"Princess, what a lovely party you have hosted. I was blown away by the care you put into setting this place up. However, if I can advise you about one thing, will you listen to ? Maybe we can go in that corner and..."
"No, thank you. The fact that you thought of coming up to and offering this to is more than enough. I would not want to take any more of your ti and waste it. Please, enjoy this party in the anti. My staff prepared a lot for it."
Princess Evelyn smiled at the person who asked her if they could talk alone in the middle of this ball.
It might have co across as rude, but the princess had no intention of giving anyone her precious ti unless it directly benefited her.
Countess Lola had coached her on who the important people here were, and those people were the only ones Lola wanted to focus on and form a relationship with.
The man huffed as he was denied by the princess, but since he was in public, he could not do much to her. He only huffed and left the scene, but his eyes kept looking at the princess in hopes that she would call for him again.
Unfortunately for him, Princess Evelyn was not going to do that.
She smiled back at the man before turning her head away as carefreely as she could. That showed that this conversation was over on her part.
Countess Lola walked over toward the princess and watched her deal with these people. The proud look in her eyes could not be masked, no matter what.
"You are doing great, Princess Evelyn. At this rate, I won’t have to worry about you anymore. I can even—"
The countess paused as she spoke, and a worried look crossed her paling face. She suddenly looked uncomfortable, and it seed as if she wanted to dash out of the place.
Princess Evelyn had never seen her nanny like this, and it shocked her to see her nanny shaking.
"Countess Lola, are you fine? Are you going to fall? Should I help you out by helping you get to safety?"
Princess Evelyn asked as she almost wrapped her arms around the fragile older lady.
But before she could help the nanny brace herself, Countess Lola pushed herself to stand tall and not show how much she was being affected by what was happening.
"I am fine. You don’t need to worry about . Please, enjoy yourself, Princess. I need to head out and check up on sothing."
The princess watched her nanny go with a worried look on her face. Sothing about the way the nanny was behaving did not sit well with her. It was as if the nanny wanted to hide sothing from her.
And while this was not the first ti this had happened, the taste of this happening did not feel great. It made Princess Evelyn want to follow the nanny and check what kind of secrets she was keeping.
But unfortunately, the princess had a royal obligation to fulfill, and it did not even take a minute before the nanny’s absence was noticed by her side and people moved in to crowd the princess and ask her questions.
She had no choice but to listen to these people and pretend to care for them.
But among this ss, the princess noticed two things—the nanny seed to have disappeared, and the goddess was nowhere to be seen. It felt like a coincidence, but was likely not one.
______
Countess Lola’s heels clicked urgently against the cold stone floors as she hurried down the dimly lit corridor, her breath coming in short, frantic gasps.
The oppressive air of the castle, normally laced with the comforting touch of darkness she had carefully cultivated, felt lighter—too light. Sothing was wrong.
Her grip tightened over her chest, her heart hamring with a foreign sense of dread. The chira was dead.
She knew it in her bones, in the way the dark magic she had tethered to the beast flickered and faded like dying embers. That abomination was never ant to be defeated—at least not this easily.
"I need to hurry. My instincts tell that sothing is happening around the castle right now. But I cannot fail my mission either."
She muttered under her breath, her fingers digging into her ribs as she pushed herself to move faster.
Soon, Countess Lola ca across a bunch of marching soldiers. They all looked to be in a daze and they walked past her as if they did not even see her. It was a point of concern, but the countess did not have ti to think about it.
Countess Lola picked up pace and almost ran while still maintaining her elegance and posture. Those were two things she could not give up, no matter what.
As soon as she reached the entrance of the chamber, her worst fears were confird.
The outer half of the room, once steeped in the rich, pulsing energy of dark magic, had been almost entirely purified.
The suffocating black mist was gone, replaced with an unsettling radiance that made her skin crawl.
She stumbled forward, her wide eyes darting across the ruins of her work. Years—no, decades—of careful corruption were unraveling before her very eyes.
"This can’t be happening,"
She whispered, shaking her head in disbelief. If the purification spread any further, everything she had built would crumble. Worse, she would be exposed.
Her hands trembled as she yanked her phone from the folds of her dress, her fingers fumbling to dial the one person who could help her—Lady Victoria.
The line rang. And rang.
Lola gritted her teeth, willing the other woman to pick up.
anwhile, Lady Victoria, standing elegantly amidst the noble guests at the ball, glanced at her ringing phone. She saw Lola’s na flash across the screen but rely scoffed and silenced the device.
She had no interest in cleaning up Lola’s ss right now.
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