The party was finally in full swing. It had taken a long time of preparing but finally, all the important people of the empire had ended up gathering around the same hallway.
This was an annual party that was hosted by the Abstel household but no one missed the true purpose of this party - to show off the friendship between Rui Abstel and Freshia Wells. Even the queen had been invited to this party.
Every one pitied the poor Abetel heiress who had been put into such a difficult situation by her friend. She had been all but forced to make such a move.
And even though Rui Abstel did not feel like there was anything wrong with supporting her fiend, the gathering did not think the same. They saw it as a betrayal by Rui of their believed the queen and her choice.
"Poor heiress Abstel. She is being taken advantage of."
"So true. I did not think that cunning fox had it in her to manipulate her friend like this."
"Just what kind of otherworldly beauty if this 'Freshia Wells' to not only bewitch the queen, but Lady Rui as well? I need to see this for myself today."
Rui listened to the ongoing gossip below with a calm face on the outside. But on the inside, she was dancing with joy. Things were going her way and she had become a pillar of pity in the high society.
Her image as the 'pitiful' and 'ignorant' lady was spreading even further now and that gave Rui joy.
"My lady, should we not stop these people from gossiping about you and Lady Freshia? Your friendship can get affected by these nasty rumors."
The head butler warned Rui of what could happen. He was worried about Lady Frehia's reaction if she happened to hear all this talk.
Even the head butler knew that Lady Freshia was not entirely stable and she showed some questionable behavior but he was willing to believe in the lady still.
After all, Lady Freshia seemed to be the only ally he had left in this household so the head butler had to keep a hold of her affection.
"Hmmm, you are worried about Freshia? But I am sure Freshia understands that this is all nonsense and would not take it to her heart. Moreover, there is another thing for us to worry about when it comes to Freshia."
Rui did her best not to let her personal feelings bleed into her voice but it was a near thing. She was having so much fun ruining Freshia that it was not even funny,
"Another thing to worry about? Are you talking about the royal invite you sent?"
As customary, an invite to the royal palace was customary whenever a party was held, And usually, such invites were quickly replied to so that the host could make a decision based on the reply.
But Abstel household had gotten no reply from the royal palace so they had no idea if the queen would show up or not.
"Let's just hope that nothing ends up happening. Provoking the queen is not a good idea for us."
The head butler warned Rui, unaware that things were already moving way beyond his understanding.
…………..
Down below in the ballroom, Lady Freshia heard everyone gossip about her but she pretended not to care for them. They could talk about her all they wanted but it was not going to move her.
'After all, what do these people know about myself and Rui? Our friendship is eternal and these small insults will not drive us apart.'
Freshia had unlimited faith in Rui's feelings for her and she quietly made her way around the ballroom with her head held high.
Her dress had ended up looking far fancier than she had anticipated and Frehsia had a feeling that it was due to her new friend.
And speaking of her friend, Huye had managed to come to the ball dressed magnificently. Huye's dress was just short of outdoing Freshia and the intent of Huye touched Frehisa.
"Lady Freshia, you look magnificent today. I hope I am not overstepping by coming to talk to you like this."
'Good intentions and perfect manners. Huye is worthy of becoming my follower in the upper society.'
Freshia's thoughts were all over the place but she was still assured in her social position. She walked over to Huye and made a show of greeting her.
Huye flushed in the hug, an adorable expression blooming on her face. Everyone was looking at them with anticipation now.
'This is it. Look at us and feel envious of Huye being my followed.'
Freshia grinned in her mind, misplacing the way these people were looking as jealousy rather than the mockery they were rather than mockery they were looking at her with mockery.
Huye did notice and she grinned. Many people are sympathetic to her and her situation of becoming a social follower in her current position.
But just as it felt like something would happen, all talks halted and people fell quiet. It was because of the royal messenger at the door.
"Everyone, welcome the queen's envoy in front of you. The queen had bestowed upon you, the person who would be representing her today,"
Freshia tried not to clench her fist as she watched the person who had ruined her life walk down the hallway it was such a pity that she could do nothing about it.
'Fuck, such bad luck. Out of everyone, my ex-lover could have sent, she sent the one person I cannot stand that man. I wish he would disappear from in front of me right now.'
Huye was looking at this interaction with interested eyes. She suddenly realized what the problem with Freshia was and a brain broke out on her face.
'So this is the man who currently has the queen's favor? I will need to seduce this man and know how he managed to get the queen to fall for him. It's time to up my charm game a little.'
Huye was confident in her skills. She looked at Freshia and suddenly thought to strike two birds with one stone.
'Time to work my charms. This time, things would go differently than they did with Yohan.'
Huye was confident in herself so she tapped Freshia's shoulder and asked her to lean down.
"My lady, I can see that you are troubled by this man's presence. Do you need me to deal with him for you?"
Huye asked the question with a husky voice. Freshia was startled but then she stopped too thin. Did she want Huye's help or not? Was it worth it for her to interact with this man?
'But then again, why does it matter if I get someone else to deal with this man or not? He was the one who harmed me first, right?'
So Freshia ended up agreeing with Huye and she made her move.
…………………..
Yohan observed everyone and he felt things snap into place as soon as he saw Zedkiel's face. He had known that it had been Zedkiel whom the queen had taken as her lover but now it was confirmed as well.
This was the man who had killed Yohan once but also provided him with the best opportunity of his life. As such, Yohan had conflicting feelings for this man.
He thought about making a move against Zadkiel but he was beaten to the punch by Huye of all people. The tomboyish girl walked over to Zadkiel to try and charm him as well but Yohan knew that it was not going to work.
Huye had a seductive skill but it only worked on full-blooded demons. Anyone more powerful than her was immune to her charms.
But it did not seem like Huye knew this as she tried to flirt with Zadkiel more and more. It was heading to disaster when Rui entered the scene. Rui looked calm but there was no missing the maniac look in her eyes.
'Well, this is turning interesting all of a sudden. I wonder what is about to happen next?'
Yohan was looking forward to the fight that was about to happen. But unfortunately, things ended up subsiding even before they started because of the royal guards.
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