The Devil's Temptation!

159 Tasting Revenge (I)

Holding a small glass bowl in her grip, Anna skipped through the hallway while humming something in a sweet melodious tone. Her pretty face glowed against the light of the hung chandeliers and her ponytail swayed left and right as she skipped like a happy child, only to exit the hallway.

Her change of mood unfailingly left the busy servants baffled as they watched her go, obviously dazed to see her unexpectedly happy when most of the time, she was rather disturbed or always carrying a look that expressed the burden on her head.

“Why is she so happy?” Asked a maid who was busy adorning the stairs with lovely bouquets. After the embarrassment Lady Roseline caused earlier, she didn’t expect Anna to recover so quickly from it and to find her this jovial was startling.

“Who wouldn’t be after ending up in the arms of his highness.” Becca dreamily commented while batting her lashes and twirling around, but the maiden she was speaking with just rolled her eyes in jealousy and continued her work.

“The head maid informed us about the little party happening at the courtyard tonight, basically for the females only so we better hurry up and start the arrangements.” She added the last pieces of flowers before walking out on Becca who giggled at the maid’s failing attempt to hide her jealousy.

She was tempted to rub salt into her wound, based on the fact she was among the maidens who laughed at Anna’s earlier predicament, but didn’t find it necessary since the table just turned.

At least his highness also cared about the human maid, else things would have gotten really ugly if lady Roseline succeeded in her plans.

“Becca, hurry up, we need to set the chairs in the courtyard!” Came the yell of another maiden who walked by with a set of trays in her hand and Becca quickly got back to work.

Arriving at the courtyard, the broken pieces of pots had been cleared away and to Anna’s relief, everyone had peacefully returned to their usual duties, minding their business and barely looking in her direction.

.....

At least she wanted to think that way.

Staring at the path ahead, Anna thinned her lips while squinting her eyes to see the beautiful colored garden that came after the bridge. Lady Melrose had sent her to pick some berries from the garden, saying she was craving for some since she was a lover of berries and Anna believed it, knowing how many times she’s seen lady Melrose eat berries in the palace.

But this time, she wanted them freshly picked from the garden which is also a good thing, they’re actually sweeter when picked and even if she didn’t want to pick them, the kitchen was already out of berries.

Fortunately for Anna, the Lady Melrose doesn’t seem to hold any grudges against her despite witnessing what happened to her sister downstairs, and her attitude towards her has remained neutral, just like before.

The way that made them feel comfortable with one another.

It was difficult to explain how relieved she felt because she already assumed Lady Roseline would use her sister to get back at her in the worst of ways, but maybe Lady Melrose isn’t as horrible as the rest of them.

A pretty smile enchanted her lips to her face and she continued on her skip as she made her way into the neat courtyard.

A huge glass fountain was beautifully placed in the middle of the courtyard, it was incredibly beautiful that Anna had to stop in her steps in order to steal a look at it.

Its centerpiece was a glacier, involuntarily reminding Anna of a certain glacier himself. The look in his eyes most times tends to remind her of this glacier, most especially with the way he looks at her, it never fails to leave ice running through her veins.

Even his aura was no different but heart-warmingly, he doesn’t seem to look at her with those glacier eyes anymore, as though she had somehow created an inferno that was hot enough to melt those icy glassy stares of his.

She asked him a question earlier, and the fact he didn’t even wait to respond to her important question only made her see him as heartless. He seemed in a hurry but then, he promised to give her her response tonight.

She playfully glared at the fountain instead and pointed a finger at the glacier, “you promised me tonight, so you have no other choice but to give me your answers tonight.”

She made it clear to the glacier and only when she was met with an awkward silence from the background did she realize she was talking to a fountain and she blinked.

She was seriously scolding a fountain??

Looking around to make sure no one spotted her silly act, she cleared her throat and turned away from the fountain. It’s obvious she’s been thinking a little too much about that man and the fact he knew without even being there somehow annoyed her.

‘stupid brain, focus on getting those berries!’ she silently scolded herself and continued her journey to the garden with a sweet humming sound.

When she was finally starting to approach the garden ahead of her, she could hear flowing streams that broke the path in two, with an oaken bridge giving easy access to the garden, but before she got a chance to step on the bridge, someone stopped her with a quick yell.

“No, don’t!” Came the alarmed voice from a gardener who was busy cutting a grass into shape, but had stopped after seeing Anna approach the unsteady bridge with the intention of stepping on it.

Hearing the voice, Anna instinctively paused in her steps and raised her head up to look at the middle-aged-man who had stopped her.

“Huh?”

“You can’t walk past the bridge,” he informed her, “the bridge is cracked and can collapse if you step on it. It’s yet to be amended and no one’s allowed to walk on it to avoid falling it apart.

“Oh.” Anna couldn’t hide how dumbstruck she was at the news and instantly took a safe step back.

She bowed in appreciation to the middle-aged-man who had warned her on time, “thank you for stopping me.”

“It’s not a problem, but you should be more careful and watch where you’re stepping on to avoid trouble in the future.” He advised and Anna politely nodded in understanding, knowing she actually has hasty legs.

Looking at the bridge, Anna could vividly see the cracks and she couldn’t possibly have imagined herself sinking to the water below. That’ll be another embarrassment of the day and she can’t risk getting embarrassed twice.

Cautiously, she took another part that led to the garden, but then paused in her steps, as though something had hit her, leading her eyes to widen into contemplation.

The oaken bridge has a crack and it’s not stable. If anyone steps on it, then obviously they’d fall into the water beneath it so the effect of the fall won’t be critical.

“Right?” She outwardly questioned while rubbing her temples, imagining a funny, yet mischievous scene in her head. A funny one to be a lot more specific and it was just the best way to get her revenge on the lady Roseline.

A mischievous smile curved her lips at the recollection of the demoness having a little get-together in the courtyard tonight. It would be the right time to make Lady Roseline pay back for the humiliation and since Roshan doesn’t seem to have a problem with it, why should she?

She hated the fact he was right about how tolerable she was based on everything and it shouldn’t be that way.

Ignorance is also not a bad thing but sometimes, you need to stand up for yourself and prove to them that your silence doesn’t literally mean you’re weak.

Since she was born, she had grown up with the mentality of tolerating everything that happens in her life, hoping that things will get better as time moves on cause she had watched her mother tolerate a lot of mishaps and accusations.

But nothing changed, it only made her realize that if they had struck back all those years ago, things wouldn’t have been so hard for them.

Like they say, you learn everyday and she’s going to begin her practice starting with those demoness who tend to think they’re better than everyone. Who thinks humiliating someone because they’re of higher society adds to their name.

She’s going to stand up for herself and get her revenge on what Roseline did to her. Not just Roseline, but anyone who dares to embarrass her without any valid reason.

Folding her arms at the motivation she bestowed on herself, she felt more prepared than ever and was suddenly anticipating for tonight to finally arrive.

“This should be fun!”

She held back her giggle and headed into the garden.