Harley Feathermore is the most influential social butterfly in our society. She is an alluring young woman with many merits under her name, so it is a given that she would be the kingdom's pearl. She is known not just in this kingdom but also in the four other neighboring kingdoms, and thus, her parties always tended to have a good turnout, and today was no different.
Having just arrived at the venue, I couldn't help but get overwhelmed by the turnout. I never thought that a person could actually know so many people, not that I was jealous or anything given my nonexistent circle of friends.
I wanted to go and greet the host, Harley but then like any dashing flame she was swamped by flocks of young ladies flattering her with all sorts of gifts and exaggerated compliments so I decided to stay put alone on the sidelines.
If anything, I had come here to collect information, and perhaps observing from the sidelines would be a good start.
I took some refreshments and went to stand alone underneath the lavishly styled shades and started munching on the desserts I had in hand. If my life wasn't as complicated, I would have probably loved to be a chef so that I could cook all sorts of yummy food for me to enjoy.
Looking around, I saw aides and maids rushing stealthy between the guests, and my guess was that they were delivering the next hot topic for the week. It was usually like this, aides or maids would be the ones to share any interesting gossip, and if you wanted news to travel fast, their way would be the perfect medium to use.
It was really funny because one of the ladies present here had probably started the rumor by sending her aide or maid to share the news but most of these women were acting so shocked at whatever it was they had been told and I'm sure the owner of the rumor was probably among them.
I saw a someone rushing to me and it turned out to be Wendy, I asked her to attend the party with me but then told her that if she had people to meet like other maids, then she could so that they could catch up because servants hardly had the time to go out and attend to their social lives. However, I won't lie, I had another agenda for her. She was supposed to be my eyes and ears among the maids, and if they mentioned anything regarding the accident, she would have to tell me immediately.
" Miss, you won't believe!" She exclaimed, excited by the rumor
" Hmm? What is it?" I asked
" Lady Frank is divorcing his husband! Apparently, he was caught cheating at the Uni brothel! To make matters worse, her husband claimed to love the woman he met there! It was said that Lady Frank almost killed herself over this, but luckily, a heroic bystander saw it and stopped her."
Okay, now that was shocking. No wonder Wendy was excited. Regardless, I maintained my composure, " Wendy? What did I say about today's event?"
" You said that I should focus on solely anything that has to do with the Duke's residence and disregard everything else." She quoted
" Okay, and have there been any developments ?" I asked her
" No, miss." She answered with her head low. She must have been upset that I poured cold water on her exciting rumor
" Sigh, alright. Look, you can listen to all the juicy stories they tell you, but you don't have to repay them to me, okay? As long as it has nothing to do with the Duke's residence, I don't want to know." I said to her with a small smile. I was truly not interested in wild gossip, I didn't even know who Lady Frank was!
Anyway, I went back to munching away amd from the corner of my eye, I saw Harley Feathermore coming my way. She caught me off guard that I almost choked on the last dessert that was on the platter, but thankfully, no one noticed this minor error, so I quickly pasted a polite smile as I watched her approach me.
" Lady Charlotte." She exclaimed as she opened her arms as though she wanted to hug me, which she did
" It's been a while since I last saw you. Have you been well?" She said with a graceful smile.
I tried my best to not smile awkwardly because she was acting as though we were long time friends who had not seen one another for a long time and yet it was my first time meeting her in this life at least because in my previous life I did not have the chance.
" Lady Harley, I have been well, thank you. I hope you have been well too." I said politely
" Of course." She laughed
" I was going to greet you, but then, I saw that you were busy ..." I said once again, making her know my intention to greet her. People in this society were pretty petty, I said that because if I didn't, it would seem as though I was disregarding her as the host because many women just threw parties in order to be the center of the show so not greeting was equivalent to a heinous insult.
She laughed again and lightly patted my shoulder before saying, " Oh, it's not a problem at all. I-"
She stopped talking as a maid came to her and whispered something in her ear. After the maid left, she said, " Oh dear. Have you heard?"
" What's wrong?" I asked
" Oh, oh, these are the most traumatizing news yet! So upsetting! Have you truly not heard anything?" She asked, and I held the urge to roll my eyes. Even if I hadn't heard the rumor, she was probably going to tell me anyway, so what was with the suspense.
" No, I assure you, I have not." I said politely
" Let me tell you then. Come closer." she instructed and leaned over as she instructed.