Katherine had just finished bathing when Lilly helped her into her nightgown.
The moment she sat on the edge of the bed, soreness spread through her entire body.
Her shoulders ached from the long carriage ride, her legs felt heavy, and even her neck was stiff from the hours spent at the tea party.
Katherine frowned slightly.
If she were still an Alpha werewolf, today's events would have had no effect on her body. At least, not this much.
"Today was oddly tiring." She stretched her sore muscles, trying to get some sort of relief.
"Tell me about it. The only highlight of the day was meeting that man in the library," Ker added.
Katherine chuckled. "Look at you. He has you smitten."
Ker rolled her eyes. "Oh please. I just find his scent calming, that's all. It's weird that we'd find someone like that in this world."
"And what do you mean that was the only highlight? Did you forget the fact that we actually befriended the genius, Lady Aurora?"
"Oh yeah, there was that. I'm not too excited about it. I mean yeah, we know she has access to the Magic Tower and contributes to it, but we don't really know how much influence she has there, or whether she can actually help us." Ker mumbled.
"Are you kidding me? Even if she doesn't have much access, she still has the knowledge. That's a start. And weren't you the one who said we made ourselves a useful friend?"
Ker sighed. "I'll be honest, I don't really want to get my hopes up because it might fail."
Katherine's smile slowly faded.
Since arriving in this world, Ker had complained countless times, but this was different.
There was frustration in her voice.
And something else.
Fear.
"Ker..." Katherine called softly.
Ker finally stopped pacing in their subconscious.
"Ciara, let's face it." Her voice sounded unusually heavy. "We're in a completely different world. We don't even know if this world has a Moon Goddess to support our shifts."
She lowered her gaze before continuing.
"Yeah, Katherine's body is weak, but that day we failed to shift... I sensed something else blocking it."
Katherine blinked. "Blocking it?"
"Yeah, but I can't quite put my claw on it..."
A yawn escaped Katherine's lips.
"Well, no use being so down. We'll figure it out, we always do." She smiled softly. "At least we still have each other. That's something, right?"
"Yeah..."
sleep came gradually.
---
The following morning, Katherine woke up with a slight headache.
Her body still ached from yesterday's events, especially her shoulders and legs.
She frowned as she slowly sat up.
"I really can't get used to these headaches," she muttered under her breath.
Just then, the curtains were pulled open, allowing the morning sunlight to pour into the room.
"Rise and shine, Mlady," Lilly greeted cheerfully.
Katherine blinked at the sudden brightness before letting out a small sigh.
"Good morning, Lily."
Lilly smiled. "Good morning, Mlady. I prepared your bath. Would you like to take it now?"
Katherine stretched her sore muscles. "Now, please."
"Seriously, what's wrong with this body? Yesterday's tea party wasn't even that tiring," Ker complained.
"Maybe this is how a normal human body reacts to a carriage ride?" Katherine suggested.
Lilly helped her out of her sleeping gown before leading her to the bath.
As soon as Katherine dipped into the water, she let out a relaxed sigh.
The warm bath was soothing and actually helped more than she had anticipated.
"I added some calming herbs and healing stones to the bath. The duke's estate is quite far from here, so I figured you might be sore," Lilly explained as she washed Katherine's hair.
Ker practically melted, "I swear, this girl might actually be a blessing from the Moon Goddess." Katherine nearly rolled her eyes.
---
After her bath, Katherine felt a whole lot better
She had a light meal for breakfast, then picked up a book to read.
Lily busied herself with cleaning.
She had just gotten comfortable on her daybed when a servant knocked on the door, "My lady, the Marchioness invites you to Tea."
Katherine paused, "Tea?"
Lily almost dropped the jewellery box she was dusting before quickly steading it."
Ker noticed the reaction. "It's just tea, right? What's with her reaction?"
Katherine thought for a moment. "Hold on, let me check Katherine's memories..."
Katherine frowned slightly. "Oh, I think I see why."
She closed the book she was reading before sitting up. "Where did she say I should meet her?"
The servant blinked before answering, "The garden, Mlady."
She clearly wasn't expecting Katherine to remain this calm.
Katherine sighed. "Lilly, help me change into something appropriate."
Lilly stared at her blankly before quickly composing herself. "Yes, Mlady."
The walk to the garden was filled with silence and Lily's obvious fidgeting.
---
As they approached the garden, Katherine was slightly surprised to find that Lady Victoria wasn't alone.
Three other noble ladies were seated around the tea table alongside Rose, their soft laughter blending with the clinking of porcelain cups.
Katherine had assumed the invitation would be private. After all, the servant had only said the Marchioness invited her for tea.
The garden itself was beautiful.
White roses bloomed along the stone pathways, their scent mixing with the fragrance of fresh pastries, tea leaves, and expensive perfumes.
With her heightened senses, Katherine could smell everything clearly.
The roses blooming along the stone paths, the rich scent of tea leaves, freshly baked pastries, expensive perfumes...
