Unfortunately, I'm an Evil Villainess

Chapter 22 - Royal Court (II)

Over the next week, Mother and I visited practically every noble living at the castle. We attended more events than I could count, but our schedule gradually cleared up, because now it was time for the real thing.

Now that we'd settled in, Mother was going to start attending the king's court, along with Father. The purpose of the visits had been to prepare everyone, as well as socialize with people individually to prepare them. It made people feel more special when interacting in small groups, and now Mother would be instantly popular in court, as always.

"We've received an invitation from Her Majesty."

It was the day before Mother would start going to court, and I was eating breakfast with her in her chambers. My spoon hovered in the air.

"To what?"

"A small gathering of close friends, including a literary reading and a tea tasting, this evening."

I vaguely understood that this was a sign of passive aggression. It would be rude beyond disbelief to not go or to make up an excuse, and that was the least horrible part about it.

The queen had her own court of nobles and allies, gossiping and managing the castle, along with other affairs. She and her daughter were the only women in the kingdom that ranked above Mother and I, and I'd heard enough from my parents to know that she was not a friend. Politics extended far beyond the ruling nobles themselves, to spouses, children, and even servants.

Mother clicked her tongue and tossed the invitation aside.

"You've finished the twelve volumes of Abbeyton Manor, right?"

"Ah... yes?"

Though I adored reading in my past life, that was because it was my form of escapism from a miserable existence. Currently, I had friends, family, and luxuries, and I even found my lessons interesting, especially poisons and shooting.

I had flipped through the books, briefly. But if someone asked me to name all thirty-two main characters of that series which could have been only written for the purpose of torture, I would have them executed. Then I would light their corpse on fire and burn the books, and pity the waste of paper and ink.

"She must know that you haven't taken any vocal lessons, and we didn't plan for you to learn tea tasting until later. She wants to embarrass you."

I didn't like the sound of that. Mother frowned and paced around the room.

"Just be modest. No, that's exactly what she wants. It'd be too obvious now. Hmm..."

This wasn't the first time I was meeting the queen. I was, ah, familiar, with her daughter, and Mother and I had been invited to such events before. Mother had always prevailed and won, and I always bested the princess.

Ugh, I wondered if she was going to be there. I would loath to see her smug expression. As a proper noble lady, I was quite gracious. I didn't even hate the female lead, because if anything, her only faults were naivety to the point of stupidity and being in my way. I wouldn't even hurt her if she wouldn't interfere with me, but I hated Princess Elizabeth with every part of me.

"This will have to do. Darling, I have a plan."

I was glad Mother interrupted my thoughts, or I might have snapped my spoon. Carefully, I listened to her instructions, and we spent the rest of the day preparing.

Evening came. For dinner, Mother had something special added to my food, to apparently make my taste buds sharper. It stung sharply, and I resisted the urge to throw up, but I thought it was effective, for I could taste my own bitterness in the air.