Aruna of Nowhere (Yrsoreth Chronicles 3)

4 𖤓 The Good Boy

Midnight update!
Sorry for the delay.
Aside from my messed up sleep cycle, a lot is happening in real life.

This one's a little bit longer.

Enjoy! ❤

-ˋˏ ༻◖𖤓◗༺ ˎˊ-

When Marchioness Van Huwmen stated in one of her lessons that a ball is also a war zone, Aruna understood. It is a battle of wits, the best embroidery, and the finest laughter. However, this is Syl Zulivar, and women know about sciences and strategic war more than any ballroom in the continent.

Aside from the ladies of their kingdom, she also had to compete with those outsides of it.

Short, tall, fair, ghostly pale, or sun-showered.

Naive, calculating, newly debuted and some nearing their spinsterhood.

It was a gathering of fifty or so women in their prime. A few of them stood out and Aruna considered herself one of them.

She's proud of it.

After she had fallen on her knees and bluffed her way into everyone's memory, she was able to regain her strength and proceed to her line.

That was not without meeting eyes with Giovanni, and a grin escaped her face before she knew it. Minutes later after everyone had been introduced, the party commenced.

So she stood behind the long table where the finger foods were displayed and everyone seemed to ignore them.

How dare they not worship the table of such cuisine. Their disinterest her gain. Aruna celebrated her monopoly of the feast starting with seafood.

Syl Sulivar is a vast desert at the center of the continent. The waterfront was lined by the city-state alliance of Hanasubus and the sea-food trade rarely reached the kingdom. Even if they are at the west border, any seafood was expensive due to tax and their high preservation.

Now she got them for free, in creamy milk, fried, dipped in honey, and wrapped in weird green sheets that were surprisingly edible.

Aruna nodded to herself. She got her priorities right. She was thankful that Clementine set her corset a little loose because "The madam won't know the difference anyway, she's not here." her friend said and added, with a judging look, "I'm sure you'd be at the food table later."

She ignored the strange judging looks a few ladies threw her way when she grinned at the pastries now, popping a few cookies into her mouth. This is going to be a long night, she needed the energy to survive.

Luck was against her when another hand was reaching for the last piece of mini quiche she has been eating for a while now.

Aruna frowned and clicked her tongue. "That's mine, I saw it first..." the whispered words were swallowed back to her throat.

Oh.

She blinked and a storm of emotions swirled into her head. Amidst the confusion, her mind coped with questions instead.

Why would a king eat a quiche? Can't he eat the fancier ones and leave this side of the table to her?

The same confusion and curiosity piqued the other, as Giovanni watched the parade of emotions on the lady's face, blinking and opening her mouth and then closing it.

Oliviette Van Huwen. He remembered the name.

The Van Huwens.

He pushed the memory of the butterflies and the wish thief off his head. It has been a long time, there was no need to mull over a stranger's tragedy.