The Grand Plan

Prologue

XX46, March 18

The sun was shining brightly as winds blew on her face. The horse was galloping at a fast pace as it dragged the wooden carriage. Each of its steps brought a loud noise from hitting the ground. Even so, the passenger on the carriage felt the horse's velocity hadn't caught up to her heartbeat.

She knocked on the front window asking the coachman to hurry up.

"Sir, is there anything that you perhaps could do to reach the destination sooner?"

"I will try my best, Miss."

"Thank you very much."

She tried to sit still on the carriage while looking through the side windows. The green trees and singing birds didn't seem to accommodate the feeling in her heart.

The carriage went past a huge and tall gate. Not long after, it arrived in front of a grand mansion. The young lady didn't wait for the coachman to open the door nor wait for the butler of the mansion to greet her. She opened the door herself. Well, more accurately, she kicked the door, jumped off, and ran inside. The butler shook his head and maids were shrieking in shock.

Lady Margaret Graford's perfect afternoon tea was perfect until the rude unprompted guest abruptly opened the door. Sitting on the second-floor drawing room's balcony, Margaret truly wished to quietly enjoy her book while eating a plate of cookies and sipping a warm cup of black tea.

"Oh, dear! Miss Charlotte Riverion?!" Lady Ophelia Pamela, Margaret Graford's lady-in-waiting, exclaimed.

Before Lady Pamela could protest any further, Margaret quickly dismissed Ophelia and the butler, who had been chasing after Miss Riverion from the first floor.

Charlotte Riverion walked with confidence as if she did nothing wrong and comfortably sat herself beside Margaret. After being left alone with her friends in the room, Charlotte began her complaints.

"I've had enough!" Charlotte exclaimed.

"Certainly, I have also had enough of your mannerless behavior of letting yourself into a duke's residence," Margaret said sarcastically.

"Oh, come on, Margaret, you know I wouldn't go in for unimportant things."

"You better give me believable answers before I called the knights."

Charlotte laughed at her friend's joke, although it might not be as much of a joke for Margaret.

"What happened?" Margaret's face turned serious after placing her cup on the table.

"My father came home with serious injury," Charlotte began her story after finishing more than half of her tea, "the farmhands protested the dismissal we had to carry because of the increasing taxes. To be honest, I think it's better to ignore their protest. However, my father had different thoughts. He went to calm their rage, and some workers threw stones at him."

"How is Baron Riverion's condition? Is he alright?" Margaret asked.

"His head was bleeding on top of several bruises. The doctor said that he'll be fine after some rest."

Charlotte tapped Margaret's hand that had patted her shoulder. The two silently sipped their tea while looking far into the garden.

Margaret elegantly placed her cup on the table, then looked at Charlotte for a moment before saying, "What are you going to do now?"

Knowing her friend, she was sure that Charlotte must have a reckless but intriguing idea inside her head.

"Of course, taking revenge on those royal bastards. Although this incident wasn't directly caused by them, I'm afraid if the royal bear a grudge against the Riverion because we signed petition to reduce the tax. Their absolute power meant they could do anything they wanted."

Charlotte's dark ocean blue eyes enlarged as wrath sparkled from her eyes. In contrast to her serious tone, she was smiling like a mad woman.

Margaret almost jumped from her chair but managed to stay still, just like the noble manner she had been taught since childhood times.

"While I did not disagree with your words, I suggest you tone it down a little. Even the Duke's residence's walls are not free from ears," Margaret said calmly.

Ignoring Margaret's suggestion, Charlotte laughed a little before intently staring at her friends. Without uttering any words, Charlotte begged for help using her eyes. It was a very long silence, but Charlotte would not give up.

Margaret finally gave in and sighed, "I'll help as long the Graford family didn't take any of the blame."

"Thank you, Margaret. You're really my true friend," Charlotte grinned from ear to ear. She even jumped to hug Margaret who couldn't refuse because of her friend's enormous strength.

"What do you want to do?"

Truthfully, the first step of her plan had been completed, which was getting help from Margaret. However, it was something Charlotte would keep in heart alone far from Margaret's ear.

As if it was her own house, Charlotte took an empty book and a quill pen from the table. She wrote down on the front page, "THE PLAN."