A few days later
It's worse than anyone thought. Gelidus is so painful, Melanie takes so much medicine she can a day.
She might need a new set of medicine by the end of the week.
"My lady!!!" Chloe rushed into the room, holding a letter.
"What is it?" Melanie says, who was sitting on the bed and reading some history books.
"The I-imperial p-princess..." Chloe stuttered as she gave the letter.
The letter was sealed with the Imperial crest, Melanie with no hesitation opened it, along with unfolding the letter.
"Dear Lady Melanie,
I, the Imperial Princess would like to invite you to my grand tea party that will be held a few days from now.
Presents are optional, but please bring in sweets, all the ladies will be sharing.
Sincerely, Princess Lilianne Estiellot"
"I see." Melanie says, then throws the letter away and lays back down.
'There's no way I'm going.' She thought.
Lilianne Estiellot, the Imperial Princess. Her brother is the crown prince, Peter Estiellot a male lead in the novel.
What makes matters worse, Lilianne is the main villainess of the story. A little background for her, since her brother will be crowned prince, she was neglected by her family.
Although, Peter took care of his sister well. When Gracey came in, all Lilianne thought of was get rid of the woman who stole her brother.
It wasn't this complicated in the original novel, but once you look into it there is much more meaning to these relationships.
"My lady, you must attend! This is a special invitation from her highness, and only a few people are invited!" Chloe said.
"She probably just wants minions for her villainess act." Melanie mumbled.
"Please!" Chloe said with her body cowering and her puppy eyes.
"Okay fine." Melanie groaned.
'The princess' tea party... I shouldn't get involved with her but I also can't avoid her...' Melanie sighed.
...
Day of the tea party
Melanie wore a beautiful steel blue dress that was long enough to touch the ground. It was tight, which showed her body's shape more. Along with it's sleeves being thin layered that reached her wrists, and a backless touch to the dress.
She glanced at the mirror, 'How beautiful...' she thought, never in her life would she expect to see herself wear such a stunning dress.
Her old self would have never had the chance to wear anything like this, as her thoughts flood her head...
"My lady, it's time to go!" Chloe cheerfully said, making Melanie forget her train of thought.
"Okay!" She happily responded.
---
At the venue
Melanie was assisted by a knight off the carriage, the venue was in an open garden, with greenhouses that were made out of glass, and unique flowers were all over the place. Fountains made the garden look dazzling.
Around the center, there were a few women along with one gorgeous woman in the center. She had radiant white hair, dull gray eyes, and beautiful milky skin.
Melanie approached the table, and bowed. "Greetings to the star of the empire. May the gods be with you."
"Hello, Lady Melanie. It's great to see you've accepted my invitation. Have a seat." Lilianne said gracefully, as Melanie sat in a vacant seat between two other noble women.
She couldn't help but be awkward, not because she didn't know any of the ladies, but simply because she knew too much about them.
'This is awkward? What am I supposed to say? I am your god???' Melanie thought, before other ladies started arriving, and she finally started to focus.
Now it's time to achieve plan, gain the princess' trust.
Indeed, Melanie did hesitate to get involved with Princess Lilianne, but it wouldn't hurt to appeal her and be safe. It's like making sure you don't have a death flag.
"Now ladies, shall we bring in our sweets?" Lilianne said, as she signalled her maids to bring out the snacks.
After awhile of serving, there was one peculiar cake that everyone was surprised to see. It looked exactly the opposite of the pretty cupcakes and cookies that the other ladies brought.
It was a normal cake with a layer of thick cream on the top. Or is it even cream?
"What is this...sweet you brought Lady Melanie?" A woman asked.
"Oh, well it's a special dessert that I've heard rumors about back at home. It's called a chocolate mayonnaise cake. I've tasted it before, it's wonderful!" Melanie smiled.
It is indeed a good dessert, but it's not her favorite... but it is for Lilianne.
The goal here is simple, serve one of Lilianne's favorite desserts and gain her trust. Maybe it's a bit too dull, but no one knows she likes this, and maybe it might work.
