The two sisters left the duke resident in two carriages. Anastasia, Elizabeth, and Miss Maria rod on one, while Miss Magdalene and Elizabeth's Nanny rod on the second.
Elisabeth's heart burned with fury all through the journey. She felt that Miss Maria was making things difficult for her by bringing Anastasia with them. What made her the most angry was the fact that a lady-in-waiting from the empress was now under Anastasia. Elisabeth could not understand why a Lady-in-waiting would be willing to serve as a maid for the daughter of a mistress.
"What is so special about her, " Elisabeth wondered when she saw how Miss Magdalene treated Anastasia respectfully. She did not notice any disdain in her voice or action when she assisted Anastasia.
To make matters worse, Miss Maria already knew that Anastasia was the one engaged to the crown prince. She had planned to spread the news that one of Duke Thomason's daughters would marry the crown prince. Naturally, many would conclude Elisabeth was the one; after all, she is the legitimate daughter. Even if the truth could be discovered soon, she wanted to hide it for as long as possible.
"I will make her pay, " Elisabeth thought. She felt that later at the party, she would look for a way to make Anastasia embarrass herself. This way, Miss Magdalene would realize that the only person worthy of the prince was her.
Since Anastasia wanted to climb up the ladder, she swore to pull her down.
"My friend is celebrating her fiftieth birthday. This time, she chose to celebrate in a garden as she loves flowers, " Miss Maria began introducing the party.
Usually, she would not attend such a party with her students, but her friend seemed to have successfully planted a rare flower and wanted to share the knowledge.
So when sending out the invite, she had specially asked her friends who were teachers to bring their students along.
Miss Maria consented because she felt it would be an excellent opportunity for Anastasia to practice her social skills and socialize and make friends. Moreover, attending the party without bringing any students along would make it seem her students were unpresentable.
Elisabeth's face lit up the moment she heard this sentence. She also loved flowers and had good knowledge about them. She felt the party was an opportunity to shine effortlessly and step all over Anastasia. After all, Anastasia could not maintain the flowers that her mother groomed for years.
"You two must be well-behaved, " Miss Maria said as she caught sight of Elisabeth's smile. She honestly did not want to go alone with Elisabeth because she was afaird that Elisabeth would pick on her sister, causing her to embarrass herself. The two were her students, so if either of them made a mistake, it would reflect poorly on her (Miss Maria), but it would be out of character to favor one student over another.
Anastasia took a deep breath; fortunately, she had Miss Magdalene with her, who helped her prepare a gift. After all, it would be awkward to arrive at the birthday party empty-handed. Although she did not know the host, and it was not so out of place to come empty-handed but, with Elisabeth present, Anastasia knew that she would be picked on.
After Miss Maria's warning, the carriage fell into silence; meanwhile, in the second carriage, Miss Magdalene had her eyes closed, not enjoying the journey a single bit.
"Miss Magdalene, My name is Lala, " Elisabeth's Nanny introduced herself. She had a warm smile as she spoke.
Miss Magdalene opened her eyes when she heard her voice. When they got into the carriage together, they exchanged pleasantries out of courtesy, and she (Miss Magdalene ) closed her eyes because she did not want to interact more with the Nanny. Still, the woman before her seemed to find it hard to understand such a simple message.
Now that she had spoken, it would look rude if she(Miss Magdalene) ignored her.
"Oh, Nice to meet you, " Miss Magdalene answered briefly without a smile, hoping to end the conversation.
Lala smiled brightly when Miss Magdalene responded to her. Actually, she was worried that the woman would ignore her. There were the only ones in the carriage, so she could not use her actions against her. "How are you getting used to the Duke resident?" she asked in a friendly tone. Although she could tell Miss Magdalene did not want to entertain a conversation with her, she ignored the hint.
As a nanny, she knew a lot about etiquette, so she knew how to act ignorant without giving the other person a reason to complain. At this moment, she (Lala) was acting friendly and concerned, so no matter how uninterested Miss Magdalene was, ignoring her would only make Miss Magdalene look rude.
"It's only been a few hours, " Miss Magdalene replied. There was still no smile on her face, but she maintained an outlook that made it impossible for her to be called rude.
Lala smiled when she heard this response. "Although the Duke's residence may not be as comfortable as the royal palace, you would definitely enjoy your stay. The Duck and Duchess are such nice people. I have been working in the Duke family for six years, " Lala said, the smile on her face did not fade a bit as she spoke.
"I see, " Miss Magdalene said. There was only small curve beside her lips. She could tell that the Nanny beside her was trying to be in a friendly team with her. It was either for personal reasons or she was carrying out an order.
Miss Magdalene would have ignored it but figured Lala might be able to help her understand the Duke resident better.
"Since you have been in the duke's residence for so long, you must know a lot, " She commented after a short pause.
When Lala heard this question, she smiled. "what's there to know? The Duchess is such a nice person, " Lala started praising how good a wife, mother, and master the Duchess is. Although her comments were short, they sounded like a long praise song to Miss Magdalene. After all, in between her statements, she praised Elisabeth and mentioned her brothers, but she smartly avoided Anastasia. Miss Magdalene did not need to use her head to realize that Lala was trying to make her build a favorable impression of Elisabeth.
"I look forward to my stay, " Miss Magdalene said faintly. She realized she would not get any meaningful information from Lala, so she decided to end the conversation.
The two carriages drove the rest of the way in profound silence. One would have thought that they were going to attend a funeral instead of a birthday party.
Soon, their carriages stood at the entrance of a small courtyard. The gates were opened, so after they were identified, they were let inside. The building itself was small but beautiful. Flowers of different colors surrounded it.
It just happened that two other carriages pulled up ahead of them, and the host was welcoming the guests. When Anastasia got out of the carriage, she felt she finally had the opportunity to breathe in fresh air. Although she never spoke much, she could feel the heated gaze from Elisabeth, which made her uncomfortable.
" Maria, " the host called out as soon as they walked to the entrance. The two women hugged and exchanged pleasantries.
"This is Lady Anastasia and Lady Elisabeth, daughters of Duke Thomason, " Miss Maria introduces.