Chapter Seven - Debut

Chapter Seven - Debut

Catherine Felius POV:

Focusing on my breathing became easier after Ann taught me the [Meditation] Skill; it helped to calm my nerves and keep me focused as I sat in front of the mirror. A proper [Lady] sat calmly and did not twitch or fidget, even when they were in private with their personal servants. It was just that doing nothing was so hard!

My debut at Summer Solstice Ball was in an hour, and there was nothing I could do to prepare for it!

Which wasnt to say I wasnt being prepared, Ann was buzzing around behind me like a particularly busy hummingbird. She was arranging my hair, applying my makeup, and giving me something called a manicure, seemingly all at the same time. Dad had introduced me to her as my personal maid and bodyguard, but Ann wasnt a [Personal Maid] or a [Bodyguard], but a [Battle Maid] and my only friend.

Perhaps you might make some friends tonight, Ann said, stopping long enough for me to see her smile before she blurred again. You dont need to worry, you are a vision of loveliness even without me, but after I finish they will fall to their knees when they see you!

I appreciated Ann trying to encourage me, but it didnt help the pit in my stomach. I loved Ann - she was like the sister I never had - but she had no sense for politics at all. While she could talk a surprising amount about philosophy considering the status of her birth, none of that seemed to translate over to the practical side of things. The way life should be and the way people should behave for society to be as good as possible is not the way things actually are.

I ponder this as Ann stands me up and begins working on the ties for my corset. Mom and Dad warned me about the increasing infighting at the Dukes court, and that it was merely mirroring what was happening at the Kings court in Versaill. Vurden, and my parents territory, had been mostly unaffected by the droughts in the southwest, but that hadn't stopped the economic ripples from reaching all the way to the northeast of the country. The skirmishes with Ibyra in those same southern territories had left them near bankrupt a decade ago, and Royalist nobles in the northwest and northeast had pitched in large amounts of coin to help rebuild the region.

Then the droughts hit, and the investment evaporated like the region's streams. Suddenly, many Royalists were bankrupt and the Noble factions were ascendant. It had thrown the kingdom into chaos and everyone was scrambling for an advantage, and House Felius was no exception.

"Annnnd, perfect!" Ann roused me from my musings as she guided me in front of the full body mirror. I could barely recognize myself, but I was used to that with Ann.

"Ann, there are nobles that would kill for a Skill like that," I sigh, and the beautiful doll in the mirror copied me. "I would be lost without you."

"Nonsense!" Ann laughed, but she looked proud nonetheless. "If we switched clothes you would still turn heads my Lady, and it really isn't so much a Skill as it is just skill."

The girl in the mirror, soon to be a young [Lady], was stunning in her red and pink dress - mostly in red, to suggest maturity but with enough pink to remind of her youth - her face pale except for slightly rosey cheek and ruby red lips. If you look closer at her face, youd find more makeup skillfully and tastefully used; her eyelashes were long and she had eyeliner that made her green eyes pop out and seem to sparkle. Her long blonde hair had been worked into a mix of braids and ringlets. With a crown braid on top below that her straight hair was curled into soft waves that flowed down her back. The crown braid had a small amount of rubies and diamonds braided into it so that her hair sparkled whenever she walked.

And this girl in the mirror was me. I looked less like a [Noble] or a [Lady] and more like a [Princess], and all because Ann had an eye for fashion that seemed to be far ahead of the courts trends. Her use of jewelry was inspired, and thankfully for my dear dad, far cheaper than the current trends. Where gigantic jewels and large pieces were the current rage, Ann had scoffed at such things.

The purpose of jewelry is to show off the [Lady], Ann had said. It is not the purpose of the [Lady] to show off the jewelry! You should shine and always be the center of attention, not a rock!

A knock at the door and Ann flit from my side to the door to welcome my dad in and I saw him in the mirror and I turned to greet him.

Look at you my dear Cat, he smiled widely as he saw me. You look absolutely stunning, no one will be able to take their eyes off you tonight; if only your mother were here to see this

Thank you dad, I smiled. Honestly, it doesnt even feel real to me yet. I am somewhat in a blur right now

Mostly, because as a [Battle Maid] I was supposed to keep my eyes open for physical dangers to my employer. Although, that was honestly pretty much pointless. The Dukes security was likely far better than I could provide, but it never hurt to be prepared I suppose.

