Soft laughs and voices could be heard from the Marcellus family garden. Unlike what Aria heard and dealt with last night, this was much better. A few aristocratic ladies from families under the Marcellus house visited today for a tea party her mother was hosting.

Aria was supposed to visit the imperial palace today with her father and brother, but she had to stay behind after her father informed her that the crown prince was still feeling unwell. At first Aria was confused at the news. The crown prince looked perfectly normal yesterday, so it was odd that he was still feeling unwell, but obviously, she was not going to say anything. 

What happen last night, must be forgotten.

 Fortunately, because of that Aria was now able to attend this tea party instead of having to deal with the crown prince’s teasing again.

“Greetings my lady.” A young lady approached Aria by the sweets and desserts table, and gave her a warm smile. This was the first gathering Aria has been at with ladies of her age, so she hesitated to respond back to the beautiful lady.

The young lady may have sensed her nervously, and gently offered a gentle suggestion to try the lemon tarts. “My name is Heather Nostitz, the eldest daughter of Viscount Nostitz. We’re a loyal vassal to the Marcellus house.”

Aria nodded, “It’s very nice to meet you. Thank you for suggesting the lemon tart, it’s actually one of my favorite desserts.”

Lady Heather smiled.

Although Aria has never been at a gathering with this many people before, she has definitely studied, and knew exactly how loyal Lady Heather’s family was to the Marcellus’s. Although Viscount Nositiz did not work directly with her father, he worked closely with her uncle, Count Marion within the trade business. 

After speaking with Lady Heather about various desserts, and topics of art, they soon were talking of the latest gossip surrounding high society. 

“I heard the the crown prince’s younger brother is visiting for winter vacation, and since then the crown prince has fallen ill.” Lady Heather said as she took a sip of her tea. 

Unbeknownst to Aria, the crown prince was purposely brought up because there were also rumors of her upending engagement to the crown prince. Lady Heather wanted to hear more information about the cronw prince from Aria to confirm the rumors; however, Aria was a bit…

“The crown prince’s brother?” Aria asked curiously. 

“Y-Yes, he recently came back from his recent deployment in the North.” Heather answered.

“I heard the crown prince’s brother passed away. Was that not true?” Aria asked again, and this time she set her cup down. She was fully invested in this conversation. Her father had briefly mentioned that the crown prince’s younger brother and mother passed away during childbirth, and that was why the powers in the empire has been shambles. 

“Well…I’m not really sure how to…” Lady Heather hesitated to answer now that she was stuck in a conversation she did not want to have. Unbeknownst to Aria, the topic of the crown prince’s half-brother from the Delphina house was looked down upon since they were a direct enemy to the Marcellus family. 

“Are you both talking about the ‘forgotten prince’!” a lady from behind them jumped into the conversation. 

“The forgotten prince?!” another lady exclaimed from the side, and rushed in the join. Soon a few more ladies have joined Aria and Heather. 

Aria sensed Heather was really uncomfortable about this whole situation, so she continued the conversation. 

“The forgotten prince, who is he?” Aria asked curiously. 

All the ladies looked at each other in confusion, and stared back at Aria who was the daughter of the forgotten prince’s enemy, Marquess Marcellus. They hesitated to reveal this to Aria, who was obvious ignorant to this information.

“The forgotten prince is the younger brother of the crown prince, and son born from the imperial concubine Sylvia Delphina.” A young lady from the side answered. 

“Oh, I had no idea.” Aria said, nodding her head. She thought about this being a topic of conversation between her and the crown prince in the near future when they formally meet. 

“The forgotten prince is rumored to be engaged to the daughter from a distant vassal of our house.” Another lady continued, “And I heard, her family is rich because of their engagement.”

“Really?” Another lady added, surprised by the new information.

“In fact….” The lady whispered and leaned in closer to all the ladies in the group, including Aria who was also closely listening in, “She’s here too.”

All the ladies gasped in unison, and turned to look at Aria, the host of this tea party. Well, it was actually her mother’s tea party. 

“I had no idea she was invited.” Aria said, and looked at the ladies confused, “S-Should we greet her?”

“No!” All the ladies shouted in unison, and then quietly whispered. 

“That lady’s engaged to your father’s enemy. H-How could you greet her?”

“Yes, my lady. You should actually stay far away from her.”

“Being near her might give you bad energy. I heard her family does criminal business with the forgotten prince. And that is why they are so rich now.”

“Y-yes. My father was so disappointed when he heard of the engagement.”

“Her family is basically an outcast to the Marcellus house. They are not loyal vassals anymore.”

Aria was speechless at the new information but sadden by the words spoken from such well-established ladies from aristocratic families to the Marcellus’s. Regardless of what is going on with that lady’s engagement, if her own mother invited that lady here, then it means she was not a bad person, and should be extended to her family too. 

“Lady Heather, please excuse me.” Aria said as she stood up from her seat, “I have someone to meet, so I’ll have to end our conversation short.” 

Aria wanted to avoid such gossip and made her escape from the group of ladies. Never in her life had she witness such brutal attacks on a person she did not even know. That made her mouth bitter, and she almost gagged.

As Aria was leaving the garden, she notices a young lady all alone by the flower gardens. And in the same spot that Aria had secretly planted a white rose bush. 

Perhaps…

Aria hesitantly walked over to the young lady dressed in a light purple dress, adorned with various jewels and stones. She was definitely overdressed for such a casual tea party, but nonetheless, she looked beautiful.

The young lady with black hair looked up at Aria, and suddenly stood up and gave her greetings. 

“I-It’s a pleasure to meet you!” the lady hurriedly said and then curtsied, “I’m the daughter of Baron Loredan, Loura Loredan. 

“It’s nice to meet you too.” Aria responded, and looked over to where the lady was staring at. It was definitely the white rose bush Aria had planted.

“I happen to notice this single white rose in this magnificent flower garden, and t-then lost track of time.” Lady Loura said as she worriedly rubbed her hands together. 

“I’m glad you find the white rose to be beautiful.” Aria smiled, and came closer. “I also think they are the most beautiful roses, but my mother doesn’t agree with me.”

“Oh no, I’m sorry my lady. Is that why there is only one rose bush here?”

“Yes, unfortunately I had to resort to secretly planting this...so…” Aria bent down to the single white rose, and gently touched its petals. “Please keep this a secret.”

***

After the tea party ended, Aria eventually found out that Loura Lordan was actually the ‘forgotten prince’s’ fiancée. As absurd as it sounded, Lady Loura was harmless, and even less threatening than how the other ladies portrayed her to be. 

And if she was to marry the crown prince in the future, then her and Lady Loura would become family. 

“Brother Cedric, how come father and you never mentioned to me about the ‘forgotten prince’.”

Cedric, who was in the middle of writing, stopped. 

“How do you know about the forgotten prince?” Cedric asked.

“Was that supposed to be a secret?” Aria asked, and leaned back in the sofa. “I heard about him at the tea party yesterday.”

“From which lady? What family?” Cedric asked again, and this time set his glasses down.

Aria was shocked at Cedric’s reaction. And even more so that Cedric asking to know who talked about the forgotten prince, and planned to issue a letter of complaint.

“Cedric, I asked a question first.” Aria continued, “Can you at least answer me why this was kept a secret?”

“Aria…” Cedric rubbed the sides of his temples, “You don’t need to know anything about him.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.” 

“It does…just ignore anything about him.”

“Well…I can’t. He’s the half-brother of the crown prince, who I will soon be engaged to, so I don’t see why it’s an issue to know more about this…forgotten prince.”

Cedric sighed. 

“He’s dangerous. So stay away from him.”