Chapter 38 - It Doesn’t Make Sense

Chapter 38 – It Doesn’t Make Sense

“So when is a good time?”

“When are you free?”

“As you know, the Count does nothing but work in the Imperial Palace. If you tell me a good date, I’ll tell my husband about the vacation.”

“Ah, so how about around the middle of autumn. The weather is cool then.”

“Autumn is good.”

As the two women made polite conversation, I stared at Dorothea. She seemed disinterested in the adult conversation and was immersed in sipping her tea. Surprisingly, she really seemed to like it.

‘I hope she doesn’t make an unreasonable demand for tea leaves.’

Countess Cornohen then turned to her daughter.

“You must like that tea a lot, Roth,” she said, making the same observation as I did.

“Yes, Mother,” Dorothea replied with a child-like smile. “I’ve never had such delicious tea in my life.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes. It’s so good that I want to drink it at home.”

No way…

I stared at Dorothea with an uneasy look, and she lifted her eyes towards me.

“Marie, if you don’t mind, can you give me some of these tea leaves?” she asked me, ignoring the unpleasant expression on my face.

“Ah…”

Why were my ominous premonitions never wrong? I inwardly gave a bitter smile. Dorothea still hadn’t changed, but that was alright. This allowed me to hate her even more without any guilt. I looked at Dorothea without a change in my expression.

“No,” I said tersely.

I would share my tea with my friends, but we were not friends—I was her stooge. There was no reason to concede my gift to her.

Dorothea looked taken aback by my answer, while Countess Cornohen, who was sitting beside her, silently glared daggers. One might mistake her expression for self-consciousness, but no, she was definitely glaring at me. It was when I looked at her that the hostility in her gaze was clear.

“I’m sorry, Roth,” I said. “I would if these were any other tea leaves, but this was given to me by the Crown Prince. In the worst-case situation, I may get in trouble for profanity against the imperial family.

“Marie, but it’s really delicious,” Dorothea begged.

“Then I’ll talk to His Highness. I’ll tell him that you really wanted the tea leaves he gave me.” I smiled brightly at Dorothea as if she were anything else other than my enemy, and she gave me a disbelieving stare. Actually, I should be the one making that expression.

Countess Cornohen intervened in our conversation. “She’s not asking for much, Lady Maristella. Just a little bit,” she implored.

“I would still feel guilty,” I said to her with a smile. “I was just about to go and thank His Highness. I hesitated because I worried about what other people would think…but it would be no problem to visit and tell him that Roth also wants the tea leaves he gave me.”

“…”

“Would that work, Roth?” I asked Dorothea calmly, but when I looked at her, she had an unsmiling look on her face. Countess Bellafleur wore an identical expression. She was upset somehow, but she was careful not to fully let it show.

“Y-yes,” Dorothea said stiffly.

“I won’t keep you waiting too long. Countess Cornohen, I’ll come to see you with the tea leaves soon.”

“But that would be too troublesome. You can send a servant—” she began, but I interrupted her with a shake of my head.

“No,” I said, effectively cutting her off. Countess Cornohen’s expression twisted into something unreadable.

“Roth and I are friends. It’s worth the trouble to do it as a friend.”

“…Very well. Do as you please,” she said finally.

“I will,” I said, slowly smiling, then glanced at the clock on the wall. It was almost dinnertime. “Time flies quickly. It’s already dinnertime,” I said with my gaze still fixed on the clock.

It was about time for the Cornohens to leave now. Countess Cornohen seemed to catch the implication in my words, but Dorothea did not.

“May I stay for dinner, Countess Bellafleur?” Dorothea said excitedly.

“Of course,” Countess Bellafleur replied, but then Countess Cornohen’s voice interrupted.

“Roth,” she said sternly. I watched to see how this would play out. “That is impolite. We should be going back now.”

In fact, Dorothea’s words and actions earlier were far ruder than inviting herself over for dinner, but Countess Cornohen seemed oblivious to that. Or perhaps her standard of “impolite” went back and forth like a rubber band. I personally bet on the latter.

“But Mother—” Dorothea protested.

“Roth,” Countess Cornohen said sharply this time, and Countess Bellafleur, upon seeing the situation, spoke carefully.

“It’s fine, Countess. She may stay for dinner.”

Countess Cornohen shook her head. “I’m sorry, but my husband will arrive home soon.” She stood, and Dorothea was forced to follow suit in face of her mother’s strong conviction. I rose from my seat to see them off, while Countess Cornohen acknowledged Countess Bellafleur politely.

“We’ll take our leave, Countess Bellafleur. We’ve kept you for too long. I apologize for the inconvenience.”

“Not at all. As you said, we have a good relationship.” Countess Bellafleur smiled gently and addressed Dorothea in a warm voice. “Please visit us again.”

“Yes, Countess.”

“Then let’s go,” Countess Cornohen said, then left the living room with Dorothea.

After I heard them leave, I collapsed onto the couch in exhaustion like a puppet who had its strings cut. I blew out a long sigh, and Countess Bellafleur looked at me questioningly.

“What happened with Countess Cornohen?” she asked.

“Nothing, Mother,” I lied easily. “Nothing happened.”

“…Really?” she said doubtfully. Her stare made me feel guilty, but I made myself lie again.

“Yes, Mother. She just asked me to be close to Dorothea just as always.”

