167 2.1.18: Tea Invitation II

Five days later, it was finally the day of the tea invitation. As per Violetta's instructions, Libby had informed the servants to go for a flowery yet extravagant decor and to get tasty sweets to match their elegant tea sets. Libby had also informed the servants to be close by for formalities and to prevent any rumors, again by Violetta's instructions. Xiao Yunhua had only instructed this because she had promised the Duchess to do so before arranging for the tea invite of Dominic.

She woke up and dressed conservatively yet elegantly in a light blue dress and small flowers to clip in her golden curls. The magnolia flower on her drawer as a memory of what happened, reminding her that she really did meet him unknowingly.

It was weird because she thought she calculated everything and everyone but there were still some things she didn't know. And the idea scared her. She wanted to be in control because losing control made her feel fear, like in her last world. Seeing how emotionally attached and dejected she ended up being to people in her first world, she realized that the only way to succeed was to be in control and not get involved with anyone. A bit tragic that she didn't discover this in her first world, but she considered that a trial and error. She occasionally missed a few people she wouldn't dare name, but her life was a fleeting memory to them. She shouldn't even have existed, whether here or there as both original girls died.

Her desire of control had possibly lead the system to play a little bit with her. This was probably why her meeting Dominic without realizing it was Dominic had happened so soon. She wasn't complaining at the stroke of luck, just that it happened without her leading it.

For her clothes, she had chosen light blue based on the suggestions of the servants because they said it complimented her eyes and made her look nicer. She needed all these little pieces to make him fall in love with her.

She picked up the magnolia flower and gently caressed one of the petals, her eyes dazed.

Libby noticed how absentminded she was acting and opened her mouth to speak with her, but closed her mouth afterwards. She had been so comfortable with the young miss for the past couple of days for being the one to deliver her news that she had forgotten that she couldn't speak out to the young miss so easily. In the end, she was merely a servant and the young miss was the second miss of the Warrington dukedom. She was kind, but the eyes and ears around them were not. There could be anyone listening in and wanting to report her mistakes, be it Libby's or Violetta's, to the Duchess for punishment. So she softly used the comb to brush her luscious blonde hair and secure the flowers that were clipped in there. The hot tong burned Libby's hand but she didn't dare to wince in pain and finished curling the last bit of her hair.

She used some smushed flowers and gently dabbed them on the lips of the young miss, completing her look. Libby didn't add any other makeup because for one, the miss was young, and another was that she didn't want to go overboard for something meant for formalities and gratitude. Libby didn't know what kind of gratitude nor was she the smartest of the bunch, but she had picked a few things up and assumed that the young master was invited because the young miss wanted to thank him for something.

"Miss, you're ready!" Libby was relieved to finally put away the hot tong and helped Violetta get up from the chair. Libby saw the young miss finally snap out of her haze and blink in shock.

"Already? Thank you Libby, you're dismissed." Libby bowed and shut the door, leaving Xiao Yunhua by herself. She summoned a mirror—a clear one from the system—and used it to look at herself. She looked innocent and cute enough, thanks to Libby at least. Now all she needed to do was wait a few hours until he came for the tea and then she could get him to properly introduce himself to her. Maybe they could even befriend each other. The possibility wasn't completely impossible despite the standards in this time period.

Xiao Yunhua walked out of her room and noticed Augustine walking in front of her. His green eyes narrowed when he saw her and he scrunched up his nose, like he had seen something unpleasant. She wanted to stick out her tongue in his direction, but realized that was very unladylike and it would get her in trouble. Besides, the brat was still a brat and wouldn't change. It had been seven years and he was now the same age as Dominic, but still a pain in her behind. Now that she was roaming the house more easily and wasn't going through hell training with the Duchess, she was seeing the boy more frequently.

She expected for him to be cold like usual and pretend that she didn't exist, but to her amazement, he actually called out to her: "You," well, technically not call out to her, but an improvement was still an improvement. She doubted that there would be a day where he would say her name or call her sister or use anything that wasn't degrading. 'You' was still better than the occasional times he saw her in the seven years and secretly called her a stray dog. At least he had matured in that aspect. Her eyes wandered around and saw there were a couple of servants around them, meaning that's probably why he was semi-polite. He was just as fearful of the Duchess as her. "I heard you're having tea with someone today?"

He had come all the way to ask her about this? She wanted to roll her eyes but instead nodded. "Yes, in a few hours, I will have a guest come over."

