Chapter 239: Chapter 239: Banquet of Sacrifices (1)


    Preparations for the banquet in Baroness Anastasia''s mansion went smoothly. The vigers were invited in the morning, and they were allowed toe by noon, as the food had been prepared beforehand.


    The vigers were ecstatic about this entire banquet because this year''s winter was very harsh. Some elderly perished because they couldn''t handle the cold, and the food ration had to be given to the children first to preserve the future of their small vige.


    They knew Baroness Anastasia was their previous queen, but since they were living in an isted area, none of them knew about the trade ban.


    Some of the youngsters went to the city to work, but most still returned to the vige after they got married, because they preferred the peaceful life in their small mountainous region.


    They had neither bad experiences nor good experiences with their queen before. This banquet was the beginning of a good rtionship between the vigers and their new Baroness. Since she was kind enough to extend her hand tomoners like them, they already had a good opinion about her.


    Anastasia wore a in blue dress to greet the peasants who came to her mansion. She wanted to look humble as she knew showing off her expensive dress would only intimidate those vigers and give off a bad first impression.


    However, even her most humble dress was still too goodpared to those vigers who were already wearing the best they had.


    Nevertheless, the peasants were awed by Baroness Anastasia''s beauty and warm smile.


    One of the little girls meekly approached the Baroness and did a little curtsy, as taught by her sister who worked in the city before, "T-thank you for inviting us, M- Mdy."


    Anastasia''s heart melted seeing the innocent little girl who looked somewhat simr to the small Aria.


    It reminded her of the time when Aria was still cute and pure, like a nk canvas ready to be painted.


    Sometimes Anastasia wished she could turn back time and fix her mistake because she knew that some of Aria''s twisted nature came from her wrong teaching.


    She was filthy ambitious, and always taught Aria that method did not matter as long as you got the result you wanted, and sacrificing people was justified if it was necessary.


    As she reflected on her past actions, Anastasia realized that she was the reason for Aria''s current behavior. Her daughter might change for the better as she was generous enough to hold a banquet for the vigers, but she was still cruel to the servants.


    ''Well, a slow change is still a change. As long as she is getting better, then I can''tin,'' Anastasia thought as she gently patted the little girl''s head. Thank you foring to my mansion, little girl. Since it''s winter, how about gingerbread cookies? We have a lot of it."


    Anastasia pointed at the big jar full of gingerbread cookies and said, "You can take as many as you want."


    The little girl''s eyes glimmered with joy as she thanked the Baroness and rushed to take a few of the gingerbread cookies.


    The vigers were given tables for each of them, so they felt like real guests rather than a bunch of refugees. Anastasia sat facing all of them and announced, "Attention, all my people in this banquet. My dearest daughter, Aria Asmara of Holy Achate, has prepared a special chicken soup that could warm your body during this cold season. We will have that as our appetizer. After that, you are free to eat anything you want here."


    Anastasia turned her head towards the door where Aria had been busy with her makeup, and once the door was opened, Anastasia''s eyes widened until her eyes almost popped out of their sockets.


    Aria was wearing one of her most luxurious dresses; it was made out of the best material, and sewn with very thin white silk which gave the dress a natural sheen. The dress was embedded with gemstones that made her look like she was about to be crowned as the new Queen of Holy Achate.


    She was so out of cepared to everyone in this mansion that Anastasia wanted to shove her daughter back into the room and told her to change to something less extravagant.


    Unfortunately, Aria already walked out of her room, and her gold heels were making tap tap sound whenever she walked.


    Aria was so beautiful that the whole room was stunned intoplete silence. All the vigers stared unblinkingly at the beautiful Aria Asmara.


    "A Goddess..." one of the vigers murmured. "She is a goddess..."


    The other vigers said nothing, but deep down, they agreed to that statement just now.


    Aria stood before them and smiled, "Thank you foring my dearest subjects. I am Aria Asmara of Holy Achate. I was a Royal Princess before, but since my mother had abdicated, you all may call me Lady Aria from now on."


    "I had the idea to host this banquet because I saw that people are suffering, and I cannot stand still and watch my people dying due to extreme winter. Hence, I''ve decided to feed all of you with a special chicken soup as an appetizer," Aria said calmly, but her heart was filled with twisted joy right now. She kept thinking about these idiots'' faces and imagined them dying in such horrible ways after drinking the potent poison inside the chicken broth. ''There are plenty of children here. Their souls would be worth more than the adults. I''m so d I told my mom to specifically invite the children as well.''


    The servants began distributing the chicken soup that Aria made. She made sure


    that everyone would get one bowl each, including the servants.


    The only two people who didn''t get the poisoned chicken soup were her and her mother as she still needed Anastasia for the ultimate sacrificeter on.


    "Please eat the soup while it''s still hot. Make sure to finish it, because I made it with love.