A Noble Heart

 Shrieks rang out among the group of young noble girls, watching in horror as the red wine stained Duchess Dumont’s beautiful cream ball gown. The sparkling crystals bedazzling the hem dripped with crimson liquid as the hall quietened, only the sound of the droplets hitting the marble floors echoing.

Ever Palendine, the culprit of this incident, stood stock-still in terror among the wide-eyed gazes of the surrounding nobility. Whispers and murmurs soon broke out, all saying the same thing. How did a mere second daughter of the lowly Baron Palendine dare to sully the visage of one as high-ranking and esteemed as the Duchess?


The hands of the one that had held the fallen wine glass trembled, and her fingers tightened into a fist. She hadn’t realized what had happened after she tripped, but the view she saw upon standing back up had shocked her to her core. Ever had heard many stories about lower-ranked noble families losing all their money, prestige and connections over one tiny insult towards a Duke or Duchess.


“I-I sincerely apologies, Duchess Dumont,” She stammered, trying to right her error in any way she could, lest she find her family destroyed by the end of the night. “Here, let me help!”


But even as she rushed forward to get rid of as much of the spilled drink as possible, the vivid color had already seeped into the dress. The white silk handkerchief she tried to use to clean it turned red, but no change occurred in the target area.


Ever grew more frantic, tears welling up in her eyes. She could feel the piercing glares of the Duchess’ friends as they quietly insulted her, but she could only do her best to fix her mistake.


Suddenly, she felt a hand land gently on her shoulder. Looking up with trembling eyes, the daughter of the Palendine house realized that the well-manicured hand belonged to the victim herself, the Duchess who was looking down upon her with a calm expression.


“Stop this fruitless effort,” Vienna Dumont said with a soft voice. “The dress has long been ruined. I’m more worried about your hands.”


Her hands? Ever felt lost and scared. The words leaving the noblewoman’s mouth weren’t nearly as venomous or angry as she thought they would be, and that disoriented her. In a daze, she looked down at her palms, only to see bright red blood covering them.


In her shock and confusion after falling to the ground with the drink in her hand, she hadn’t noticed the shards from the shattered glass cutting into her hands. The pain was forgotten in her haste to do anything to appease the Duchess, and the blood blended in with the similarly red wine.


But how did Vienna Dumont notice? The blonde noblewoman continued looking at her with kind blue eyes, and she couldn’t help but burst into tears as the many intense emotions overwhelmed her.


Ever’s vision blurred as she sobbed, and the whispers around her grew louder. She felt herself being pulled into a standing position from where she knelt by the stained gown, and was gently led away.


By the time she recovered her senses, she found herself in an adjoining lounge room, far from the crowd. Ever was sitting on a plush couch as the lady in the ruined dress silently cleaned and bandaged her hands.


There was a moment of awed silence, before the injured girl spoke up hesitantly. “Why are you helping me? Aren’t you angry I ruined your outfit? It must have been expensive.”


The Duchess didn’t reply immediately. She gently wiped the blood off the younger girl’s hands, and swiftly wrapped it with cloth. Only when she was done with her task did she look up to meet Ever’s eyes.


“Anyone can buy a new dress,” She answered firmly, her eyes shining with determination that left Palendine in amazement. “But it costs nothing to be kind.”

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