The Tea Party with Drewanchel

"How magnificent."

When Brunhilde saw the hair ornament sent from Ehrenfest, she let out an admiring sigh.

Inside the wooden box was a pure white flower that complemented Adolphine's wine-red hair, which flowed in waves. It was a large rose-like flower made of lace, surrounded by soft green leaves in hues reminiscent of spring.

Perhaps it was because Turi had predicted this and prepared the designs and thread in advance, but the thread used to shape the flower truly looked high-quality, giving the petals a lustrous sheen. That wasn't all—glass-like, bead-like objects had been sewn on, and they glittered as if they were morning dew.

...Turi, you're amazing.

"This hair ornament is worthy of being gifted from Prince Sigiswald to Lady Adolphine, wouldn't you say?"

When I looked up at Brunhilde, her candy-colored eyes filled with a dreamy expression, and she nodded.

"Yes, I think it's truly beautiful. Rozemyne's exclusive artisan has improved her skills once again."

Being praised by Brunhilde—someone among the attendants who has a sharp eye for quality and holds strict standards—made me very happy. My cheeks loosened as I smiled at the commendation of Turi's skills, and I then instructed Charlotte's Attendant to arrange a schedule and send a proposal for a tea party to Drewanchel.

"As you wish."

When the proposal for a tea party from Ehrenfest to Drewanchel was sent, apparently they said, "We happen to be planning a tea party, so we'd like you to participate." Since attending rather than hosting would be less stressful, and I had no particular engagements, Charlotte and I accepted.

When I saw the formal invitation that arrived afterward, Charlotte and I both held our heads in our hands.

"So we're attending this?"

"We've already been approached, and the two of us can't exactly decline together, can we?"

...I should've thought about how less preparation is needed to attend than to host, and just hosted one ourselves!

But it was too late for regrets. We'd already sent our acceptance, and now that we'd received a formal invitation from a higher-ranked duchy, there was no choice but to go. ...Yes, a tea party attended exclusively by upper duchies.

It seemed to be a tea party where Adolphine of Drewanchel, whose marriage to the First Prince had been decided, had called upon upper duchies that would form the core of Yurgenschmidt's future support. The attendees included the high-ranking Nobility of Klassenberg, Hannelore of Dunkelfelger, the Lord candidate of Drewanchel who was Adolphine's half-sister, a first-year Lord candidate from Giessenmaier, a fourth-year Lord candidate from Hauffletze, and Dietlinde of Ahrensbach.

Duchies ranked first through sixth were lined up in a row, and those ranked seventh and below weren't even invited—and yet Ehrenfest, which had jumped all the way to tenth place, was included.

...Honestly speaking, we're out of place! Massively out of place! At times like this, I wish I'd just lose consciousness, but unlike the usual collapses, there's a strangely calm part of me that remains from the excitement, so I don't feel even remotely close to fainting!

Reality just doesn't go the way you want. Of course, I knew I couldn't just dump Charlotte into a tea party like this alone. I had to steel myself and go.

"If you think about it a certain way, it might actually be to our advantage."

"Our advantage?" Charlotte tilted her head, and I nodded.

"Yes," I said. Since it was a tea party we had to attend no matter what, I wanted to go with as positive a mindset as possible.

"If it were a tea party with only Drewanchel, deep conversations or hard-to-refuse demands might come up, but with this many people attending, the conversations will naturally become more superficial and inoffensive."

By spending the time on inoffensive topics and then presenting the hair ornament, we could complete our most important mission. After thinking for a moment, I raised my head firmly.

"To provide topics of conversation for Ehrenfest, I'll be bringing new sweets to the tea party."

"What will you be bringing?"

"Mille crêpes."

They were a cake made by layering thinly baked crêpes with cream in between. Since this time the audience was upper duchies with refined palates, I'd use only wheat flour for the crêpes rather than buckwheat-flour galettes. It was more labor-intensive, but when sliced, the beautiful sight of dough and cream layered one atop another was gorgeous, and the sweetness could be adjusted to individual preference.

Just like with quatre-quarts, I had them prepare jam, honey, whipped cream, Rumtopf, and also coarsely crushed sugar to add on top. It was a bit too coarse to call powdered sugar, but when dusted through a tea strainer, it looked like falling snow and was quite beautiful.

On the day itself, I had Ella work hard to make the mille crêpes. I'd had her make them when I first taught her the recipe, and I'd practiced several times to make the recipe my own, so I'd eaten them quite often. Charlotte, however, seemed to have only had them a few times. Crêpes appeared at castle tea parties now and then, but because they were so labor-intensive, it was difficult to prepare large quantities—so mille crêpes rarely showed up.

