The fifty chosen girls now stood in the massive garden. Those with friends chatted away, while the others simply stood or sat wherever they pleased.
"Bella!" Olivia called, walking toward her with a bright smile. Her blue dress hugged her curves, highlighting her beauty.
"Lady Olivia!" Bella quickly bowed her head.
Olivia was the young miss of the second-strongest family in the Star Nation, and Bella was still puzzled as to why such a girl would take a liking to her.
"Don't be so polite to me, Bella... Tell me, why were you late?" Olivia asked with a smile.
"There was a problem on the road; a man was bullying a child, so I helped," Bella explained.
"Oh... I also encountered such a situation, but Bella... You can't always jump in to help someone. Think about yourself. What if the person had struck you? Or injured your face?" Olivia asked, a hint of genuine worry in her voice.
Bella let out a long breath. "Thank you for your concern, but I can't just overlook injustice."
"That will get you in trouble," Olivia sighed, a helpless look on her face. "Okay... Why are we here again?" she asked, changing the subject.
"The butler said we should all wait here for the royal family," Bella answered.
Olivia nodded, her gaze sweeping over the other ladies until it landed on Matilda, who was sitting in a chair, fanning herself with a beautiful white fan.
"Look at her, so arrogant," she muttered in a low voice.
"...Huh?" Bella was confused.
"Look... Look at the smug look on her face... She didn't even do anything, she just took first place in all the competitions."
'Huh? Isn't that something you should be proud of?' Bella thought to herself.
"Don't get close to that lady... Her family is the Fearless family, and I heard from my father that they are secretly plotting against the imperial family... The King is even investigating this issue," Olivia whispered, continuing:
"You know she and the Crown Prince have been together forever... They were introduced to each other when they were five years old... Well, Matilda is actually older; she was seven then, while the Prince was five... Anyway, the rumors among us nobles say the Fearless family is planning to take over the throne... But that will surely end in a bloodbath."
"Why?" Bella asked.
"Why? The Fearless family has a huge number of warriors... If they are truly plotting against the imperial family, they'll have powerful soldiers."
"What if it's all just a rumor? Matilda has been a sweet girl from the start of the competition... She isn't wicked; I even heard her donating to the poor and building orphanages around the empire," Bella said, turning to Olivia.
Olivia sighed. "True... I hate to admit it, but Matilda is one of the nicest people I know..." Olivia folded her arms across her chest.
"But this personality might be false... If the rumors turn out to be wrong, then everything will return to normal, but if it's the truth? We nobles will be the ones who suffer."
Bella stared at Olivia for a few moments, then turned to Matilda and sighed.
"I am only an elf from the countryside. Alas, I am not even from the Star Nation; if there wasn't a rule of letting other races live here, I wouldn't even dream of standing here..." Bella exhaled, while Olivia listened silently. "I just want to live a good and quiet life with my family, but we can't do that without a steady stream of income... So I had to be here, to help my family." Bella added, "I don't care about anything, I just want to be happy..."
Olivia blinked a couple of times and sighed. "True... Let's just forget all this and hope for the best," she said.
"Oh my goodness! Who is this?!!"
"So smelly!"
"What the hell is this boy doing here?!"
"Is that dirt all over his body?"
"Ewww... Don't get close to me!"
".....?!"
Bella and Olivia looked at each other in confusion and walked toward the gathered group of ladies to see what was causing the commotion.
Matilda opened her eyes, glanced at the ladies, and closed her eyes again, not moving from her position.
Bella and Olivia pushed past the girls and came face to face with a red-haired boy who was covered in dirt and mud. He had clearly fallen into a ditch.
"Wow, so smelly," Olivia said, waving her hand in front of her nose.
"Hey... We are technically the same age. I just got lost and found myself here," the boy said.
"So? Don't you see we are the specially picked ladies? Look how clean I am, and you want to stain me with your... dirty body," a girl said with disgust.
"True!"
"Yes!" the others chorused in agreement.
"Shut up, all of you!" Bella yelled coldly, her words catching them all off guard.
"You!! Who do you think you are?!" a lady in an expensive dress said with a cold tone.
"She is just a country girl; how dare you speak to us nobles with such disrespect?" another said.
"Wait, this is the imperial castle, how did this boy even get here?" a third asked.
"He said he got lost... Do you guys think he sneaked in, trying to steal something?" a fourth muttered.
"Hold on, you guys. Although he stinks, there must be a reason he is here... And Bella isn't a country girl, she is my friend, and going against her is akin to going against the young miss of the Falcon family," Olivia said coldly.
"The Falcon family?!" The ladies were horrified.
"That's the second-strongest family in the nation," someone exclaimed.
The others looked at each other, then at the boy, and with a collective sigh of disgust, they walked away.
"On then, just make sure to get him out of here... He shouldn't dirty our sight."
"You guys?" Bella stopped herself and turned to the boy, who looked a bit younger than her but was taller. "Why are you here?" she asked.
"I was lost. I was going to the shower and ended up here," he said.
"Going to the shower?" Bella looked over her shoulder at Olivia, who simply shrugged.
"Okay... Do you know the way back?" Bella asked, turning back to the boy.
"I think I can retrace my steps," he said, and turned around.
"Wait," Olivia stopped him.
The boy and Bella turned to her in confusion. They watched as she walked toward a girl, snatched the water bottle from her hand, and walked back to them, handing it to Bella.
"Take... You like helping others, right? Then go ahead."
Bella smiled slightly, took the water, and opened it. The boy watched in confusion as Bella poured some of the water onto her hand and helped him rinse the dirt off his face.
"Better," she said, and the boy bowed to her.
"Thank you again," he said, and walked out of the garden.
"So cute. Although he is the same height as us, you still helped him wash his face. I actually gave you the water to pass it to him," Olivia said, staring at her friend in confusion.
Bella smiled, washing her hand with the remaining water:
"He reminds me of my little brother, he is just one month old." she said.