As I approached the seat the lady had gestured me to I could clearly hear their giggles and feel their anticipating gazes, they clearly had no good intentions in this.
However, I came prepared. As I lifted my skirt to take a seat I quietly slipped the golden ring I had on off my finger as it fell directly on the chair and it immediately collapsed.
'... They were definitely planning to shame me on my weight after I sat on that and fell and possibly dismiss it as a joke after if I lashed out on them and call me sensitive.'
I gazed down at the chair which now lying on the paved ground of the greenhouse in pieces in irritation at these ladies' pathetic behavior before immediately switching to my surprised facade.
"Ah..." Versutas let out a shaky breath while wearing a panicked expression on her face now that her plan had backfired.
It was clear that rumors might start spreading about the Allisun family's incompetence in properly serving their guests.
"Ah! My sincerest apologies Lady Sovine! It seems we have made a grave mistake!" Lady Versutas immediately shot out of her seat and offered it over to me in a panicked tone.
"Oh, do not fret Lady Versutas. It was a simple mistake." I responded smiling back at her.
'Go to hell bitch.'
"This is nothing compared to all you've done for me." I continued as the others ladies once again began whispering about my naviety, die they seriously not realize that I coudl hear them?
"You were even as generous as to invite me to this tea party and schedule it so early despite knowing the incident occurred quite recently and I was most probably still recovering." I added turning to face her with the most convincing, grateful smile I could muster as I strode towards her.
'Exactly. Don't I look like the most innocent lady ever right now?'
"You even went through the trouble to announce in the invitation that this tea party was specifically held for me so I must to attend." I clasped her hands in mine as with a grateful smile.
"I know you never truly meant to hurt me, Lady Versutas. Am I wrong?" I smiled sweetly at her as the air in the room grew tense.
Simply due to the fact that the other ladies' servants and the ladies themselves had already known of this scheme to humiliate me yet did nothing to stop it and even encouraged it.
Meanwhile I was showing so much trust in them.
Sovine was more widely known to be a naive girl than a troublesome one who had always been a pushover and easily believed and saw even the smallest gesture from anyone to be a kind offer.
This came to be due to her obsession with being accepted by the duke and his family and used to irritate me quite a bit in the past but now it was finally coming in handy.
Others will see this as me being naive towards a lady who so rudely invited me to a tea party so soon despite knowing that I had recently gotten severely injured and was currently recovering and even messed with the seat prepared for me.
Of course, all those rumors will be spread by the nearby servants and even some of these ladies who could possibly have some inkling of jealousy towards Lady Versutas and have negative emotions towards her and her social standing.
Hearing this will obviously dramatically damage the Allisun's reputation and Lady Vertusas's reputation herself.
While also provide the other ladies the chance to boost their own house's reputation by inviting me over to their house under the guise of consoling a sickly lady who had been nearly deceived into sitting on a faulty chair which could've seriously harmed her already recovering body and was too shaken by this recent vicious scheme against me.
This will give me the chance to meet with many ladies of high social standing and perhaps even find a decent one to befriend and ally with.
I'd also be able to gather quite a bit of information about the events happening between nobles and conflicts of this world as well, Ardeat might be a walking encyclopedia of this place, however.
As a commoner and a maid, she can't get involved much with high society so having an ally in high society would probably be pretty helpful considering that as a duke's daughter.
I will have to attend many noble gatherings and whatnot so I will have to know more than simply the basics of these nobles' status, position, background information, and intentions to make it through these events without unnecessarily dying and enduring the pain of dying repeatedly until I convince to get one of this games main leads to kill me.
And it's not like I could go to the Duke and ask for him to assist me in doing a background check on these people without being interrogated and then ultimately refuse so that's out of the question leaving this to be my only and most effective option for gathering information in high society.
"O-of course, Lady Sovine... I wouldn't dare..." Lady Versutas stuttered breaking eye contact as she averted her eyes to the paved ground beneath us while all the other ladies continued whispering and muttering words to each other.
'That's quite the predictable reaction Lady Versutas... Not that I mind.' I released her hands from mine as Lady Versutas instructed the nearby servants to make haste in preparing another chair for me.
"Now then... Shall we resume the tea party? I would hate for it to be ruined by a matter as trivial as this..." Lady Versutas spoke up in an awkward tone due to the tension in the room.
'... You should really work on your choice of words Lady Versutas...'
The tension in the room grew thicker after hearing Lady Versutas's view of this situation being called "trivial".
"Lady Versutas... I was aware of your dislike of Lady Sovine but... Who knew it would lead you into trying to harm her while her body was still in recovery..." A voice suddenly spoke up.
It was a lady with captivating blonde hair falling right below her waist which resembled the color of sunflowers in the setting sun and deep orange-tinted eyes.
Upon seeimh who it was, the others also nodded in agreement.
'I knew she would be absolutely gorgeous from her description in the game... But seeing her i person is totally different than reading about it.'
This Lady was known as "The Sun Of The Social Circle." due to her influence in high society. She is a precious Lady who all know and love.
Or at least they pretend to do so. Though it may not be spoken of much, this Lady had been involved in many social scandals in the past due to jealousy, greed, and whatnot.
Yet it was never made public nor did her family even attempt to avenge her. My friend back in my world always used say stuff like:
"SHE MUST BE ABUSED!", "THERE'S TRAUMA! TRAUMA, I SAY!", "WE NEED A BACKSTORY FOR THIS LADY! OR SOME TYPE OF POV OR SOMETHING!", etc. 24/7
whenever this lady popped up in the game and then continued to rant to me about the clear signs that she was being abused, neglected, mistreated, and overall apparently stuck in a somewhat similar situation to Sovine's.
And though I didn't believe nor did I pay much attention it back then. Now that I'm actually inside this game... This information might come in quite handy...