Of course, there is plan b. If this backfires, Chloe will bring in a normal set of desserts and if possible, Melanie will pretend like her reputation didn't just go down for nothing.
"Mayonnaise? Is this a joke?" a woman said, as she covered her mouth with her fan.
"How dare you feed this to her highness?!" A woman said aloud.
Melanie expected this out come, even though she didn't think much of it when she wrote the characters, it's quite exciting how everything came to life.
Unfazed, she covers her mouth with the tip of her fingers "Oh my! I sincerely apologize for my rudeness."
Her apology was not sincere at all. And the other ladies had noticed.
Lilianne, who was quite flustered, decided to excuse herself. "Please excuse me, I must use the ladies room." She walked away.
And, just as Melanie expected...
"Lady Melaine, don't take our words too seriously. We couldn't care less what the princess eats. The imperial family is bound to go down anyways~" A woman teased.
As the ladies laughed.
As a woman drank her tea, she said "She's simply a burden to the Imperial family. She doesn't do anything but shop and eat. How embarrassing."
"I agree, we're just doing this because she's currently in high position. I know you're feeding her this disgusting food on purpose." As they all laughed, and mocked.
...!
The princess happened to return earlier than expected... and overheard everything.
She was used to it, all the gossiping and awful remarks about her and the imperial family.
Just about when she enters once again, pretending to be clueless... she notices something.
Everyone was laughing... but Melanie.
But Lilianne didn't let that get to her... she could just be a stoic person, but that doesn't mean she disagrees with those women.
"Oops, how careless of me!" Melanie said, while a woman screamed.
Lilianne once again paused, Melanie (purposefully) spilled tea on one of the noble lady's dress.
"Ugh! How dare you?!" The woman said.
Melanie, from the beginning has been ticked off by these women. So she decided to mess with them a little.
"How dare I? Please mind your manners, I am a higher ranking than you. Kindly refrain from raising your voice... Viscountess." She said, but also meant...(Excuse me? This woman- I created you! You're not even important in the story? Who even are you-)
"Pfft!" Lilianne laughed. She couldn't help it, Melanie was being too entertaining...
The ladies had noticed the princess returned, "Your highness! Lady Melanie-" before she could defend herself, Lilianne approached them.
"I know, I heard everything. So why don't you... scurry away? I don't need gossiping rats in my garden." Lilianne said, as looked at them with an intimidating expression.
All of the ladies rushed away with their servants, except for Melanie.
Lilianne inspected her, "have a seat." she said, as they sat beside eachother.
"Your highness-" Melanie was cut off.
"Why didn't you laugh? What they said was true. " Lilianne looked away.
"I don't think so, I think her highness is wonderful." Melanie said, as she signaled Chloe for the cake.
Chloe approached them, and sliced the chocolate mayonnaise cake... serving it to the princess.
"You know... the rumor you heard... is probably because of me. I like this cake that they say is disgusting." Lilianne furrowed her eyebrows as she takes a bite of the cake.
"Do you like this cake?" Melanie asked.
"Yes. Me and my brother eat this when we get the chance to see eachother." She stops eating, and looks down.
"Brother...cake..." Tears form in her eyes.
"I messed up. Those ladies were the only ones who talked to me even though they hated me. I'm all alone again." She said while tears dropped down to her dress.
Melanie didn't do this for herself, but for Lilianne. Every villain has their stories, Lilianne was just lonely.
As the writer of the novel, Melanie felt apologetic towards her... All Lillianne wanted was love and attention.
It reminded Melanie of her past life, she had no one to hold on to.
Melanie placed her hand on Lilianne's shoulder, making her look at Melanie..
"I think her highness is strong. It doesn't matter what your role is in the imperial family, everyone deserves to be loved. So, pardon my rudeness... would you like to be friends?" She said, with a bright smile.
She was hesitant at first, but Melanie came onto a conclusion to help Lilianne.
What will happen to the story when there' s not villainess? Who will form the conflicts? Does it really matter?
Melanie couldn't help it, she liked Lilianne's character. It doesn't matter what happens now, atleast she prevented a dreadful scene...
because in the end, Lilianne will die in the hands of her own brother.