Having prepared the sweets, the hair ornament, and everything else, and intending to collect romance stories, I brought along several apprentice attendants and headed to Drewanchel's tea party room.

"Thank you so much for inviting us."

"Oh my, Lady Rozemyne, Lady Charlotte. I'm so pleased you could come."

Adolphine welcomed us with a gentle smile.

The Drewanchel room was one that made generous use of wood. Wainscoting ran around the entire room, and cloth painted with flowers and trees adorned the walls. Potted plants—whether they were ornamental trees or herbs, it was hard to tell at a glance—were arranged here and there.

"Drewanchel's tea room is filled with the scent of wood. It's very calming, almost like being in a forest."

"Oh my. My, my... If the frail Lady Rozemyne were to visit this tea room, she'd feel like she was having a picnic in the woods."

After finishing the drawn-out Noble greetings, we were shown to our seats. My seat was to the left of Charlotte's. Directly across was Hannelore, and to her right sat the Lord candidate from Giessenmaier. Dietlinde's seat was placed at a slight distance—perhaps a consideration based on how last year's tea party had gone.

"Good day, Lady Hannelore."

When I greeted Hannelore across from me, she smiled brightly and returned the greeting.

"Good day. I was surprised to see Lady Rozemyne attending this tea party."

"I brought a hair ornament from Prince Sigiswald for Lady Adolphine. It will surely be unveiled here today."

"Oh, how exciting. Lady Eglantine's hair ornament last year was magnificent as well."

After chatting with Hannelore for a bit, Charlotte introduced the Lord candidate sitting beside her.

"Sister, this is Lady Lutinde, a first-year from Giessenmaier."

Lutinde was a first-year Lord candidate and, apparently, a close friend of Charlotte's. She was also the girl who had been reading the romance stories from the Royal Academy that Hannelore had returned.

Lutinde's beautiful, straight, light green hair swayed gently.

"This is my first time attending a tea party together with you, Lady Rozemyne. I embroidered the female crest that Lady Charlotte taught me onto my schtappe. I heard that was also something Lady Rozemyne came up with? Lady Charlotte told me so. She called you her 'proud big sister.'"

The words "proud big sister" that Lutinde relayed went spinning around in my head. I'd thought it wasn't much use since coming to the Royal Academy, but Charlotte had been telling her friends that I was her proud big sister.

...Oh no, I'm so happy! No, stop it. Calm down. I'll be asked to leave before the tea party even starts. Ah, but my face is already breaking into a grin.

"But really, Charlotte is much more amazing than I am. She's my precious little sister—kind and adorable."

Just as I was about to counter with a bit of sisterly boasting of my own, Charlotte quietly tugged at my sleeve to stop me. Lutinde giggled. "Lady Charlotte and Lady Rozemyne really are such close sisters, aren't you?"

"I was introduced to the books of Ehrenfest by Lady Hannelore, and I've been enjoying the ones Lady Charlotte lent me immensely. These are a replacement—I know I'm late in returning them."

"Not at all."

The apprentice attendant from Giessenmaier held out the books. Philine and Marianne accepted them. Just from borrowing books from Lutinde, my spirits were already soaring.

...Calm down, calm down. The tea party hasn't even started yet.

And then the tea party began. Adolphine, as the host, took a bite of the sweets and a sip of tea, after which everyone sampled the sweets each had brought.

"These are called mille crêpes. We don't often get the chance to eat them in Ehrenfest either, but since we were invited to a tea party at an upper duchy, I brought them along. Just like quatre-quarts, please feel free to add jam, honey, sugar, or whatever you prefer."

After my explanation, I had the coarsely crushed sugar sprinkled over the mille crêpes. When Lieseleta shook the tea strainer, white powder fell like snow.

Charlotte had apparently been working hard to spread quatre-quarts, and people seemed accustomed to sweets with toppings. None of the Attendants looked puzzled—each followed their master's instructions and added toppings to the mille crêpes. Unsurprisingly, the sweeter options were more popular with the upper duchies, and many chose honey.

"Are many thin layers of dough stacked together? When you look at it from the side, it forms such beautiful tiers."

"Ehrenfest really does have all sorts of unusual sweets beyond quatre-quarts. I like these mille crêpes more than quatre-quarts."

The mille crêpes seemed to be a huge hit. While thanking them for the compliments, I broadened the conversation to specialties from other duchies. If there were delicious ingredients to be had, I wanted them.

