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IT HAD BEEN DAYS. astrid had been immersed in state affairs, heading to meetings about diplomatic relations, meeting with department officials, solving small state issues, and most importantly, she had slowly begun to plan on how she was going to take the crown. thoughts clouded her mind as she soaked herself in her flower bath, thoughts knawing at her mind. "your imperial highness?" duchess kalliste asked, interrupting her thoughts, "is something the matter? shall i prepare more lavender and lotus? they help with soothing mental stress,"
astrid smiled and nodded, kalliste had always been the most mature among her ladies in waiting and had become some sort of motherly figure to her ── almost like a fairy godmother, looking out for her and attending to her every need. kalliste returned the smile and got up and left before quickly returning with a tray full of lavender and lotus flowers. kalliste carefully spread them across the bathtub and astrid let the soft flora sent overwash her.
"call odessa in," she said blissfully, "i want to hear some gossip,"
kalliste nodded, curtsied, and walked out of the room before returning with odessa and verena. "i've been waiting for this all day!" verena squealed with excitement
"what? did something big happen? you girls look so excited to tell me the latest bit of gossip," astrid observed, "well, go on,"
odessa grinned, "duchess tuania had gotten in a catfight with another noblewoman today," she said as astrid's eyebrow raised, "duke ergi had rented the entire opera house and threw a party. since the duke was hosting it, practically everyone was in attendance,"
"then at one point, i saw duke ergi and duchess tuania standing on the balcony together. and as the two most prominent figures in high society, everyone kept their eyes on them. duke ergi came from the balcony first and someone asked him if he found duchess tuania beautiful," verena continued
"he must've made said something insolent," astrid muttered to herself, "where was rashta?"
odessa replied, "she was speaking to grand duke rylan roth ── anyways, duke ergi said that he now understands why so many men fall for her,"
astrid scoffed, "and then what happened?"
"duchess tuania slapped him," verena deadpanned, "it must've had a lot of impact as the duke's head turned,"
astrid let out a loud laugh, "he deserves it, i shall reward her greatly ─ what happened next?"
"suddenly, some woman charged the duchess and started pulling her hair from behind!!" odessa reported, "my sources say that woman was one of duke ergi's former lovers! apparently, she's been pursuing him even after they had broken up!"
astrid then frowned, "kalliste, do you know why the duchess acted that way?"
"no, your imperial highness," duchess kalliste said, noticing the look on her face, the duchess continued, "does your imperial highness worry about speculation and spreading rumors about duchess tuania?"
astrid smiled, "you know me too well, duchess,"
── it was the day of the public ball, a ball an even where everyone is able to attend regardless of status. it was mainly used as a tool to gain public support and love. as reyna made her way into the ballroom, her three ladies-in-waiting trailing behind, all of them dressed in the finest dresses.
as the doors opened, everyone watched in awe as the four women entered, everyone was enchanted by the sight of the four impeccably dressed women.
astrid, dressed in an off-the-shoulder rich peony-colored dress with a full skirt of overlapping lace and silk panels that unfurled like the petals of a peony as she moved, and a fifteen-foot ruby red cape, embroidered with ten thousand seed pearls and gold thread. she paired the dress with a gold and ruby masquerade mask, a ruby and diamond necklace, a pair of rare pigeon blood red ruby drop earrings, and topped with a large and beautiful ruby and diamond tiara.
her hair was put into an elegant updo that complimented her tiara with pearls pinned to the back of her head. her makeup enhanced her marble complexion, bambi eyes, delicate celestial upturned nose, and full heart-shaped lips. ── she looked like a goddess, no one in the room could argue otherwise.
kalliste wore a muted cinnamon-brown long-sleeved ball gown with a modest bateau neckline and real crystals are sewn into the bodice of the dress. unlike her usual hairstyle, kalliste let her hair down into loose curls that complimented her face and kalliste wore a simple gold mask with similar shade brown feathers attached at the side.
odessa wore a bold pink sleeveless ball gown with a halter neckline and jewels sewn into the neckline of the dress, the dress had perfectly complimented her rich brown skin. odessa's hair was put into a dramatic beehive half-up-half-down. and she wore the same bright pink mask, with flamingo feathers decorated on one side of the mask.
verena wore a light blue spaghetti-strap ball gown with intricate gold embroidery all alone the dress. her honey-blonde hair was put into a low bun with small pieces of hair framing her face. and she wore just a simple golden mask.
astrid ravishes in the attention and walked all the way up the stairs and had taken a seat on the throne on the left while the one in the middle was for the emperor, and on the right was for the empress. she sat on her own ─ bored, but she perked up to see two women ─ one with silver hair, and one with golden blonde hair in the same bold red dress. astrid couldn't help but grow excited ─ this was a show she couldn't miss.
