Chapter 279: Chapter 278

The young ladies who were invited to the teatime started arriving in the gardens of the princess’ palace. Belice stood at the entrance and greeted them all with a bright smile. Her voluptuous, blonde hair hung about her shoulders, and her scarlet eyes twinkled like jewels in the sun. Even though she was younger than all those invited, the guests marveled at her mature beauty. Briden also found herself staring at Belice’s beauty and that just made her even angrier.

As this was the first event that Belice hosted, only five families were invited. As everyone seated themselves, Belice started the teatime with a greeting.

“Thank you for accepting my invitation even though I know you are all busy,” Belice said, standing at the head of the table.

“We should be the ones thanking you for inviting us.” Count Raspy’s daughter, who was the oldest present, offered in response.

The rest of the girls quickly followed with adorations of their own. Everyone except Briden, who sat quietly sipping the tea that had been poured for her by one of the serving maids. Luckily, Belice didn’t notice and sat down smiling to begin conversations with all of her guests.

The tea party was running smoothly until the daughter of Marquis Gravias spoke up. The conversation had gravitated to the love lives of the various girls.

“Did you hear?” Lady Gravias spoke up.

“About what?” Belice asked.

“I heard that Count Carbe’s family made a match for his daughter.”

“The Carbe family? Really?”

“Yes, I heard it’s a nameless viscount from the suburbs.”

Belice was shocked. “Count Carbe’s family has been a high-class family for generations. That must have been a tough decision, to make a match with someone of a lower status.”

“From the rumours I heard, the man might not even be a viscount.” Lady Gravias said.

“There is no way he is not a noble! Count Carbe isn’t that naïve,” Belice stated. “Does Count Carbe’s daughter like the man they brought for her?”

“Yes. I saw them at a café recently. The two of them seemed extremely close. It was nice and made my heart flutter.”

“Oh my!” Belice exclaimed.

The young ladies got all excited. Belice continued to pretend interest in the love story of someone she didn’t care much about. Briden watched the whole charade and smiled bitterly.

Count Carbe, who was prideful and wasn’t any lower than her family, had to bring in a match for his daughter from the suburbs? All of this was happening because of the princess, who was sitting in front of her and looking clueless. All Briden could wonder was if this was the same future she would have.

“It seemed like he had no choice.” The words fell out of Briden’s mouth subconsciously, but it was enough to catch the attention of Belice and the rest of the girls.

“What do you mean?” Belice asked, realizing that Briden had said something for the first time.

“It was nothing, Your Majesty,” Briden replied, going silent again.

Belice didn’t push the matter but started paying more attention to Briden. The girl was annoying her, as she just sat there sipping tea and pouting. Lady Gravias tried to start up a conversation with the girl.

“Lady Julia, I heard you were keeping company with the second son of Marquis Meblen. Count Julia and Marquis Meblen. Aren’t you both well-known families within the Empire?”

The other girls instantly perked up and began complimenting her out of jealousy. However, they didn’t know the whole story and it was certain that Marquis Meblen would squash those rumours quickly. Briden didn’t want to be laughed at, so she didn’t fix Lady Gravias’ statement. But, because of the anger inside, she couldn’t let the matter go either.

“I don’t know where you heard this rumour from, but Her Majesty the princess is probably happier than me,” Briden snarled.

As she mentioned the princess, the table fell and silent and all of the girls turned to look at her.

“What do you mean, Lady Julia?”

Briden looked straight into Belice’s red eyes. “There are so many young men who would be willing to collapse at your feet, so that’s why I’m saying this.”

Normally she would let it go as a compliment, but Belice could tell that Briden had different intention with her words.  “What do you mean by that, Lady Julia?”

“What do I mean? I mean exactly what I said. Are you not aware of the overwhelming number of young men wanting to marry you? How happy you must be.”

“This is the first time I have heard of such a thing,” Belice answered. She had no interest in dating, so had never thought about this. To her, it was an absurd claim.

“Is that so? Isn’t it obvious, just by looking at what happened to Count Carbe’s family? A nameless viscount as a match for her daughter. That must have been their only option.”

“How is that because of me?” Belice truly didn’t see how this was connected.

The young ladies didn’t know what to do as the atmosphere became hostile.

“Are you saying you are not aware of how many noble families are rejecting marriage proposals, simply so their sons can have an opportunity to marry you?”

“I didn’t know. I wasn’t interested…” Belice began, shocked.

“How about you do take some interest, now that you know?” Briden spat out.

“Pardon?” Belice could not believe what she was hearing.

“You need to pick your husband quickly. Then there will be fewer young ladies who can’t get married because of your hesitation. Since you’re so beautiful, unlike us, it wouldn’t be hard to catch a man’s attention with a smile. Pick one now.” Briden was so angry at Belice sitting there in innocent shock, that she wasn’t aware of how forceful she had become.