highness! You don't understand how much this means to me!"
On the surface, her excitement was as clear as day. But there was a small glint in her eye that was easy to miss.