A Villainess Should Be Strong

The next morning, Estelle was woken up by a loud sound.

It came from the door. She struggled to open her eyes, but she vaguely saw two familiar figures standing by the door.

It was the twin attendants.

"Good morning," Neil came in with a large smile plastered on his face, going straight to the windows and opening the curtains in one wide movement.

Estelle was still huddled up in her bed, but Niki came to the clutch and successfully dragged her out of the bed.

Still half awake, Estelle grumbled in frustration. The feeling of being woken up in the morning was always unpleasant.

However, Estelle's attention was brought to Neil's face. The man had a long lasting grin from the moment he stepped in until now, when he stood in front of her.

Immediately, Estelle knew that the second challenge would be issued to her.

After all, what else would case that man to have such a bright smile in the presence of the one and only Estelle Clareste, someone he was trying to kick out of Alfheim?

Estelle rubbed her eyes, still feeling lethargic as she had just woken up.

"Ngh.. Good morning, you two," Estelle greeted, covering her mouth as she yawned.

"You should know what I am about to do, correct?" Neil teased.

"Unfortunately, yes. I should have placed a limit on how many challenges you could issue, but I didn't.. so basically, am I at your mercy as long as I'm in Alfheim? That sucks, but have fun with it while you can," Estelle replied in a straightforward manner, stating everything she thought.

Neil broke into a chuckle as he nodded. "Actually, my fun isn't going to be made right now, it will be there in a bit,"

"In a bit?" Estelle tilted her head.

"Well then, get up and ready yourself.. I will announce the next challenge in your breakfast session. Niki, help her dress up," Neil said, gesturing to his twin sister.

"Ao? What? Dress up.. Is there a special occasion today?"Estelle became even more confused.

Although Niki usually also handle her appearance, she did nothing more than just preparing her clothes and tidying her look up. But if Neil specifically said to be dressed up, then it entailed to something more complex.

"Who knows? You will found out either way, so just go along with my words," Neil shrugged. "I will leave Niki with you. She will handle all the attendant duties.. Now excuse me as I go to take care of another business,"

After saying that, the man proceeded to leave the room, closing the door behind him. The two, Estelle and Niki, were left alone.

Estelle blinked repeatedly as she still failed to process what had just happened.

"Haa.. The thing he is planning, what is it? Is the castle holding a party or something?" Estelle asked, casting refreshing water magic over herself.

It was the way she took baths. Unless she explicitly wanted to enjoy the feeling of bathing, she usually used water spells to cleanse herself.

Niki immediately took out the items she had prepared prior to her entrance. She made Estelle sit down on the dressing table after telling her to get into the outfit she chose.

Estelle complied with her attendant's words.

"Party.. Close, but not exact," Niki hummed as she combed through Estelle's silky hair. "Do you want to experiment with your hair? It has been a long time since I did someone's hairstyle," she asked.

"..Hm?" Estelle raised a brow. "Do whatever you need, whatever you think suits me. It's an event I need to dress up for.. I don't know much about fashion, so I will trust your styling,"

Estelle wasn't someone who was keen on dressing up to the max, she preferred comfortable clothing that suited the world's style, but had her own modifications to it.

As long as her outfit and styling looked presentable, she believed that her fabulous genes would carry the plan anyway.

"Alright, then," Niki rolled up her sleeves as she began to separate Estelle's hair, prepared to create a beautiful style out of the locks.

"..Well, I did say to dress me up, but this is.." Estelle turned around, looking at her reflection in the mirror.

Estelle's outfit theme was all white, which was a color scheme she liked. She wore a slightly puffy long sleeved white dress with a leather harness, matching leather high boots, with the outfit having delicate and detailed engravings that completed the set.

Her hair was let down, but some of the strands were braided and put up together to be tied in the back. Her hair was made to be slightly wavy, and captured the image of a fairy very well with her exotic signature silver color and striking golden eyes.

"I look beautiful," Estelle said, not feeling shameful at all with her bold claim. It was a fact.

"..Actually, I didn't do much. You already look ethereal as a child. God, what would happen when you turn into an adult?"

"You are exaggerating way too much, thank my parents for giving me these looks if you really want to appreciate it," Estelle humphed. She twirled around to look at her appearance and found herself to be satisfied with the styling. "Good job, though, I like this look," she gave a compliment to the woman.

"Of course, the very few chances where I get to style Her Highness' looks were my favorite. I'm quite experienced in this area, do you believe me?"

"After seeing your product.. I will believe you," Estelle giggled. "Now.. back to business. Exactly when is the event Neil talked about?"

"Hmm... we can go there in a few minutes. Wait a second, I will check with my brother once more," Niki began to walk away, preparing to start a communication line.

Leaving the woman to her own business, Estelle sat back on the bed and fiddled with her fingers, her feeling weighing heavily on her heart.

She was still affected with yesterday's meeting with Yulia Eire.

She ran away because she did not know what to do.

The pain that Aleksei talked about, the one that came after her purification was actually not that severe considering her pain tolerance levels. It made Estelle laugh depreciatingly when she woke up from her sleep feeling the 'scorching pain' that was promised.

Actually, it just felt like she was exposed to a terribly hot day, standing under the sunlight with no protection at all. It wasn't up to the level of the other pains she had experienced before. The pain caused her status to be imbalanced for quite a while, but once she got used to the discomfort, Estelle was even able to go back to her slumber.

Now that her senses were clear, and she was relaxed, she began to wonder if her choice to run away was the right thing to do. What if Yulia wanted to convey something different, something she did not know of?

What if she was wrongfully accused?

Sadly, inside Estelle's mind, she had fully made up her views on the influential trio. The trio were very close, even before Estelle entered this world. To be frank, it could be said that Estelle was quite lucky to have met those three as if they were destined.

However, now that she had started to discover more about the world, and her fates, she started to wonder if all of these 'coincidental' meetings were planned from the start.

She was scared to face it. She did not want to know the truth she wasn't ready to accept.

As she was thinking round and round inside her head, Niki walked back to her side. She carried news that she had received through the communication.

"Ao, it seems like they are ready on the other part," Niki said. "If you want, we could go there right now,"

Estelle stared at Niki for a few moments, thinking about her choice. "Let's go right now. I don't have anything to do,"

Since her challenge was completed, she did not have any schedule.

"Well then, follow me!" Niki excitedly went towards the door, escorting Estelle.

They began to walk side by side, passing through some corridors and chambers.

The place they stopped at? A chamber she had been to before. The Queen's Chamber.

"..I'm meeting my grandaunt today?" Estelle raised a brow.

"Her Highness will be there, but it's not only her," Niki put a finger up to her lips as she gestured for Estelle to follow as she entered the building.

The guards instantly recognized Niki, so they were let in without much consideration.

They went upstairs, and stopped in front of a room. From inside, small chatters could be heard.

Niki opened the door, revealing their arrival and making the people's heads turn to the opened door.

Estelle's eyes instantly went towards the table where everyone was crowded around.

"Good morning.. Your Highnesses Shirley and Aleksei, Frey, and..?" Estelle pursed her lips as she greeted the people there.

One person was unrecognizable.