Duchess Leandra felt like she was on top of the world as she was surrounded by the most influential women of the court. Sure, it was on shakey ground to get Isabel, Cassandra, and her friends to finally get them to talk to her, and the Duchess wasn't going to let this opportunity pass her by. To do that, Leandra made sure to get her allies in the Minor Houses to spread lies about her son's death, ciming that it was the Dark Elf who murdered him, as most of the Nobles didn't know the full story about her son. Then, she needed to wow them and impress them. Isabel and Alexandria did help with some of the party's decorations and food, but Leandra needed to pull out the big guns to really get them to trust her. Once she gets the two of them to support her in the court, the rest should follow. To do that, she needed to wine and dine them to their hearts' content with their private stock of exotic wine, which she got from her husband's secret stash, and a plethora of food that was from the High Elven continent of Lumen Fae.

  She wanted to show them her wealth and connections to the High Elves, and hopefully, that would be enough to get them to support her and her pn to take down the Dark Elf, promote Princess Hilda Stoneworthh as the bride to her nephew, and have that foreign princess be her puppet after Quinus is dealt with.

  Leandra also knew that getting the rest of the Minor Houses was a lot less critical than the Major Houses, but they did wield some power in the Court, but she would let her husband handle them as she had very little time to deal with their petty squabbles.

  "So, Duchess Leandra, tell me how you are able to have such exquisite cuisine here. I didn't think the Fae would sell any of their food," Alexandria Ingham said as she took a sip of her wine.

  "Oh, my husband has his ways," Leandra said with a chuckle.

  "And what way is that?" Lady Lucinda Montcir asked with skepticism lined on her face.

  'Pfft! Like I'm going to tell Lucinda that Aric has an accord with King Arnaud Dupont from the Kingdom of Marn. Frankly, I am curious myself as to how those Gravelborn inbreds were able to get any of the Fae's goods.' Leandra thought.

  The duchess then turned to the Baroness and took a sip of the Elven Ambrosia. "It's a secret," Leandra said with a chuckle, then she whispered. "One day, I'll share it, but I'm not taking any chances with the likes of you, Lucinda."

  The Baroness looked displeased by Leandra's jab, "Tch! And why is that, Duchess? Are you trying to hide the fact that it was acquired by dubious means?" Lucinda questioned as she still wasn't on board with letting Leandra into the Ladies of the Court so willingly.

  Leandra smirked at one of the few reluctant noblemen. "Well, I don't tell because you have loose lips, Lady Lucinda. I can't have your husband coming around to demanding to try this delicious Elven wine. It's only for us dies, of course."

  Marchioness Isabel Wrightwood and Countess Alexandria Ingham both ughed at their friend, as Leandra was right about Lucinda. There were many of times that she was caught bbbing about one thing or another, and then her husband would find out and wish to join in on the fun.

  'I swear Lucinda acts more like a Minor Noble than her status suggests,' Leandra thought.

  Lady Lucinda was disheartened to see both Isabel and Alexandria siding with the Duchess. Usually, they had her back whenever Leandra decided to throw shade at her. It made her uncomfortable with how quickly they were willing to give the duchess their trust after everything she and her family tried to do to the Kingdom with the assassination attempt on the Crown Prince. She couldn't see past the fact that they were traitors in her eyes.

  'What has the world come to when a traitor like Leandra gets welcomed back into society so quickly?' Lucinda thought as she was getting angrier by the second. She gnced over at Viscountess Cassandra Bckwood, who was just as puzzled as she was about the whole thing.

  Leandra took note of the silent Lucinda, as she wasn't the type to back down, but the two most powerful women in the Court weren't protecting her like in the past, so it was odd for the Baroness to be on her own. The Duchess was going to continue her banter until she submitted to her and the Marchioness.

  Leandra had a ugh with the rest of the Ladies in the Court before she was about to strike, but then that was when Baroness Elizabeth Dule came walking up to the group with her daughter, Amelia Dule, behind her. Elizabeth rarely came to these parties as she was allied with the Queen, and most of the women in the higher court looked down on her and Amelia. Normally, she and her daughter would stay away. But with all these rumors spreading through the grapevine about this Dark Elf were frightening, as her son, Johan, and daughter-in-w, Tayna, seemed to be visiting the pace far more frequently ever since this Dark Elf came into the picture.

