Archmage Villainess

The day after Rosanna's revenge, the entire royal palace is in a panic searching for the prince. A mage was dispatched from the magic tower to search for traces of magic. They managed to find a barrier spell that was used in a creative way to kill the knight guarding the prince, a fireball spell most likely cast by the prince, and two separate teleportation spells cast from the balcony leading to the slums.

The knights have been taking their failure out on the slums, searching every house and killing any who try to stop them. The entirety of the slums is on the brink of rebellion before the king tells the knights to stop their searching.

In all honesty, the king is rather glad his son was taken. Even though he shouldn't feel this way, he feels better knowing that he can finally start to repair his relationship with his wife, daughter, and the duke of Pultovia.

The master of the magic tower assumes that the individual that kidnapped the prince and his lover is most likely that master from the auction. However, even if she is right, she knows there is nothing she could possibly do.

The nobles haven't been informed of the prince's kidnapping just yet, but they have their doubts. The prince was supposed to hold a small party with various noble scions, but the party was suddenly canceled the next morning.

The day of the tea party comes, and Rosanna is getting ready to put on a sick persona.

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(Illustration of Rosanna's room here →)

As I sit down in front of the vanity, Annie comes from behind me and starts brushing my hair gently. As the bristles of the brush glide through my silk-like hair, I let out a content sigh.

"Haaaah. Annie, your hands are so magical."

She smiles as she hears this and finishes brushing. She then moves to start doing my makeup. I look at her and ask,

"Annie, can I ask you for a favor?"

She nods her head and says,

"Yes, mommy!"

She blushes as I chuckle at her so casually saying that,

"Hehe. That was cute! I'm glad you're not calling me young miss anymore, though make sure you do at the party. Anyways, I want you to make me look a little tired. I wanna get sympathy from the countess' daughter."

Annie nods her head and says,

"Of course. That'll be rather easy to do!"

Annie finishes the makeup about ten minutes later, and she successfully made me look tired! She made artificial dark circles under my eyes that are just barely noticeable and look like someone attempted to cover them with makeup. I also polymorph my face slightly to make my eyes a little bit puffy. I look at Annie and give her a tired smile. She looks at my face and frowns before saying,

"I think I did a little too good. I want to beg you to sleep a little more, even though I know it's just makeup."

I nod my head,

"Good! You did perfectly, baby girl!"

I rub her cheek affectionately and stand up. I walk over to my wardrobe and look at the prepared dress. It's a pink lacey dress, to give me an innocent look. I have a baby blue scarf as well. All in all, I look very cute, just with a slightly sultry face.

"Perfect! Let's go get some oil!"

Annie smiles and nods as we walk out into the hallway. I take Annie's hand for her to support me. And with that, we're off! She leads me down the hallway to the opening where the tea party is being held. I hold onto Annie's hand and make myself shake ever so slightly. We come into the open and reveal a small party of around thirty noble young women and girls. They look to be anywhere from ten to twenty five years old.

(Illustration of the party room here -->)

As they see me, they all look at me and get shocked looks on their faces. I suppose these rich ladies have never seen a fellow rich lady look so tired. As we get to the railing for the grand staircase leading down to the party, I decide to say a few words,

"Hello everyone, thank you for attending. I am sorry for my appearance, but it seems that resurrection takes a toll on one's body. Regardless of that, I do hope we can enjoy this celebration my father and mother put together. Enjoy yourselves!"

Annie leads me down the stairs and I pretend to need a break about halfway down and make some sweat appear on my forehead. After getting to the bottom steps, I see several of the younger girls and a few of the older ones looking at me with concern. The most prevalent of them being Countess Triapan's daughter. The girl is actually crying!

As I take my seat at the front of the long table, servants start coming around to ask what dishes the girls would like as well as what kind of tea. Almost immediately, one of the younger girls, I'd say around 12 years old, comes up to me and asks with genuine concern,

"Y-your grace, are you okay?"

I'm surprised this young girl knows the proper way to refer to a duchess, though I may not be one now. I give her a tired smile and say,

"Yes, I am just a little tired is all. Would you mind telling me your name Miss?"

In Gaeran culture, you refer to unknown nobles by either Mister or Miss.

"Ah! I'm the daughter of Baroness Hilldra!"

She does a small curtsey and answers me. Her brown hair falls in front of her face and a strand gets stuck in her lipstick. I chuckle lightly and reach forward, taking the strand off her lips and saying,

"Well Lady Hilldra, I am very pleased to make your acquaintance."

She blushes and bows again before saying,

"M-me too! Thank you for inviting me!"

I keep my smile and say,

"Thank you for coming."

With that, she goes back to her seat and chats with the friends she's sitting by like a child who just met their favorite celebrity. But of course, you can't have a fantasy tea party without the one girl who for some reason dislikes the main character. A girl in a red dress comes up to me with a frown plastered on her face. She has a rather sultry feel to her, but not slutty. More of an unintentional sexiness.

