Seeing the obvious anger in Harribel's eyes, Elana promptly said, "I'm so sorry, Miss Harribel, we often joke around with each other and have no reservations."
"Please believe me, they mean no harm. They just want to play a joke on you, like friends do."
Since Elana had said so, Harribel naturally couldn't flare up. She could only force a smile, then thought about finding an opportunity to slip away.
Elana then casually said, "I heard your brother joined the Navy? That's truly remarkable."
Lex's image flashed through Harribel's mind. She hummed in acknowledgment and said, "He joined the Navy over three months ago."
"Oh, then he should be a Lieutenant by now, right?" Elana asked again.
Before Harribel could answer, Elana's friend, the brown-haired girl beside them, covered her mouth and chuckled softly: "Becoming a Naval Lieutenant in three months? How is that possible, Elana? Do you think everyone is like your brother? Is everyone as capable as Mr. O'Neal?"
Elana smiled and shook her head, "It took O'Neal two years to become a Lieutenant."
"Only?" The black-haired, brown-eyed girl said, "Dear Elana, what do you think a Naval Lieutenant is? Is it something anyone can become just because they want to?"
"Becoming a Lieutenant in two years, Mr. O'Neal has already surpassed eighty percent of his peers."
The brown-haired girl smiled reservedly, "Be bolder, I dare say Mr. O'Neal's achievements are enough to surpass ninety percent of his peers. Don't you agree, Miss Harribel?"
Harribel raised her head proudly and said, "Although I don't know what rank my brother currently holds, he joined the Royal Navy with the goal of becoming an Admiral."
"I believe that one day, he will reach that position!"
The girls fell silent, staring at Harribel in astonishment. After a moment, Elana laughed.
"I apologize, I was rude, but Miss Harribel, and your brother, you are both very interesting." She chose what she considered a subtle way of putting it.
Harribel raised an eyebrow, "Is this funny?"
The brown-haired girl sneered, "Isn't it funny? An Admiral? I can only say, isn't your brother's ambition a bit too grand?"
The black-haired girl also nodded, "Although he's the son of a Baron, setting such a goal is too far-fetched. People can have dreams, but they also need to know their own capabilities."
Harribel could no longer stay. She put down her champagne and said, "I have something else to attend to, please excuse me."
Elana immediately frowned and deliberately said, "Look at you all, you've upset Miss Harribel. Miss Harribel, are you leaving? I'll see you out."
Upon reaching the door, Elana said, "Miss Harribel, do you have a carriage? If not, I'll have someone take you home."
Harribel's hand lightly clutched her skirt. She wasn't so destitute as to not have a carriage, but having just arrived in Backlund, her family had only acquired one carriage, which her father was currently using. She had arrived at the party tonight by a hired carriage.
Although she had asked the coachman to wait for her, a hired carriage would certainly invite ridicule from these girls.
Just as Harribel was pondering how to leave gracefully, the sound of wheels turning echoed on the street. In the distance, on the indistinct street covered by a thin mist, a carriage approached from afar.
It was a four-wheeled carriage pulled by two brown horses, with the Navy's emblem on the carriage body. The carriage sped along and finally stopped in front of the house.
Elana and the other girls were equally bewildered, not knowing who had arrived. Then they saw the carriage door open, and a familiar figure stepped out.
It was a young man of about twenty-four or twenty-five, wearing a Naval Lieutenant's uniform. When Elana saw him, she exclaimed, "Brother O'Neal?"
The person who stepped out of the carriage was Elana's brother, Lieutenant O'Neal, currently serving in the Naval General Office.
Many of Elana's friends also knew him. The brown-haired girl even whispered, "Elana, has your brother been promoted? That's a Navy carriage; it shouldn't be something just anyone can ride, right?"
The black-haired girl beside her echoed, "I heard only Advanced officers can ride in carriages with the Navy emblem. Elana, Mr. O'Neal might have been promoted."
Elana said with a mix of pride and happiness, "But he didn't tell me."
"He might want to give you a surprise."
Elana was overjoyed internally, but externally, she nodded with restraint, then softly called out to the man, "Brother O'Neal."
The Lieutenant looked over at her, nodded slightly, then stood to the side and bowed slightly.
This action made Elana pause, and then the girls saw a giant step out of the carriage. He was over two meters tall, and his formal attire was stretched by his muscles, making it look as if his clothes might burst at any moment.
This giant also stood to the side, on the other side of the carriage door, and also bowed.
Then, a young gentleman stepped out of the carriage.
He was wearing a dark blue, double-breasted long coat with gold piping on the lapels and a Navy insignia pinned to his chest. Since she had a Naval Lieutenant in her family, Elana recognized it as a field grade officer's insignia, indicating that the young gentleman who had stepped out of the carriage was a Naval Commander.
This Naval Commander wore a white waistcoat and breeches under his dark blue long coat, and buckle shoes on his feet. He wore a tricorn hat of the same color as his long coat, with a wide gold braid along the edge.
He wore a cravat and carried a dress sword, looking like an officer who had just returned from an investiture ceremony.
Just as Elana was lost in thought, she heard a soft gasp beside her, and then heard Harribel exclaim with a mix of surprise and joy, "Lex? Brother Lex?"
Brother Lex?
The girls listened in stunned silence. Although they couldn't identify the young gentleman who stepped out of the carriage as a Naval Commander from his insignia, unlike Elana.
But from O'Neal's posture, it was clear that he was a higher-ranking officer than O'Neal. Now, they learned from Harribel's mouth that he was her elder brother.
He was the Baron's son whom they had just mocked.
Immediately, the faces of these girls, including Elana, turned unpleasant.
Lex smiled and gently waved, "Harribel, I've come to take you home."
Harribel, who had been worrying about how to leave gracefully, was now overjoyed to see her elder brother, dressed in a Navy officer's ceremonial uniform, arrive in a Navy carriage to pick her up.
She turned around and proudly looked at Elana and the other girls, saying, "See? This is my brother. Do you still dare to mock him as naive and ignorant?"
Hearing Harribel's words, O'Neal's expression changed, and he looked at his sister: "Elana, is what this Miss said true?"