Although Henry had beaten him to it, Leonard was still personable, “Big brother’s right, let’s have a rest there.”
Sebastian was persuaded by the few princes and had lost his interest; he snorted and led the way to the hut.
Kace moved his wheelchair and fell behind, he whispered to Iago and James, “Thank you, your Highnesses.”
Unexpectedly Ivo spoke, “Sebastian needs to be punished, wait until I’m free these days, I’ll investigate his hidden wrong doings and let him suffer!”
Iago frowned and held back his brother, “Enough, Ivo. Chill.”
Ivo listened to him, he murmured and kept quiet.
At the meantime, Mary was rushing towards her and Luna’s yard and asked Jewel, Jade, Angelica and Azuki to move up.
She and Luna had gone to the apricot blossom forest without the maidens’ knowledge. When the four maidens saw Mary appeared neatly and Luna was nowhere to be found, Jewel and Jade were so anxious that they were about to cry.
The maidens surrounded Mary and babbled, making her headache due to the noise. She then replied impatiently, “Alright, alright, stop talking. Angelica and Azuki, pack up my drawing kits. Jade and Jewel, carry the square desk and follow me.”
The maidens did not know why, but still obeyed Mary’s orders. They carried a bunch of stuff to the apricot blossom forest after a while.
Reaching the forest, they saw Luna from afar leaning against an apricot tree, looking listless as if being anxious for the wait.
Mary quickly abandoned the four maidens, lifted her dress and trotted towards Luna, “Luna sis, have you been anxious for the wait?”
Mary ran until there was sweat on her forehead, she was afraid that Luna would encounter those princes just now when she was staying here alone.
Luna was stunned, seeing Mary before her, she unconsciously took out her handkerchief and wiped her sweating forehead gently, “Why did you rush? It’s bad if you get a headache from the cold wind when you return.”
A faint yet pleasant smell of sandalwood came from Luna’s handkerchief. Mary was shocked and she asked, “Luna sis, did you light up sandalwood in your room?”
Luna felt shocked too, and she chuckled, “How would I light it? You knew I hate incense, the smell must be gotten from Grace and Amy’s place.”
Mary did not believe her words right away. Although Grace and Amy did like incense, but how could the handkerchief get the smell when Luna had had a fight with both the sisters recently? Yet Mary chose not to ask her further as everybody had their own little secret after all.
The maidens laid the drawing kits and Mary suddenly smiled on a whim, “Luna sis, why don’t you stay leaning on this apricot tree and I’ll draw you?”
Seeing Mary’s pure and innocent smile, the uneasiness in Luna’s heart was slowly relieved.
She had seen clearly from the apricot blossom forest she hid, the guy with an impatient expression was indeed the fourth prince, Sebastian, and the rest of the men must be the current princes.
No wonder Gautama Damma would allow them in, they belonged to the royal family after all.
Luna remembered that Sebastian disliked Mary very much and she felt slightly worried for her that Sebastian would treat her badly when he encountered her. She was not worried for herself as Sebastian himself had fear for that scandal after all and would not mention it in front of the crowd. It was possible that he hoped no one would ever remember about it.
Luna wanted to ask Mary to return when she saw her coming initially, yet seeing Mary had a good mood, she had a second thought. Mary was dumb in the past and could not have a good view on the beautiful sceneries, yet she had bullied her most of the time. Now that Mary had finally recovered, and had even helped her a lot, she felt that she needed to fulfill her hopes.
Not to mention that those people had left and might not return tonight, therefore she decided to let Mary be.
Having thought of this, Luna gave a gentle smile and said, “Draw carefully. If you dare draw me badly I will not forgive you.”
Mary was holding her drawing brush but still wanted to make fun of Luna, she smiled, “If Luna sis could give me some advantages, I can definitely portray Luna sis divinely, but if not……”
Luna scolded her with a smile on her face, “You little miser! I might not give you the apricot blossom wine and dew that I made when we’re back.”
Mary felt that the dews made from flowers and herbs by Luna were indeed good and delicious. Both sisters chattered, drawing while teasing each other and did not feel bored.
When they felt tired from talking too much, Luna took out her jade flute and continued playing the tune earlier accompanying by the great scenery before her. When she had finished playing the tune, Mary’s drawing was also completed at the same time and the ink was left to dry before they went back. After asking the maidens to take a look at the drawing, Mary walked towards Luna and frowned, “This tune is bad, it’s too sorrowful.”
Mary did not know music and she did not learn it in her previous life, therefore she envied Luna being able to play flute brilliantly in this life.
Luna had obviously had some thoughts that could not be told, she gave a perfunctory smile and replied, “It’s initially a complete tune, I feel that something is missing if the latter half of the tune is not played.”
