I sipped on my wine when I heard my name called out. I glanced up to see a girl my age with a skinny finger wagging at me. I scowled into my drink. Princess Deirdre of Nerezza. Her family was very uptight and their kingdom was built on driving their citizens with the fear of being starved.
"Unlike Evangeline here who only stays in her castle," she laughed. "Poor thing probably doesn't even know what grass looks like."
I sat down my glass cup. "It's Queen Evangeline to you, Deirdre."
A few ooh's escaped people's mouths.
"Well, Queen," she sneered while smirking, "what's going on in your place?"
"Rebellion on a minor scale," I answered. "But you'll always have that. I would say yours is probably major, though."
The girl looked offended. "What do you mean?"
"We all know what's really going on," I said, sitting up. "I think Prince Taeyong can verify that your residents are going to his kingdom."
Taeyong nodded. "Quite a few, Deirdre."
Her face went red. "So? At least I'm not stupid and needy of attention like her!"
"Needy?" Blaine chuckled. "She's far from needy. She could probably take out a whole army, just herself."
"Oh please," Deirdre scoffed. "So could I."
"Are you sure?" I asked. "What if you chipped a nail? You would postpone the fighting until it was fixed, right?"
More laughed erupted and I basked in my glory.
"That's not true!" the girl gasped. "You... You... You wear cheap dresses!"
"And you wear a prostitute's attire," I shot back, glancing down to her low hanging dress. "At least I have enough sense to cover up in this kind of weather."
She huffed, upset that her efforts to start something was blown up in smoke. I leaned forward. "You see, Deirdre. I'll help you out a bit. The trick to winning an argument is to not let the other person know what bothers you. Once they found out your weakness, they'll abuse it and abuse it until you're beaten down so far you can't utter a single word of rebuttal."
"You're such a poet," Taeyong chuckled.
"I read a lot," I answered, not even glancing in his direction.
The golden haired girl slouched, muttering an apology. I merely sat back, returning to the position of a bystander. I didn't like participating in many conversations or debates. I always stayed quiet unless spoken to or about. And really there was nothing to talk about. I wasn't one for gossip or slander. However, when it's tossed at me, I will make due and send it hurtling back.
***
"So what was that? Just a get together dinner?" Hoseok asked.
"Tomorrow is the ball," I answered. "Today was a dinner for the people who got here early."
Hoseok muttered an "oh" and I glanced over at Jeon. "Did you perhaps figure something out about that man?"
The guard shook his head. "One of the guys I talked to said that they would ask Blaine about it, your Majesty, but he never asked while I was there."
I nodded. "Surely if he was staring at me, he wanted to talk. If he's there tomorrow, I'll strike up a lovely conversation with him."
"What if he's here to harm you, your Highness?" Hoseok asked.
"Why would he come here to harm me?" I questioned. "If I wanted to kill someone, I would go to their habitat." I unclasped the bracelet bound around my wrist. "Of course, you guys killed wherever your target was standing, whether it was in a busy market or an alleyway."
The two nodded and I continued to strip the excess jewelry off. "Now you two set off to sleep. I'm retiring for the night."
The two bowed and walked over to the door. "Call if you need us, your Highness," Hoseok said as they walked out.
The door shut and I sighed. Exhaustion was pulling at my eyelids and my muscles were sore from being so tense all night. I undressed and slipped on an old nightgown my mother had sewn up. The large bed with nice, soft sheets welcomed me into their grasp. Once my head hit the pillow, I drifted off into a deep sleep.
***
(Taehyung's POV)
I pushed the needle through the cloth when a couple of voices made their way into my hearing. I looked up and diligently kept working on mending Namjoon's torn shirt.
"Queen Evangeline, huh?" a gruff, low voice chuckled.
I kept a close eye on the cracked door and mindlessly stitched the cloth back together. Who's talking about my queen? And why?
"I wouldn't expect her to be here," another voice answered. "I thought she stayed in her castle all day."
"You're new to this," the low voice replied. "She goes where drama goes. She likes to stir up the pot and create chaos. She lays low, so no one thinks of her as the one causing the trouble."
My brows furrowed. My fingers twitched with anger and I dropped my needle. I grabbed it without looking and continued working on the shirt.
"We can't do anything here," the first voice said. "There's too many people. Someone could see."
"Then we'll wait?"
"Precisely."
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i can't wait to publish the next chapter hehe. i hope you guys'll love it as much i love the surprise~