Saved By The Mad Duke
Chapter 149: Proper Friends

Chapter 149: Proper Friends

"I cannot stress enough how honored I feel that you have chosen me as the first lady to visit, Your Highness! The entire mansion has been in uproar since early morning, I haven’t been able to sit down up until now!"

Melania picked up the small pink porcelain cup from the round wooden table set in the middle of the terrace overlooking a marvelous winter garden and took a generous sip of the fragrant black tea.

Loraline had finally convinced her lady to start accepting invitations for tea and parties from the noble ladies in the Capital and, admitting her own growing sense of restlessness and boredom from staying in the palace all the time, Melania made a decision to follow her attendant’s advice and start going out to meet more people.

Alone, as always.

The first choice fell on the only daughter of Baron Frederick Tarran, young lady Felicity Tarran.

Felicity was a lively girl of twenty years of age, with long straight black hair always neatly gathered behind her neck with a silk blue ribbon which made her look older than she should have appeared if she had chosen to refresh her hairstyle.

She was astonishingly tall and skinny, almost sickly so, although her face was always radiant, her healthy complexion was definitely the one to die for, with a bright tint of pink never leaving her sunken cheeks. Felicity’s lips were thin but beautifully shaped and colored in an attractive shade of red, and her smile, however genuine, still managed to evoke a friendly feeling from anyone who had a chance to look at it.

Watching as young Lady Tarran could not stop smiling at her esteemed guest, Melania recalled the way she selected the first noble woman to meet the previous day. If only she knew that the princess simply chose her by picking her name from one of her summer hats, she was convinced that Felicity would not feel so honored anymore.

"You have a beautiful home, Lady Felicity. The garden looks enchanting. It feels like a blessing to be able to sit here so comfortably when it is so cold outside. I am envious and impressed."

Lady Tarran could not conceal her soaring excitement and Melania feared that she might jump out of her dress at any moment.

"Oh, you think so, Your Highness? My father, Lord Tarran, loves this mansion with all his heart and takes really good care of it. The garden, of course, is his favorite place. You will never believe the number of gardeners we hire every summer to look after it! We are also paying quite a lot of money to the fire mage for keeping this terrace warm just so that we could all sit here like this and enjoy the view."

"I see... This is indeed very nice..."

Melania uttered these words into her cup as she tried to taste the hot black tea again. Truthfully, she was not interested either in the Tarran mansion or the amount of money they paid to keep it warm; she enjoyed the view of the garden before her and could only hope that this meeting would end as soon as possible.

While she had to admit that Felicity was very considerate to not invite anyone else for this little teatime and was ever so polite no matter what she said, to her, Lady Tarran was definitely the dullest person she had ever met. But she was about to shake off that assumption and form an entirely different opinion of her.

Felicity carefully observed the princess’s expression for quite a while, remaining completely silent as if expecting that the young woman would continue talking. Then, she set her own cup aside, joined her hands on her knees, leaning against the back of her comfortable chair, and smiled once more,

"I must confess, Your Highness, I completely understand your situation."

"You do?" Melania arched her eyebrows in surprise, "How so?"

Felicity shrugged her shoulders rather nonchalantly and continued,

"You see, due to my fragile condition, I have spent twelve years locked in the boarding school that belongs to the Holy Church and was only able to return half a year ago. For a young lady of my status, connecting with others is just as important as receiving the finest education, however, since I was primarily homeschooled and could not leave my dorms, one might say that at this moment, I am as good as utterly friendless. So I am, too, only beginning to find my place in this noble society."

Melania stretched her lips into a light smile.

’I see. So the reason why she did not invite anyone else is because there is no one who would want to meet her. Now I feel like I am being mocked.’

As the princess remained quiet, Lady Tarran decided to continue,

"Please don’t get me wrong, Your Highness, I am not completely clueless and am already making a name for myself by helping with charity."

"This is indeed very admirable of you, Lady Felicity, charitable work is the most rewarding work a lady can do. I am sure your reputation will become envious in no time."

Felicity smirked, then leaned forward, resting her elbows on the round table, her voice turning somewhat colder as she said,

"Your Highness... I urge you not to look down on me."

Melania widened her eyes once again, the lady’s remark nearly made her drop the teacup on the floor of the terrace.

"I beg your pardon? What makes you––"

"The reason why I invited you alone today was to help you out."

Lady Tarran fixed her big blue eyes on the princess’s confused face, savoring her feigned bewilderment for several moments before she finally continued,

"Like I said, I understand your situation. Unfortunately, you were thrown into the raging storm of political affairs and I’m afraid that without "proper" friends, you won’t be able to survive here."

Now, the princess was utterly lost.

"What do you mean, Lady Felicity?"