Tangled By Fate

Chapter 441: MISTRESS VERONICA

“The Mistress of the Magic Tower and the Assistant Master of the Magic Tower have arrived.”

Everyone’s eyes were fixed at the entrance.

Seeing the pair entering the ballroom, everyone held their breaths.

Even though they weren’t a couple, they looked compatible.

While Ovior was wearing gray-colored clothes with silver designs, Veronica was wearing an off-white gown with a golden design.

Their appearance dazzled the eyes of the guests. The ballroom instantly brightened up.

“Am I seeing things? This is Ovior, the Assistant Master of the magic Tower. The one beside him is the rumored Mistress of the Magic Tower!”

.....

“The rumor didn’t justify her beauty. She is more beautiful than people said.”

“And for the Assistant Master to come to the party, I must be dreaming.”

“Isn’t it because he is escorting the Mistress of the Magic Tower?”

“Who is the lucky one? The one who is escorting the gorgeous Mistress or the one who is escorting the Assistant Master who barely comes to the balls.”

The moment the pair entered the ballroom, everyone started gossiping about them.

Veronica couldn’t hear what they were saying but she could feel their gazes on her.

She nervously tightened her grip on Ovior.

“If you are trying to ruin my sleeve, it’s working,” Ovior commented with a flat expression.

“Ah! I’m sorry!” Veronica panicked.

Ovior sighed. “Did you forget what I taught you? You cannot apologize; especially not to someone with a low ranking.”

Veronica said, “You aren’t a low-ranking person...”

Ovior interrupted her, “My rank is lower than you. Keep your shoulders straight. Look forward. Don’t let me repeat myself the whole evening please.”

“I... I won’t...”

“Stop being nervous. This isn’t a place where you show your emotion. It’ll become your weakness. If the people find out, they will attack you with their words.”

“Yes, yes.”

The nobles surrounded them the moment their feet touched the ground.

A middle-aged man greeted her first.

“Good evening, Mistress of the Magic Tower. I’m Elios Jermyn. It’s an honor to finally meet you.”

Veronica greeted the man, “Good evening, Jermyn. Count Jermyn? The honor is mine.”

Count Jermyn was surprised that she knew his title. “Oh, you know me! I’m truly honored.”

Veronica smiled in return. “I know everyone who I should know.”

Her words sounded arrogant. Those who were around them froze for a while.

At first, they thought that the beautiful Mistress didn’t appear before due to her immature characteristics.

Many women thought that her behavior was so inappropriate that the Master of the Magic Tower didn’t bring her out to meet the nobles.

But to make them liars, Veronica first blinded them with her looks and now with her words.

“Our Mistress has an unexceptional brain. She can memorize any name she has seen once,” Ovior stated.

Veronica froze. ‘Just when did that happen?’ she began to wonder.

From what she could remember – she had spent a week of sleepless nights memorizing all the names of the aristocratic families and their family members.

Later on, she spent a whole month learning about each family scandal. She spent months memorizing those families’ history.

‘Did he say that to boost my popularity? What if they start testing me if it’s real or not? I’ll be in danger at this rate,’ she thought.

“Don’t exaggerate, Ovior. They might plan to bother me by trying to test me,” she said.

The nobles who were thinking of ‘bothering’ her by testing if she really had photographic memory became nervous.

“N-no way! Who would dare...”

“I don’t think anyone is imbecile enough to do that to the Mistress of the Magic Tower.”

“If someone dares to do it, they will have to see the wrath of the Master of the Magic Tower.”

“Oh, no. I won’t bother Arthur for some trivial matter,” Veronica said while taking a champagne glass in her hand. “Such matters can be taken care of by me.”

Her confident attitude showed the nobles a new light. They realized that she wasn’t someone they could trifle with just because she appeared for the first time.

Count Jermyn said, “Sure, the Mistress of the Magic Tower wouldn’t be able to capture the heart of the Master of the Magic Tower if she couldn’t take care of herself.

“Someone worthy of the Master of the Magic Tower can be his Mistress.”

Others went along with him.

“True, true.”

