The Royal Revenge
Chapter 178: Clash of Noble Ladies

Chapter 178: Clash of Noble Ladies

Cordelia returned to the palace without Henry. He decided to leave the manor at a later time, saying that the prisoner he was tasked to guard needed time to identify. He would have to contact a few of his so called ’friends’ to get information on an item Elys and Aleksander found during the fire too.

The maidservant walked with no sound to her footsteps. Even in her old age, Cordelia was stealthy and was more formidable than most women her age.

Even Henry acknowledged it himself.

Cordelia took the long winding uphill path that led to the palace on the highest part of the capital. She did not take any horse with her, as she wanted to have a bit more time to think herself.

Her mission on tailing Sir Noa has had its pros and cons. And somehow, Cordelia was now questioning things she firmly believed on before.

"Halt, who goes there?"

The guard’s voice who was stationed by the drawbridge pulled Cordelia out of her deep thoughts. She raised her head, and remembering she had a hood on, took off the piece of fabric and showed her face to the guard.

"I am Cordelia Sashnu," she introduced herself, "I am the Queen Elysianne’s maidservant."

The guard stared at Cordelia condescendingly. He was one of those vampires who looked down on humans as if they were trash. Needless to say, Cordelia didn’t have to ask to know that he was such.

His sneer told it all.

"Will you let me pass now? I need to report to the Queen immediately," Cordelia calmly asked him.

The guard snorted at Cordelia and then waved for his colleagues to lower the drawbridge. The old woman passed him by, but not without hearing him snicker and murmur slurs her way.

The vampire looked at her back, pointing his spear derisively at her as if she was some sort of prisoner instead of a palace servant. He never thought that she might get prodded by the pointed tip.

Cordelia took three steps inside before she made up her mind.

Turning swiftly, Cordelia disarmed the vampire and expertly turned his weapon on him. The tip of the spear was practically just a centimeter away from the vampire’s throat.

Their eyes locked on for about several seconds. Cordelia wasn’t in the mood to be looked down upon. She was not going to let his discrimination go so easily.

Out of the blue, the old woman heard blades being unsheathed from their scabbards. She scanned her surroundings with her eyes, her head staying still.

The guard’s colleagues were all pointing at Cordelia, their sharp weapons not even hesitating if she moved a millimeter’s distance from where she was.

"How dare you?" the guard sneered. "Do you think that you can win against a vampire?"

He opened his palms, and wind started to gather and swirl inside. The air around them was pulled towards the vampire’s open hands, in turn making Cordelia’s loose hair sway with the direction of the wind.

Cordelia threw the spear away. A tiny splash was heard soon afterwards as the weapon took a deep dive into the moat.

"You don’t know who I am, so don’t give me your unsolicited bigotry," Cordelia spat at the ground near the vampire’s foot.

She didn’t give the vampires a chance to retort. The old woman turned immediately, walking fast towards the palace’s main entrance.

The Western Kingdom’s palace was something to behold. Of course, the Northern Kingdom’s castle was closer to her heart, but Cordelia had to admit that where she stood now was that of grandeur on a whole other level.

Sleek black stone floors and walls lined up the entire main palace. Made up of human bones and other remains of the past, chandeliers hung up the ceilings and were eerily beautiful and horrific at the same time.

Cordelia walked through the great hall and took a shortcut towards the connecting building. She would have to pass a flower hedge built like a maze, but Cordelia had already memorized the terrain for her to pass through just fine.

Past the flower hedges, there was the Rose Palace was where the current monarchs and distinguished guests live, and that was where Elys was at the moment.

The old woman took a left turn, and on her way to the Rose Palace, met someone familiar.

’Lady Beatrice?’ she wondered to herself. ’What does she plan to do here?’

The old woman wanted to call at the vampire who was sneaking around the main palace. But Cordelia was taken off guard that Lady Beatrice noticed her presence even in the dark.

