I was a virtuous wife

Chapter 5: Tea party gossips

"Have you heard about the affair ?"

As soon as she heard those words, Kierra froze in her seat.

"Oh my! Are you talking about Count Sawyer's affair ?", asked a lady.

"Yes ! The one that is the talk of the capital !"

Kierra sighed in relief as soon as she heard it was about Count Sawyer's affair but also soon felt ashamed as she was relieved they were not talking about her.

The tea party was already dreary as it was but the bustling gossips between the noble ladies about the count's affair only made it more uncomfortable for Kierra. 

"I heard he was having an affair with a younger woman", squealed a lady.

"Yes! I heard she was younger and more beautiful than his wife !", said another lady.

"Many say that his mistress was only a lowly maid that the Countess took in to save her from poverty."

"Poor, Lady Carla. How must it feel to have her husband snatched by someone she brought in...", said the lady with a pitying face but everyone knew that her voice was filled with mockery. 

"Well, Countess Carla has certainly gotten old so it's no wonder that the Count moved onto someone new"

Kierra couldn't stand hearing this anymore and so she placed her teacup firmly on the table making a sharp noise to catch everyone's attention.

"I heard you are going to open a new salon Lady Mckenzie ? You must be busy preparing.", said Kierra to change the topic.

"Y-yes Duchess Alden, the construction is finished and only the staffing and the products are left.", said Lady Mckenzie with a nervous smile.

Kierra had the highest rank among the participants of the tea party so when she purposely changed the topic everyone played along to conflict with the Alden house.

"I hope I can get an invite to visit someday. After all, even the people who do not live in the capital know about Lady Mckenzie's salons so it would be a waste for me to not visit", said Kierra with a calm smile.

"Of course, Duchess Alden! I will send an invite for the opening, I hope you can come and grace us with your presence."

"Yes, I look forward to it too......"

The noble ladies in the capital didn't particularly like Kierra. Mainly because she was the most powerful woman after the elder nobles in terms of ranks and she is the one of the two duchesses of the kingdom. Plus she was extremely beautiful and incredibly intelligent even in the eyes of her enemies so all the young women envied her. But she didn't flaunt her rank or beauty and always maintained a neutral position between the different factions. She also behaved with grace and poise making her even more enviable since she had a good relationship with the influential elder nobles.

Many even said that if she didn't marry the Duke then she would have been a perfect candidate to become the Crown Princess. But Kierra dismissed those assumptions and expressed her disinterest for the throne at every opportunity she got because the Vonton has been politically neutral for decades. 

"It's been a while since you last showed some of your honest thoughts in public, your grace.", said a young woman with straight black hair and light brown eyes.

"Valerie !", greeted Kierra with a happy smile.

"It has certainly been a while, hasn't it your grace ?", said the woman with a happy smile as well.

"I thought you were returning to the capital next month ? How were your studies in the Floridelle  Kingdom ? Were they fruitful ?", she asked in a cheery voice.

"As you can see, my studies have ended early and of course, I got the results I wanted so I made haste to return back home as soon as possible", she said confidently.

"It's good to see you again. But I wonder why Sir Mason didn't say anything about your return when I enquired him about you ?"

"I told him not to say anything. I wanted to surprise everyone just like those scenes you read in adventure novels where the protagonist enters with an impact", she said mischievously. 

"Well you never fail to surprise me.", Kierra said with a chuckle as she felt warm to see her dear friend after half a year.

Valerie Myers was the youngest sister of Mason Myers, the closest aid of Jonathan and the secretary of Alden house. Kierra met Valerie at a banquet when Mason introduced her as his sister. Valerie instantly took to Kierra's quiet yet sharp demeanor and impressed her with her vast knowledge on history and biology. Soon they became friends and often met each other at their homes or at parties. 

Their friendship blossomed quickly and Kierra finally felt comfortable to be around someone her age. But then Valerie had to leave the kingdom to study in a foreign institute for six months. Kierra felt lonely since her only friend in the capital left but they kept in touch by sending letters to each other.

"So how have you been ? How is the duke ?", asked Valerie nonchalantly,

"O-oh I've been well, Jonathan has become busy but he is in good health as well", said Kierra . In truth everyday felt like a dread and she hasn't seen Jonathan in days but she didn't want to tell Valerie that because of her pride.

"What a bland answer! You always looked like a maiden in love whenever I asked you about the duke but now you look solemn. Is it because your honeymoon phase passed and you both are just a normal couple now?", asked Valerie teasingly.

"We are just preoccupied with other things and....... love doesn't always stay the same, does it ?", said Kierra with a hurt expression but soon masked it with a smile.

End of chapter 5.

Thank you for reading this chapter and I hope you guys liked his new update .

Do show your support by reading and voting for each chapter and also feel free to comment your rants and opinions since they motivate me and are just fun to read !

Also show some love to my other books as well which you can find in my profile.

Well then, see you guys next time !