And no I am not planning on blackmailing her. I am simply trying to get her and Sovine to become great friends brought together by their equally bitter pasts.
Of course, to do that I'll have to first confirm that she really is stuck in a somewhat similar situation to Sovine's or this is just going to be plain embarrassing.
"W-what?! Lady Terratia! That is quite a bold assumption, I have never had any sort of ill intentions towards Lady Sovine!" Lady Versutas shot up from her seat as her tone immediately became defensive due to her fear of losing face which only made her seem even more guilty.
"Let's not jump to conclusions Lady Terratia, I'm sure Lady Versutas was only looking out for me by inviting me to this tea party." I spoke up as it began seeming as if literal sparks were appearing between the two ladies before adding fuel to the fire.
"And the chair... It must've been a mistake." I added as Lady Terratia turned to me looking at me as if I was the most naive and pathetic creature on this planet to have taken such an obvious trap as a "mistake".
Though I didn't mind it as much since Lady Terratia still stood up for me and spoke against Lady Versutas despite not liking me much, like most others in this game and without caring how she might end up ruining alliances with the Allisun's family.
"Lady Sovine, I understand that you're a Lady who isn't quite fond at seeing the bad side of people, however, even someone like you should know that that was no mistake." Lady Terratia replied basically calling me dumb and naive in an indirect manner.
"Lady Terratia! You are taking it too far! I never meant any harm to go to Lady Sovine!" Lady Versutas spoke up once more however soon decided to change her strategy realizing that no one here was going to believe her obvious lies except for me.
"And even if I did do so, why does it matter? After all, Lady Sovine doesn't seem to mind." Lady Versutas's usual smug smile played on her lips as held her hand fan over her lower face.
"..." The room fell silent as Lady Terratia turned to me to see what type of expression I was wearing which was honestly the worst thing she could do right now since I had absolutely no idea what kind of expression to have in a situation like this one.
'Now what? What would Sovine do? Look hurt and sad? Hell no.' I wondered as my face scrunched up in confusion due to having no idea on what Sovine would do in this type situation.
If I made the wrong expression then Lady Terratia would immediately catch on that this was a carefully schemed plan I made against Lady Versutas and immediately stop standing up to me.
Though it seems I didn't have to worry much about it since Lady Terratia seemed to have mistaken my confusion towards not knowing Sovine's character enough to predict what she would do in this situation as being confused at Lady Versutas's words instead.
"And it's not like she's a real noble woman anyway. She may act all high and mighty since she was lucky enough to have gained the sympathetic and be adopted by the grand duke but that's it. All she has is a fake title." Lady Versutas gazed down at me coldly as her smirk lingered on her lips displaying how she seemed to have thought she won.
But in reality. She just had just walked into the trap I had laid out for her without even any bait. These words had lef my whole plan to proceed even smoother and faster than I had originally expected.
'It seems you have no else to blame but yourself for the Allisun's downfall, Lady Versutas.' Though it was only for a moment.
I noticed Lady Terratia's expression darken as a victorious smirk played on my lips upon realizing that Lady Terratia, "The Sun Of The Social Circle.", might end up being the first to invite me to the next social event.
And since she was the one who held the most influence in high society, naturally, other ladies would follow and do the same.
And while I'll be stuck at various different social events throughout the week meeting new people with high social standings everyday, the rumors about Lady Versutas will only keep growing.
And since Lady Versutas was the one who originally started rumors about Sovine in high society and always messed with Sovine at any social gathering she went to.
These rumors about her will even cancel out Sovine's as they spread farther and soon other ladies will begin bringing up new rumors about her which'll only add fuel to the fire.
Plus being at these social gatherings so much only meant I had to see those bastards faces less. However, even if rumors about Lady Versutas begin growing far and wide I still won't be invited to many social gathering for long.
It'll last a few months at most but that's fine with me as long as I can find a lady who goes to many social gathering who can send me information through letters first and befriend her.
Being at social gatherings too often would only hurt my brain with all the drama, schemes, etiquettes, and whatnot. Plus I would also have to keep acting to be a Sovine the whole time as well.
It was my whole goal to quickly die and leave this game from the beginning anyway and I doubt staying at social gatherings all day everyday is going to give those bastards a chance to kill me so that was out of the question anyway.
'Now, all that's left is to act incredibly depressed and run out.' I immediately plastered a hurt and frustrated expression on my face as I hung my head biting down on my lip in an manner which mad it seem as if I was trying to forcefully hold myself together.
Ardeat hurriedly spoke up for me instead seeming to have been fooled by my act and muttered a quick excuse and assisted me up from my seat before leading me away from the ladies.
As we finally reached the carriage and got inside, I plopped down on the seat before letting out a sigh of relief immediately dropping my act as I threw my head back and rested it on the wood frame of the carriage seat.
It's safe to say Ardeat was pretty confused at this quick change of attitude since she had actually thought that I was upset by what Lady Versutas said due to my great acting skills however she soon caught on to what was happening since she had always been sharp.
-----
'What...?'
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!" I whispered yelled as I flipped through the pages of the book I had been offered by that odd sketchy lady in the alleyway.
It was all the events that I had already played in the game and even the ones I hadn't played! But it was all now in Sovine's POV!
It had all the events I had managed to get through in the game and some of the other events that I had never managed to reach but heard spoilers of.
'Well... This is great an all having all the game's future events to prepare myself for but...' I began nibbling on my thumb out of habit as my frustration began growing in miles.
Just how did that lady get her hands on this book? Judging from the contents, there's no doubt that this is the actual future of the game which I was never able to reach before being brought here but that only made it all even more confusing and suspicious.
'Could that lady have been someone who also came from the real world...?'
To be continued...
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