The vampire merely glanced at Cordelia, and without knowing anything about her but the fact that she was human, disregarded Cordelia’s existence. She proceeded to walk down the empty hallways, making her way towards the Rose Palace.

Cordelia’s face turned sour at the way the vampire regarded her. She was a proud noble herself if she hadn’t been taken as a slave by the more magically inclined kingdom that conquered their home.

Fueled by pettiness, Cordelia lost her temper and called out to the noble vampire.

"Hey, stop where you are!" the old woman marched towards Lady Beatrice.

The vampire turned to face the maidservant. She didn’t look like she was carrying a weapon of some sorts, but Cordelia still stayed alert just in case.

From a distance, she could see someone else approaching from the Rose Palace.

’I should stall her for now and see what her motive is to visit the Rose Palace,’ Cordelia thought to herself. ’Moreover, who she is visiting.’

She didn’t think that the noble lady who hadn’t taken Elys’ offer to be her lady in waiting was going to meet Elys at all. That would only make her seem like she was trying something suspicious.

No... there must be some other reason why Lady Beatrice was making her way to the Rose Palace unaccompanied.

"What do you want, human?" Lady Beatrice asked the old woman.

"I should be asking you the same, Lady Beatrice," Cordelia stood her ground. "And I have a name, if you might acknowledge me more than just being a mere ’human’."

Lady Beatrice stared at Cordelia’s face. The beautiful vampire was cold in her stature, and she didn’t seem to be enjoying the way Cordelia answered back as well.

The vampire rolled her tongue inside her mouth and then said, "Very well, what is your name, human?" she asked.

Cordelia raised a brow at the noble lady and replied curtly, "Cordelia Sashnu, Queen Elysianne’s maidservant."

The vampire snickered at Cordelia’s introduction of herself.

"A mere maidservant trying to stop me from a visit?" Lady Beatrice asked in a mocking tone.

"I am not only just a mere maidservant, Lady Beatrice," Cordelia snapped at the vampire. "I am the current Queen’s most trusted."

The noble ladies of different descent clashed. Cordelia knew she was going out of her way to pick a fight with Lady Beatrice, but she was just too out of her mind at the moment that she found herself doing so nevertheless.

Lady Beatrice humored Cordelia and spoke, "What do you want from me, Cordelia Sashnu, most trusted maidservant of the current Queen of the Western Kingdom of the vampires?"

Cordelia could feel the sly tone hidden beneath Lady Beatrice’s calm demeanor.

"It is just kind of suspicious, isn’t it?" Cordelia pointed out, "Why are you visiting the Rose Palace now just after there was a fire that spread in the capital? Being a noble yourself, you should have showed yourself this morning as the emergency meeting of the High Courts progressed."

Lady Beatrice rolled her eyes and folded her arms at Cordelia’s question.

"I am not obliged to tell you anything at all, Cordelia Sashnu," she snorted. "Unless you become the same as me or rise up higher in the vampire hierarchy, which in your case being human as you are, is quite impossible. You have nothing but my sealed lips tonight."

Cordelia’s forehead creased with her brows furrowing at the middle. She knew Lady Beatrice was right, but it didn’t lessen the burn that she felt by her words.

At the distance, perhaps a few meters away, Cordelia saw a knight walking towards them. She straightened her back and then waited for the said knight to be at earshot from them.

Lady Beatrice noticed the knight approaching as well, and when he was just a few steps away from them, the vampire turned towards him and smiled.

"My lady," the knight bowed down to her, "what have brought you here at the palace?"

The knight seemed to know who Lady Beatrice was, much to Cordelia’s dismay.

"Oh, I wanted to visit the King and Queen, if it is not too late yet," Lady Beatrice said.

The knight frowned and replied, "The King and Queen are currently dining together and had not been out yet. I have heard that there would be a meeting in a short while though, perhaps the lady would want to join as a representative of her noble house?"

Lady Beatrice glanced at Cordelia and smirked, "Yes, I would be much obliged."