After everyone left, the drawing room was now less crowded. Aristia glanced at Adeline and the latter went to stand guard outside the door.
The two sat in silence, sipping tea. Vivian kept glancing at Aristia with that conflicted look on her face, looking unsure of what to do.
Unlike before when she was glaring at her, she only looked purely confused this ti. It was obvious Aristia’s unexpected actions had thrown her off balance.
"You ca to see , your highness?" She finally asked when she saw Aristia didn’t plan on saying anything for the ti being.
Aristia put down her teacup quietly before looking back at Vivian.
"Yes." She replied. "Did you receive the gifts I sent you?"
Vivian looked surprised for a mont before averting her eyes.
"I did. I appreciate them, your highness. But I’m sure that’s not the reason you’re here and want to see ."
Aristia smiled with satisfaction.
[Smart girl.]
"You’re right. That’s not the only reason I’m here."
Vivian looked up at her, her beautiful turquoise eyes silently asking. Then what else did you co for?
"I wanted to talk to you." She said.
Vivian hesitated before asking. "About what?"
"I wanted to speak to you about what happened before," she began. "I wanted to apologize for my actions two years ago. I was an to you, and what I said was wrong. I don’t have any excuse, but I’m sorry."
Vivian’s eyes widened slightly and her lips parted in surprise, but she said say anything, waiting for Aristia to continue.
Aristia took a deep breath and clasped her hands before her. It wasn’t easy— apologizing for sothing she didn’t do.
"I don’t rember everything clearly," she admitted, "but I am sorry. I know I hurt you."
For a mont, it was silent between them.
Vivian’s grip on her teacup relaxed, and she bit her lip.
She stared at Aristia with wide eyes for a long mont before rembering to speak. But she looked like she didn’t know what to say.
"You’re... different now," her childidh voice said finally, as if she couldn’t believe it. "You’ve really changed."
Aristia’s lips moved into a faint smile. "People grow, miss Vivian. Or at least, they should." She paused when she rembered that she was speaking to a child. "I know it will not be easy because of what I did to you, but I only hope you can forgive ."
Vivian just continued to stare at her with wide eyes. The princess just apologized to her and asked for her forgiveness. Royalty didn’t apologize and the third princess never did. Yet, she had said she was sorry three tis. Three tis!
Vivian nodded. "I accept your apology, Your Highness."
A faint smile crossed Aristia’s face. "Thank you."
When Aristia smiled at her acceptance, Vivian’s lips twitched into a tentative smile.
Aristia didn’t know why, but it felt like the air between them had beco lighter than before.
After that, no words were spoken again. The silence between them stretched for minutes. Aristia turned to look out the window. A bird was perched on the window sill.
Aristia caught Vivian trying to glance at her discreetly from the corner of her eyes, not aware that Aristia caught her.
Once her tea got cold, Aristia put down the teacup. The sound attracted Vivian’s attention.
"I will be leaving now," she said and stood up.
Vivian nodded and stood up too, putting down the teacup she had stopped drinking from a long ti ago. Her tea had turned cold a long ti ago.
Vivian opened the door and Adeline turned. She followed behind them as Aristia and Vivian walked towards the entrance.
Count and Countess Quentin had been on edge ever since they left the room and closed the door behind them.
They had been sitting on pins and needles since Adeline stood outside the door to prevent anyone from eavesdropping, and they were even more anxious now that their daughter stepped out of the room with the princess.
"Your Highness, are you leaving already?" Countess Quentin asked. She had a polite smile on her lips and her tone was filled with concern. "Please, stay for dinner."
"I’ll have to decline your kind offer, Countess." Aristia politely refused. It was almost dusk and she had to return to the Hemsworth Estate quickly before it got too late.
"I hope Vivian didn’t trouble you in any way, Your Highness?" Count Quentin inquired cautiously, gripping a handkerchief with sweaty hands.
"No. I enjoyed my conversation with her today," Aristia said.
’Huh?’ The couple was confused. So the princess did not co to find trouble with their daughter, instead she wanted to have a conversation with her? She really ca all this way just to talk to Vivian?
But they at Aristia. Yes, the third princess was smiling. It really didn’t look like she ca here to find trouble with Vivian.
Though it was hard to comprehend, the couple still accepted this answer.
"I enjoyed talking to Vivian so much," Aristia continued, "that I may consider visiting again." She said, still with than innocently bright smile on her face.
She had a reason for saying that.
Just as she expected, her words lit up the couple’s faces with pleasant surprise, and their gaze towards their youngest changed.
Was their daughter and the princess close enough for the princess to call her by her first na? So Vivian was now on friendly terms with the princess? She was on friendly terms with royalty?!
It didn’t make sense that their daughter and the princess were not close before and then suddenly beca close enough to address each other personally after just a few minutes, but the couple were too overjoyed to think of this.
Aristia shuddered inwardly in disgust at that gaze. It was opportunistic and reeked of people trying to reap benefits through soone.
She observed Vivian’s siblings. The sisters bristled with envy, while their brother remained indifferent, as if it didn’t matter to him, only glancing at Vivian multiple tis.
Aristia disliked Vivian’s family already. She resisted the urge to sneer.
Aristia turned her gaze back to Vivian and offered a dazzling smile, ant only for her. "Goodbye, Vivian."
"Ah... goodbye, Your High— princess Aristia." Vivian stamred, clearly startled by the princess’s casual use of her first na.
She couldn’t pull her eyes away from Aristia.
The sun was high in the sky. But in the North, even though the sun was there, it didn’t provide much warmth, and whatever bit of warmth it gave wasn’t enough to lt the snow.
But Vivian felt a warm, fuzzy feeling in her chest.
The gentle rays of the sun shone on Aristia, and her purple eyes looked like they were gleaming.
Just then, Aristia turned and walked into her waiting carriage with Adeline following closely behind her.
Aristia leaned back against the cushioned seat and cuddled Millie in her lap, as Lucas drove the carriage away from the Quentin estate, and soon, they were leaving the Quentin Estate and soon, the Quentin Fief.
Even as the carriage moved further and further away, Vivian Quentin’s turquoise eyes remained stuck on it, and she kept seeing that smile.
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