Earning the Love of a Princess-Chapter 261: Violet: Cynical

"If you’re accusing me of something, don’t mince your words! Just come out and say it!" Violet snapped.

"I saw you!" Kathryn shouted, not noticing or caring that a small cluster of courtiers had now gathered nearby and were listening in with glee. "At the Banquet of Love! I saw you standing next to Queen Celia and you pointed straight at me!"

The crowd was goggle eyed. Violet felt Ilse and Maisie now staring at her as well. Keep very calm, she told herself. No one has any proof.

"You’re right, I was pointing at you." Violet replied crisply. "Her Majesty was looking for you to accompany her back to her rooms. She was upset when she couldn’t see you and was asking me where you were. At that moment, you happened to appear and I pointed you out to her. I assumed she’d want your service. How was I supposed know where you’d been?" And with who?" Violet pursed her lips in a show of disgust.

Relief washed over Ilse’s face. "You can’t blame Violet for trying to be helpful to Her Majesty. If you were caught behaving badly with some page or stable hand in a dark corner, you only have yourself to blame, Lady Kathryn!"

"Page or stable hand?" Kathryn echoed in disbelief, then dropped her voice to a vicious whisper. "You really want to know who I was with that night? I’ll tell you. It was Prince Leo!"

Even Maisie looked doubtful when she heard that.

"That’s a very tall tale from such a small lady." Ilse scoffed.

"It’s the truth! I gave the prince my body. I let him seduce me with sweet words and now he’s tossed me away like a piece of trash. So I’d be very careful if I were you, Lady Ilse. It’s easy to be swayed by a man’s flattery, especially a handsome one who’ll wear a crown someday. But if you’re happy to be cast aside once you’ve lost your virtue, then by all means let the prince pursue you!"

Ilse shook her head pityingly. "No one’s pursuing me. And even if he was, you really expect me to believe your lies? You can’t just pin your poor choices on everyone else!"

With that, Ilse stomped off. Violet stood there for a moment, stupefied, then hurried after her sister.

"Ilse, are you alright?" she asked hesitantly the moment they were both in their room.

"Yes, I’m fine." Ilse shrugged and smiled. "I was just shocked by Lady Kathryn trying to smear innocent people with her lies, that’s all. I’m glad you stood up to her."

Violet sat on the bed, deciding whether to test the waters or not. "But what if what she said was true, sister? What if she really was with the prince the night of the banquet and that’s what got her in trouble with the queen?"

"Don’t be ridiculous! You actually believe her?"

"I don’t know what to believe! I wasn’t there to see what really happened!" Violet found the lies slipped out with surprising ease. "But it’s not an impossible scenario, is it? Don’t tell me you think Prince Leo is above dallying with random women."

"No. But the way he treats Kathryn makes it obvious he wasn’t the man with her that night."

"What are you talking about?"

"You saw how the prince reacted when he saw her earlier in the queen’s chamber. He treated her no differently to any other lady."

Violet shook her head in confusion. "And so?"

"Well, if Prince Leo had been intimate with Kathryn only a few nights ago like she claims, he wouldn’t be able to treat her as if she were nothing now." Ilse explained, speaking with such confidence that it made Violet’s heart ache a little. "No man could be that callous."

"What?" Violet felt her jaw fall open and drop almost down to her toes. "You believe that?"

"I do. He’s not a bad man, Vy. I think his reputation is undeserved. In fact, he’s been very charming and kind every time we’ve spoken."

"Is that so?" Violet said sardonically. "And when have you been spending all this time with the crown prince?"

"Just around. We’ve danced a few times and crossed paths in the castle. Nowhere in particular."

"And that now makes you an expert on how he treats the ladies?"

Ilse scowled at her. "Honestly, Vy. I don’t understand why you always have to be so cynical. Why do you have to just assume the worst about people?"

"Because I’m usually proven right!" Violet retorted. "The worst about people usually ends up being the truth. You can’t be naive about these things, Ilse. You can’t risk your name around someone like him. It’ll wreck both of our futures here!"

"I’m not going to take any risks, don’t worry." Ilse softened her tone. "But have you asked yourself if maybe you don’t know the prince as well as you think you do?"

"Or maybe you don’t, sister. Because I think I know the man well enough." Violet sighed. The images of Leo pumping furiously into Kathryn Danner in the garden and then not lifting a finger to help her after her reputation was ruined, flashed through her mind.

Ilse gave her a disapproving look.

Violet said nothing further. She lay back on the bed and closed her eyes, pretending to take a nap herself. All the while, she silently despaired that her own sister could be so ignorant.

Ilse is no better than a child, she said to herself in dismay. I’m going to have to make sure Leo doesn’t try to charm her any further. If he tumbles her and then word gets out that she’s been unchaste, the queen will demote us like Kathryn. And if she finds out that Ilse has dallied with her precious eldest boy, we’ll probably both be banished from court.

I’ll be damned if I’m sent back to Orravalo because Ilse is too blind to see when a heartless bastard is trying to win her over.