Emily and Eleanor have been in Awsperg for the past two days—given two disasters were brewing. The first one would be the invasion of Ambrobates tomorrow, and the second was Elizabeth who was currently pretending to be a pitiful adventurer to get Ethan's sympathy.
Emily, with the help of an artefact which Eleanor built, was keeping an eye on Elizabeth, and the moment Emily realized what the crazed Princess was attempting, she decided to interfere.
Elizabeth tries attacking Richard, so Ethan misunderstands and attacks Richard. Naturally, Richard's maid or Richard himself would retaliate and that would allow Elizabeth to harm Richard.
Emily saw through everything just the moment she saw Elizabeth advancing towards Richard. And despite Eleanor's resistance, she appeared before the others and revealed Elizabeth's identity.
Truth be told, Emily didn't want to make an appearance before Ethan like this. At all. However, if Elizabeth had succeeded in what she planned, then this world might have met its doom once again.
"P-Princess?" Ethan stuttered, looking at Elizabeth with a widened gaze. There were tears in the Princess' eyes as she pitifully shook her head, and Emily could sense that these tears weren't fake.
Cristina frowned before stepping forward and asking, "Please first release her." Emily didn't ignore her and released Elizabeth's arm but didn't remove her barriers.
Letting Elizabeth free here means she would use her skill to alter everyone's mind and instantly flip the tables. Emily wouldn't allow that.
Cristina stepped forward and asked again, "So you are saying, the Princess of the Empire escaped her home to come here....but why?"
Emily didn't think twice before answering, "Because she adores you, Cristina. She has heard about your tales and has always wanted to meet you. But since Awsperg isn't very safe and very far away, the Emperor never allowed her to leave."
Cristina raised her brows in surprise. She couldn't believe that a Princess was her fan, but given how Elizabeth was stealing her gaze, it was evident that Emily was telling the truth.
Nice Eli—Emily inwardly muttered. At least she was playing along.
Ethan's expression had sobered up thanks to the brief conversation as he asked, "Then why was she getting pushed down by Mister Richard?"
"She attacked me, Ethan. Princess Elizabeth doesn't like me since I didn't give her attention when I went to her birthday celebration."
"Wait, so you know she is the Princess?!" Ethan exclaimed.
Lilia glared hearing his raised tone, to which Ethan shuddered.
Richard, with a smile, held her hand fondly before answering, "Yes I did...but didn't say anything since I wanted to respect her choice to keep her identity secret."
Ethan couldn't believe that Richard was the victim here and he actually attacked him without thinking twice. He instantly bowed his head and said, "I deeply apologize for my actions."
Instantly he lifted his head and turned around to glare at Elizabeth as he muttered, "I trusted the wrong person."
Richard wanted to clap at that. He really felt so good seeing those eyes of Elizabeth, which was begging Ethan not to look at her like that. But to no avail.
Ethan was an honest man with principles. He can tolerate a murderer for a moment but not a liar.
"Excuse me, I will be going." Emily took the cue and walked away while pulling a lifeless Elizabeth with her.
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The group of five returned inside and were currently sitting together. Ethan was sharing the seat with Cristina, Lilia with Richard and Henry went to make tea to improve everyone's mood.
The group was silent as Cristina applied ointment to Ethan's neck while Lilia asked her master if he was fine.
"Really master, I am okay," Ethan said, only to find his hand getting swatted away.
Ethan was feeling quite embarrassed, not because he was getting treated but rather, sitting in front of the person he wrongly accused. It was quite an uneasy feeling.
Not to talk about, the person was the next Duke of the Scarlette house.
"You said your name is Ethan right?"
"Yes!" Being questioned by Richard, Ethan instantly straightened his body and answered.
Richard nodded before complimenting, "You have nice sword skills. Just need a little tuning and you would make a good warrior."
Ethan's cheeks flushed in embarrassment and elation as he looked at Richard with droopy eyes.
"Reallllly?"
Richard gave another nod and didn't say anything else.