  It was odd. Elizabeth swore that Johan was supposed to stay in Dorn for his own safety, but when she found out that he joined the Crown Prince on his journey back to the capital, she demanded that Johnathan take her to the estate in Tairal, which he did. Elizabeth's retionship with her daughter-in-w, Tayna, has never been strong, as she was never interested in her son when they first met, and it never got better through the years. At first, when she had dinner with them, they were as hopeless as ever. Johan would try to make a joke every once in a while, only to be met with Tayna's cold stare. That checked out, but Elizabeth couldn't help but notice that her son looked more striking, and Tayna looked healthier as well. She asked her husband if he saw that the two looked different, and Johnathan said she was being paranoid. Maybe he was right; maybe she was being a little overprotective, but then the two would go to the pace almost every other day. And she heard whispers that Tayna was training to use a weapon with this Dark Elf and the Queen's best bodyguard.

  Elizabeth needed to speak to the Queen as quickly as possible, and when she visited her a few days ter to have tea. She was struck by how radiant her old friend looked. It was the first time in years that Elizabeth saw her smiling so widely, and she was practically glowing. The st time she could recall Rianna looking this healthy was before she found out that she was pregnant with the crown prince. But that would be absurd; Rianna is in her 40s, even though her heritage makes her look younger than she is. But Elizabeth knew her friend, and Rianna had put Cyndre in the doghouse for listening to Duval and not punishing Aric properly. She swore off all physical activities until she got her point across, and it would be a long time before she allowed him to touch her. Plus, she's at an age when getting pregnant is far more challenging. There had to be something going on, but Rianna only said that she could be trusted whenever she tried to bring up the subject of the Dark Elf being with the Qureen's son. Elizabeth tried to dive deeper into the matter, but the Queen told her that it would be best not to pry into her son's private affairs.

  The Baroness began to worry that her friend was slowly getting enchanted like everyone else who was over this Dark Elf, and she made sure never to go back to the pace unless she was invited by the Queen. And it didn't stop there; she noticed that Tayna was beginning to look more and more like the fairy tale of the warrior princess who could tame any man's heart. It happened after she went on a trip down south, and when she returned after a week, she wasn't only gorgeous, but her eyes glowed with power. Her aura was noticeable, almost like some of the most prominent Royal Knights in the kingdom. Did she sy monsters, or was this the Dark Elf's doing? Is this Dark Elf influencing Tayna to make her into a puppet? Tayna could control her son when he becomes the next Baron. She must want this power to destroy anyone in the extended family who is eyeing the title.

  Then, the day came when the Prime Minister decred another Emergency Session when word got out that the Dark Elf had attacked a foreign guest from the Holy Alliance. She didn't trust the Divine Three, but at least they were human, and it sounded like the Dark Elf was the one who started it. So, this creature needed to be stopped, and she pleaded for her husband to speak reason to the King to join the Prime Minister, but when he came back stumbling drunk, he was being carried by Johan. She knew that the King didn't listen. Her son advised her about what happened during the emergency session, and she learned that the council had turned on Duval and was ready to accept this Dark Elf as the Crown Princess with a few stiputions. Johan tried to reassure her that she wasn't bad or maniputing people, but she couldn't trust her own son, especially after catching him kissing Tayna, only for her to be as cold as ever during family dinner. Her daughter-in-w must be giving him breadcrumbs of affection to keep him wanting her and willing to do her bidding. Tayna must be positioning herself to be the shadow ruler of Eder Hills.

  She needed to know if Leandra was really trying to help the kingdom or if she was going to use this as an opportunity to gain control of the Ladies of the Court to undermine the nobility. She had tough choices to make, and she didn't know which one was worse. And she didn't know what she was going to do when the Dark Elf arrived at the party.

  "Duchess Leandra... I want to thank you for hosting such a lovely party," Elizabeth said with a curtsy. "This is the most vish one that I have seen since I was a little girl."

  Amelia Dule couldn't believe her mother would bow to this woman but she followed suit. She was worried that her mother was becoming paranoid these past couple of weeks since she's come back to the capital.

  "Baroness Elizabeth Dule." Duchess Leandra bowed, "I hope the Queen doesn't find you talking to me as a... unfortunate choice. She has only so many friends left in the court."

  "S-She shouldn't mind... This is a party that is hosted in your home. I see nothing wrong with conversing with the host," Baroness Elizabeth said.

  Leandra smirked and took another sip of her ambrosia. She thought her rumors about Rya were finally taking root with some of the Noblewomen. She saw that Amelia was still standing next to her mother and was looking around for a way out of this conversation.

