Wife of The Demon Prince
Chapter 152: Soiree

Chapter 152: Soiree

Anne soon left the palace as she hadn’t come there for the soiree. Time passed and the time of the soiree finally arrived. Ara decided to remove the bandage on her knee so she could walk comfortably. The maids helped her dress up.

She wore a strikingly lavish red wine dress, which was among the expensive dresses Hamon had brought for her before their marriage. A lot of noblemen’s wives and important women from other kingdoms would attend the soiree. She wouldn’t want to appear in a low price clothing.

This was her first womens event hosted as the crown princess of Findara. Such celebrations were usually hosted by royals to show off the things they possessed, and as a crown princess, Ara knew she’d have to act like any other royal.

Ara and Emma made towards where the soiree was taking place. Ara spoke to Emma in a low voice, "Did you notice anything suspicious about Camilla?"

Emma thought for a second before she replied, "Well, the maid is a bit suspicious, but she hasn’t done anything out of place yet."

"Alright, just keep a close eyes on her for now."

"I will, my lady. You can always rely on me."

Ara gave a faint smile. Emma had helped her a lot these past few days, she’d exceeded the expectations of her position as a head maid, she was glad Emma was here to support her, "Emma, You need to also rest after the soiree, you’ve been working hard since morning."

"Oh, don’t worry about me, my lady. I am perfectly alright, I can handle everything just fine." Emma wore a tender smile. She was here to support her mistress from the dark future in store for her, she’d try her best to stop that from ever happening. Furthermore, she hadn’t seen the stone of Helga yet, which had given her some peace to know her mistress didn’t have the stone. Emma thought, oblivious to the fact that Ara had the stone, but was keeping it safe since Hamon and the king had said it was precious.

Ara returned the smile, and they walked towards the entrance. Ara couldn’t help but feel uneasy about what she was about to do. She didn’t know what would happen once it was revealed to everyone about the venomous gift Merona had sent her.

However, since Merona had sent the gift with Cusida, Ara had told Oliver to add more Cusida to all the bottles of perfumes to make it scent stronger so the experts in the room would easily distinguish it from the normal scent of a perfume. She just hoped everything would work out as planned. Hamon had said Merona might try to find another way to wiggle out of the situation, but Ara would make sure she trapped her in this.

As they reached the entrance, the guards bowed and opened the door. The decorated mini hall soon came to view. All the guest stopped what they were doing and bowed in respect, "Hail Her Highness!" The guests voices came together in a loud chorus.

With as much composure as possible, Ara walked into the hall. She nodded in response to the royal greeting, her green eyes drifted around the room before she made inside. Just as she was about to speak to the guests, the royal herald blow the trumpet to announce the queen’s arrival,

"Her royal grace has arrived!"

Everyone’s eyes turned towards the entrance, they all bowed in unison, "Hail Her royal majesty!" Merona’s beautiful glowing face soon came to view, her nose up in the air. She had a radiant smile on her face as she walked inside with maids following behind her. She waved to the guests to continue what they were doing. Ara was the host of the soiree however the most attention was on Merona, elites from the foreign kingdoms all respected her and looked up to her like an idol.

Ara went to greet her, as Merona noticed Ara, her expression brightened as if she’d seen her daughter, "My child."

Ara bowed, "Welcome, mother." She welcomed, however she still recalled the conflict between Hamon and Merona, beneath Merona’s happy face lay a poisonous queen, it was all a facade. But Ara could also play along just as well as the queen.

Ara beamed, "Thank you for accepting my invitation, mother."

Merona waved her hand, "Oh, don’t be silly, my dear. I couldn’t refuse your invitation, all the guests from the foreign and neighboring kingdoms are here, I can’t let my daughter-in-law down, can I?" She remarked with a smile, but in truth, She could not miss such soiree knowing there were important noble wives and influential royal women from other kingdoms, and most of them were Merona’s allies who had promised to convince their spouses into supporting her son to get the throne. There was no way she’d allow them get acquainted to the bastard’s wife! Even if Ara hadn’t invited her, she’d had come uninvited to the soiree.

Ara replied with a grin, "Thank you again for your kind gesture towards me, mother. I’ve arranged a special seat for you, Come with me." Ara led the way, she had to hide her intentions for the soiree, it was good that Merona had come without suspecting anything. Ara would never have thought a day like this would come when she’d be engaged in artificial pleasantries with the queen before her marriage with Hamon. She found her current situation ironic.

