THE Knight's Hidden Princess
Chapter 118: Play The Game

Chapter 118: Play The Game

Celeste immediately decided to make the tea party about herself. Everyone complimented her dress and her hairstyle which she had intertwined with diamonds and apparently they were gifts from Reagan when he found out she was pregnant. Then she went on about how caring and sweet he was and the origin of the story of how the two of them met.

Apparently she had been a slave and an interpreter to King Canute, one of the ruthless men in the country and a man who continued to terrorize our kingdom. That was until Reagan stopped him of course. She said Reagan saved her and she owed him her life and she was also captivated by the beauty of such a man and how it was love at first sight for her.

It was such a classic tale, knight rescues damsel in distress and they fell in love, blah, blah, blah, you know the old love tale. Celeste spoke with an ease that suggested she was relieving a fond memory while also enjoying the rapt attention the ladies offered her. The ladies listened closely, eating up every single word and sighing at her romantic retelling and it took all my efforts not to roll my eyes every time one of the ladies squealed in excitement when Celeste discussed how it felt to ride on a horse with Reagan for the first time.

"Oh for fuck’s sake!"

I looked up from where I was busy eating a couple of macaroons in order to keep myself from punching Celeste in the face if I hear one more word about how my husband’s hand felt on hers. I turned to look at Ivana who was busy sipping her tea but she had a sharp glint in her eyes. "Is the tea not to your liking Lady Ivana?"

"Oh the tea is just perfect!" Ivana said her gaze narrowing as she stared at Celeste, "It’s just that I can’t stand pretentious bitch!"

I arched a brow up at her language, not knowing whether or not to be impressed by her bravado at using such vulgar language.

"Pardon me for the use of such words my lady." Ivana said but I could tell she wasn’t sorry not at all. "Like you don’t even seem bothered at all."

I gently reached for my teacup before I sipped it again. "I’m sorry but I haven’t the faintest idea what you mean."

Ivana snorted in response. "Right and I am supposed to believe you are okay with her talking about your husband? You do realize she is now telling the ladies a story about the first time she copulated with him?"

I glanced up at Celeste whose voice had now dropped into a low whisper as she leaned towards the ladies who had gathered around her, straining to hear better. Their cheeks were flushed, their eyes wide as Celeste continued to describe how Reagan had pleasured her and the ways she spoke, she might as well have been reading them an erotica novel.

I looked back down on my teacup, my grip around the teacup tightened as I took another sip hoping to calm myself. But who the hell was I fooling? If I had to listen to Celeste talk about how amazing Reagan’s tongue was, I was going to be ensuring she doesn’t have a tongue of her own to tell the story anymore.

Ivana hummed, and I looked up to see her watching me with a slow smile of satisfaction on her face. "Ah, there it is, the reaction I’ve been waiting for."

I rolled my eyes at her, "What does it matter to you anyway?"

"Nothing much, I just love a good tea party." Ivana drawled out, "You know a tea party ain’t without a bit of drama."

"And is that what you are hoping to find? Drama between me and Celeste?"

Lady Ivana stared at me for a minute and there was just something in her eyes that made me wary of her. "You know there’s been talk amongst the ladies. Some are eve daring to place a bet though, about who will be the next lady of the house?" Ivana continued and I continued to study her, listening to what she was about to say. "You know I was rooting for you and you can imagine my excitement when Sir Reagan presented his sword to you and what did you do?"

Honestly if I heard one more word about how I humiliated Reagan I was going to lose it right here. I was barely holding on as it is, my mind was waging a war between the love I have for Reagan and the duty which I am bounded to by my father. I rejected Reagan and I was already feeling like shit, the last thing I want is for someone to tell me how disappointed they were.

"Let me guess you are disappointed." I commented dryly.

Ivana paused for a moment before she leaned back in her seat, crossing her long legs. "You know at first, I was but turns out it’s your loss after all."

Not willing to take the bait, I arched a brow up at her seemingly bored. "Oh do tell."

Ivana didn’t seem to care about the fact that I wanted out with the conversation instead she continued. "Well you see, Lady Celeste has made her feelings about Sir Reagan well known and even though she knows she has no chance, well after your stunt, you’ve just presented her with an opportunity by rejecting the bravest knight who is also the type of man who doesn’t take kindly to humiliation."

My stomach twisted at the thought but I forced my expression to remain neutral as I turned to look at Ivana with a slight annoyance on my face. "If you have a point, now is a good time for you to get to it."

"Forgive me my lady, I can see I’m starting to annoy you but you should know, these women they love power and influence, willing to get it from wherever and Celeste, well she is offering them exactly just that."

"And what about you Ivana?" I asked setting my teacup down, "What is it you desire?"

"Why to be on the winning side of course?"

I turned to look at her, holding her gaze as I asked. "And you think I’m losing, don’t you?"

Ivana chuckled darkly as she picked up a macaroon, "Oh princess, I think you haven’t started to play yet."