Funnily enough, after a while I found that even a magical fantasy ball filled with intrigue and the possible chance for assassination could be pretty boring if your only interaction with it was looking at it from the side. I watched as Cat met a whirlwind of nobles and noticed she was catching eyes from all over the room. There was a certain amount of pride in that, considering the effort I had put into her looks for the night.

There were introductions, then dances, then drinks and more introductions, before more dances. She accepted almost every dance, with only a few declined for political reasons. House Feliuss relative neutrality was quite a burden for her to maintain. I was pretty sure Cat didnt have any stamina Skills, and I doubted that she had gained any with the [Lady] class, so it was doubly impressive that neither her posture or smile slipped the whole night. Towards the end, the ball broke up into smaller groups in the side rooms where the fun of the ball turned more towards intrigue and backroom deals.

This would be Cats greatest challenge, as her father ran in different circles than she would as a young [Lady] and for the next two hours she would have to navigate these waters herself. Muffling enchantments in the room meant that I was not able to hear the conversations despite the relatively high Perception I had after I had gained Class levels. Tonight, as it was her debut, all she had to do was smile and politely decline to participate in most of the intrigue around her. Lord Felius had certainly given her some goals to accomplish, but the ultimate goal for the night was merely for her to be introduced to the court without scandal.

It didnt look like that would be easy though, as a young [Lord] was being rather persistent. A tall, dark haired and dark eyed [Lord] whose style and fashion left something to be desired. He certainly had fine clothes, but they were wrinkled and a mess and his hair is a mess too. Worse, he was important enough that I had been taught to recognize him through his portrait.

[Lord] Charleon Marcule was the grand-nephew of the Duke and because the Duke wasnt a [Duke] but a [Prince] - the Dukes father had been the brother of the previous [King] - that meant that despite being a non-inheriting member of a branch family of a branch family of the Royal family, he still had Royal blood. The whole thing was complex, but the short version is that Charleons father was a [Count] who was deeply envious of his uncle and the Class of [Prince] and wasnt afraid to use his familys connections to crush who he didnt like.

Politically, socially, and probably even personally, Cat had no desire or reason to mix with someone like him. His branch of the family was too entrenched in the Noble faction to allow House Felius to maintain its careful neutrality. Charleon should know that, and yet there he was obviously pressuring Cat to drink-

Unfortunately, Milady, I said as I gently took the wineglass from her, having used [Burst Of Speed] to appear by her. This cup appears to be tainted, and I could never allow a young [Lady] like yourself drink from it. Please, allow me to get you another.

That would be acceptable Annora, Catherine said without a blink, despite Charleon nearly jumping out of his skin when I suddenly appeared beside her. A red this time please, properly watered as I still have a long night ahead of me.

Of course, my [Lady], I bow slightly as Charleon sputters and glares at me and then I am beside one of the [Guard]s, who jumps even more than Charleon did. Honestly, making people jump will never stop being funny, but I have a job to do.

This cup is poisoned, I show the wineglass to the [Guard]. When he takes it, I am gone again before he can ask anything, getting a new glass for Catherine. I deliver it and am back at the [Guard] a second later. I will be informing [Baron] Felius of this, I was led to expect that I could expect more from the security around this event.

I am glaring at the [Guard] while keeping Cat visible in the corner of my eye. This really was unexpected, although given the nature of the court, it might have just been a test to see if Cat had [Poison Resistance]. Merely a formality almost, a trial that the nobility go through, but I wasnt about to believe that.

I- I- will inform my superior! the [Guard] withered under my glare, which made me frown.

You do that, I said, eyeing him carefully. Now, preferably.

Stuttering, the [Guard] quickly left, which convinced me - even more than the poison did - that something was wrong. A [Maid] intimidating a [Guard]? I didnt believe it; I didnt have any intimidation Skills and one would expect a [Guard] to have Skills countering fear. On the other hand, it wasnt uncommon for [Lord]s and [Lady]s to have Skills that allow them to see Classes, so the man probably was a [Guard].

Unless most of the nobility were in on whatever plan this was or a [Mage] had used magic to hide their Class The night was nearly over though, so I could only hope that I was just being paranoid and that nothing more would happen.

I wasnt able to convince myself of that considering I had just prevented a poisoning barely a few minutes ago.