Her straight black hair falls to her shoulders, perfectly framing her sharp chin. Her red lips are thin, yet plump enough to know she's a good kisser. Her waist is slim and creates a perfect hourglass figure. The red dress she's wearing is tight fitting and has black floral designs on it. She walks up to me and speaks,

"Lady Pultovia, I must say this party is quite cute. I never imagined you would have such a small party, especially to celebrate such an incredible event."

…

'Degrade me harder mommy!'

I ignore my inner thoughts and smile at her before speaking,

"I would have, but my father insisted we start with a small party, as a larger one would exacerbate the headaches I've been feeling. I am glad that you could make it; however, Lady Kayna."

This girl is Madelyn Kayna of the Kayna duchy. Her mother is the head of her house. Their military strength is comparable to our own, but with a stronger focus on knights instead of mages. So, while their numbers are higher, our individual strength is higher. She's known for being a stickler when it comes to nobility. She must see my small party as an insult to duchies. She huffs and says,

"Still, I am surprised. It's rather lacking with decorations as well."

I speak up yet again,

"Ever since I woke up, a heavily decorated room gives me a bit of vertigo. My mind is a little… Distracted."

Even Madelyn knows better than to harp on a sickly girl for things she can't control so she just sighs and says,

"Haaah… Well. I congratulate you on your resurrection."

'NOOOO MOMMY BULLY ME HARDER!'

*cough*

I smile at her yet again and say,

"Thank you, Lady Kayna. Please enjoy the food we have prepared for you."

Soon, the food arrives and several servants bring the ladies their meals. Most chose veggie dishes, with a few of the lower nobility and daughters of primarily martial focused families choosing meaty dishes. I myself chose a rice porridge to feed into the idea of my weak body. Many of the noble ladies looked with concern as they saw my "meal". I pretend to not notice them and begin eating with long breaks between each bite.

It takes me about thirty minutes to finish eating, making me the last of the ladies to finish eating. After the meal, tea cups are brought out and several different kinds of teas are poured. Mine is a sweeter tea, known for relieving headaches. We all start our little chats, which ends up turning into the noble ladies asking me various different questions.

"Lady Pultovia, may I ask a rather dark question?"

I nod my head and say,

"You may."

The young daughter of a count speaks up again,

"What was death like?"

I pretend the question shocks me and put down my tea cup with a small, tired smile,

"Peaceful. If I had to use one word to describe it, it would be peaceful. It felt like I fell asleep in my mothers embrace. Of course, the actual process of dying was the most terrifying and painful experience of my life, but death itself is peaceful."

With this, I finally get asked the question,

"Lady Pultovia, is there any way to help your condition?"

A young baroness asks me. I shake my head and speak,

"Unfortunately not at the moment. I did manage to find a bath mixture that is supposed to help regain strength, and most of the ingredients are simple to get. But, there's one ingredient we haven't managed to get no matter how hard we looked."

I check to make sure that Countess Triapan's daughter is paying attention,

"We have to get the oil from a Jelpan flower. Sadly, we haven't found anywhere selling one. My father even attended the auction a few days ago hoping to get at least one flower, but even the auction house was useless for it. So, I suppose I've resigned to my fate. I suppose it's not too bad to take naps during the day."

I laugh slightly as I finish the sentence and earn a few pity chuckles. Lady Triapan speaks up,

"If you don't mind me asking, how much would you need?"

I act as though I have to think and say,

"Erm… I believe the recipe called for about a cup or two… Annie, do you remember?"

I turn and ask Annie to get her opinion on the matter,

"Yes, young miss. It was one cup."

I turn to her and say,

"It does call for quite the amount doesn't it? I doubt the auction has ever gotten close to that amount."

I see Lady Triapan fall into thought, knowing I've got her, hook line and sinker. The rest of the party continues on before I finally start yawning. After a few minutes of yawning, I pretend to start dozing off and Annie speaks for me,

"Oh. I'm sorry my ladies, but the young miss may need some time to rest. She has informed me that if this were to happen, you are all welcome to continue the party without her until the end. She also asked me to thank you all for your attendance."

I smile at them and nod my head as I continue to pretend to be on the verge of sleep. Annie takes my hand and helps me stand to my feet and leads me back to my room. I make sure that on the stairs I take a rest every two steps up and am breathing heavily by the last one. After we round the corner, I feel a search spell being cast, most likely by Lady Kayna. She was looking at me with suspicion earlier, so I continue to keep up the act the entire way to my bedroom. However, I do make Annie take a detour and let me "rest" in one of the chairs we have set up throughout the hallway. After the short rest, I continue on to my bedroom and lay down where I get Annie to care for me till the party's end.

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