Augustine slightly opened his mouth to say anything but stopped. He looked at her, annoyed, and furrowed his eyebrows. "I'll join you."

What!? He didn't even bother to ask for permission, he actually announced it like she had no choice on the matter. Yes she probably didn't, but still, it was better and common courtesy to let her invite him over. Being a party-crasher was a total downer on her mood.

He saw her eyes shift to shock and other emotions and he rolled his eyes. "Don't get excited and don't get any crazy ideas. I know you're overjoyed, but don't interpret this as me giving you attention." Overjoyed? Overjoyed my ass. This Warrington heir really was too arrogant and thought that she wanted to suck up to him! She hadn't bothered with him for the past seven years, so why would she bother now? In fact, she was happy to not have his 'attention' and hoped to be peaceful and keep it that way until she was no longer in the Warrington mansion! However, he was so egotistical and thought otherwise! What a maniac.

He continued, "I'm only doing this because Mother is forcing me to." Now it made sense. The Duchess still didn't trust her to leave her alone with any guy—technically not alone with the servants surrounding them—and didn't want her to mess up her reputation. She was going to great lengths to protect her reputation. But for what? Her plan was getting more and more interesting in the eyes of Xiao Yunhua. She wondered what elaborate scheme forced the proud Duchess to volunteer her son to sit at a tea party with her and a son of a noble?

"So get rid of your fantasies and tell the servants to prepare one more teacup in your set. Make sure to have some cakes with nuts as well because I enjoy those, but still keep the current ones for flavor and variety." Overbearing and annoying, she wanted to tell him to pick a struggle! The way he casually listed off his preference like he was a welcomed guest in the first place... it made Xiao Yunhua want to vomit blood.

"One of the servants already informed me where it was being held in and at what time, so you'll see me there a little early to keep an eye on you. You know, if you had behaved and didn't annoy my Mother, I wouldn't have had to waste my time..." the rest of his words were a blur to her and she zoned them out. Too much talking from his mouth annoyed her and she raised her hand to massage her temples, but his final words made her freeze, "I hope your tea invitations aren't as shabby as you."

That was a dagger to her heart. For one, it was a reminder of her background and status. And two, it was an actual reminder that it wasn't her background and status. The seven year old Evelyn may have been a brat, but at the end of the day, she was still a kid who had to die young for the vicious plot of the Duchess. Augustine spoke so lightly and carelessly that he didn't realize how much weight his words actually held in her heart. She always felt guilty for taking something that didn't belong to her. She felt like she was one of the villains in those stories she loved to read, pretending to be someone else and stealing their life for a happily ever after. Unfortunately, she also knew that it was not of her own accord and a matter of survival. If she failed and died in this world by getting caught with Ingrid, she would get a strike and be closer to soul obliteration.

Augustine saw that her face fell and he felt a small ping of guilt in his heart before he brushed it off. She deserved it for trying to steal the place of his deceased sister. He wasn't overly close to his sister, but blood was thicker than water. Anyone that tried to come in and threaten his sister's life, albeit she was dead, would be considered an eyesore for him. He had seen his mother take her under his wing and tell him to ignore her and not make things hard for her, but he knew that his mother was unwilling. He had a feeling that everything his mother did was for his sister, even teaching the illegitimate bastard about the ways of high society.

He cleared his throat and got her attention again, to which she shifted her expression to be cold. It made him frown. Uncanny... her cold expression was uncanny and very similar to his mother. If it weren't for the truth that he knew about who his real sister was, he was sure that he would be fooled like everyone else. The only difference this girl had from his sister was her slight difference in facial appearance. And with the way she been trained under his mother, her attitude was similar to his mother, more than what he remembered of his sister.

"Anyways, you must make sure to do as I want or else you'll suffer the consequences of being embarrassed. And embarrassment was a usual equivalence for scolding from my mother."

Xiao Yunhua chuckled. He called it scolding because that's what he thought it was. She would possibly go without food and copy from etiquette books again. She had to make sure to appease this brat before he ruined anymore of her plans. "I understand. I'll see you in a few hours." Augustine didn't even bid her goodbye and left, ignoring her words.

She quickly called Libby and asked if it was possible to get the bakery to make a couple of nut cakes and pastries. It was such a late order, there was a possibility that they couldn't make it. And then he would go on and be more of a pain in her ass.

"Is this the reason that young master asked for the time and location of where it was being held at? Is he joining you and your guest?" Libby asked innocently.

