บท 9: The Banquet
Fortunately, Shirley was able to arrive on time at Wasteland city, even though the group arrived there at night. One thing that Shirley was worried about at the moment was the lodging for them, given that the banquet this time was huge, there must be a lot of people travelling to Wasteland to attend the banquet.
Previously it had been quite difficult to get lodgings, but fortunately there were still a few lodgings left even though they were located on the edge of town. If the one who came today was the original Shirley she would definitely not be willing to occupy an inn at the edge of town.
However, the current Shirley did not mind at all as long as she could still attend the banquet to show that she was not down with what Victor and Thalia had done to her.
And one more thing that Shirley wanted to find out at the banquet this time was about Noah being poisoned earlier. Shirley is convinced that it was not her people who poisoned Noah and she does not believe that Noah intended to commit suicide, although this possibility is possible.
Somehow Shirley felt that there was outside interference in this incident, although she still had no knowledge of who might have done this to Noah.
"It could have been Thalia, but it's unlikely given how much Thalia loves Noah." Shirley thought seriously at this moment, remembering that they were in a horse-drawn carriage heading to Marquis Madeline's residence.
"There's no way Noah would want to kill himself! I never read that there was an event like this when I read the novel!" Shirley was deep in thought as she thought back to what had happened to Noah earlier.
Shirley's reverie was broken when she heard Ivy calling out to her worriedly, when she looked up she realised that they had arrived at Marquis Madeline's residence. To calm herself down Shirley caught her breath first before welcoming Ivy's hand to help her off the carriage.
Shirley realised that there were many nobles coming tonight, it seemed like she should be prepared to get a cold reaction from them or even tonight it seemed like she would be alone with no one to reprimand her.
Without any hesitation, Shirley stepped into Marquis Madeline's residence and was immediately welcomed into the large hall.
The moment Shirley stepped into the hall and her name was spoken, she felt that there were many pairs of eyes glancing at her with various expressions. Shirley wore a stunning violet-coloured dress this evening.
The dress covers her shoulders only barely with 2 spaghetti straps and flows down into a beautiful Queen Anne neckline. It's a comfortable fit which covers up her breasts, but does so without making it look awkward or messy.
Her arms have been covered to only just below her shoulders. A good choice too, as her skin and the colour of the dress form a perfect combination.
The dress' waist is broad, but it's a comfortable fit. It's left simple, elegant and undecorated, creating a look that flows from top to bottom. The dress reaches all the way down, almost covering her feet and is the same length all around.
Out of the five dresses that Shirley had previously purchased, she finally chose this violet dress to wear with the addition of the small pendant necklace that she wore tonight adding to her beauty.
With a smug look on her face, Shirley slowly walked around the hall to see if there was anyone she recognised here. As Shirley was savouring her wine, she sensed several people walking towards her.
"Good evening, Lady Estelle. We didn't expect you to come here, given that Duke Blair and Lady Janice are also here tonight," said a brown-haired woman who seemed to want to provoke Shirley's anger.
Shirley elegantly unfolded her folding fan and chuckled softly when she heard the woman speak, "Goodness, Lady Silva! Why don't I come just because of them, I no longer care about them," Shirley replied, still chuckling, finding it amusing what the daughter of Viscount Silva had said.
The few faces that had eavesdropped on their conversation began to whisper upon hearing what Shirley had said, while Lady Silva and her friends' faces took on an ugly look when they did not get a good reaction from Shirley.
"By the way, that dress you're wearing is very beautiful, Lady Estelle. I wonder where you bought it?" Not long after, a woman appeared to compliment the dress Shirley was wearing.
However, when Shirley saw who said it she immediately rolled her eyes lazily, it was Thalia who came in a dazzling light blue dress. Shirley surmised that Thalia had approached her to embarrass her.
"Didn't we also meet at the boutique that time, Lady Janice? I guess you already know where I got this dress," Shirley replied calmly, she still could not get over the fact that Thalia had been a white lotus all along.
"Then is there a possibility that Thalia was the one who poisoned Noah before?" Shirley's mind began to think that her conjecture was starting to make sense, it seemed she should ask Noah himself.
"Ahh, there it is. I didn't think Lady Estelle would have time to think about the current trend," Thalia replied as she pulled Shirley's arm to follow her.
Shirley furrowed her brow when she saw Thalia pulling her away, without saying much she threw Thalia's arm away and glanced at her sarcastically, "What are you doing?!" This time Shirley was quite disturbed by what Thalia was doing.
"Did I startle you, Lady Estelle? I didn't mean to, I thought you wanted to greet Marchioness Madeline with me," Thalia said with teary eyes.
Instantly Shirley was stunned by Thalia's acting this time, she did not expect to fall into her trap. And Shirley could feel the sharp gazes towards her getting more and more after what Thalia had done earlier and the whispers were getting louder.
"Looks like you'll have to go alone." Shirley turned to leave Thalia's side, there would be no benefit in her continuing to stay by Thalia's side.
However, Shirley's steps came to a halt when she saw that there was someone blocking her path at the moment and it was Victor. Shirley could feel her head throbbing with pain right now when she saw Victor standing in front of her.
"Shouldn't you apologise to Thalia before leaving," Victor said in a cold tone, wanting to force Shirley to apologise to Thalia after being rude to her.
While Thalia, who was not far away from there, was secretly grinning happily, she knew that Victor would defend her and make Shirley pay for what she had done to her.
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