Henrietta's Self-saving

Chapter 18

Unedited!

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It was finally the day of Alaric's birthday banquet. A gathering of people who once disregarded the second prince and now wants to suck up to him after his meritorious achievements in the western frontier.

Alaric was never given a grand banquet before. Even though he was a prince, he was considered a nobody in the palace. Even when his pure golden eyes emerged, the treatment he received became even worse. Then he was sent to the Western frontier to die on the battlefield.

But he emerged victorious and not only that, he gained merit after merit. He created an uproar and it was impossible for the Emperor to not notice. The authority over the empire's five armies and this birthday banquet is an obvious statement about the throne's new successor.

The first prince's faction must be trembling right now and soon, their allies would scurry towards Alaric's side.

"M-milady, it is done," Giselle said after putting the final ornament in my hair.

I raised my head and saw an ethereal beauty reflected in the mirror of the vanity table.

Because of the flower mark on my neck, I told Giselle not to style my hair in a high or low bun. Instead, she styled it into a loose side braid, tying the end with a ribbon, and added gold flower pins along the body of the braid.

Giselle opted for lighter make-up making me look even younger. Even so, Henrietta's face didn't require any make-up, she looks good in everything, even with bed hair. No wonder people weren't bothered with her extravagant fashion sense.

If Henrietta doesn't open her mouth, she'd look like a dignified and well-mannered young lady gifted with unfathomable beauty. But her forte is throwing verbal abuse at people and demeaning their worth every chance she gets so it's inevitable.

I looked at the full-body mirror on the side. Giselle along with two other maids were the ones who chose the dress that I was wearing. It was an off-shoulder bouffant gown made of azure blue tulle fabric. The cuts were still simple and were made for convenience. The torso was embellished with laces and tiny white crystals. The designs faded halfway towards the hem of the gown. The poet sleeves of the gown were also laced on the wrist part.

The bodice, however, is probably what would kill me instead of Alaric. Underneath this beautiful gown was a tight corset that is almost crushing my insides. Just one complaint from me and the maids wouldn't continue making me wear the corset.

But, their eyes were gleaming when I told them to do whatever they want for my look on today's ball. Even though they were careful with their actions while helping me dress up, they looked happy. I am not heartless to ruin it.

"It's beautiful," I blurted out. The maids who were standing on the side raised their heads in surprise.

I am not good at complimenting people. I only do so when it's related to my job. But those compliments and recognitions my subordinates received from me were considered to be incentives and are necessary to motivate them. After all, my previous job was tough.

A soft knock came from the door followed by the butler's voice. "Milady, the carriage is ready."

I didn't wait for the maids to recover from surprise and immediately stood up.