Rosie's Games

"That—" Victoria was speechless. "Why would she have tea with Rosalind? I thought she was not feeling well?"

"Originally, the Young Lady was quite ill, but this morning the Young Miss suddenly asked to see her. The Young Lady could not see her, so the Young Miss asked for tea in the afternoon. Again, the Young Lady cannot do it, but— "

"But what?"

"Young Miss Rosalind said it had something to do with the Young Lady's marriage."

Victoria gasped, her mouth wide open. "What — whatever do you mean?"

"Sadly, I did not hear their conversation as the Young Lady instructed me to leave."

"Marchioness, what is happening? Do you think—"

"Find Rosalind!" Victoria said. "And do not tell the Marquess about this."

She knew that this news would eventually reach the Marquess's ears, however, she wanted to delay it.

She promised the Marquess that she would do some things to push the marriage between the Duke and Rosalind.

She had no idea what happened and why Dorothy would suddenly disappear, but this had the potential to ruin her plans.

She asked her daughter to keep it quiet, to not do anything that could upset her father and the old man. However, she really did something so unreasonable while the other members of the noble families were here! What was she planning?

Was this her intention? To create more rumors about her?

She instructed her maid to bar anyone who wanted to leave the banquet and not let anyone in the gardens.

"Are you certain that they met here?" Victoria asked Lellana.

"Yes, it was Young Miss Rosalind's idea."

"How would she know about this place?" Princess Isabel blurted. "I thought she just arrived from the mountains?"

"Young Miss Rosalind used to play in the maze," Lellana answered. "She was more familiar with this place than the others."

"But isn't this a bit too— "

"Madam! We found someone laying down not far away from the center of the maze!" a knight serving Victoria said. "She's currently unconscious, and it seemed that she was… inebriated."

"Inebriated?" Victoria asked. "Whose Miss is it?"

"She— She should be someone from Baron Dryden's household."

"Baron Dryden's? Is it young lady Cristeane?"

"Yes, it is indeed Lady Cristeane."

"Take me to see her," Victoria ordered.

Not long after, the party arrived near the middle of the maze. Lady Cristeane was still unconscious, but the servants were already helping her up. They decided to take her to the nearest residence, but before Victoria and the others could leave the place, another knight appeared.

This time, the knight said nothing but approached Princess Isabel, whispering something into her ear.

Almost immediately, Princess Isabel's eyes widened.

"Are you saying the truth?" she asked. In response, the knight nodded.

"What is it? Did they find her? What happened?"

"They—They found her, but she was not alone." Princess Isabel pursed her lips, displeasure written all over her face. She didn't give Victoria time to say another word as she instructed the knight to take them toward Dorothy. Victoria tried to stop them, but the Princess ignored her and marched towards the furthest part of the maze as if she owned the place.

Surprise gasps immediately echoed the moment they laid eyes on Dorothy and Anthony who were still sleeping under a tree. Anthony had nothing on aside from his trousers while a part of Dorothy's dress was torn, especially the part covering her neck and chest. Though no one saw anything indecent, the fact that a man and a woman were lying next to each other was scandalous enough.

Seeing this, Victoria covered her mouth with her hand. Then she turned weak. She staggered, but her maid easily supported her.

"What—" Victoria felt her whole body shake as she stared at her daughter's peaceful face.

"Wake them up," Princess Isabel immediately asked her knight. "How could someone bring such disgrace to their family? Wake them up! Now!"

At this time and age, two people who liked each other could not spend time together without the approval of their families. A woman shouldn't see a man secretly or society would label them and destroy whatever reputation they had left. This rule was especially strict towards the nobles.

"Hmmm…" Anthony stirred. The voices must have woken him up. "What—" Seeing the women around, he jolted up, accidentally pushing Dorothy to the side.

"You— how dare you place such a blemish on the Lux Family!?" Princess Isabel yelled. "If you wanted to marry Lady Dorothy, why not just tell the Count to propose a marriage!?"

"I—" Confused, Anthony looked at the sleeping Dorothy who was now being assisted by some servants. "This is not what you— Lady Dorothy? Why would you— Marchioness— "

**SLAP**

Victoria's hand landed on Anthony's face.

"How dare you!"

"Marchioness, this isn't really what you think! I don't know what happened here! I was just— I was drinking with another woman. Right. I was with Lady Cristeane! I — I swear I—" Anthony started to stutter. "Someone must have schemed— Right— this must be someone's scheme!"

As if on cue, Dorothy started to wake up. Seeing the crowd in front of her, Dorothy frowned, confusion flashed in her eyes.

"Lady!" Lellana shouted as she hugged Dorothy. "Lady, I apologize for leaving— waaahhhh— I thought something sinister must have happened. I didn't mean to leave you. I apologize— please punish me. Please— "

"What is— "

"Lady Dorothy, if you liked the heir of Count Delibar's fortune, why didn't you advise him to send a marriage alliance to your father? You are someone from the Lux Family, how could you shamelessly act like this?" Of course, Princess Isabel didn't waste the opportunity and started berating Dorothy.

If Dorothy was someone who received the Blessing, her position would be higher than the Princess. However, Dorothy was currently nothing but the daughter of a Blessed one. She was not a princess, and right now, the one with the highest noble position was actually the Princess!

"I— What is happening?" Dorothy asked. Sadly, just before someone could tell her anything, a voice interrupted them.

"Why would the Marchioness suddenly bring her guests to a place like this?"

Everyone turned towards the person who had just walked in. Their eyes widened at the sight of the man who just spoke. It was— none other than the Duke. Next to him was a woman with an innocent smile on her face.

Of course, that woman was none other than… Rosalind Lux.