Henrietta's Self-saving

Chapter 7

This chapter is dedicated to inalisancara Thank you for reading!

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"Oh my, if it isn't Lady Lovell."

I hadn't even stepped foot in the imperial garden when three girls suddenly blocked my path. They were all wearing fancy dresses and were daughters of high-ranking nobles.

The imperial garden is far from the palace's ballroom, where the royal ball is held. There wasn't a single soul where we were standing at the moment. Not even royal guards or royal servants.

It must be Alaric's orders not to allow anyone to disturb his rendezvous with Adelia.

The girl in the middle wearing a red dress opened her folding fan and brought it near her mouth. It covered half of her face, only revealing her dark blue eyes.

"How have you been?" she asked in a relatively unconcerned tone. It was as if she wasn't asking about a person's well-being.

Her eyes turned crescent as if she was grinning behind her fan.

Who is this?

A character with straight, honey, blonde hair draped up to her waist. A slender stature, taller than Henrietta. Fair skin that seemed to glow under the moonlight. Dark blue eyes that held expressions of mockery.

I don't remember such a character appearing in the novel. But if she knows Henrietta, she must be a part of her social circle. But people surrounding Henrietta never get to share a spotlight with her. They were always behind her, in the shadows.

I looked at the girl from head to toe.

This must be one of Henrietta's underlings.

"Lady Ambergard, it seems like Lady Lovell forgot how to talk." The girl wearing a lacy blue gown snickered.

"It must be the effect of her confinement. The Marquis must have had enough of her tantrums." The girl in a huge, yellow ball gown holding a wine glass said.

They might not be Henrietta's underlings. Or maybe they were. But after what happened to Henrietta last year at the Emperor's birth anniversary ball, they decided to stop following her, afraid of tainting their reputation. Understandable. I would do the same.

The one in the middle, Lady Ambergard, gracefully folded her fan revealing a beautifully structured nose and red, rosy lips.

I looked at her in awe. Under the moonlight, she was like a goddess who descended from the heavens. Everything behind her seemed to fade, and only the roses in the background remained. Beautiful beyond compare.

How did a beautiful woman become a character who didn't even have a single appearance in the novel?

But my initial image of her shattered when an expression of ridicule appeared on her face.

"What happened, Lady Lovell? When did you become so timid? Did your confinement change you?" she said in a high-pitched tone to the point that it was getting on my nerves. "You were once so fierce that you'd trample anyone coming your way. The empire even labeled you as a madwoman."

She took a step forward, slowly narrowing the distance between us.

"Why are you hiding your claws? Or did the Marquis cut them for you? He must have gotten tired of you."

The high society must have thought that after what happened last year, the Marquis wouldn't stay lenient on her daughter and thought he'd discipline her. Henrietta's confinement in Hutchrene must have sparked those rumors.