CHAPTER 166: THE BET WITH THE OLD FOX

"Go on then, Mother, teach me all you can. Like a good student, I’ll listen to whatever you have to say, and at the end of the day, I’ll decide what to do with them."

The Dowager laughed, and I got irritated. She was deeply amused by me, it seems, and that didn’t bode well for me.

"Oh my goddess, when a baby fox thinks it all wise, not knowing the old fox is wiser."

"Tch!"

"Alright then... let’s do this. I’ll give you a month."

"A month for what?"

"Soon you shall meet with the inner court."

"Inner court?"

"The ladies of the noble houses. Do you not know that they will come to greet you? Paying their respects to you is akin to seeing who are truly your allies. A queen must have the ladies of the noble houses on her side."

So that’s how she had so much power in court. It was the noble ladies! They are significant figures to their houses, and it was a great bonus for the queen if she wanted use them.

"You’ll be a role model to them, and gaining their respect is almost impossible. Sloane could have gotten it done."

"But Sloane isn’t queen, is she?"

She huffed. "You’ll fail Eloise, because you do not have access to my teachings. At first glance, they will know you don’t have my blessing and deem you unworthy."

"What are you trying to say then?"

"I give you a month to earn their respect for you. If you do not achieve this, then you’ll follow my teachings without question."

"A bet?"

"Precisely."

"And if I win?"

She chuckled. "Impossible! But I’ll indulge you. What do you want?"

"The winner gets to ask anything of the loser, right?"

"Anything."

"Good," I nodded. "If I win, then you become my top ally; in other words, I’ll seize control of your court and every power you have."

Her smile fell drastically.

"Having the Dowager behind me will earn me greater points."

She slammed her palm against the table, and it cracked upon impact and toppled over. "Are you insulting me right now?"

I smirked devilishly. "You said the winner can ask the loser for anything, or are you going back on your word, Mother? Besides, this is fair, given that when I lose, I’ll become your puppet, bear as many heirs for you. Certainly, you’ll be charged with training them, too."

She rubbed her chin.

"Your legacy will reign, with a powerful bloodline," I enticed.

"Fine," she conceded, her eyes turning silver. "You’ll lose."

"I like a challenge."

~•~

"You’re going to lose."

"What?" I gasped. "Come on, Diana!"

"I speak the truth, you shouldn’t have made that bet. You fell into her trap."

I clenched my teeth. "It was the only way. She would have forced her teachings upon me and made me her puppet."

"Gosh! That woman!" Diana growled. "Even now, all she can do is think of people as pawns!"

I flinched at her words, suddenly reminded of Damon. I felt that phantom throb again at my neck.

"Eloise?"

I looked at Diana.

"You okay? Your expression just changed."

"I’m fine, just thinking about what to do."

"You’d better. You’re meeting the inner court tomorrow."

"What? So soon?"

I thought I would have more time!

"Tell me, Diana, is there anything you know about them? Something that can help?"

"Nope."

"Goddess!"

"But now that you mentioned it..." She snapped her fingers. "I figured sooner or later you would be meeting the inner court, so I had this made as a precaution."

Two handmaid stepped forward holding a pile of books, they dropped it on the table before bowing and leaving.

"What’s this?"

Diana smirked cockily. "The profile of all the young ladies of the noble houses. Everyone

in the inner court."

"Oh, Diana! Come here, let me kiss you!"

"Ew, no! I’m not Drevon!"

"Oh come on!"

"I said no! Besides, I wish I had gotten this earlier. How can you go through all this before tomorrow?"

I snickered.

"What?"

"I haven’t told you about my special powers, have I?"

"What special powers? Don’t tell me you plan on turning everything to ice."

I shook my head before tapping a finger against it.

Diana huffed like I made a joke. "Yeah, sure. You might be smart, but there’s no way you can finish this in a night. You know what, I’ll be there so that when you sleep for even a moment, I’ll—"

~•~

Diana’s snoring filled my study; she was already fast asleep on one of my couches, snuggled with the covers around her.

I already told Drevon I won’t make it to bed; he was worried, and I thought he might disagree, but surprisingly, he told me to give it my best and ensure I had a brew waiting in case I felt dizzy.

He was with me until midnight before he left to take care of some things. He was quite busy, too, given that he had neglected his duties for months.

Now I had the company of Talia, Osha, and Ravyn. But they were already knocked out, asleep on the couch.

With a smile on my lips, I went back to reading. They had their portraits as well as all their information. Diana was really something; she even went as far as detailing each of their personalities and likes, not all, but enough to know what I was dealing with.

After reading through everything, I had one thought in mind.

I was dealing wth self-entitled bitches. Gosh! I flipped the page and found Sloane staring back at me; even her portrait drawing was elegant. Tch!

"Your Majesty," Ravyn said, yawning as she walked to the table. "Still reading?"

"Done... just going through some things." I closed the book.

That part was over. It was time to think of something.

"W-What?" Ravyn said in shock. "Already?"

I placed a hand beneath my chin. "So far, I see why the Dowager is so certain I won’t win this bet."