“A rightly Mistress of the Magic Tower doesn’t need her husband to take care of her business.”

While the men were all praising Veronica, noble ladies couldn’t accept it.

Not only Veronica was beautiful, but also she could easily steal anyone’s heart.

For the matter that she stole the heart of Arthur, the Master of the magic Tower, it bothered the ladies more.

After all, they had a lifelong crush on him despite him having a bad reputation.

Women love bad boys.

It ought to be true.

Veronica excused herself and walked to another part of the ball.

Her plan was to stay low until the Imperial Family arrived.

However, her plan was unsuccessful when some ladies gathered around her.

“Greetings, Mistress of the Magic Tower.”

The ladies bowed to her respectively.

But to Veronica, they seemed to pretend in front of her.

“Good evening, ladies. I hope you are doing well.”

One of the ladies replied with enthusiasm, “We are, Mistress. We were excited to meet you.”

Another lady with an innocent face said, “At first, I thought Mistress wouldn’t come. I was delighted when your title was announced. It was a grand entrance I must say.”

“The Mistress of the Magic Tower is truly unexceptional. Your dazzling appearance is enchanting.”

Veronica was truly pleased to hear those compliments. She stated, “Thank you ladies for your kind words.”

Another lady was staring at Veronica for a while quietly.

She was wearing a navy blue gown with gold dust sprinkled on her gown.

Half of her face was covered with a decorative fan, only revealing her eyes.

She spoke, “Shall we call you Mistress or do you have a name? I didn’t know someone would be desperate enough to be called by their title and not their names.”

Her comment made the three ladies who talked to Veronica first silent. They didn’t know how to react.

However, other ladies who heard the arrogant lady’s comment snickered. They enjoyed how Veronica was insulted.

Veronica looked at the lady with the navy-blue gown calmly and then asked, “I’m not sure who should introduce themselves first. Me who was not interested in talking to anyone or you who approached to talk to me?”

Her voice was neither loud nor quiet. Everyone around her heard her voice.

Veronica continued, “I understand that some people are so dazzled by my beauty that they forgot to introduce themselves after coming to talk to me.

“But they shouldn’t point their fingers at me when they don’t tell their names first.”

When she criticized their action, their expression changed.

The lady with the navy-blue gown narrowed her sharp eyes. She was about to say something when the other three ladies talked first.

“I’m so sorry that I forgot to introduce myself, Mistress. I’m Laila.”

.....

“I’m Arisa, Mistress.”

“I’m Rebecca.”

Veronica smiled at them. “It’s nice to meet you, Laila, Arisa and Rebecca. I’m Veronica.”

“It is a unique name, Mistress Veronica!” Laila praised her.

“It sure is!” Arisa said.

Rebecca went along with them, “I think so too.”

“Thank you, ladies.” Veronica was genuinely happy that there were people to compliment her name.

“Mistress Veronica truly has a unique name and unique hair. I’m sure many women are envious of your beauty,” the lady with the navy-blue gown stated.

Veronica didn’t smile. She wasn’t pleased with her words.

Her statement was in no way a compliment. She was mocking Veronica.

Red hair was unique in Utahill but not in Tybu. It was common to have red hair in Tybu and many witches and magicians had red hair.

For saying that red hair was unique, the lady was surely trying to look down at Veronica.

Although Veronica looked cold outside, inside she was on the verge of crying.

‘Why is she picking a fight with me when we just met? I’m not here to fight. I just want to enjoy the party and meet the Queen.’

Sadly, she could neither agree nor disagree with that woman outright.

If she agreed with the red hair being unique, it would show her lack of knowledge. If she disagreed with red hair being unique, it would make her lose her face.

She was in a tight spot.

Then, she had another thought.

‘Since she is picking a fight with me, does she not care about my title as the Mistress? What kind of formidable opponent she is?’

No matter what the lady’s identity was, Veronica had to say something.

While wondering about the girl’s identity, Veronica said, “Lady must have free time to think about one’s appearance. And here I’ve thought aristocratic ladies are busy with education, dancing and music since they were born. I must have thought wrong.”