As the sun climbed higher in the sky, telling everyone it was late morning, the garden seemed to have been busier. Elucina could hear some of the guests walking around and chatting among themselves.
Vanetta had been going, telling stories about how she was picked up by her uncle, who suddenly came to find her, from her commoner family. She was surprised at first, not believing the words of a stranger who was claiming to be her real blood relative.
However, her commoner family soon revealed the truth to her, that Vanetta was not their biological daughter. They explained that they had taken her in to care for her until she reached adulthood, in exchange for an acre of land.
Her adoptive parents apologized and expressed their regret for keeping this a secret, emphasizing their love for her and treating her as their own flesh and blood.
Vanetta went on, recounting how she did not want to leave, growing attached to her life in the fields and hesitating to leave. However, her uncle threatened to take the acre from her adoptive family.
She just could not bear to let them lose the land they worked hard to care for, where they raised their cows and sheep and cultivated their crops. And that was why Vanetta was here.
"I don't know if I should thank him or not, ha-ha," Vanetta shared, laughing nervously.
'Her uncle, huh?' Elucina said inwardly, lifting the cup to her lips before taking a sip while she listened to Vanetta's rambling.
"Your uncle..." Elucina murmured, setting the teacup down on its saucer. "Are you referring to the Duke of Solmere?" Her gaze lingered on Vanetta, her curiosity filling her eyes as she waited for her response.
Vanetta nodded, munching on some cookies that Countess Lenné prepared for the tea party. With her mouth full, she held out the plate to Elucina, offering her some too.
To which Elucina declined, then tried to ask, "Speaking of your uncle, did he bring you here immediately?"
"Hn," Vanetta nodded in confirmation before she tilted her head and corrected herself. "Well, not exactly, Your Highness. He first took me to his mansion to meet my grandfather on my mother's side."
After swallowing the remaining food stuffed in her cheeks, Vanetta recalled, her expression looking distant as she remembered, "I met Grandpa when he was bedridden. He actually died the same night we met and then his son, my other uncle, took his throne, I heard."
With her ears perking up with curiosity, something in Vanetta's words caught Elucina's attention.
'Ah, I did hear that the King of Solmere passed away before his heir sat on the throne,' Elucina recalled. If she was not mistaken, it happened two weeks prior to the last royal assembly.
But before Elucina could say anything to prob further on the topic, Vanetta interrupted her.
She continued, "But I actually never met my other uncle," she confessed, fiddling with her fingers nervously. "Because he... from what I overheard, he hates my face, saying I look too much like his sister."
Elucina's brow rose in surprise as she processed the revelation. "...Is that so?"
The silence descended upon the gazebo, which had been infiltrated by some occasional chirp of birds and the sounds of laughter in the distance.
"What about you, Princess Elucina?"
"About me?" Elucina repeated the sudden question, turning the discussion about her.
"Yeah," Vanetta affirmed. "When I was working in the fields, I would wonder, 'what do the nobles eat,' or," she said, "sometimes it's 'do nobles ever get their hands dirty?' kind of question."
Elucina paused, her gaze lingering on Vanetta's face. "...Haven't you found answers to your questions already?" she inquired.
Vanetta nodded and smiled, but her expression slowly faded as she became serious. "But how did you manage to handle the pressure of being a noble?" she asked.
Elucina leaned back a bit from her curiosity and the way she was straightforward about it.
"I've been having a tough time adjusting completely since, I…" Vanetta leaned in on the table and whispered, "I've only been learning how to read and write."
As Vanetta sat back, the palpable silence followed, filling the gazebo. Across from her, Elucina blinked her lashes, realizing finally that accepting the invitation was worthy of learning about her enemy.
But Vanetta failed to notice the amusement twinkling in Elucina's eyes while she stared at her younger sister with insecure eyes and flushed cheeks.
The table had gone quiet once more, and the handmaidens standing behind their mistresses exchanged glances, having been listening in on their conversation from the beginning.
Until Elucina broke the stillness, stating, "I was prepared for it from a young age. It wasn't easy."
A memory flashed in Elucina's mind of her strict mother ensuring she never skipped a class, unless she was too sick to the point she could not drag herself out of her bed.
If otherwise, even when she was just having a slight fever, Elucina would push through not to miss a day.
She remembered spending countless hours learning various subjects, from etiquette and governance to exploring the stories and knowledge about the world from visiting merchants.
Vanetta's face softened as she asked, "You didn't get to rest when you were sick?"
"Time is of the essence," Elucina replied, taking a sip of her tea. "I wanted to excel among my peers–"
"How old were you?"
Elucina glanced at Vanetta. "I was 6..."
"It must have been so hard for such a young age."
Elucina's eyes hardened upon hearing her words. Pity was the last thing she wanted. She hated it more than anything else.
With a clenched jaw, lowering her teacup and placing her hands on her lap, Elucina coldly countered, "It was necessary. For me to be crowned. But that position has been taken away from me."
The weight of her words lingered in the air, adding to the tension that had been steadily seeping into the gazebo.
Vanetta's eyes widened, her hands trembling as she set down her cookie on the tray. The silence between them became suffocating, stretching out the second to eternity.
Then, Vanetta managed to mutter, her voice barely audible by the ear. "I, I did not mean to take the crown from you, Your Highness."
Elucina stated, "But here you are, sitting across from me, in the seat that was once mine." Her voice grew sharp with each word she uttered, cutting through, unforgiving.
As she cleared her throat, she stood from her seat and said. "I believe it's time we conclude your little tea party, Princess Vanetta," she said with a touch of authority.
Acknowledging her solemnly, Vanetta nodded with her brows furrowing. "O, Of course," she replied, concealing her dismay at the sudden end of their meeting.
The handmaidens behind them quickly moved. Countess Lenné approached the table, promptly cleaning the teacups and leftovers. Daleah, on the other hand, stood beside her mistress, ready for her orders.
"You should prioritize learning how to read soon, Your Highness," Elucina advised, turning away on her heels. With a foot descending the short stairs of the gazebo, she added before leaving, "After all, literacy is essential for a ruler."