A week later.
"Princess, you are ready." Adeline said as she clipped Aristia’s hair with a pin.
"Thank you." Aristia thanked her and got down from the chair.
She turned behind her where Catherine sat on her bed, "I’m ready, mama."
Catherine nodded and stood up, moving to hold Aristia’s hand as they left the room.
The Grand Duchess and her children were attending a tea party in the Anton Mansion.
They left the Grand Duke Mansion and headed to Duke Anton’s Mansion.
In the carriage, Aristia turned to Catherine. "Thank you for agreeing to help , Mama."
"You are my daughter. I love that I am able to help you." Catherine smiled gently, eyes filled with so much love that Aristia couldn’t bear to look at them.
Guilt gnawed at her insides, knowing that she wasn’t the woman’s daughter and that the love she gave wasn’t ant for her.
She just smiled and looked away, staring out the window. They were in the middle of Autumn. The leaves had started to fall off the trees and had started to turn yellow, orange or red.
The carriage entered into Duke Anton’s mansion and slowed down, coming to a stop in front of the building that was the Duke’s Mansion.
[This is the place Catherine grew up in.] Aristia thought. She had co here multiple tis since she ca to this world.
"Welco, Your Highness. Please, follow ."
A servant led them to the garden the tea party was being held. It was the sa garden as last ti.
When they arrived, most of the invited noble and aristocrat won had already arrived. They had ford groups as usual and were discussing whatever topic they found interesting at the mont.
They were the last to arrive. No one would say a thing as they had the highest status.
Catherine went towards where Alistair was gathered with so ladies in her faction.
When they caught sight of her approaching, they didn’t wait for her and went to et her.
"Your Highness is here." A noblewoman smiled.
"Greetings, Your Imperial Highness."
"Hello, Aunt." Aristia greeted Alistair.
"Hello, Aunt." Alaric followed.
"Tia, you keep getting prettier everyday," Alistair smiled and then turned to Alaric. "And Allie, you’ve beco taller, why you’ll beco a man soon." She teased.
Aristia smiled and Alaric grinned shyly. After exchanging greetings with so of their mother’s friends, they left in search of their age group.
"Your Highness." The children bowed when she approached.
Aristia scanned their faces. So of them were familiar and others were not.
Among them were the Anton girls, The Kiran girls, and Alicia Eldridge.
"Princess Aristia, your dress is very beautiful." A girl Aristia had seen before but hadn’t taken notice of said.
If Aristia rembered correctly, she was the second daughter of a Count from the minor noble families.
"This design looks similar to the dress the princess wore on the banquet. It must be the sa person that designed it." Another girl said.
Aristia nodded with a smile. She was the sa person who designed it, after all.
Just then, Duchess Anton asked for everyone to move to the tables and chairs as it was ti for the tea party to officially begin. They had been waiting for the Grand Duchess and now that she had arrived, there was no need to wait any longer.
There were four tables arranged in the garden, two longer than the others. The children occupied the longer tables, and the won occupied the other two that weren’t as long as those prepared for the children.
The servants served the tea amidst the conversation the gathered guests were having.
None of the children who were present in the palace about a week ago spoke about the snack they had consud at Beatrix’s tea party in the palace because it would be disrespectful to discuss that at the Duchess’s tea party. Rather, they talked about other topics.
"... new. It has been four months, hasn’t it, since it started being built?"
"Speaking of which, I wonder when it will be completed. Anyti I pass through the streets of the capital on my carriage, I see workers moving about." Another said.
"It’s taken so long. It’s about ti for its completion."
Aristia listened carefully to the conversation between the won and mothers. Soon, Catherine would start the plan on her end.
[The Grand Duchess is dealing with the won, and I, the children.]
She wasn’t the only one who overheard the conversation between the won.
The children seated at the sa table were also listening.
Catherine soon spoke. "Why, I suppose the building should open soon."
"May I ask why you said so, Your Highness?" Countess Cara Prescott, who was usually quiet, asked.
"I happened to receive an invitation recently about an opening event. The location was the sa as the new building in the capital."
