The sunlight shone warm, the wind blew gently, the sky was clear, and the birds chirped near the tree. It was good weather for an outdoor salon. Helena wore her favourite pastel blue dress and sat in a beautiful garden. She sipped the tea and smiled brightly. The fragrance of the drink was marvellous.
"What a nice day."
Helena stared at the host of the salon, Ruth Verdant. The elder had the window match the curtain. She had brown hair that suited her brown eyes. The wrinkle under her eyes did not hinder the sweet appearance of her round face.
Lady Verdant married a Marquis and lived a peaceful life. She retired from high society when all of her children grew up. That woman did not appear much at social gatherings, but she still had an impact as the previous social butterfly. The forty-year-old lady still held a salon to learn news surrounding the nobility.
Helena chose to attend her salon because she was not prejudiced toward newcomers. Lady Verdant would welcome anyone with open arms as long they were courteous. Making acquaintance with her instead of the young nobles would be better.
Yet, something unfortunate happened to Lady Verdant in the future. She locked herself in the room and never appeared to the public for the rest of her life. Nobody knew the reason behind her sudden isolation. Helena wondered why such a wonderful woman changed.
"Did you hear about Prince Ruby and the daughter of a Viscount?"
"He ditched her for another woman, right?"
The topic of the tea party was always the same. It was about gossip, trending outfits, or marriage. Helena was getting bored listening to the same story for the third time. She was an attentive listener who barely spoke in her first life and a liar in her second life. It was not good to remain silent or fabricate a story, so Helena decided to talk about something. Her vast knowledge of gardening (from her first life) and tea (from her second life) helped her this round.
"Did you know catnip can become tea?"
"Really? This is the first time I hear about it."
"The taste is woodsy and grassy. I suggest mixing it with lemon for a few minutes."
Helena managed to bring a new conversation to the table. The other ladies began to speak about their hobbies and interests instead. Helena used this opportunity to obtain information about their preferences.
"I almost forgot! Lady Helena, I heard you received the invitation to the royal ballroom. Congratulations!"
A lady at the same table disrupted her intel gathering. Helena was confused by her statement. "I'm afraid I don't understand what you were talking about. I never receive such an invitation."
"My bad, please forgive me." That lady hid a dagger behind her smile. "I thought both of you got invited to the royal ballroom."
That lady was Ethel's friend, Mariah Heather. She had a bratty face that matched her personality. The brown-haired girl always took Ethel's side. She embarrassed Helena on purpose to look good in front of her sister.
Helena's eyes twitched at the provocation. Her step-sister received an invitation to the royal ball last week. However, rubbing it on her face was not exactly pleasant. Helena would be too timid to fight back in her first life and would throw tea at her in her second life. The current Helena was wiser and had more experience. She could handle this situation better than before.
"I understand they do not choose me. I am still lacking in many areas. However, Lady Heather was a true noble and had been educated since childhood. Surely you receive the invitation, right?"
"I-" Mariah's face was red. Her chance of getting a royal invitation was low in the beginning. She came from Baron's family but only got so far as to be Ethel's follower. Mariah could only attend a big party by sticking to her step-sister.
While Mariah was embarrassing herself, a butler came to the garden. He pardoned himself for disrupting the salon and whispered to Lady Verdant. That woman looked surprised and excused herself for a moment.
The future was unpredictable. One difference in a path and it would lead to a new route. This salon was the same thing. Helena never attended it before. She did not think being present in that place would bring her into a new destiny.
The sounds of heels echoed through the hall. Helena knew it was not Lady Verdant from the steps. Someone new just came to the salon. The moment that woman walked into the garden, everyone stopped talking. All of them stood up and bowed down to the new guest.
"Your Grace."
The woman in front of them had a cold expression. Her olive green eyes glared at the participants one by one. She opened her fan and spoke in a flat voice.
"It's nice to see young ladies nowadays are so polite."
Lady Nora Vermillion was a woman in a high position. Her husband, Duke of Eluvuris kingdom, was a direct right hand of the First Prince. The Duke received the title "Prince Lapdog" because of his loyalty. Lady Nora was no exception. Just like her husband, she took important jobs supporting the monarchy. She gained the title "Dame of Justice" for protecting people and keeping the law intact.
Helena interacted with the Duchess in her first life. They only exchanged greetings and never saw each other again. In her second life, Helena avoided Duchess Vermillion like the plague. Nora Vermillion was a dignified and honourable noble lady. If she learnt about Helena's behaviour at that time, the Duchess would destroy her path in high society.
"Pardon my surprise visit, young ladies. I am in a mood to meet an old friend."
Lady Verdant chuckled. "It's a pleasant surprise for sure. I never expected you to see me today."
Lady Vermillion was not part of the guest list. If she was, the party would be full of people with political ties instead of young women. Helena glanced toward the other noble ladies. Their face was pale from fear and anxiety. Everyone hoped they did not make a blunder in front of the Duchess.
Lady Vermillion realized her arrival had created a rigid atmosphere. "No need to pay attention to me. You all can get back on your discussion."