Even the faint scent of wet soil beneath the morning dew reached her senses.
Katherine paused slightly.
Her senses felt sharper than before.
Ever since arriving in this world, her abilities had been dulled by this weak human body, but after soaking in Lilly's herbal bath, she could noticeably feel the difference.
Not by much.
But enough for her to notice.
"We should take that bath more frequently." Ker added.
The servants stood nearby in perfect silence, waiting attentively beside the food table in case any of the noble ladies requested something.
The atmosphere felt lively.
Too lively.
It was obvious the tea gathering had already started without her.
As soon as Lady Victoria noticed her arrival, she looked up with slight surprise.
"Oh my." She placed her teacup down gracefully. "Forgive me, Lady Katherine. We weren't expecting you to join us."
Katherine simply stood there calmly.
Ker sounded deeply offended.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't we invited to this tea party?"
"We most certainly were," Katherine said in a voice low enough that only Ker could hear. "Because I'm certain I didn't put my book down to attend a tea party I wasn't invited to."
In the past, the original Katherine would've immediately apologized and blamed herself for the misunderstanding, despite being invited personally.
But Katherine merely waited.
Lady Victoria was slightly taken aback by the lack of panic on her face, though she quickly hid it behind a smile.
"Bring another seat," she instructed one of the servants.
The servant bowed before hesitating deliberately.
"My apologies, Marchioness, but the arrangement around the host table is already full."
Katherine noticed the brief knowing glance exchanged between the servant and Lady Victoria.
Ker frowned, "What's that about?"
Katherine shrugged, "I don't know."
Then realization dawned on both of them.
"Wait, is she trying to embarrass us?"
Ker laughed. "What a pathetic attempt."
"The only available space is at the edge of the table." The servant added.
The edge happened to be closest to the servants and the food table, the least favourable seat in noble gatherings.
It was clear that this move was deliberate, yet Katherine didn't seem bothered in the slightest.
If anything, Ker was pleased.
"Oh, this is perfect," she practically purred. "We're closest to the food."
Katherine took her seat without protest.
The moment she sat down, the conversation resumed as though nothing had happened.
Trending fashion, types of tea, Rose's grand birthday ball that happened two weeks ago...
No one bothered to include Katherine.
Fortunately, she didn't mind.
Her attention drifted toward the neatly arranged pastries instead.
She picked up a strawberry macaron before taking a small, elegant bite.
Ker practically melted.
"Oh, this is good."
Katherine picked up another macaron, this time chocolate flavoured, before finally sparing the table a proper glance.
Other than Rose and Lady Victoria, she recognized two of the young ladies seated there from Katherine's memories.
Lady Maya Hartwell.
Daughter of Count Hartwell and Rose's closest friend.
And beside her sat Lady Clara Beaumont, another count's daughter who often followed Rose and Maya around.
The last lady, however, was unfamiliar to her.
Their topics of discussion were of no interest to her, so she returned her attention to the delectable pastries.
The purpose of this gathering had become painfully obvious.
Rose had complained to her mother about how Katherine had stolen the limelight at Lady Aurora's tea party. So Lady Victoria arranged this gathering to remind the girl of her place.
How dare she steal the limelight from her darling daughter?
But everything they had done so far seemed to have no effect on the usually meek and eager-to-please Katherine.
This wasn't going to work.
Lady Victoria gave Maya a look.
Understanding what she had to do, Maya smiled warmly at Rose. "Speaking of celebrations, congratulations on your engagement to His Highness."
Rose lowered her gaze shyly. "Thank you. It all happened rather suddenly."
Ker snorted. "The audacity of this girl. She's already accepting congratulations for an engagement that doesn't even officially exist yet."
"You and the Crown Prince make a wonderful pair," Lady Clara added.
"Truly," one of the ladies agreed. "You'll make a perfect Crown Princess."
The compliments continued one after another until Lady Maya suddenly paused, as though finally remembering Katherine's presence.
"Oh my." Her expression turned apologetic. "Forgive me, Lady Katherine. We completely forgot the broken engagement is still recent."
Katherine paused before putting her half-eaten macaron down.
"Why are they suddenly involving me?" she thought irritably.
"There's no need to apologize. My sister and the Crown Prince suit each other rather well."
And honestly, she couldn't care less.
An awkward silence stretched across the table.
They all stared at Katherine as though she had grown a second head.
Was this really the same lady who had once been head over heels in love with the Crown Prince?
Rose's face turned red with fury.
What was with that reaction?
The same thing had happened with the newspaper.
And now this...
Bringing up the Crown Prince was supposed to be the final blow.
Katherine was supposed to at least clutch her fists and hold back tears.
But the Katherine before her was calm.
Not pretending to be calm.
No.
She was genuinely unbothered.
And the Katherine who used to barely eat at social functions for fear of gaining weight had done nothing but eat throughout the entire tea gathering.
What was wrong with her?
Did the fall mess with her head?
Rose had heard stories about people changing after near-death experiences, but this...