Chapter 1225:
The manor grounds featured a spacious pavilion. A round table stood at its center, flanked by a trimmed lawn on one side and a sparkling pool on the other.
Elena headed over. All six chairs at the table were already taken. The women seated there stared at her with thinly veiled hostility, each one eager to see her stumble. There were no open seats—just a small stool set near the pool, meant for servants.
A woman in a blue dress smirked. “Oh dear, looks like all the seats are taken. Why not settle on that little stool by the pool? You don’t mind, do you?”
Though they lounged comfortably, they expected Elena to sit on a small stool. Each of them watched, waiting for the moment she would crouch at their feet and possibly tip into the water.
Torin—handsome, influential, and elusive—was the man every socialite in Yoswye dreamed of. Yet, none dared act on their feelings, not with Celeste’s elevated status and Torin’s volatile moods.
If Torin chose Celeste, they might accept it. She was, after all, above them in both background and connections. But his interest was fixed on Elena, a woman no one knew, from a place they looked down on. How could they not resent her? A healer, of all things. What made her worthy of his regard?
Therefore, they had orchestrated this moment to disgrace her publicly.
While they waited, hungry for a reaction, Elena kicked the stool to the side.
The woman in the blue dress sprang to her feet, her voice rising sharply. “Just what do you think you’re doing? Do you even understand where you are? This is Princess Celeste’s estate, and you only got in because she allowed it. Learn some manners!”
As her voice rang out, a snake slithered through the grass behind her, its head pausing near her foot.
Elena spotted it immediately, but the woman in the blue dress kept ranting, unaware of the danger.
“I’m speaking to you! Can’t you hear? Hey! Country girl, what are you looking at?” The blue-dressed woman broke off mid-sentence as her gaze followed Elena’s, and the moment her eyes landed on the snake, all color drained from her face.
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Paralyzed by terror, the woman in the blue dress couldn’t move for a moment. Sudden instinct took over, and she tried to dart away, but her frantic steps only made things worse. The snake, threatened by the commotion, struck with lightning speed, sinking its fangs into her leg.
A shriek tore from her throat as pain shot up her calf. Staggering backward, she collided with the others, who wasted no time pushing her out of their way. Without a hint of sympathy, Celeste’s eyes narrowed in annoyance. She signaled to a servant, silently insisting that someone haul the bitten woman away from her, just in case the snake slithered too close.
Servants and the butler leapt into action at once. Snatching up a pair of metal tongs, the butler clamped down on the snake’s neck and smashed it against the marble floor.
Within moments, the threat was gone, the deadly snake left motionless at their feet.
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