"In the central region, sugar confections are all the rage, but I'm sure each duchy has its own unique sweets and fruits, doesn't it? I'd love to know what kinds of sweets are out there."

We discussed various fruits, how they were eaten, and the like, and as a result, I learned that each duchy surprisingly had its own distinctive foods. At the Royal Academy, you'd serve what was trendy in the central region, but back in your own duchy, there were apparently beloved local sweets.

"I'd love to try the sweets from each duchy. I feel like I could make all sorts of new discoveries."

"New discoveries are wonderful. Could it be that Lady Rozemyne discovered new flavors and new paper that way as well?"

When Adolphine said this, I nodded with a smile.

"Since Lady Hannelore taught me about Lourée, I think I'll be able to create a new flavor of quatre-quarts."

"A new quatre-quarts? At this rate, it sounds like there might be a new shampoo too. I'd really love to be able to trade with Ehrenfest this year. In Drewanchel, we analyzed the shampoo you gave us last year and managed to create something similar, but it doesn't remove dirt in quite the same way."

Adolphine sighed with a disappointed expression. It was supposed to add shine to hair, but the refreshing sensation on the scalp was different, apparently. Hearing this, I immediately thought of what the cause might be.

...Ah, could this be because of the scrub failure?

Knowing that Drewanchel hadn't been able to fully replicate it, I quietly let out a breath of relief. Perhaps I'd been a little too wary.

"Ehrenfest has so many mysterious things. The shampoo that seemed so simple to analyze couldn't be reproduced exactly, and even the paper for identifying merchants was something special. I'm dying to know what else you have. My brother Ortwin also lamented that he ultimately couldn't uncover the secret behind Ehrenfest's improved grades."

...Well, Brother Wilfried wouldn't exactly find it easy to say "we went all out for the sweets recipe."

Adolphine said that things being hidden made them all the more intriguing, and she subtly probed to find out how much trade quota could be increased at this year's Lord's conference.

"As you know, Ehrenfest has always been a lower-ranking duchy, so we don't have the infrastructure to accommodate many merchants. I believe the expansion of trade quotas will be slow. How much they expand will depend on the Aub's judgment, so I really can't say anything definitive."

Smiling sweetly, I gently hinted "don't get your hopes up too much," and since this was a trade-related interaction, I decided to deliver the hair ornament.

"I don't know how the trade with Drewanchel will work out. However, isn't Lady Adolphine now in a position to obtain Ehrenfest's products? I have a gift from Prince Sigiswald."

As I said this, I glanced at Brunhilde. Brunhilde gave a slight nod and handed the wooden box containing the hair ornament to Adolphine's Attendant.

"Prince Sigiswald commissioned this as a congratulatory gift for Lady Adolphine's coming-of-age ceremony."

At my words, the ladies at the tea party let out envious sighs. Indeed, receiving a gift from a man carried a special significance. Especially Hannelore and Lutinde, who read romance stories from the Royal Academy—their eyes were absolutely sparkling.

"How wonderful..."

Adolphine, who had peered into the wooden box opened by her Attendant, let out an exclamation of awe. Since it was inside the box, no one seated could see it.

"Why don't you try it in your hair? Everyone would love to see it, and your Attendant should learn how to put it on properly."

When Adolphine accepted my suggestion, Brunhilde had Adolphine's Attendant style her hair just as for the coming-of-age ceremony and taught her how to attach the hair ornament. Just as I'd imagined, the pure white flower looked stunning against Adolphine's wine-red hair. It transformed the spirited, glamorous Adolphine into a picture of elegant beauty.

Adolphine lightly touched the hair ornament with her fingertip, as if checking the placement.

"...How does it look?"

"It suits you beautifully. You look absolutely lovely."

"To receive a hair ornament that fits this perfectly—Prince Sigiswald really is a wonderful person."

Being praised by those around her, Adolphine's expression softened with relief.

"Lady Eglantine was so extraordinary last year—I just hope this doesn't look too inferior by comparison..."

Adolphine said this with a playful smile, and those around her laughed reassuringly, saying, "I'm sure it's fine." I could sense that Adolphine genuinely feared being compared to Eglantine as the prince's wife, behind that smile of hers.

"Just as Früteurene and Rungeschmell have different types of restorative power, Lady Adolphine and Lady Eglantine have different merits. Their individual qualities aren't the sort of thing you can compare, and there's no question of one being inferior to the other."

