Elenor continued finishing up all the desserts she had taken before hearing someone call her name.
"Ah Lloyd!" she waved at him.
"I haven't seen you until now! Where have you been?" Lloyd asked, pouting slightly.
Elenor shrugged, "I have been here this whole time. It's just you who didn't notice me."
Lloyd rolled his eyes before grinning, "So?"
"So what?"
"Did you speak with Lady Rosina?"
"I did why?"
"What do you think of her?" he asked.
Elenor could hear a tinge of excitement in his voice. Was he that eager to make the two of them become friends?
"I think she's lovely."
Hearing her answer, Lloyd's interest grew higher. Elenor smiled at him before continuing her sentence,
"I'm not friends with her."
Lloyd's expression deflated, "Brought my hopes up for nothing."
Elenor laughed and patted his shoulders, "You brought this upon yourself."
Lloyd stuck his tongue out before walking away childishly, like he was throwing a tantrum. Elenor shook her head as she watched Lloyd. She then felt a tap on her shoulder.
"What is it Alec?" she asked.
Alec pointed towards a suspicious looking group of ladies. Elenor glanced at them and frowned. Rosina was talking with Isabella and her followers. Isabella had a small smirk on her face but covered it with her fan.
Not long after, one of her followers and Rosina headed off somewhere. There was an uncomfortable feeling welling up inside Elenor. She could feel something was off.
"Shall I follow them?" Alec asked her but she shook her head.
"Call Lloyd. Let him handle this, if I'm correct they will be heading towards the lake in this manor."
"Are you sure?" he raised an eyebrow towards her.
Elenor nodded, "This world is following the story so if I'm not doing what I'm supposed to do like the book, perhaps they will use other people or methods to follow the plot." she explained to Alec who nodded.
"It's just a hunch though." she hurriedly said.
"I'll go find his highness,"
"Yes thank you."
Alec left, leaving her by herself. Elenor glanced at where the two ladies had left off. She knew she shouldn't get involved with Rosina. She knew it but...
Elenor glanced around trying to find Lloyd as well but he was nowhere to be found.
Why was he taking so long!?
She glared at Isabella before following where Rosina and Isabella's follower headed off to. Maybe she can buy some time for Lloyd so Rosina wouldn't get pushed into the lake and they can be closer to one another.
She hurried over to where the two went and soon found them heading closer to the lake. Elenor took in a deep breath and made her presence known to them.
"What are you doing here, Lady Mille and Lady Rosina?" she asked, her eyes slightly narrowed and her lips pressed into a thin line.
"Ah Lady Elenor!" Rosina beamed before walking over to her.
Isabella's follower, Mille on the other paled once she saw her. Elenor glared at her before turning to Rosina.
"I saw you two walking off here so I was wondering why you were heading so far from the tea party." Elenor spoke.
"Lady Mille said she lost something around here when she was walking around." Rosina answered and Mille quickly nodded.
"T-that's right!"
Elenor threw a cold glance at Mille who shrunk behind Rosina. Elenor looked back at Rosina who had absolutely no clue what was about to happen to her. It was so glaring obvious the lie yet Rosina trusted Mille and followed her. She sighed before turning to Mille.
"Lose something? Here where it was quite far from the venue? It seems quite suspicious to me Lady Mille."
"I-it's true Lady Elenor!!" Mille squeaked out.
Elenor raised an eyebrow before scoffing. Her acting was terrible.
"Well? What did you lose?" she coldly asked Mille.
"My ring! I lost my ring in the lake!" Mille replied, still hiding behind Rosina.
Elenor then headed over to the lake and stared into it. She squinted her eyes, trying to find a ring but there was none.
"There's no ring Lady Mille. Are you lying to us?" she asked, staring at the lake.
"There's no ring?" Rosina spoke beside her right ear.
Alarmed, her head whipped towards her right. Rosina was standing beside her, at the edge of the lake. Elenor's eyes widened in horror. She made a mistake. Mille, who was standing behind Rosina still the whole time, gave a slight push.
Everything suddenly moved slowly in front of Elenor. It was as if time had slowed down. She reached her hand out towards Rosina who was falling forward. Her eyes held panic.
'Grab her!' Elenor screamed to herself in her head.
Just by a hair, Elenor was unable to pull Rosina to safety.
A loud splash was heard. She wasn't able to save her in time. Her hand was so close yet she failed.
"Lady Rosina?!" Elenor heard Lloyd's loud voice and frantic footsteps.
Elenor turned towards them before Mille but she was gone. She had run away in time. Lloyd hurriedly ran towards Rosina and brought her out of the lake.
"Milady!" Alec went over to Elenor, checking her body if there were any injuries.
Elenor shook her head, turning towards Lloyd and Rosina.
She was drenched head to toe. Her body was trembling due to the coldness from the water. Lloyd held her firmly.
"Are you alright?" Lloyd asked gently.
Rosina nodded her head, teeth slightly chattering. "Ye..yes I'm alright..."
Lloyd brought his gaze up to Elenor. "What happened here Elenor?"
"I-"
"Lady Elenor pushed Lady Rosina into the lake!!" someone yelled from behind.
Elenor turned to who had yelled. It was Mille along with Isabella and her other followers. People who were at the tea party were also there after hearing a loud commotion. Many eyes fell on her. It gave Elenor a sense of fear and uncomfortableness. She could feel herself growing anxious by the second, breathing suddenly felt harder than usual. She felt someone's hand squeezing her shoulder, reassuring her.
"Who spoke?" Lloyd asked, his voice cold.
No one dared to defy him. At this moment, he had a dominating aura around him. He really looked like a different person to Elenor. Someone who you should never try to defy.
Mille took one step in front and spoke, "I was with Lady Rosina looking for my ring when Lady Elenor suddenly came. We were looking for my ring around the lake and when Lady Rosina was looking inside the lake, she pushed her in!"
Loud murmurs were heard around. Elenor could hear harsh whispers and insults about her while she kept quiet.
"How could she do that?"
"Lady Rosina even invited her to her party.."
"Poor Lady Rosina.."
"Lady Elenor is such a disgrace."
"Silence!" Lloyd said loudly, making everyone shut their mouths.
He turned to Mille with disinterested eyes, "Is what you are saying true?"
Mille nodded furiously, "Yes! I swear on my family's title."
Lloyd sneered, "You know what that means don't you? If it isn't true, you and your family will be stripped of your title and be demoted to commoners."
"Yes your highness." Mille confidently agreed.
Lloyd looked back at Elenor. His stare suddenly felt icy. Elenor felt her blood run cold. Her thoughts a few days ago were coming true.
She just lost someone she cared about.
---
Author's note: o(*￣▽￣*)ブ hello everyone! i wanted to say thank you so much for 100k views and 6k votes on this book, i never expected so many people to like this book that much tbh but im eternally grateful for you all ಥ_ಥ
i'll give you guys two updates this friday as a thank you for sticking to this book even though my writing isn't the best but i will continue to work to my fullest and improve💞!!