Mary frowned and did not say anything further, her face suddenly took on a ghastly expression and she pulled back Luna, “Luna sis, let’s hide. Someone’s coming,” while asking the maidens to follow her. She dragged Luna quickly into the forest without even keeping away the drawing and the kits.
Luna could not understand Mary’s action and asked, “What are you doing, Mary sis? Is there anyone outside?”
When she just finished her question, she heard the sound of footsteps. Six of them kept quiet and heard someone letting out a soft ‘what’ sound, “Come and have a look, someone’s been here before.”
Jesse pointed at the drawing kits to show the princes and Kace while smiling, “The beauty who is playing a flute on the drawing looks quite interesting.”
Feeling a heartbeat, Kace leaned out and noticed that the beauty on the drawing was Luna whom he had met earlier.
Having heard of Jesse’s words, Sebastian looked quite unhappy when he moved forward, “I’ve told you not to drink at the hut whatsoever. Great, now other people had occupied this forest first before we did.”
When he saw the drawing, his face immediately turned pale, “Wait, isn’t this……”
Kace quickly turned around and looked straight at him, “Does your Highness know the person in the drawing?”
Looking embarrassed, Sebastian giggled, “I accidentally met her during the birthday feast of Lord Regent. It’s the fourth daughter of Lord Regent.”
Kace stared at Sebastian suspiciously. During Lord Regent’s birthday feast, male guests should be at the front court while the females at the back, so how did Sebastian meet the fourth mistress of Debeur family? Having thought of Sebastian’s personality, he slightly understood and his disdain towards him grew.
Jared made fun of Kace in a deliberate manner, “Looks like your missy is inside, and who knows who was drawing for her, perhaps some random guy who wants to date with her outside?” He laughed after finishing his sentence.
Kace could only felt a huff in his chest and his face immediately fell down, “Mind your words, your Highness! A mistress’ reputation is not a joke.”
Feeling surprised, Jared replied, “I was only saying it for fun, Kace, why did you look so unhappy? Could it be that you……”
He did not continue, yet everybody had known what he meant.
Sebastian suddenly became energized, he loved to see someone else being unluckier than him, “Yo, could it be that the apricot blossom fairy you were trying to hide from us earlier was actually the fourth mistress of Debeur family? Oh no, that’s indecent. Kace, you’re about to become her brother-in-law, yet you’re still hooking up with your future sister-in-law? If this is spread out, Madam Gladstone would want to take your life away.” A gale of ear-piercing laughter followed after he finished.
Mary turned around and saw Luna becoming tearful, she sighed softly and asked with a low voice, “You’ve met Kace? Who is he?”
Luna sobbed intermittently and replied, “He was the one greeting the side consort whom we met on the road. Mary sis, you have no idea, he’s actually the third son of the Minister family. I was nearly discovered by the people outside when I was alone in the forest just now and it was Sir Kace who helped me out.” She wiped her tears and said hatefully, “The fourth Highness had gone too far!”
Mary’s face also went dull. Sebastian had a big mouth, he had not only beaten her previous self to death but had also defiled others behind their back and it was beyond endurance.
Mary quickly hugged Luna and said with a loud voice, “Talking bad behind someone’s back, I’m afraid it’s not a proper doing for a man with virtue, your Highness.”
Sebastian was in the middle of excitement, he was unhappy being interrupted abruptly by someone else. He lifted his eyebrow and looked into the deep forest, with a frivolous tone, he replied, “It must be a pretty young maiden from the voice I heard. Why do you need to speak while hiding in the forest? The forest is wet and cold, it would be splendid if the maiden could come out and hang out with us, viewing the scenery, drinking wine and reciting poem together.”
Luna pulled Mary’s sleeve nervously and whispered, “Mary sis, don’t you go out. If you do and let the others see your face, our reputation would be gone!” The maidens also advised Mary softly.
Mary held Luna’s hand, signaling her not to panic and said, “Don’t worry, Luna sis. I’m just annoyed that he has such a big mouth and has humiliated you.”
Luna was touched and she came even closer to Mary’s side.
“Sebastian, can you say that you’re a prince? You dare said those kinds of shameful words, who knows how the emperor is going to see you when he knows about this.”
Sebastian was rarely held hostile by others, he felt slightly angry out of shame, not to mention the forest hid the fourth mistress of Debeur family, Luna who had embarrassed him. He was most aggravated when he remembered that embarrassing scene.
“How dare you call my name like that? You shrew!”
“You are the one who is daring!” Mary was not afraid of Sebastian at all, “If you have the guts, let’s talk things out in front of the emperor!”