Xiao Yunhua forced a smile and clenched her fists, "Yes." Unfortunately. "You have to tell them to prepare an extra teacup. And do you think the bakery can or can't? Tell them that we'll pay extra." It wasn't her money to spend, it was the Warrington money, but since the Duchess was planting a spy, she was going to be petty. She urged for Libby to tell the servants to spend all the money they wanted in planning it!

"Miss, I'll try. If not this bakery, then why not another bakery?"

Xiao Yunhua sighed. What other bakery was enough to appease the pain in her ass? This one would barely be sufficient enough to not complain and embarrass her. But at this point, she didn't care and just wanted to meet Dominic already. "Alright, make sure they're a decent bakery and not somewhere infested with rats." Although she would love to drop some rats in his cake, she still had a reputation to maintain and to make a good second impression on Dominic.

"Miss, you're looking a little paler than usual, are you alright?" Xiao Yunhua was about to nod when her throat itched and made her cry out in pain.

"W-Water." Libby had been long enough with Violetta to know that her illness was acting up again. She dashed to find the coldest water that she could find and gave a cup to the young miss, who drank it all without a care for appearances or dignity. Her paleness didn't disappear and she became even paler. However, her clenched fists unclenched and she looked more relaxed. "Thank you Libby."

Libby nodded and bowed, but couldn't help but peek at the young miss. Her illness relapse with her throat was getting worse and worse and the Duchess still hadn't found a cure despite all the physicians she had hired. As much as she wanted to ponder on it, she knew that it wasn't her business. She felt sympathetic towards the kind miss but couldn't do anything about it except give her a discreet smile of sympathy. She bowed again, asking for dismissal, to which Xiao Yunhua granted by waving her hand and dismissing her.

She went back in her room and whisked herself to her dimensional space, where she saw the little Xiao Taotao floating and painting her nails in boredom. It took her a few seconds to realize that Xiao Yunhua was there, to which she flicked away the nail polish and stood up embarrassedly.

"H-Host! What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to paint my nails." Xiao Yunhua teased, to which Xiao Taotao's cheeks turned red and she smiled sheepishly.

"Host, please stop bullying Taotao!" She crossed her small arms and pouted, fluttering in her direction. "Jokes aside, what can I do for you?"

"I'm tired of my stupid itchy throat relapse every second of being in Juliet's body!" Xiao Taotao's small hand patted the top of her head, sympathetically, but before she could say anything, Xiao Yunhua said, "Taotao, give me a vial of what I was going to buy to cure Han Mi of leukemia all those years ago."

"You mean that omnipotent medicine that could cure any disease or illness or anything that was a sickness? The one you couldn't afford at that time?" Xiao Yunhua nodded and Xiao Taotao sighed, "Host, at that point, it was very expensive and now, since you're in your second world, it's more expensive. Besides, couldn't you be a little patient?"

"I've been enduring for seven years! Just let me get rid of it right now!"

Xiao Taotao sighed and snapped her fingers, making the vial appear. "One hundred thousand Pretty Points for this." The price made Xiao Yunhua nearly have a heart attack. This was scamming! Pure and utter scamming!

It was either her precious points or keep enduring the terrible throat pain. In the end, she sighed and ended up giving up her points and grabbed the vial, drinking it all in one gulp. Unlike what she expected, the vial didn't taste good or bad. It tasted like she had just drank water.

"You have 941,500 points remaining." She was out of the one million range? That hurt her heart and she wanted to hurry up and finish this target to get points again to go back to that beautiful number. One million gave her a sense of security. It meant that she was one million closer to her goal of one hundred million and completing the goddess system. It was such a high number that it seemed impossible, which made her think if it was created to be impossible in the first place. Just the idea made her brain hurt and she shook her head, not wanting to think so negatively about the system.

It had given her a second chance!

It had been her light when she was in her darkest spot and given up on everyone.

It was her only way after complete and utter abandonment in the cruel world.

She couldn't doubt it now!

"Taotao, are you sure you didn't rip me off? I don't feel any different and it tasted like water." She said after examining the vial. She jumped in surprise when the vial disappeared from her hand before her eyes. Her eyes scanned for it but couldn't find it anymore.

"Host, don't ever doubt Taotao's credibility. You're still in your soul form so the sickness vial shouldn't be affective. The only thing you can do is wait."

As much as Xiao Yunhua wanted to keep asking questions, she realized that she had been in the dimensional space for too long and needed to return before anyone realized she was gone and got suspicious of her.

She waved Xiao Taotao goodbye and disappeared away, leaving the little fairy to return back to her nail polish.