Villainess Reform Project

A Punch Bowl of Disaster

[ P.S. There will be new characters introduced this chapter! Check out Reference Pictures to see them 😘 ]

"Ophelia, it's such a delight to see you!"

"Janey! I thought you weren't attending tonight."

"Well, you know I can't pass up a chance to see one of my favorite people! This is your maid, correct? She looks so stylish."

I could only smile politely as Ophelia and 'Janey' chatted. This 'Janey' character was actually one of Ophelia's friends (lackey's under Carole's description), Jane Bueford. The daughter of the Baron of Kinshield and his heir. Which was honestly pretty progressive for this country despite it being based on medieval Europe or possibly Victorian England.

I quite liked Jane in the story, as she always had something to say to Carole. It was always so sassy, too. Plus, she was another rarity of the nobility. She was a, as the student populace described, mix. The daughter of a noble from the Andize Kingdom and a foreigner. The foreigner happened to be her mother, who was from the kingdom far to the east of us, the Endymion Empire. They were known for their various precious metals and amazing weapons. I think they were supposed to be extremely loosely based off of the Egyptians but the author never actually confirmed that so... Up to interpretation.

Jane was only described as 'exotic' in the book. Which was stupid and bad of the author to do. Jane was actually extremely pretty. Her hair was platinum blonde, something normal in this kingdom but her naturally tanned skin was not. Not to mention her eyes. They were brown, but also had a mysterious violet sheen to them. I also felt a strange bit of kinship towards her, though I had no idea why. Her dress was quite nice as well, a white off-the-shoulder one that went to her knees and a grey petticoat underneath. Simple yet stunning.

"Is Flora here too?"

"Of course Flora's here! She never misses a chance to show off her newest dress. You know who isn't here?"

"Who?"

"Take a wild guess. He's the reason Carole has no escort."

Jane laughed behind her hand, sneaking a glance over at the blonde girl. Carole was indeed, standing by herself in a baby pink dress, frilly and innocent looking. I suppose it was going to appeal to her sweet, childish side but it honestly makes me want to barf. If she was going for a lolita look, she failed. I'm disappointed, but not surprised.

Unsurprisingly, the gentlemen seemed to be flocking to her. For a dance or for conversation, I could care less. I just choose to believe they pity her for coming alone. I was snapped back into the conversation at large when Ophelia called my name.

"Ah, pardon me. What did you say, Young Miss?"

Ophelia pouted. "I said that it's a pity no one came with Miss Millstone. Perhaps we should go chat with her for a bit."

I couldn't help but feel a chill go down my spine. I had never told Ophelia about Carole being the reason for my sudden disappearance, nor did I intend to tell her. She might just start a fight with her. While that would be amusing, I wouldn't want Ophelia to get expelled.

"I'm not so sure about that, Young Miss..." I mumbled out.

Jane put a wrench in my plans almost instantly. "Why not? I think this humiliation has humbled her at least a bit. Seeing her hang off of Prince Floyd's arm was just sickening."

The young lady then smiled. "Flora's already speaking to her right now." She gestured back over at Carole, who had been joined by a girl in blue. A lot of blue, mostly because her hair was blue.

The blue girl was the aforementioned Flora, or formally known as Flora Béchagner, the third daughter of Marquis of Tyronie. He was known for his various amorous escapades. Flora was essentially the only legitimate child. On the bright side, her mother was the one with all the power and had basically banished her father from the main house. The Tyronie house was one of military might, so it could be said that Flora was a bit of a tomboy as she knew sword fighting and archery better than many of the boys did.