Elna Leopold had been with her mother as they went around, greeting the other families that had made their appearance here today.

To be present today meant that these families are being given the honor of having their names etched in the Book of Records maintained by the Royal family of Rosenhyde.

The Leopold family was one of the wealthiest families after the Ducal families so it wasn't an issue for them to lend their aid to the relief program that the King had mentioned in his decree.

Thanks to their generous contributions that helped eliminate starvation among the suffering fiefs, their family would also be honored today.

Therefore, she, as the only daughter of the rich and powerful Leopold family, was in high spirits as she strolled around the garden.

Every family present here was in the good graces of the King which implied that having a cordial relationship with them would only be beneficial for her and her family's future.

Thus, Elna had worn her best dress, put on the latest jewelry sold by their family's stores, and even brushed up on her etiquettes which had already been quite perfect, to begin with.

Her goal was to build up connections with those from the other influential families and she had even begun working towards that goal ever since she had arrived in this garden.

Her mother was Marchioness Leopold who held a high status among the ladies who held the same title as her.

While every lady in the Kingdom supported the one at the very top, Queen Zena, the same could not be said about those who came after her.

As the Kingdom had different families with various statuses, each had its own factions.

They would support the one above them while receiving support from the ones below them.

This was how things worked in their social circle and Elna had been taught the same from a young age.

For example, everyone was a loyal supporter of the Queen.

However, the Duchesses who came after the Queen had their own supporters who were divided into factions.

Similarly, the Marchionesses had their own factions and entourages who in turn supported their preferred Duchess.

There were six families with the title of Marquess and they each had their own preferences.

In the case of the Leopold family, they supported neither Duchess Brodie nor Duchess Tanner.

Marchioness Leopold was neutral and did not side with either of the two ladies above her.

However, the same could not be said about the others.

The Kiron family's Marchioness was a close acquaintance of Duchess Tanner and hence was a large part of her faction and the ladies who supported Marchioness Kiron also belonged to the same faction.

Similarly, Marquess Samed was unmarried so he had no Marchioness to make that decision but since he was the Duchess's younger brother, he was on her side as well.

On the other hand, Marchioness Carter was a loyal follower of Duchess Brodie and stayed away from the other Duchess.

Finally came Marchionesses Yona and Jorbin.

Lady Jorbin was of foreign origins and was often ignored in their social events but as of late, she had been appearing at parties organized by Duchess Tanner which indicated that she was on her side.

Initially, Marchioness Yona had sided with Duchess Brodie but after her daughter, Cecily, showed interest in marrying Jacob Kiron, the youngest son of the Kiron family, she had jumped ship.

She was now on Duchess Tanner's side since the Kirons were supporters of the Tanner family.

With the Samed, Kiron, Yona, and the Jorbin family siding with the Tanners, the Brodie family's faction was beginning to weaken.

Thus, the Carter family had been trying to recruit more members to join their side which also included the Leopolds.

Even today, Duchess Brodie had called for Marchioness Leopold and invited her for a tea party at her estate on a later date.

While the Duchess was speaking to Marchioness Leopold, Elna had been standing silently by her side and this was when she noticed a group arriving and heading to the Queen in order to greet her.

Turning to see who it was, the young girl's eyes narrowed when she saw a familiar figure.

The ones who had arrived were Marquess Samed with Duchess Tanner and her sons along with the entire St. Claire family.

Elna knew she had to greet the Duchess and the Marquess later on but had no interest in interacting with someone from an Earl's family.

However, just the thought of how that child from this same Earl's family had disregarded her kind word of advice and even gone against her back then, she could not give up the grievance she had buried in her heart.

Elna was the proud daughter of the Leopold family whose main business dealt with jewels and gems.

Such a person was proven wrong regarding a gem before a crowd on that day at Ocular's caravan which had been a stain on her mantle.

To make matters worse, this child had provoked her with that wicked grin before she blatantly went against her.

Elna had then chosen to ignore the daughter of the St. Claire's family as in her eyes, that child was nothing but mannerless and petty.

She was shamelessly calling the son of a Ducal family her brother when she had no blood ties with them.

Therefore, when she caught sight of Yvonne St. Claire, looking in her direction, she too did not back down and leered right back at her.

Noticing her strange behavior, even Marchioness Leopold had glanced her way and frowned when she saw that it was the St. Claire's family who had arrived.

Elna had told her mother about what had taken place in the past which made the Marchioness vigilant of this unruly child.

'What troubles will she cause for my Elna today?' Marchioness Leopold furrowed her brows as she decided to remind her daughter to stay away from this child.

___

'She is supposed to be the cold flower of society?' Yvonne, on the other side of this stare-down, was holding in the urge to roll her eyes.

In the dreams that she had seen, there were rare instances that 'Yvonne' had come in contact with this lady.

Elna Leopold was someone who held her chin high and her self-confident demeanor was even higher.

Among the social circles, while Glennise Brodie was waging wars against the female lead, Hilda, there was another silent war between a different pair of women.

It was a known fact that Aleena Kiron opposed everything that Elna Leopold did, sadly, the victor in every confrontation was the calm and collected Elna who could subdue and suppress hotheaded Aleena with just a few words.

'Yvonne' had been aware of this animosity between these two ladies from the Marquess families but had no interest in getting caught up between them.

She was already too busy trying to help her best friend, Glennise, win against Hilda that she did not bother to interfere in the long and unending war between Elna and Aleena.

Thinking of what she had seen in her dreams, the little girl shook her head as Aleena's crude ways were truly was no match against Elna's snide remarks.

Her way of infuriating others while still appearing to be speaking up in their favor was a talent that even Yvonne wished to learn and master by observing her.

However, there was still time for Elna's skills to progress as right now, she was a mere child with grievances against her.

Therefore, Yvonne gave her one last look before averting her eyes.

This action only made Elna's eyes darken as in her mind, Yvonne St. Claire had just deemed her unworthy of her attention.

For the past year or so, Elna had been in her native fief with her grandparents who pampered her endlessly and she had not faced such an insult ever before.

Therefore, she narrowed her eyes while glaring at the younger girl who did not care for hierarchy and even dared to behave in such a rude manner towards her.

'Who would have thought that even after this long period of absence, you would remain just as haughty as you were before?' She sneered as her hands clenched her new dress before she turned away as well.

They had only returned to the Capital and the daughter of a mere Earl had already managed to infuriate her.

This was enough for Elna to determine that Yvonne St. Claire needed to be taught a lesson on how etiquette worked in their society.

While Elna was busy planning on how she would deal with this insolent child, someone else had just entered the garden to attend this tea party.

A tall man stood in silence at the entrance as he scanned the entirety of the garden in one go before heading in a certain direction.

"Greetings, Your Highness.

" He bowed before the Queen in greeting and rose up only after hearing her reply.

"How have you been, Earl Mikren?

" Queen Zena questioned as she took the chance to initiate a conversation with this man.

The ladies around them had also turned upon hearing the name that the Queen had just used to call him.

'So that is Earl Mikren…' Yvonne too raised her brow as she stared at the man whose appearance had caught a lot of attention from those around them.

After all, this man had been a much talked about topic during the ladies' tea parties back before the plague had occurred.

A young and handsome Earl who had inherited the title after his father's demise due to old age.

However, these married women weren't interested in his identity but were rather enthusiastic about the good looks that he possessed.