“I see,” Countess Bellafleur said, nodding in understanding. “Ah, your father will be home soon. Are you feeling better? The doctor said you could move now, but I don’t want you to do too much too soon.”

“I’m fine, Mother. I’m really alright now.” To emphasize my point, I gave her a bright smile. “It’s been a while since I sat down to eat with my family, and I’m really looking forward to it.”

***

Just as Countess Bellafleur said, Count Bellafleur came home soon after, and I had a long-awaited meal with them in the dining hall. Naturally, conversation at the dinner table turned towards the topic of Countess Bellafleur’s and Dorothea’s visit today. Although Martina already knew about that fact, she made a face.

In any case, that evening a decision was made to go on the trip with the Cornohen family this autumn.

“That’s awful! I can’t believe I have to spend two days and three nights with that woman,” Martina grumbled in my room later that night. She openly made an expression of disgust, while I vowed never to tell her what happened with Countess Cornohen that day. Martina, however, seemed to read my thoughts.

“More importantly, what did you and Countess Cornohen talk about today?” she asked.

“Oh?” I said, feigning ignorance.

“You spoke separately in the parlor room earlier. What did you talk about?”

Never, ever tell her. If I did, Martina would become furious upon hearing Countess Cornohen’s proposal. I couldn’t make a fool of myself when it wasn’t even clear whether Martina knew our family was in such debt. It would shock a child like her.

“Nothing important,” I said nonchalantly.

Martina narrowed her eyes at me. “When you say it like that, it sounds suspicious.”

“I’m telling you. She only just…asked me to stay close to Dorothea.”

“My god.” Martina shook her head. “She must have heard what happened between you two.”

“I think so, too,” I affirmed quietly. I hesitated, then spoke in a cheerier voice than before. “Don’t worry too much, Martina. I’m not as stupid as you think.”

“Who said that? You’re smart. I know that the best,” she said passionately. “But strangely, you are weak to that woman only.”

Maybe Maristella somehow accepted this proposal. Maybe that was why she was a pushover. Of course, I didn’t really know.

“…”

“So are you going to stay with Dorothea?” Martina asked.

“For now,” I said shortly, then slowly lifted my gaze to Martina’s eyes. “You probably disapprove.”

“Of course,” Martina said after a while. “But I still respect your choice.”

“Really?” I smiled and stroked Martina’s head. “…I’m proud.” Then I suddenly remembered my promise to Dorothea earlier. I had to go get tea leaves from the Crown Prince.

‘Do I really have to go?’

I said that just to bait Dorothea, but after a while I realized I had to go. When I would meet the Crown Prince I couldn’t just thank him for the rare tea, but I had to ask for more too.

Jeez, that was such a nuisance, wasn’t it? It was impolite to give it to Dorothea when Xavier gifted it to me, and most of all, I hated the idea.

‘He gave me a gift for my recovery, and I should pay him back,’ I concluded. The Crown Prince had visited me while I was in bed and treated me graciously. I vowed to send a letter to Thurman Palace tomorrow.

“What are you thinking of, sister?” Martina said, breaking the silence, and I turned my eyes downward.

“I’m going to send a letter to Thurman Palace tomorrow,” I said with a smile.

“Huh? Why so suddenly?”

“His Highness came to visit me and gave me precious tea, so I thought it would be polite to visit him at least once.”

“I see,” Martina said, nodding as if that made sense. “He cares about you even though he’s busy. Does the Crown Prince like you, sister?”

“Maybe as a friend.”

“Friend? Jeez,” Martina said with a shake of her head. “Can men and women even be friends?”

“Why not? I became friends with Duke Escliffe right away,” I pointed out.

“There’s no such thing as friendship between people of the opposite sex.”

Well, I once believed that until now, but Martina kept shaking her head. “Well, who knows. I’m not the Crown Prince,” she said.

I fought the urge to groan. “That’s not what it’s like.”

“Why are you so confident? What if you’re wrong?”

“Because my instincts tell me I’m right.” I gave a large grin, revealing my teeth, and quickly rubbed Martina’s head. She let out an indignant cry, and I slowed down a bit.

“It doesn’t make sense for Xavier to like me,” I reiterated. It wasn’t such an absurd idea considering the present situation, but with all I knew I could confidently say that wasn’t the case. Martina could only guess based on what she saw in front of her; She didn’t know what it was like outside the novel.

I ruffled her hair on final time. “Come on, you’d better stop chatting and go to bed. It’s already late.”

“Awww, but I want to talk more,” she pleaded, and she looked at me with wide eyes like a baby.

Oh, she was so cute. I didn’t know what to do with the expression of embarrassment on my face, but at that moment someone knocked on the door.

“Are you sleeping, Marie?”

Ah, it was Countess Bellafleur.

“Because Martina’s not in her bedroom. Is she in there?” she asked.

Ah, maybe it was correct to not chit-chat anymore.

“Yes, Mother,” I replied with a smile. At that, Countess Bellafleur opened the door, revealing her stern face.

“Mother has perfect timing,” Martina grumbled.

“If you don’t sleep early, your skin will be damaged, my beautiful Martina. Stop bothering your sister and go back to your room.”

“Alright.”

Martina hugged me with an expression as if parting would kill her. She dropped a kiss on my forehead, then left my bedroom.