Haven And Chaos

63) Provoking royalty

"You look lovely, Lady Maya," Stan complimented.

"Thank you, Lord Stanley."

I liked everything about the present except for these honorifics. It used to be a simple, Mr or Miss, but now we couldn't address nobles by their name unless we had a deeper relationship with them.
The son of a duke was just as powerful as the duke. Wish I had come from such a family that could rival the archduke's title.

He smiled when I caught him staring at me.
"My apologies. Just that...you look incredibly beautiful. I didn't think I'd be meeting such a gorgeous woman at this kind of party."
What he meant was that he was surprised a beautiful girl was the daughter of a baron roaming by herself in this place.

I put up a plastic smile, biting in my disgust. "There are plenty of beautiful women in here, Lord Stanley. You don't need to flatter me."

"That is true, but you have this unique charming aura around you. I have to admit, I was drawn to you the second you showed up up there. I'd genuinely love to get to know you... How about we start again... Hi, my name is Stanley Miles, I'm twenty-seven years old and a working dentist."

A dentist. How humble of him. But I could feel some sincerity in his second introduction. It lacked his noble pride.
"Amaya Ermold, I'm just a student."

Stan smiled widely, showing me some of his white teeth. Well, he was a dentist.
"So, did your dad force you to attend? You don't look excited to be here."

I sipped my wine as I looked around at the nobles chatting here and there. Laughing and socializing as expected of them.
"Not really. But I still don't want to be here. What about you?"

Stan laughed, one that was honest and sounded even relieved. "I chose to come. But I'm not here to look for connections."

I was curious at this point.
He met my eager eyes and chuckled amused. "Don't hate me, but I came to hunt for a potential girlfriend."

I frowned. Not because of his honest words, but what they actually meant. "So, you won't date a girl if she's not of noble birth?"
Stan exhaled looking away, evading my questioning gaze. "I'm not picky. But I'm sure you're aware that political marriages are a thing now compared to three decades ago. It's difficult to go against the family without any stable roots."

"Mmm..." I half agreed, swirling my drink while thinking through his logic. "But sometimes family isn't all one should consider. Look at me, I'm basically by myself. My family doesn't give two fucks about what I do or who o date as long as I don't embarrass the family." I then laughed, a painful laugh that made my chest feel tight and my eyes a little wet.

"Nobody is having it easy, eh?"

We both shared a laugh and continued with our conversation. Bit by bit, we opened up to each other, but not on a deeper level like secrets. I lost myself in the talk, missing the entrance of other nobles, including, Lori and Mia. I only realized they were in the hall when they showed up at the drinks table along with two maids.

I wished I hadn't made eye contact with Lori, but it was already too late.
She began walking towards us, her gaze fixed on me that bled disaster and evilness.

"Why is she coming over? Do you know her?" I heard Stan mumble to himself. His tone said a lot about his displeasure with seeing Lori. Good. At least I'd have someone backing me up now.

Living up to her horrible personality, she shoved Lisa to the side to get to me. And without any etiquette at all, she took the glass from my hand and grinned. "I thought they were lying to me when they said you had been invited." She took a sip but made a disgusted face before spitting it back into the glass. "Argh! This tastes unsavory, just like you, Maya."