Dark Moon Third Arc (Fallen Heart) - 98. Her First Assignment II (Patreon)

Third Arc (Fallen Heart) - 98. Her First Assignment II

Elsewhere, Rose was in the royal carriage on her way to Silentshine's Mansion at SouthWest Luminus City. It was her first time attending an invitation from Euphorion's nobles, so she made sure everything was perfect.

Since it was a garden party, she wore a simple long dress in red. The dress covered her shoulders almost fully and flowed down into a fancy sweetheart neckline. It was a close fit which made the dress look smart and stylish.

"Are you nervous, Your Highness?" asked Claire who was sitting across from her.

"A bit. But I'm more worried about Lady Silentshine. I might steal everyone's attention from her own debut party," answered Rose. Her debut at someone else's debut party didn't sound like a good thing. Indeed this was not her real debut, but this was her first appearance without Angel. Not to mention Claire had already said 'the royal couple morning exercise' had spread among the nobles.

"About that..." Claire cringed.
"I don't think it will be as bad as if His Majesty came to the party by himself." She could remember one time when Angel decided to attend a similar party like this after he stabilized his position.

The moment he got off of his carriage, the noble ladies rushed at him so the royal guards had to make a way for him. It was so chaotic. So he only spent less than half an hour at the party and left since he didn't want to ruin it. After that, Angel was quite selective to attend such a party.

"That bad?" asked Rose in surprise. Which was answered with a couple of nods by Claire.

"It should be fine then," said Rose. Those words were to calm her down.

Once they arrived, the servant procured a short staircase at the door of her carriage and guided her so she avoided stepping onto her dress. A mansion servant then led them to where the party would take place.

One of the guards announced her arrival.
"Princess Rose has arrived!"

Everyone's attention shifted to her. Some of them murmured with an unpleasant expression. While the rest exchanged glances with each other or simply gave her a cynical stare. The castle had stated to Silentshine's family that the king would send his representative but they didn't think it would be Rose.

Since she had expected it, she kept her calm expression. A slight smile on her face.

She walked across the garden, greeted Countess Avelyn, the host of this party, and sat down on a chair. There was a selection of tea and coffee on the table, as well as some cookies, cakes, and other delicacies. The atmosphere was a little awkward with everyone's eyes still stuck on her.

"I think she's not that beautiful," said a noble lady.

"Why did His Majesty choose her?" said another.

"I heard she threw herself to His Majesty after he succeeded in conquering her kingdom," the other added.

"She's just lucky since His Majesty already put his eyes on her from the start."

Those words made Claire grit her teeth, holding back her anger. Although she knew rumors about Rose would be inevitable, at least they shouldn't be talking about it in front of her like this.

But strangely, Rose looked calm.

"Your Highness, are you alright? Please tell me if you feel uncomfortable. I will order the servant to prepare our carriage," Claire said worriedly.

Rose answered her with a calm smile, without any pressure. She knew they said it since they couldn't disobey Angel's orders. So they needed someone to blame, just to channel their discontent.

"Believe me, once you see corpses lying on the battlefield or hear the cry from someone who just lost everything. Things like this won't be a problem anymore." After all, Rose was used to this sort of thing since some of Zephyrus' high aristocrats always looked down upon her family, so she already knew how to handle them.

Claire knew it was true, but she still felt that what the noblewomen were doing was wrong.
"But it still feels so wrong... How could they bad-mouthed a high-ranking noblewoman like you?"

"That's because I have no friends or alliances other than the king. I'm their easy target and their hot topic of conversation," said Rose calmly.

"So are you going to just let them?"

After a simple thank you to a servant who poured tea for her, Rose spoke again.
"Of course not. I'll tell you how. Did you see that lady?" She pointed at a young lady, who was surrounded by several other noblewomen, with her gaze. From her dress, Rose knew she was a high rank one. And her innocent expression showed she was also new to this kind of thing.

"Yes?" answered Claire.

"What's her name? Call her here. Tell her, I want to talk and have tea with her," she said casually before she took her cup and sipped it.