My Wonderful Second Life

Chapter 47- A running Fox

"Princess... Lola?" asked Lady Juliette in between shocked breaths.

The room hung in silence as if everyone was still processing my words. It didn't last long and, as the murmurs picked up, so did Lady Juliette. With a finger pointed at me, she shouted, empowered by a wave of righteous anger. "That is preposterous! There is only one princess in this Empire!"

Beneath all that pretence of an honourable lady and a servant of the crown, however, was a smirk of triumph splashed for all who wanted to see.

Jennifer pushed my hands down gently, throwing daggers at Juliette, who continued to be an oblivious fool. As expected, my dear sister tried to accost me with whispered questions, but I just shrugged and continued to smile. I hadn't finished yet.

"Indeed, you are right, Lady Juliette." I said, my eyes locking on Francis's. He stopped for a moment, realising something was amiss. More so than he had foreseen. The corner of my lips curved deeper. "Though I had meant it as an appreciation to the one responsible for putting this bundle of joy into my life."

There was a collective gasp around the room, which I savoured before returning my eyes to the princes. Throwing at them a wolfy smile.

A funny thing about the Sun Empire was that we honoured those who did us good by giving a part of us to them. For example, with lady spider. But I was not about to give princess Lola the same name as that Hell princess. She deserved better. And this way, we both win. The little spider had a grandiose name for herself, and princess Odette got what she deserved, owned by her own actions.

"You cannot mean?" The shocked voice from Juliette brought me back to her and to the little spider, who spun on my hand, spreading tickles on my skin.

Yes, bitch.

Juliette's bewilderment, while wholly expected, was still a funny thing to see. She stumbled on her words and, like her prized bird, her head flew everywhere, as if trying to make sense of my unexpected proclamation through the face of others.

"How can it be?" she asked, after a few tries, now ready to start her accusations.

"Ladies, what an entrance." called Francis's familiar voice, stopping any ideas from Lady Juliette.

He had his hands on his back and a stern look, obviously not happy with my choice of a name for the little spider. Or at least the way I had declared it. Unrepentant I smiled back at him, making his face lose some of his harshnesses in prole of an exasperated expression of disbelief.

Realizing everyone was bowing (even princess Lola- whose etiquette seemed in better shape than mine), I followed with one of my own, my head tipping down.

Finished with all this pleasantry, Francis directed his speech to Jenni. "We have found a nice and quiet place. Would you and your kind sister care to join us?" he asked, recovered and flashing the foxy grin he was so famous for.

He extended his arm to Jenni, who took it, although she threw a worried glance back at me. A glance caught by Francis, who ignored it. An angry prince could be deadly, though, hopefully for me, this one would just stick with brooding for a while.

"Lulu!" called Cedric, as he reached to my side, having passed a crowd of ladies without batting an eye at them. He took my hand, kissing my fingers gently before turning his attention to Princess Lola, bowing to her as he said, "My lady."

The spider was ecstatic, although, from the corner of my eye, I saw Francis roll his eyes. It was so out of place I snorted, catching his ugly eye again.

Prince Cedric then led me, following Francis and Jenni, while the aides flanked us. They had given us short greetings before recoiling back on our journey to the table arranged for us. Placed in a corner of the room, it was secluded from view by colourful tapestries that hang from the ceiling, allowing for some privacy. However, even that couldn't cover the whispers left behind in the ballroom.