"The more you hide your feelings,the more they show. The more you deny your feelings, the more they grow.- dark quotes

Elizabeth drew a breath in, preparing herself for playing the part of a notorious lady of the ton of a loose character. It was of utmost importance for her to behave so.

Reason: no sane man would take her if she did not act her character well. She needed to be flirtatious, act all docile, yet be bold and reckless in her actions.

But most importantly, she needed to be communicative, which has not been a virtue of hers since her very birth. She had inherited not only the estate, but even all of her attributes from her father. And certainly, no man in his sane mind would name Duke Richard Adrian Charles Convoy as commutative or friendly.

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Thankfully, as she proceeded towards the Debutante's Wing along with the rest of the ladies, she was not forced to make conversation with them, for none were in the right state to make introductions.

Beside her, Adine was squirming in impatience to talk to her peers and fellow mates. Elizabeth laughed inwardly. Ah, at least I have a figure of amusement with me to last till the next day.

But instead of taking pleasure out of teasing Adine, Eliza chose to roam her gaze around her. Palacio de Espejos truly was the most magnificent palace ever witnessed. It was believed that hundreds of years ago the ancestors of the royal family were blessed by God Plutus himself, and had thus turned the barren, deserted land of Warnia into a beautiful kingdom.

The magnificence of the palace spoke of the kingdom's wealth and prosperity in the field of trade and commerce. The opulent Palace of Warnia was studded with brilliant art masterpieces from various distinguished artists of the continent, proving the fact true that the beastly Warnian nobility did have a soft spot for art and music.

Eliza herself was not a gifted painter, but did love to admire art. Just as she was climbing her way up to the last landing, she noticed that Adine had long gone abandoned her. Her ladies maid was walking closely, yet discreetly behind her.

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As soon as the ladies maid was assured that Eliza was well settled in the room, she retrieved a sheet of scented parchment from one of her many pockets and said, "My lady, this is your schedule for tomorrow...", but was interrupted by Elizabeth.

"May I know your name please?", Lady Elizabeth asked, her face alight with curiosity. Never in her nine years as a servant and ladies maid had any of the ladies took the liberty of inquiring about her name, in the first meeting itself!

Strange lady, this is.

"Pardon, my lady?", the servant asked, her countenance showing her discomfort. But Eliza did not care about her discomfort at the moment, for the reason that she herself did not feel comfortable talking to a complete stranger, without any sort of introductions to start with.

"Your name...?"Elizabeth encouraged.

"My name is Verena, my lady, at your service," the ladies maid replied, her posture stiff with an unprecedented blush forming on cheeks. Eliza managed a small smile and a stiff nod.

"I am pleased to meet you Miss Verena. You may continue with your task. I shall not be interrupting," Eliza spoke as she sat in on the bed, crossing her legs.

Verena's eyes grew so wide that it was a wonder they didn't pop out of the sockets any time soon. Not only this lady of the ton had addressed her as "miss", but was also sitting cross-legged on the bed, in the most precarious manner indeed.

Most strange lady...or is she even a lady?

"Well, you were saying something, weren't you?" Eliza added, teasingly. She raised her eyebrows in the intimidating way of hers and the ladies maid immediately got into motion.

"Of course, Miss, right away, Miss. You have breakfast tomorrow with the debutantes and the guests that shall be arriving in the morrow."

"Wait, the rest of the guests? Are there any more people arriving tomorrow?"

"Yes, my lady, peers from all over the continent are to arrive tomorrow. Not only the Warnian nobility, but nobles from the continent in want of a wife will participate in the season," Verena claimed.

Oh Holy Spirit! Not that she was very fond of remembering the holy spirit, but this was not at all going according to her plans. If the peers from all over the continent are invited, surely her father would not be missing this opportunity to improve his business prospects. Added on to the fact that even her aunt, Marchioness Emily Beatrice Hastings will be arriving did not ease her nerves at all.

Verena kept on rambling about the next day's schedule, but Eliza heard nothing. Her worried nerves did not let her eat her dinner wholesomely and neither allowed her a second's peace at anything. She kept on dwelling over how on earth will she be able to solve this problem posed unwittingly at her, and went to sleep thinking about the same.

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Eliza woke up in the middle of the night with a growling stomach and a sharp pain in her head.

Ah, the effects of not eating well owing to a troubled mind.

Of course, being the first day in the palace, she could not very well go for an expedition to find the royal kitchen, but she could go on an expedition nonetheless.

After all, it would be an insult to the beautiful palace if she chose to sit idly in this room over the chance of discovering more about the palace.

With an excited gleam on her face, she quickly pulled her robes on and slowly crept out of the room, keeping in mind to not wake up the poor maid.

She descended the stairs to the second landing, arriving at a crossroad. She chose to go left, as the place was dimly lit, as compared to the right side, indicating the presence of awake people. She sauntered through the dark hallway, staring in awe at the different paintings she encountered along her way.

Oh good Lord! How beautiful would they look in bright daylight!

A wave of soft breeze played with her hair, caressing her cheeks, indicating the presence of an open balcony nearby. Without thinking any further, she walked in the direction the wind directed. This particular lane was darker than any other lanes Eliza had gone to and oddly silent.

Just as she arrived at the juncture point of the end of the lane and doors that led to the balcony, she exactly knew why.

She heard voices, rich and deep, masculine voices talking in hushed tones against the wind. They thought they weren't being heard, but it was a vain assumption. Elizabeth knew that eavesdropping wasn't right- but then she never did what was right.

But this time she did back off, for her own selfish reasons, until one of the deeper, older voices of the two spoke a name.

Her name.

She turned around, silently thanking her good sense as to not wear elaborate dresses, or else her movement might have caused a wild stir in the Warnian Castle. She pressed her cheeks against the wall as hard as she could, so as to gt maximum exposure to the spoken words.

And then she could hear.

"... she has been given what you wanted her to have, Your Highness."

"That's not news, Nargots. I want to know more. Why has she come here? Does she know anything about Ya..."

Eliza cursed fervently. The wind had to bellow at this very moment. Are the stars never in her favour?

What an unintelligent question-of course, they aren't!

"...I will try my best, Your Highness."

"Trying won't help any of us, Nargots. And certainly not the likes of you. If you love your dear arse, work harder!"

"As it pleases Your Highness. I shall take my leave now," The older voice spoke.

Eliza quickly ran to the farthest corner of the dim lit lane, so as to not been seen. Although her stars had never been in her favor, yet she wished for miracle. Please, the Nargots man shouldn't come this way.

And surprisingly, miracle did happen. Distant sound of heavy leather padded boots could be heard, indicating of the older man's departure. Eliza sighed with relief. She gathered her skirts and went back the way she had come from.

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Tucked safely in her bed, she now let her mind wander. What was it that the younger man of the two wanted her to have that had been finally delivered to her? And what was it that she must be knowing, or may be not knowing?

But most importantly, who were the two men?

The younger man had addressed the other as 'Nargots'. Well, Nargots does ring a bell. Now, nargots...nargots...where have I heard this name! This evening...Ah yes!

Lord Emmanuel Nargots!

Eliza reveled in the sudden realization, but her thoughts were again clouded by the identity of the other man. Who was it Lord Nargots had been addressing as 'Your Highness'?

Surely it must be one of the royals. But who among them. The King, the king's younger son, the crown prince...The Crown Prince! Yes, only the crown prince can be addressed as The Royal Highness after the King.

But how on earth am I consequential to the crown prince? We haven't even met!

Questions swirled in Eliza's mind, but sleep overpowered her. She could sense her eyelids shut down and slowly, she settled for a dreamless sleep.

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