Chapter 221 Who Wouldn't Love Friedel?
Friedel noticed Selyma's gaze. He paused slightly, then calmly looked at his mother.
Selyma immediately felt that all her previous guesses were pointless.
Forget everything else—just with Friedel's looks alone, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he could charm countless young ladies across the Soth Empire. If such an excellent man proposed to someone, Selyma simply couldn't imagine them refusing.
Unless that person already had someone else in their heart and didn't love Friedel at all.
But was there really a woman in this world who wouldn't love Friedel?
Selyma pursed her lips. Other people aside, Anne definitely couldn't be one of them.
If Anne wasn't interested in Friedel, why would she so readily agree to marry him, even willing to offend her in the process? Anne must have had her eyes on Friedel long ago and deliberately wanted to marry him. All that talk about the king's arrangement and being suitable—those were just her excuses.
Thinking this, Selyma glared at Anne indignantly. This scheming woman was about to marry her precious son, and who knows how much trouble she'd cause in the future.
Anne got glared at by Selyma for no apparent reason, but she didn't care. After all, Selyma only looked fierce and intimidating on the surface—in reality, she was a pushover, very easy to bully.
Seeing that Anne hadn't suffered any grievances at Selyma's hands, Friedel felt much more relaxed.
Recently, he'd been busy preparing for the wedding, running back and forth at the command of King Rolf and Queen Mother Smith. He had very little time to see Anne. Now that he'd seen her and confirmed she was doing fine, after a simple greeting and a few words, he left the Atarat Manor again.
Seeing her son come and go in such a hurry, with eyes only for Anne, barely glancing at her enough times to count on one hand, Selyma pouted with some dissatisfaction, thinking Friedel didn't need to put on an act of being deeply in love with Anne in front of his mother.
But watching Anne not even make a move to ask him to stay, just continuing to drink her tea as if nothing had happened, Selyma's anger flared up.
"Why didn't you ask Friedel to stay? He's still your future..."
Under Anne's teasing gaze, Selyma suddenly couldn't get the words out.
Future what? Did she really have to admit that Friedel and Anne would definitely get married, that Friedel was Anne's husband?
Damn it, she wasn't a woman who could be fooled so easily!
"Future what?" Anne looked at Selyma with a smile.
"Nothing, nothing!"
Selyma had wanted to pretend to be angry and scold Anne, but she quickly remembered how Anne had pulled out a dagger from who knows where earlier and easily scratched the teacup right in front of her. She really didn't dare to provoke Anne with her usual arrogant and haughty attitude. She could only hesitantly sit down, acting as if nothing had happened.
With the two of them sitting there peacefully, Karina beside them also felt much more at ease. After all, if Selyma kept provoking Anne without considering the difference in their actual strength and ended up getting hurt, she, as Selyma's personal maid, would definitely be punished.
But this peace was soon broken.
Before long, a servant rushed in from outside. Sweating profusely, he bowed to the people in the room, then presented a letter to Anne with both hands. "Duke of Virlet, good day. Someone outside claiming to be Master Anson's messenger asked me to deliver this letter to you."
Anne quickly put down her teacup and took the letter. Her eager movement made Selyma raise an eyebrow slightly—after all, Anne had never shown such an anxious expression in front of her before.
Fortunately, Anne had no time to care about Selyma. She hastily glanced at the unique sealing method on the envelope, confirming that the letter hadn't been opened and read by anyone else, before concentrating on reading its contents.
When Anne first received Princess Kirenya's invitation to the banquet, she had specifically sent a letter to Master Anson, hoping he could help investigate Princess Kirenya's history. After all, Princess Kirenya had humiliated her mother back then, and Anne wasn't sure what methods Princess Kirenya might use against her.
If it were just using the Titan family as a weapon, Anne wasn't afraid. But if it involved old matters from the past, Anne wasn't sure whether she could counter all of Princess Kirenya's attacks without affecting her mother's reputation.
If Master Anson and his people could help uncover the dirty deeds Princess Kirenya had done behind the scenes, she wouldn't lack means to retaliate.
But the more Anne read, the wider her eyes grew. Her face turned pale, her lips trembled uncontrollably, and finally, her hands that had wielded swords seemed unable to hold the light piece of paper. They just dropped powerlessly, letting the letter flutter down to her feet.
Selyma was incredibly curious, but since Anne didn't speak, she didn't dare ask. She could only turn her head and signal Karina with her eyes, asking her to pick up the letter.
Karina wore a somewhat awkward smile on her face. If Selyma was afraid of Anne, wouldn't she be afraid too?
Besides, Anne was a duke and held real power in the military. If her letter involved political affairs of the Soth Empire or secrets of the Virlet family, and she, a mere maid, read those secrets, she might be silenced the next second.
Who would dare do such a thing!
Seeing Karina just standing there with a silly smile, completely unable to understand her hint, Selyma pursed her lips unhappily, somewhat resentful that Anne was such a tough and dangerous woman, making her lose all dignity as an elder and superior.
After a long while, Anne finally moved. She took a deep breath, trying hard to suppress the chaotic emotions in her mind. But the overwhelming hatred still clamored in her head, urging Anne to seek revenge, to punish the culprit.
But...
Anne bent down and picked up the letter again. Her fingertips were still trembling slightly. She paused when picking up the paper, then folded it and put it in her pocket.
"Selyma."
Anne said flatly, "Do you have any activities planned for the near future?"
Selyma glared at Anne somewhat irritably. "Originally, I planned to hold a ball to help Friedel choose a wife. Now that you're here, even if I wanted to hold a ball, probably no one would be willing to come."
Anne turned her head and looked at the emotions in Selyma's eyes—dissatisfaction, frustration, and unwillingness, but no sharp malice. She took a deep breath and tried to curve her lips into a smile. "Then how about coming with me to have some fun?"