Lady Verdant and Lady Vermillion decided to sit at a separate table. The atmosphere reverted when the older ladies sat far away from them. The young ladies were relieved and continued their conversation.
The salon ended without a hitch. However, Helena failed her mission. She had lost her chance to speak to Lady Verdant. Helena sighed. Perhaps it was not the right time to be close with the Marchioness. She gave her parting words to Lady Verdant before returning to her mansion,
It was unfortunate how Lady Vermillion's eyes caught her.
"I've never seen you before."
Helena curtsied before her body was frozen in fear. "My name is Helena Blackmoore."
"Ah, the new lady of the Blackmoore family."
Duchess Vermillion spoke as she opened her fan in front of her lip. The Brunette woman stared at her from head to toe. Helena swallowed her saliva. This meeting felt more like an interrogation than small talk.
"My friend, do you mind if I borrow one of your rooms? I need to speak alone with Lady Blackmoore."
Helena turned her head to Lady Verdant, hoping the friendly woman would refuse the request. "Please reject her..."
Helena begged the sweet lady with eyes full of hope. Lady Verdant, however, did not understand her plea at all. "Of course you can! Feel free to use one of the guest rooms."
Helena was dumbfounded and screamed inside her mind. Nevertheless, she had no choice but to follow Lady Vermillion. Helena was nervous when she stayed in the same room as the Duchess. Lady Vermillion was known as a fair person. She never harassed people or abused her power. Helena had no idea what kind of mistake she made in this timeline to land her this mess.
"Lady Blackmoore, what do you know about my family?"
Helena tilted her head. The question puzzled her, but she answered it. "The Vermillion family works directly under the First Prince."
"You are right. My husband had chased a troublesome cult under the king's order. My job is to support him with information. Recently, I found interesting news about a noble lady searching about the cult in library and bookstore."
Cold sweat broke from her head. Helena's prediction was correct. This was an interrogation. She was a suspect while Lady Vermillion was the judge. Helena was aware of where this conversation was going. The Duchess was trying to dig for information from her.
"Did you know how we found out about the cult?"
Helena shook her head. She only discovered the cult recently.
"One day, Prince Heliodor abruptly opened our door and screamed about something horrible in his domain. We followed him and discovered one hundred twenty-seven dead bodies. Only three survivors were alive from the slaughter. Two lost their mind, and one was badly injured from harming himself. Those three did not last long. Lucky for us, the last survivor lived to tell his story. A cult performed a human sacrifice and other acts to summon a demon. Imagine how disgusted I was to know such a thing happened under this kingdom."
Helena turned pale just by imagining it. "How did no one know about this?"
The Duchess sneered. "We changed the news and made it as they passed away because of gas poisoning."
Helena looked down on the floor. The gravity of the state was heavier than she thought. She remembered reading a news about poisonous gas. Nobody was suspicious of the mass death because the corpse died unnaturally. There was no struggle mark or injuries on their body. Everyone agreed that poisoned gas was the logical way to explain their death.
Only Helena knew the truth. Paradise Star was successful with its ritual and sacrificed those people for the demon.
"Tell me, young lady, why do you seek Paradise Star? Depending on your answer, I might decide to let you go or end your position."
"Well, I repeated my life two times. After an investigation, I found out that my butler was a demon. He told me to search for Paradise Star. How surprised I was to learn that it was a cult!"
Like hell she could reply with that.
Helena could not breathe. Her heart was beating fast as it was going to jump. She felt nauseous and wanted to throw up on the floor. Helena did not achieve her goal, yet the situation was already grim. Lady Vermillion's influence was strong enough to plummet her down. Forget high society. That woman had the power to crush her family to dust.
Should she lie? No, Lady Vermillion's intuition was a great deal. She was trained to detect falsehood. The Duchess of Justice would know if Helena was lying. She only had one option right now. Helena took a deep breath and answered in a clear tone.
"I did not know Paradise Star was a cult. That was the reason I was searching for information about it. However, I have no harmful intention of looking for it. I swear on my life."
Duchess Vermillion examined Helena. The young girl stared directly into her eyes. There was no doubt in her expression. Everything Helena stated was the truth.
The Duchess closed her fan. "It's a vague answer, but I accept it."
Helena stroked her chest, feeling relieved to survive the random death flag that came out of nowhere.
"If you have more information about Paradise Star, please give it to me. You will be rewarded handsomely." Lady Vermillion stood up from her seat and walked to the door. "I hope you remain on the right path. It would be a shame to execute a young, intelligent woman like you."
"Thank-thank you! I will not disappoint you!"
After the Duchess left, Helena returned to her home. She never expected to meet her in a small salon. Helena did not want to experience the scary encounter again. She was exhausted to the point she went straight to sleep.
The next day, she visited the church to light up her mood. Much to her surprise, the church rejected her visitation. A nun bowed down and apologised to her.
"My Lady, I'm sorry! We do not accept a visitor right now!"
"That's rare. What is happening? The church usually always opens the door."
The nun was nervous, pondering whether she should tell her or not. She decided to speak and whispered into Helena's ear.
"A kid went missing."