Capítulo 25: Bougainvillea's Poison Gardens

"If I complain about sports, it's definitely because he got on my nerves. He's been on my arse ever since I beat him in the nation-wide equestrian tournament and he won't shut the hell up because he can't beat me anymore," Jalen rolls his eyes, following the movements of his butlers until he's all changed up.

With a spray of a rose-scented perfume, he's ready for the day. Surprisingly, his hair is a ready state, one that looks not too shabby on him.

Considering he's an athlete, he's usually seen around the house with loose strands of hair protruding from his head and an uneven consistency to it even first thing in the morning.

"Also, I wanna ask, Roseann also never apologised for bursting my ball so do you wanna help me pull a trick on her?" he turns his face to Myra, looking her in the eye with a mischievous fire in his own.

Myra furrows her eyebrows. "What's with the sudden offer?" she asks suspiciously, subconsciously aware of the fact that there may be an underlying motive that she's unable to read into at this point of time.

One conversation is all that's needed to know how sly of a person Jalen is, although he's only eighteen. He's curious and has an eagle's eye, both of which are weapons alongside his bodily strength.

Myra would know better than to make him an enemy so now that she has a chance to earn brownie points, she will.

"Roseann has always hated you, anyway so I wouldn't think you're such a pushover to hold respect for her even if she does. There's no harm if you help me, you know nobody ever finds it out when I do something. Roseann knows Daddy won't come to help," Jalen smirks.

Myra licks her teeth as her lips curve upwards as well. She nods once but without acknowledging his offer once more, she turns away while beckoning him forward.

"We mustn't be late," she says, patting Jalen on the shoulder to have him walk faster. She and him walk to the living room just in time, or so it seems, because when they arrive, Frederick had been tapping his foot against the ground anxiously while looking at his watch.

Considering his bright expression upon seeing the two, Myra guesses she must've been lucky to arrive before he went mad from waiting. "You can brief the two of us," she says while pulling Jalen down onto the couch next to herself.

Before paying her full attention to the frantic man in front of her, she's momentarily distracted by the living room she realises she's come to for the first time, nothing like the ones she's been familiar with. It's a large, spacious room with traditional couches and a fireplace lined with countless bookshelves.

"The carriage will be arriving in approximately five minutes so I'll need to quickly brief the two of you on what to do," Frederick explains until a female butler enters as well, carrying several papers and a single ball on top of the stack. She tosses it towards Jalen, who has been shifting uncomfortably for a while since Frederick started speaking.

Only after receiving the ball does he settle down, playing with it in his hands while he finally listens.

"Okay, so when you're at the party, try your hardest to not cause any dispute because it's important we remain as the better family at the place. Young masters, before you eat, it's important that you consume these pills because they're anti-toxins which will cancel any poison if your food has been spiked."

With this, the female butler carefully passes them coloured glass vials. Frederick takes a deep breath before he continues speaking.

"I've been told that both the Bougainvillea siblings will be there, Ariana and her brother, Ashton. The Bougainvilleas own a poison garden so stay far away from the plants in case the party is being held in the greenhouse. The party will end at dusk so a carriage will be prepared right on time for you to leave. The Duke has also asked me to pass on this message: Show that you're better off."

With this, his lecture ends and the female butler (presumably Jalen's right-hand woman) speaks finally, "I trust the young masters know how to handle such a situation during a situation like this."

She says so with an innocent tone but Myra can tell from the slits of her eyes that she intends to convey more through her words. She nods in acknowledgement, after which she and her brother are led out to the carriage waiting for them.

Three of four guards stand behind the carriage with horses, likely for extra protection at the venue itself. Myra clambers into her closed coach while struggling to keep her dress to herself.

"That dress of yours is a real pain," Jalen comments after almost slipping off the fabric of her dress. It's a good thing that he has a strong core balance to keep him from falling from accidental trips or occasional slips. "You can go now," he raises his voice for the coachman to hear and the door of the carriage is closed tightly.

"At least I look pretty," Myra sits back against the backrest, angling her face towards the outside. Her voice is soon washed out by the sounds of hooves tottering, both from the front and the back, but after seconds of silence, she realises she'd rather speak.

"You said you want to get your revenge on Roseann but never mentioned any ideas. You're going to need a solid plan if you want my help, you know?"

"I'd rather think about it later," Jalen admits, kicking one leg over the other. "I'm thinking about what I'm going to have to do at the tea party today. I only came so I could annoy the Ashton kid and give him a good warning to not mess with me anymore."

Myra doesn't respond for a while to think if it's necessarily a good idea for him to strike an enmity with someone she isn't so sure of as her enemy yet. She'll need to ensure as soon as possible that the 'Ara' she has in mind is the one she'll be taking down in this life.

"Don't do anything brash. Revenge exists in many forms," Myra kicks him in the shin playfully, to which Jalen grimaces. "I don't know what it's like with them but we can't let them know that we're in any implicated situation, especially since Cole is still in the forests, trying to salvage whatever happened at the camps. I'm guessing the Bougainvilleas were behind it because we have no real enemy other than them in Fleurette."

Jalen grunts with indignation. "Fine, but you're going to need to give me one chance where I can get my way with that boy before he annoys the sense out of me. I'm not a sheep so you're going to have to be smart if you want my support."

Myra hums. "If I'm a shepherd then, what does it make you? My dog?"