Eglantine, with her soft, gentle aura, and Adolphine, the sharp beauty whom a bold smile suited perfectly—simply too different in type to compare.

When I said this, Adolphine widened her amber eyes, and then broke into a relaxed, candid smile.

"Lady Eglantine told me that Lady Rozemyne always says exactly what people want to hear, and it's true."

Adolphine showed a beautiful smile, the tension in her shoulders gone.

...Being compared to Lady Eglantine must be tough, but if it put even a little more ease into Lady Adolphine's heart, then it was worth it.

As Adolphine and I exchanged gentle smiles, Dietlinde, seated at a slight distance, let out a soft sigh.

"At next year's graduation ceremony, I'm thinking of wearing a hair ornament like this as well. What kind of flower would suit me?"

As she said this, Dietlinde touched her own luxurious golden hair and looked at me and Charlotte. But even if she said that, I couldn't sell Dietlinde a hair ornament. She was from a higher-ranking duchy than Ehrenfest, and if she tried to push me around just because we were related by blood, the other upper duchies would do the same.

"If a trade agreement with Ahrensbach has been established, I would gladly accept the request. I can't break our agreement to favor Ahrensbach alone. This time as well, it wasn't a request from Drewanchel—it was a request from the royal family."

"Oh my? But we're cousins..."

"Our being cousins has nothing to do with the agreements between duchy Lords concerning trade. To move the Aub's heart, you'll need something beyond blood."

I conveyed the message that she should bring a proposal with sufficient profit and negotiate with the Aub herself, and then I smiled sweetly. But Dietlinde still wouldn't back down.

"Can't something be done? We're on such good terms..."

Was this persistence an Ahrensbach characteristic? Sensing a stubbornness reminiscent of Frauerlum, I held my breath—when Adolphine, still wearing the hair ornament, came over to us with a smile. She positioned herself as if to shield Charlotte and me.

"Oh my, oh my, there's no need to try to force things with Lady Rozemyne like that. Why don't you do as I did and simply make your request to the appropriate person, Lady Dietlinde?"

At Adolphine's words, a flush instantly spread across Dietlinde's cheeks, and she pressed her lips together in frustration.

...Ouch! That's harsh for Lady Dietlinde, who apparently still hasn't secured an escort partner, Lady Adolphine! It's practically a provocation telling her to catch a man from the central region or Klassenberg!

While I was frantically worrying about how to smooth things over for Dietlinde, Charlotte stepped forward with a smile and gently took Dietlinde's hand.

"Lady Dietlinde's graduation is still next year. The situation may well have changed by then. Right now there's no trade with Ahrensbach, but the Lord's conference where trade partners are decided is in the spring."

"That's right. Please ask the Aub to help increase your trade partners."

With that, the atmosphere in the room softened, and the tea party resumed.

...Charlotte is amazing.

After that, the conversation turned to how Ehrenfest's books were gradually spreading. Adolphine was apparently in the middle of reading the new romance story by Hartenfel that Charlotte had lent her.

"I've been enjoying it, but Ortwin says it's hard to read since it's nothing but romance stories. Does Ehrenfest have any books for young men?"

"We have knight stories. I'll lend them to you through Brother Wilfried."

And Adolphine lent us a Drewanchel book in return. Including the book Lutinde had lent me, that made two new books. This was wonderful. I was so happy.

...Control yourself, control yourself.

"What kind of stories are in Ehrenfest's books?"

At that question, Hannelore and Lutinde eagerly launched into descriptions. Adolphine also shared a few things about the new romance story she'd read. According to them, the scenes with the Goddesses of Spring appearing one after another during romantic moments allowed them to visualize the scenery and understand the characters' feelings as clearly as if holding them in their hands.

...Aaaaaah! No good. I just can't relate. How can the Goddesses of Spring appear when lovers gaze into each other's eyes, break into song, and everyone gets moved to tears!?

"I know stories too..."

Other Lord candidates shared romance stories they knew, and while the apprentice attendants frantically scribbled with their pens, I alone was faced with the predicament of being completely unable to relate to the romance, holding my head in my hands.

The topic of books had come up, but because I couldn't quite share in their excitement and enthusiasm, though my magic stones changed color a bit, I was able to finish the tea party without losing consciousness—unlike the tea party with Hannelore.

It was the tea party with Drewanchel where we delivered the hair ornament.

Two from Ehrenfest, out of place among the assembled upper duchy attendees.

But we successfully spread the trends.

Charlotte is an angel following in Turi's footsteps!

Next is Roderick's dedication.