"Please have a tea," said Eloise politely. "I feel so thirsty after the carriage ride."
She glanced at Karenina and smirked. The princess looked uncomfortable with her offer. So, Eloise took the cup in front of Karenina and switched it with hers.
She said, "You are smart for not easily trusting other people. I can drink the tea from your cup to show you that there is nothing in there. I didn't put poison in it... hahahaha."
Karenina batted her eyes. She wanted to say that she was not suspicious of Eloise, but she knew better than to lie. So she only nodded and took the other cup.
"Yeah.. sorry, you can never be too careful," Karenina said awkwardly.
Eloise drank her tea and then chuckled. "No, it's fine. As I said, it's smart. Don't easily trust a stranger."
"Very well... I will drink this," Karenina sipped her tea reluctantly. She waited for a few moments to see if anything would happen, but there was none. The tea was delicious and she now felt fresh. She smiled at Eloise and said, "The tea is really good."
"Ah, thank you. It's my favorite," Eloise replied.
Soon, the atmosphere between the two women had become light and relaxed.
Eloise and Kareina drank and laughed heartily. After listening to Eloise speak, slowly, Karenina started to think that she did find a good ally, someone who had the same interest as her and had the resources to help her do what she wanted.
She lowered her guard and became more relaxed. It was true, Eloise didn't need to do anything to her because Karenina was already on her side, and she needed Karenina since Karenina knew a lot of information and had the access to the royal family of Riga.
"You are very impressive," said Karenina. "I feel good to have a great partner like you. Let's get rid of Sophia quickly so you can get Leland back soon."
"You're so impatient," Eloise commented.
"Don't you want to get rid of that woman quickly?"
"I want to get rid of that woman more than anyone else. But I want you to tell me everything you know about that damn woman and Nicholas Hanenbergh so I can think of what to do. Gwen told me that you wanted to overthrow Nicholas Hanenbergh and Riga. I will find a way to kill two birds with one stone."
Karina smiled. She was really excited to hear Eloise's words. She was also happy to tell Eloise everything she knew about Leland, Sophie, and Nicholas' relationship, especially the fact that Leland accepted Sophie's children from Sophie's first husband, Nicholas.
Karenina also provided additional information that Nicholas Hanenbergh's weakness is his mother.
One word for Leland that came to Eloise's mind after hearing Karenina's story was 'sad' because it turned out that apart from marrying a woman who was someone else's sloppy second, he also raised children who were not his.
"I really don't know what the man sees in her," Karenina said, looking at Eloise, wanting to butter her up to seal their cooperation. "I really think you are much more beautiful than Sophia. He is really dumb to choose over you."
"Do you think so?" Eloise looked back at Karenina with a twinkle in her eyes. The other woman nodded. Eloise looked away and sighed. "The heart wants what it wants, I guess."
With those words, Eloise actually was speaking to herself. She was enraged when she found out Leland was mated to another woman, even though Eloise was in love with him and had made her feelings for him known years ago. Also, their mothers were great friends and had arranged for them to someday become mates.
However, out of nowhere, Eloise received the news that Leland had mated with Sophia Hansley, a simple woman, half a lycan who couldn't even shift. There really was nothing special about her that made Eloise feel insulted.
She would prefer if her competition was a princess, a royalty, or a powerful witch, but Sophie was none of those. She was just a simple and poor woman whose parents planted a lot of kindness in Leland and maybe made Leland feel obligated to protect her, to pay back her parents' kindness to him.
Eloise was so upset and angered that she didn't want to see Leland for many years. She thought when his mother poisoned his mate, Leland would come to Eloise and beg her to help Sophie. Eloise would take that opportunity to talk with Leland and express her disappointment.
However, he never did. Not once did he contact Eloise to talk or ask for help, even though he must know that Eloise was the best person to go to if he needed such help. No, it was as if he didn't even think Eloise existed.
She was angry and decided to marry Elias, from the Obsidian Sand Pack, in the hope that she could forget about Leland, her first love, and help the man to bring his pack to the greatest height.
With her magic, Eloise helped Obsidian Sand Pack conquer Armeria, and they were now so big and powerful, they were planning to invade all the neighboring kingdoms as well, including Riga.
However, even after so many years and she was now a queen of Armeria, Eloise didn't feel happy. She now realized it was because no matter how much wealth, power, and luxury she could obtain in this life, her heart wants what it wants.
It only wanted Leland Salazar.
Now, hearing that the man she loved was raising children that were not his, and living with a woman who was not even pure, made Eloise's anger rise up to the surface again.
She downed her tea and put her cup down. Eloise went to the small cabinet beside her and took out a bottle of wine with two goblets. She poured wine into them and spoke casually, changing the subject.
"Ah well... you know how they are." Eloise faked a laugh.
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