Ara couldn’t help but wonder if her smile was as natural as Merona, even if she didn’t have the queen’s skills of faking it, perhaps in time she would learn to wear such smiles to trick her opponents. It didn’t really match Ara’s personality, however...She would try to do it better than anyone else, if it meant protecting her family...And her husband.

Ara showed Merona to her seat, and she elegantly sat down, immediately some women approached Merona to mingle. Ara left them and approached some group of influential women from other kingdoms and Findara, "Thank you all for attending tonight, I really hope you enjoy the meals."

One of the women beamed, "It’s an honor to attend a soiree hosted by the crown princess. The meals are delicious, Thank you, Your Highness."

"Yes, it’s an honor. And of course we heard you will be presenting all the special gifts you received from the royal family, I couldn’t miss that for the world, Your Highness!" Said another woman who dressed almost like a princess herself.

"We really can’t wait to see the gifts!"

Ara smiled, "Of course, you will all see the gifts I received tonight."

The women’s expressions brightened up. It was part of the custom for the high society to show off the gifts they received from their in laws after the wedding. However, Ara had no interest in all those stuff, but she’d decided to do it to expose the queen. This way all the women would know what Merona was capable of doing.

Ara looked at all the women with a pleased expression, then she signaled for the servants to bring the gifts in. Soon, one side of the room was pilled up with boxes.

"Oh Lord! Look at all those luxurious gifts boxes, the princess is really lucky to receive this much gifts!"

"The gifts I received after my wedding wasn’t even the half of this! Humph, my in laws are really stingy to me!" Exclaimed one of the women, it was a common thing to show off the gifts, but Ara couldn’t help but feel uneasy doing it, she wouldn’t had done it if not for Merona, she wasn’t the type to brag. But she just had to play along.

All the gifts boxes were already labelled with the names of the senders. And each box must be opened for all to see. As the servants started to open it and display it.

"Oooh!" A sound of admiration came from the women when a diamond necklace was presented.

Merona looked on with an interested expression as she knew nobody would know about what was mixed with her gifts. The man who mixed it had taken off the Cusida scent from the perfumes. And the perfumes were expensive, the women would all see her in a good light for gifting her step daughter-in-law such an expensive gift!

"Your Highness, you are really lucky! I really like that bracelet the servant is holding."

"If you like it, then I’ll gift it to you." Ara said.

"Really? You are too kind, Your Highness. Thank you!"

Merona’s eyes flashed in response to their words, but Ara did not notice and continued, "There is one special gift I received, It’s a luxurious perfume, I’ve decided to spray it so everyone can perceive its scent tonight. It scents heavenly!"

Ara signalled the servants to begin, and soon two people dressed in flowery dresses stepped on the small platform with two bottles of Merona’s gift. It was finally time for the main event she’d been waiting for.

All the guests looked towards the platform waiting to perceive the heavenly scent the crown princess said. Merona had a relaxed expression as she watched them present her gifts.

The servants on the platform opened the bottles of perfumes and sprayed it into the air, and soon the room was filled with the sweet fragrance of the perfume. It sweetened the senses of everyone in the soiree.

Ara’s green eyes glimmered as she watched the reaction of the people in the room. Words of praises went around the room for the sender of such sweet fragrance. Ara noticed a frown on some of the guests faces. A middle-aged woman even used her handkerchief to cover her nose while those who knew nothing about Cusida simply inhaled happily.

People started to get curious about the sender. Sensing that it was the right time, Ara stepped forward, "I’d like to thank you all for coming tonight!" Just as Ara was talking, the middle-aged woman who covered her nose walked forward, she was an expert which Oliver had invited,

"Your Highness, who sent these perfumes to you? It’s not an ordinary fragrance! I smell Cusida in the air, I know the scent because I’m from the southern Bredon where it grows!"

Ara’s eyebrows slightly drew together, she replied with a clueless expression, "What do you mean? This perfume is a gift from my mother-in-law, her majesty. I love the scent so I thought to share it with everyone."

Whispering broke out from those who also knew about Cusida, their expressions turning dark as they covered their noses. Merona’s expression paled in no time as she realized what was happening.

Some of the people who didn’t know what it was began to murmur among themselves. Ara pressed down a smile and pretended to be clueless as she questioned,

"What is Cusida?"

The middle-aged woman did not wish to reveal the truth of the fragrance after hearing it was a gift from the queen, but since she’d claimed to know the scent in everyone’s presence, she’d have to tell the truth, "Cusida...is a harmful fragrance for any woman. If inhaled for a long period of time, it-it makes a woman barren..."