  "I think my daughter would agree," Leandra said, gesturing at Amelia. "She hasn't seen any of her friends today, wouldn't you say?"

  Amelia's cheeks flushed red, and she stammered, "W-Well, yes. I was looking for your daughter, Lydia, and I wanted to wish her a happy birthday."

  Leandra could sense this 23-year-old's fear. She had heard the rumor that Amelia couldn't find a suiter as she was talentless in the ways of absorbing Mana. This means she has a common level, Mana Vein, like her brother. Typically, Noblewomen didn't pursue the arts of combat or magic unless they had no sons or they cked the aptitude to grow their veins.

  Amelia was talented at learning the musical instruments, mathematics, and reading. Her mother had her tutored by some of the best teachers in the kingdom, but even after, her father helped her sy a few monsters a day for a couple of months. She exhibited no mana growth, just like Johan. It seemed that the Dule family bloodline was weaker than all the other Major Houses. A lot of Minor Lords were eyeing the Eder Hills barony and were waiting for the day when Johnathan Dule passed away so they could challenge Johan and Amelia for the title.

  "Well, well... Isn't that considered you," Leandra chuckled. "Why don't you two join me at the table? I would love to hear more about you two. The Dule Barony is the oldest of the Major Houses, isn't it?"

  Amelia's heart dropped. This was exactly what her mother told her not to do. But it was too te, the Duchess has taken them by the arms and lead them to a private table.

  Leandra was going to spin her web of lies to get these two weak fools under her control, and she might have been successful if Lady Bethany von Maus hadn't jumped in to interrupt them.

  "Duchess Leandra, please. I've been seeking an audience with you all morning," the Minor Noblewoman said.

  Leandra gred at one of her loyalists, who refused to take the hint that she needed to focus on turning the Major Nobles against the Dark Elf and then the Queen. She was so close, but this fool had to interrupt her about their financial situation. Bethany was one of the few Minor Noble Houses that hadn't been receiving the secret funds from Aric due to Rya's Golems plundering her husband's secret vaults in the Veridian Encve. And out of fear that the other secret locations were found. The Duke ordered all the surviving vaults in the Divalo Domain to be moved into a secret hideout in Eder Hills. Aric couldn't wire the gold he promised to all the loyal Mayors and Minor Lords who supported his cause. He chose to withhold paying the frontier vilges and towns. This left a lot of them struggling and angry as these areas have to deal with monsters, Orcs, or other threats on a regur basis compared to the interior cities across the realms.

  "I'm sure it's important, but I'm entertaining these two lovely young—"

  "But the Eastern walls of Dalhurst are colpsing. My husband is doing everything he can to help the people before the funds—"

  Leandra let go of Elizabeth and Amelia as she grabbed Bethany. She was furious that this Minor Noble. So, the Duchess pulled Bethany into a secluded area away from the rest of the guests.

  Bethany was a beautiful blonde-haired woman. Her body was toned, and she wore an expensive bck dress that showed off her curves and cleavage. She was taller than most women, and her husband had just become the new Mayor of Dalhurst about three years ago when his father passed away. She had an 11-year-old daughter here at the party, and she didn't know why her husband didn't reach out to the Duke about the missing payments over this past month. She found herself as one of the few outcasts within Leandra's group. Most of the other Minor Noblewomen would make fun of her family's backwater town that was set along the southern edge of the Crimson Forest. This forest was in the eastern part of the Divalo Domain. It was a strange piece of territory that could never be cimed by the Duke nor his predecessors before him. It was a forest where you could find these unique red pine the deeper you traveled inside. But no one ever came out alive if they went a mile in. Or it was better to say that people disappeared when they ventured into the Crimson Forest. It was a forest that could only be entered from the Divalo Domain side. There was a mountain range on Silverhaven's western side that made it harder to get to, but no one ever saw a reason to try and travel through. Even some Griffin Riders tried to fly over the Crimson Forest, only to vanish as well. So, the former ruler of Divalo decreed that a wall around this massive forest should be erected to protect not only the towns that bordered it but also Divalo's capital city, Crowngard, which bordered the northwest of the forest.

  "Your Grace! Please listen. I don't know what's happened with the funds, but my town's walls are going to fall. We need those funds—"

  Leandra had her hand around her neck. "How dare you interrupt me. Do you know who you are dealing with? You come into my home. My home. You speak of your troubles when I'm so close to finally breaking into the Ladies of the Court? Do you think they are not paying attention to this moment right now?"