Ethan felt butterflies erupting in his belly, but once he looked at Lilia's narrowed gaze, those butterflies instantly got shot down.
"You should go easy on him a little, Lili." Cristina softly chided her daughter.
"Easy? He should feel lucky that Lady Bellarine wasn't present here instead of me or even his bones would have turned into dust today." Lilia stated threateningly.
Ethan instantly sunk into his seat with his eyes turning moist. He couldn't even start to think what might have happened if he had acted so rashly in front of The Scarlette Duchess.
Cristina heaved a sigh no longer feeling the motivation to persuade her child.
Henry suddenly arrived while holding a tray as he cheerfully said, "Let's have some sweet beverage to extinguish our bad mood." Sitting on the empty seat, he added, "Then we shall continue the topic of Lilia's engagement."
Hearing the last bit of his words made Lilia's eyes a little wide as she searched into her father's eyes, and looking at his smile, she knew he had agreed.
Lilia turned to look at Richard only to find him smiling back at her warmly as he kissed the back of her hand and whispered, "I told you I will make you mine."
Well, at least there was something good about this day.
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In a different place, Eleanor and Emily were sitting around a tea table, lazily sipping on the beverage which they preferred, while the occasional sound of what seemed like the 'ting' of a bell arose.
They were completely ignoring the fact that Elizabeth had been continuously throwing things at them along with some of the most hideous curses, only to fail at hitting them since Emily had erected a barrier between them.
The condition of the Princess was not very good. Her hair seemed like a bush, and her nails were trimmed out because of all the scratching she did on Emily's barrier. And her vocal cords might have been damaged by now because of all the shouting.
She looked miserable.
Finally, Eleanor showed some pity to her comrade and asked Emily to take down the barrier.
"Are you sure?" Getting Eleanor's confirmation, Emily did what she was asked, and instantly, Elizabeth lunged at Eleanor—only to get tackled easily.
Eleanor's expression didn't shift as she lifted Elizabeth by her neck and slammed her on the table. Emily removed her cup just in time as Elizabeth got thrashed.
"If you are annoyed that Em arrived there, then remember, if Ethan had found out that you went there just to stalk him, he would have hated you more. So in a way, she saved you!"
Hearing Eleanor's words, Elizabeth's force of resistance diminished but she continued to sneer and said, "What's the point?! He still dislikes me!"
Emily gestured for Eleanor to release her before she asked, "Then you tell me, Eli, what could we have done? If you only didn't take the step of framing Richard-"
"That bastard is a hundred per cent a wandering soul!" Suddenly, Elizabeth slammed her hand on the table as she announced, "How was his demeanour so changed now?! He was acting so benevolent, that prick Richard!"
Emily frowned; couldn't refute what she said. Richard's personality suddenly took a sharp curve in very little time.
It was then that Eleanor interjected and informed the other two, "He is in love."
Emily widened her eyes, while Elizabeth narrowed hers.
Eleanor took the clue that she couldn't stop here, so she continued, "Recently, I heard rumours that the heir of Scarlette house has taken his personal maid as his mistress."
Emily's eyes stretched even more upon hearing that. She couldn't believe that the person who broke off the engagement with her a month ago had already chosen his bride.
"Impossible! That shit stain cannot love anyone." Hearing Elizabeth spit, Emily side glanced at her with a look of annoyance.
Eleanor heaved a sigh before continuing, "It seems Richard has always been waiting for true love to change himself. That's why he seemed so mature back then?" Eleanor wasn't sure herself, but from what she had seen, Richard was quite affectionate of that brown-haired maid.
Elizabeth was still unconvinced while Emily seemed to have fallen into a daze
Unconsciously, a question arrived within her heart,
'Maybe you were destined to be with her....'
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A/N:- Focusing on the training a little after this arc, so once the Academy begins, Richard could hold his standing.
He would be getting trained by his mum as well very soon. His relationship with Ethan would remain neutral for the time being. And as for Elizabeth...well, she is the most uncertain character after Bellarine in this story.
Drop some PS.