Revenge of the Duchess

Chapter 9

It was soon mentioned that Princess Medea had taken a liking to Lady Kelli and was going to become her lady-in-waiting, a prestigious position under a princess.

"It must be thrilling to be engaged so quickly, Annabeth," Kelli said sweetly. "Your union must be made out of purely love, especially right after your previous engagement."

Meaning that Annabeth was jumping ranks in society, throwing away the count for the duke for financial and power status reasons.

Annabeth smiled sweetly back, though her eyes were stormy. "You are right that this engagement has been quite thrilling for us all, but my dear cousin, your memory is a bit faulty. I have only been engaged once, and it is the engagement to the Duke. Percy is my one and only fiancee in this lifetime, and I plan to spend the rest of my life with a man who has been so dependable and faithful to me."

Implying that the count and Annabeth were never officially engaged, and that the count had been unfaithful. Definitely a noblewoman well versed in the thorny words of society. Percy did not miss the way Kelli's grip on Luke's arm tightened. That was all Kelli could do, as nothing Annabeth said was false. Furthermore, Annabeth's position in society was much higher than Kelli's.

Annabeth smiled at Percy, her eyes telling Percy to act along. He already had the same intentions regardless of Annabeth's hinting. Percy drew his fiancee close to him and looked lovingly down at her.

"I am happy that you view me as such a person. I, too, am very happy to be spending the rest of my life with you, Annabeth."

Percy kissed her forehead. Then his lips went lower until he just barely brushed against her lips. Annabeth's grey eyes showed her surprise. She tasted like the wine she had been sipping earlier.

Many of the attendees watched the scenes with high scrutiny. Most first marriages in the nobility were for power and financial gains, so to see a couple behaving affectionately in public together was quite a rare sight.

"I can see you two are quite fond of each other." Thalia smirked.

"I'm sure they have other guests to attend to. My dear sister, I think we should say our acquaintances to the Archduke as well." Jason said.

Princess Medea sent a wondering glance to the prince, wondering if he would do the same to her.

The five people left, finally leaving Percy and a slightly pink-faced Annabeth behind.

A maid of the duke's was watching the scene with thinly veiled disgust and outrage on her face. As she was a servant, the nobles didn't care to observe servants and didn't notice the maid's ugly expression.

Princess Medea, however, did notice as the maid retreated into the shadows. Perhaps the Duke's marriage was not as smooth as the couple made it appear to be. Thoughtfully, she twisted a black onyx ring that flashed brightly for a second on her finger.

Annabeth could not be more on edge when nothing out of the ordinary occurred. It felt like the calm before the storm at her engagement party. Perhaps nothing was happening because it was a year earlier than Rachel's and Percy's engagement had been?

The knights of the Black Knights Order served as guards for this event, switching out events. By all means, there should not be an attack with all the skillful guards around.

Percy and she separated towards the end of the party, with Annabeth keeping a steady eye to avoid Luke and Kelli. She caught the eye of Princess Medea, who smiled sweetly back at her before turning her adoring gaze at Prince Jason. 

In her past life, Princess Medea had been chosen as Jason's official wife out of the candidates. The foreign princess had been said to be in love with the prince from the moment she laid eyes on him. But little was known about how Prince Jason felt about Princess Medea. Just before Annabeth's death, there were rumors of Prince Jason, backed by the Colchis nation, and Crown Princess Thalia embroiled in a political war to see who would secure the crown. 

Putting those thoughts out of her head, Annabeth ventured out into the south garden where guests were allowed to mingle. Percy was trapped in the midst of discussing with some other noblemen about political affairs and Annabeth had no interest in interfering. Percy sent her an apologetic look as she exited.

The cold chill was refreshing compared to the stuffiness inside. There were two Black Knights striding in the corners of the garden, guarding the vicinity. Annabeth nodded to them and sat down by the fountain.

She stared at the water's reflection, not paying too much attention to her surroundings. The night had been long and tiring, and all she wanted to do was toss off her high heels.

The reflection of herself changed and two dark figures appeared behind Annabeth. In the dim light, a sword gleamed as it swung towards her neck.

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A/N: And then Annabeth's head got chopped off.

Just kidding.

Anyways, hope you've been enjoying the story so far! Let me know how it's going :D