  Leandra's fingers began to tighten around her throat until she saw the panic in Bethany's eyes. "You are going to be a good little girl and not say another word about it. You will smile and act like we are having the best time of our lives. If you ruin this night for me, then I will make sure the Duke strips you of all your family's titles and nds. Are we clear?"

  Bethany nodded her head.

  "I said, are we clear?"

  "Y...yes," Bethany said under her breath.

  She was released from Leandra's grip, causing her to cough.

  "Now, put on a smile. Oh!? And your daughter looks so lovely in her blue dress. I should find whoever made that dress for her."

  "I-It was me, Duchess. I-I made it for her," Bethany answered while stepping back from the duchess and rubbing her neck. Leandra's fingers had left some minor bruising around her neck.

  "You...made it? You sew?"

  "Yes, Your Grace."

  "Well, then, maybe you're more useful than I thought."

  Leandra left to rejoin the party, leaving Bethany to herself.

  Bethany's face was still red from embarrassment and her fear. Her heart was racing, and she needed to calm herself down before anyone saw her.

  "Are you alright, my dear? It seems the duchess has quite a temper."

  Bethany looked up and saw three women standing before her. The lead one wore a purple dress that matched her hair. It was Cire Von Denska from Verdantholm city in the Berger Domain. She smirked at Bethany and shook her head.

  "You frontier nobles think you can do whatever you want. Did you honestly think you could come here and talk to her about money?"

  "N-no. I was just..."

  "You were just what?" Cire asked.

  Bethany sighed and looked at the ground.

  "I-I was just hoping that the Duchess would see my situation and help."

  "She has higher priorities, my dear. Why don't you run along now and go mingle with the other dies of the court?" Cire suggested.

  "Yes, be of use to the Duchess, and maybe you'll get back into her good graces, Lady Bethany," Nysara Kalesas added.

  Bethany bowed her head and walked off to join the other dies. She felt defeated. This was a complete failure. But maybe she could try again ter. She needed to do something for her family's sake.

  The three watched as Bethany looked for her daughter and began to socialize.

  "I really don't understand why the Duke waists his time with those backwater nobles. They have nothing to offer," Cecelia von Falkenstein said.

  "Agreed. The only ones that have any value are the Marchioness Isabel Wrightwood and Countess Alexandria Ingham. But even they have their limitations," Nysara replied.

  "By themselves, yes. They are limited in helping the Duchess. But getting the whole group of Major nobles to fall in line will be much better. But until then, we need the minor nobles of all the rge cities on our side," Cire expined.

  "I hope the Duchess has a pn for dealing with these annoying pests," Nysara remarked.

  Cire and Cecelia looked at each other and smiled.

  "Oh, she does. You're too young to know how her Grace operates," Cire teased.

  "Yeah, you're still a babe in the woods. We were there when the Duchess started her work. So trust us, she knows what she's doing," Cecelia added.

  "Well, I can't wait to see how she deals with this Dark Elf I've been hearing so much about," Nysara said.

  "Oh, I've heard of her too. I wonder what the Duchess will do to her," Cire replied.

  "Let's hope it's painful," Cecelia chimed in.

  "Oh, most definitely," Nysara ughed.

  With that, the three of them began talking about other things, like what kind of dress the Duchess should wear next and what type of flower arrangement would best complement her appearance as they watched Leandra mingling with the Major Nobles she was about to get Elizabeth to the private table again when a horn pyed from the balcony. Everyone turned to the entranceway and saw a Redheaded Foreign Princess waiting to be called in by the Lord Stewart of Divalo Manor.

  "Ladies of the Court, it is my pleasure to announce the arrival of the Princess of the Holy Alliance. Please welcome the Royal guest, Princess Hilda Stoneworthh."

  All the eyes fell on the Redheaded Princess, who stood there like a proud queen. She wore a white dress with gold trim, and a simple white headband held up her hair. The dies whispered amongst themselves, and some were shocked while others were excited. Leandra was annoyed that she needed to hold off on getting Elizabeth to the private table, but she needed to boost Hilda's status to bring her in line. That was easier said than done with a girl who only knows praying and has the personality of a brick.

  'Alright, Leandra. Time to make this prude a star,' Leandra thought as she mentally prepared herself for the challenges ahead. If Hilda was finally here, then the Dark Elf and the Queen wouldn't be far behind. 'Once these irritating insects are in line, then getting them to turn on that harlot will be easy as pie.'