Chapter 297 - The Star Of The Day
Princess Felicia smiled as she glanced around the table arranged in the garden of the Rose Palace where giggles and chatters were heard at regular intervals.
With her sat various girls from the Ducal and various Marquess families.
Since there were only two Ducal families in the Kingdom, the Brodie and the Tanner family, only one girl was representing them.
The only daughter of Duke Brodie, Glennise Brodie who was also the closest friend of Princess Felicia sat at her right while on her left sat the other playmate, Rika Kiron, the youngest daughter of Marquess Kiron.
Thus the two playmates held the best seats, the seats next to the star of the party themselves.
Then the rest of the Marquess family daughters sat as per their wishes as they all belonged to the same status in their society.
There were six Marquess families in Rosenhyde and one of the families held the unofficial throne among them.
That family was the Samed family, unfortunately, their last generation consisted of only two children.
Marquess Sullivan Samed who remained unmarried and his elder sister, Duchess Beatrice Tanner who no longer held her maiden family's name.
Hence, today only the daughters from five Marquess families were present.
The Kiron family had two daughters, elder, Aleena and younger, Rika who sat next to each other at the table.
The only daughter of the Leopold family, Elna Leopold sat beside Glennise and smiled gently at her neighboring girls.
However, when she smiled at the girl opposite her seat, all she received in response was a scoff.
Aleena Kiron had been at odds with the daughter of Marquess Leopold who not only was born in the same year but also had a similar name as hers yet their personality varied widely.
If Aleena was considered to be a fireball who would blaze anyone with her flames then Elna was as gentle and calm as the winter breeze because she dealt with everything in a collected manner.
This had caused Aleena to be compared to the level-headed Elna all her nine years of life which brought a plethora of reasons why they could never be friends.
Through all this, Elna just smiled as she ignored the sneering girl before her and looked at the older girl beside Aleena.
Elna and this other girl had one thing in common as they were the only daughters of their respective families.
If one were to be previously present at Marquess Kiron's tea party then they most certainly would recognize this girl who looked older than everyone seated at the table.
For she was Cecily Yona, the girl whose betrothal proposal was discussed during the Kiron's tea party.
She was twelve this year and the eldest one present, however, even she would have to bow before the Princess and her playmates as their position could be considered higher than the others.
At the last gathering, the conversation of Cecily's betrothal to the youngest son of the Kiron family had reached a stalemate which had caused her great distress
Thus when she was invited to this party, her major focus was on getting closer to her beloved's younger sisters rather than mingling with the Princess.
'This is my chance to get closer to her!' Cecily recalled her plan which was to form amicable ties with Jacob Kiron's younger sisters to get closer to him.
While Cecily was thinking of ways to interact with Jacob's sisters, Glennise raised her head and glanced at everyone who had arrived today.
At the far end of the table were five other girls who held a similar status as Rika and Aleena.
These were daughters of Marquess' Carter and Jorbin.
Marquess Carter's two daughters were the last among his four children.
Fiona, seven years and Issadora was six years old this year.
These were the girls who had followed Aleena and Rika Kiron when they were attempting to bully the new kid, Yvonne St. Claire but the plan was thwarted by the appearance of Topher and Damien.
Fiona and her little sister followed everything that Aleena said and there was no doubt that they had done the same back then.
Glennise's eyes then fell on the three similar-looking girls who were at the end of the table.
'So these are the daughters of Marquess Jorbin.' She nodded at them when she saw their smiles.
The Jorbin girls were triplets who were a year older than the Princess and her playmates.
Melissa, Martha, and Moana Jorbin were always at their family's estate in their fief and rarely received an opportunity to venture to the Capital.
Their father, Marquess Jorbin was a member of the King's council of ministers who aided him in matters concerning foreign policies.
Since he was an important member of the King's advisors, Glennise was knowledgeable about his identity.
But there was another reason why she knew much about him.
'Father asked me to become friends with them as they will be necessary for my growth in society.' She recalled the stern words her father had spoken before he brought her over to the Palace.
Duke Brodie's surprising action of escorting her to the Palace brought joy to his child's heart as she nodded willingly, indicating that she would do whatever he wished from her.
Hence, Glennise had been stealing secret glimpses at the triplets in an attempt to catch what they were interested in.
On the other hand, the star of the day, Princess Felicia was both nervous and excited at meeting these new girls.
Just like Prince Fritzen, she was also given classes about the major families that existed in their Kingdom.
This resulted in her obtaining information about all of these girls present here.
However, more than thinking about forming political alliances with her which Glennise was planning to do, Felicia was more interested in forming friendships with him.
"Princess, shall we bring out the snacks?" The maid who had appeared silently whispered as she bowed to her Master.
Felicia's eyes widened in surprise as this could only mean one thing.
"Please do!" She commanded and turned her eyes back at the table only to find that all eyes were on her.
The Princess was excited about something which got them excited as well.
"Father asked these to be prepared for my guests so make sure you enjoy them because they are delicious!" She exclaimed, not sounding too haughty nor too submissive.
This in return brought enthusiastic nods from them as eating something that the King ordered for them would certainly be a rare blessing in this lifetime.
Glennise and Rika were aware of what she was talking about and giggled when they recalled a special treat they had eaten with another girl.
'I wonder why Yvonne wasn't invited?' Rika wondered as this thought had been on her mind since the invites were sent out.
However, she had no say in this matter and could only accept the arrangements that the King had made for his daughter.
"Would you like to show us your gifts while we wait for the snacks?" Glennise proposed and blinked her wide green eyes at her friend.
The Princess had promised to show them the gifts she received from her family once everyone arrived and now it was time to reveal those presents.
The talk of presents from the Royal family made everyone's eyes sparkle as they were eager to know how extravagant those presents might be.
Felicia raised her head and looked at the previous maid who nodded and signaled to someone else.
Within a few seconds, three servants came forward with certain items in their hands which were covered with golden silk veils.
The silent chatters also died down as they watched each item brought over to the Princess.
"This was given by my Uncle." Princess Felicia announced with a tinge of pride evident in her manner of speaking.
She knew that her uncle always brought the best of things that he could find for her and this time was no different than the rest.
Keeping her eyes on her guests, Felicia pulled the cloth away from the item held in the servant's hands.
A small chestnut-brown box was placed on the tray that the servant held which was now picked up by the Princess.
She then placed the box which was as big as her palm and pressed on the clasp which unlocked it with a 'click'.
The eyes that were fixed on the box could now peek at what it held and every jaw present dropped at what they saw.
"Sea Pearl!" Elna Leopold exclaimed with a gasp.
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