The Flower Dances and the Wind Sings

14.

Harsen and Vicente were already in the dining hall. Harsen was sitting at the centre and Vicente was sitting on his right. She hurried her pace.

“You’ll fall down.”

A dull voice flowed in her ear. Harsen frowned a little. Ercella replied apologetically.

“Did you wait long?”

“Not much.”

Ercella dissuaded Vicente from standing up as she came. Vicente bowed politely in his seat.

“You’re here.”

“I’m sorry I’m late. Did you wait long?”

“I didn’t.”

Just then, Harsen’s eyes subtly changed but Ercella couldn’t notice it because she was looking at Vicente.

Vicente looked calm as usual, including his voice. As Lianne said, he didn’t look angry. She felt relieved on the inside.

“What held you up? You came late for dinner.”

Ercella glanced at Vicente when Harsen asked. Vicente was still as if he had nothing to do with it. Ercella sat down smiling awkwardly.

“During the day, I had tea time with the ladies. I guess that’s why I was tired.”

“That’s just like you.”

She heard a cool acceptance.

“Who held it this time?”

“Mrs. Lydia.”

“I don’t think you’re acquainted with her.”

“I heard that Sierra and Countess Zardea were there, so I went there once. It wasn’t that fun.”

He nodded as if it was understandable when he heard familiar names. He heard those names often whenever Ercella enjoyed tea time.

When Ercella recalled the day, she clicked her tongue so quietly that no one could notice.

Who would have thought that Duchess Garten would also be there? And that they would eye Vicente as their potential son-in-law.

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I want to talk about what happened today, but it’s better if Harsen doesn’t know about it. It would be better not to mention the proposal at all because it could create a mess.

“Oh right! It seems the Princess Garden’s coming-of-age party is going to be huge. Everyone is looking forward to it.”

“I didn’t know that the Duke loves his daughter so much.”

“It’s understandable because she’s the Duke’s only daughter.”

“Is that so?”

The conversation was cut off there as Ercella brought up a trivial story, probably because it seemed a topic of interest to Harsen.

Ercella was eating bouillabaisse (A/N: Western seafood stew) when all of a sudden, Harsen said this.

“Come to think of it, Vicente will be an adult in three years.”

“I know!”

As soon as his words ended, Ercella replied excitedly. Her voice was a little higher than usual.

Harsen and Vicente stopped moving at her sudden cheer and looked at Ercella. Whether or not she was aware of their stiff expressions, Ercella clasped her hands and began running her mouth.

“I’ve been thinking, why don’t we do an interior remodel before the coming-of-age ceremony? In 3 years, Rentua architecture will become popular. I heard that the interior is characterized by an antique dome-style ceiling. It gives the building a soft aura, instead of grandeur. No matter how mighty the ducal family is, do you really need to be so tough for your only son’s coming-of-age party?”

“Wait-”

“It’s a good idea to prepare distinctive food from each region of Grania, right? Grania definitely has better cuisine than other countries. I don’t think we need to prepare food from other regions.”

“What-”

“Oh, but I’m still going to buy cocktails and champagne from Conrad. Their drinks are good, after all.”

“…….”

“If possible, I’d like to invite some local nobles, but I don’t know if I can accomodate all of them. But I’ll try and make the best of it. However, I don’t think I’ll invite nobles we’re not acquainted with, though I’ll probably invite a close friend of mine, a Ludelsia noble. The party will be even more wonderful if people from other countries attend as well!”

“…….”

Cough- cough-

She heard a choked sound somewhere.

“Y-young Master!”

As she turned to the direction of the sound, she saw Vicente coughing covering his mouth.

“Are you okay?!”

Ercella asked urgently.

Cough- Cough-!

Clifton quickly handed over a glass of water as the coughs grew louder. Vicente was barely able to open his mouth after chugging down a glass of water. His eyes were somewhat rigid.

“My coming-of-age party…. Do you intend to do all that?”

Vicente’s face was stained with shock. Unaware of the reason, Ercella tilted her head towards his face.

“Why, is there a problem?”

“…….”

“Vicente?”

Unable to find anything to say, Vicente avoided Ercella’s gaze.

Ercela questioned Harsen’s side this time. In her mind, this plan was perfect, so what was wrong?

“Harsen?”

He glanced at her and answered a little slowly.

“… It’s too much.”

Her husband sure-enough dismissed Ercella’s grand plan.

It’s too much? You can say that because you don’t know the joy of partying.

She was dissatisfied with Harsen’s attitude of not caring about the once-in-a-lifetime event.

“Actually, it’s not too much. It’s a celebration of our son’s coming of age, not anyone else.”

As she grumbled sharply, Harsen looked at her with strange eyes. Ercella couldn’t figure out why he looked at her with such eyes. She responded with a persistent look as if she were pushing him for an answer. Finally, Harsen opened his mouth.

“I’ll think about it later.”

“Then, you’re not going to do anything for the preparation.”

“…….”

Ercella’s assertion shut his mouth again. She narrowed her eyes.

So, he wasn’t planning to do anything. Even if he did, he would barely be involved and leave it all to his servants.

Harsen’s didn’t say anything, but her mind already concluded that. Ercella spoke in a more determined voice.

“You’re not going to do anything for your only son’s coming-of-age party, right? Then, I promise I’ll prepare it with you.”

“… Okay.”

When a positive answer came from his mouth, Ercella finally smiled satisfactorily.

Vicente’s eyes became increasingly confused as he watched the conversation between Ercella and Harsen. The scene that just unfolded in front of him was too foreign to be readily accepted.

“By the way, you said that Rentua architecture will be popular in three years. Is that already spreading around among the ladies?”

Wait-

Her gestures stiffened as she picked the shrimp from bouillabaisse.

Before I knew it, I talked about the future. He didn’t seem like it, but I guess he must have listened attentively.

At his sharpness, Ercella drew an awkward line with her lips, suppressing her goosebumps.

“W-well-”

Her eyes rolled in all directions. In truth, Rentua’s architectural style will raise in popularity in two years, and in about three years, Grania will craze it.

The problem was that only Ercella knew this.

I should be careful with what I say.

“I can tell from the flow of the atmosphere.”

There was no current trend that indicated Rentuan architecture would be popular in Grania, but Ercella naturally lied through her mouth.

I lied about it so calmly.

She felt a little guilty.

Harsen raised his mouth and smiled, barely expressing his admiration.

“That’s amazing. I didn’t know.”

Right. If even I find it ridiculous, I wonder what the other person would think.