Murmurs rang out at her words.
Catherine looked around. "Did no one receive a similar invitation?"
"I did not." A lady said.
"I haven’t either." Others echoed, looking at each other to see if anyone else had received such.
Over in the children’s table, the children turned to Aristia when they heard what the Grand Duchess had said.
Aristia put down her teacup. Then, she intentionally spoke in a tone of voice that the won could hear.
"The servants found an envelope outside our mansion very early in the morning. It was from the owner of the building, AE."
"AE?" Soone asked with knitted brows from the adults table, smartly catching on the key point.
"That is what was written." Catherine replied.
Both the adults and children were feeling jealous. They didn’t receive any invitations. They wondered if the royal family had also received any invitation and if they would receive any.
They were also curious. Opening event? That ant they would be able to find out what the building was for soon.
Just then, a man who was dressed like a Butler entered the garden and went towards Duchess Alistair Anton. He bowed and leaned down to whisper to the Duchess.
Aristia had seen him during the tis she visited Catherine’s forr ho. He was a bit well along the years, but he still maintained a sturdy physique.
Duchess Anton nodded with interest in her eyes, leaving the others curious about what the Butler could have said to her.
Alistair dismissed the Butler and turned to the curious ladies.
She smiled. "I just received information that a letter from AE was delivered."
Murmurs returned in full force at Alistair’s words.
"Your Highness, may I ask if you will accept the invitation?" Soone asked.
"I won’t deny; I’m curious about the unanswered questions about the building, and the mysteries surrounding its owner seems interesting. It can be a source of entertainnt for ." Catherine spoke with an air that was not too interested and not too unconcerned.
The aristocrat ladies were now a bit impatient for the tea party to end so that they could return to their houses. They could tell that each of them would soon receive a letter. The Grand Duchess would be there and so would the Duchess. They couldn’t miss it.
Aristia had achieved her goal. She was about to get up and leave when she rembered that the tea party was still on and stopped herself in ti. She had to wait for the tea party to end.
After the tea party, the noble and aristocrat households each unfailingly received a letter from AE.
Aristia chuckled at the na. She had ford it from her na. ’A’ was taken from Aristia, and ’E’ was taken from her middle na. It was an alias she chose for herself.
She looked out of the window of her room at the darkening sky.
A knock sounded on her door. "Co in."
The door opened and Owen ca in.
He bowed before approaching.
"I have delivered all the letters to the households."
"You weren’t discovered?" Aristia asked.
"I wasn’t." Owen shook his head.
It wasn’t like Aristia was wishing that he was discovered. Owen was becoming more skilled in sneaking around without getting seen or caught.
His training with the captain and the shadow guards was like a sharpening of the rough skills he had before Aristia took him in.
"You’ve been working hard, Owen. After tomorrow, you can rest for the whole of the week." Aristia dismissed him.
She could have given him a raise but she didn’t have any money to spare. Now that the restaurant had been completed, she could finally have her own source of inco.
The next day.
Aristia, Adeline and Owen got dressed and headed to the restaurant. They hadn’t used the family carriage; they used the one the servants used which was the one they usually used whenever they left the palace informally.
They ca down from the carriage and pulled the cloaks over their heads. They spotted Dahlia and Dorothy waiting in a corner where they weren’t many people passing by, and approached them.
"Goodday, Miss Aris." The sisters greeted respectfully.
"Goodday. Are the clothes ready?" She asked.
"Yes. We just collected them from the seamstress today. We kept them in our restaurant." Dahlia replied.
"Good. Let’s go." Aristia said.
They walked around the restaurant to the back door and Aristia brought out a bunch of keys and unlocked it when she found the right one.
She entered and they followed behind her.
"Oh my." Dahlia and Dorothy exclaid, awed at the grandeur of the place. It was the kitchen but it looked nothing like what they had ever seen.
There were many stoves and ovens. There were lots of pots, pans, plates and other cooking utensils. The kitchen was also very wide.
"What is that door over there, Princess?" Dorothy asked, pointing at a door in the corner.
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