7. Rosa Wants to Avoid Flags (1)
“Hello there, Your Highness. You seem to be in great spirits.”
On the day of the tea party, a calm afternoon with waning sunlight shining amidst the cold air…
Ladu’s voice echoed in the garden where tuberoses were blooming splendidly.
Leon, donning an ornate tunic and boots, sat with his long legs crossed at an elegant round table. It was uncharacteristic of him, who usually preferred to wear simple shirts and pants.
Clad in a formal attire, the combination of his lion-like, golden hair and dauntless beauty created a majestic sight that stole everyone’s breath away.
Ladu also didn’t forget to point out the fact that Leon, who had a reputation for rarely showing up to tea parties, arrived early at the event. In response, Leon simply lifted an eyebrow.
“The same goes for you. This is the first time I’ve seen you all dressed up.”
“It’s a social event that I’m participating in for the first time, so just in case.”
Instead of his usual long kaftan with open collar, Ladu wore a long, white vestment with a closed collar, embroidered with gold thread. A square hat wrapped in layers of cloth adorned his head, while a wide piece of cloth cascaded from his shoulders, giving him an exotic yet attractive look.
“Right now, I’m not a prisoner of a rebellious pagan religion, but Her Majesty the Queen’s personal physician. I must dress in a noble manner befitting my position.”
“…What are you insinuating?”
When Ladu grinned, Leon frowned slightly. However, contrary to his expression, his tone was lighthearted.
After resolving their mutual distrust through Rosa, they were able to open up to the point where they could exchange lighthearted words.
While everyone else bowed down to the prince because of his overwhelming prestige and magical power, Ladu, who maintained his irreverent attitude, was becoming a close friend to Leon.
Now, even though it was called a tea party, it was one of those events held so that men could engage in political discourse while their wives engaged in small talks. As such, unlike the customs of ordinary aristocrats, women and men were supposed to sit at separate tables.
Ladu sat down at the table intended for men, looking bored as he watched the ladies gather at the women’s table a little further away.
“What a shame. I went to all the trouble to show Rosa how cool I am, and yet we don’t even share the same table.”
“I wonder about that? Once the tea party starts, I’ll have a chance to speak to her. I think it’s a pretty reasonable seating arrangement. I didn’t have to mix in with the ladies and be stared at all the time, which is annoying.”
Leon shrugged and retorted, to which Ladu sarcastically grinned and said:
“Truly reasonable. You’re doing a poor job at hiding the fact it is actually an arranged marriage. What? Do you expect us to believe that Prince Leon went out of his way to dress up to attend a mere tea party?”
“Perhaps.”
Ladu raised one of his eyebrows as Leon answered without any regrets.
“I heard that since Rosa was raised in the countryside, she was clueless towards the manners of the aristocracy. On the other hand, I also heard that someone is conspiring with the princess to take advantage of that and trick Rosa into attending this party. He even went out of his way to arrange for Bernardo, her guard dog, to be off-duty. Wow, is this what a battle-hardened crown prince who is rumored to have never had a hard time with women would do?”
“Don’t bully me too much. Even this is making me nervous.”
Leon put his hand on his chest and lamented dramatically. Although he was joking, more than half of what he said was true.
Rosa was different from other young ladies Leon had come across. Not only was she naïve, she was out of touch with the common senses between men and women.
First of all, his evil eyes, which earned him the title of Golden Allure, was completely ineffective towards her. In the past, no matter how chaste a woman was, if Leon looked at her for a few seconds, she’d reveal her desires and fall in love with him. But when it came to Rosa, she merely stared back at him, her purple eyes clear and lucid.
If anything, Leon found himself captivated by the deep purple.
Yet, if he invited her to tea, she’d say, “Why don’t you invite Bernardo instead?” If he gave her a trinket, she’d say, “I’ll be sure to give it to Bernardo.” And if he leaned in to whisper to her eye, she’d say, “Oh, would you like me to relay a secret message?”
She doted on her half-brother more than her own self. For some reason, she believed that Leon was the same and kept boasting about Bernardo to him.
Frustrated, Leon said, “No, I want to talk to you right now.” Despite how straightforward and blunt he was, she had this mystified look on her face as she fixed her sitting posture.
“…So, you want to shoot the enemy’s general, is it?”
Rosa, who didn’t fall for the temptation of the Evil Eye, was Leon’s only salvation and hope, but if she was that dense, even he wanted to pray to the Heavens above.
Leon didn’t mind taking his sweet time to pursue his conquest, but recently he noticed something.
Rosa was popular throughout the entire royal castle.
The librarians admired her for how much of an avid reader she was. The knights fell for her after seeing how absorbed she was when watching their training.
The way she always smiled benevolently was pleasing to both the eyes and heart, and even the servants passing by were won over by her.
At the same time, she was oblivious to the malicious intentions of others, and became the beacon of crises.
The other day, when she was about to head to the main shrine, two merchants approached her, asking for directions. They were obviously up to no good. Thankfully, before they could kidnap her, Bernardo came to her rescue.
“B-but, I can’t possibly overlook them? The pair of gentlemen said that they took the wrong turn, so I thought I had to help them…”
Rosa, who had little sense of crisis, dejectedly bemoaned her good intentions. After that, Chris hardly let her out of the mansion, and Leon grew even more convinced that they had to enclose Rosa as soon as possible.
“Apparently, I’m the kind of man who wants to trap the person I’m in love with in my arms.”
Leon came to realize his unexpected nature, and shrugged his shoulders without feeling particularly guilty.
Knowing that he didn’t have much time, he decided that it’d be better to lay the groundwork as soon as possible.
The invitation to a tea party from the queen, which he had despised until then, turned out to be a shortcut.
Seeing that Chris had also taken an interest in Rosa, the two banded together to have Rosa attend the party.
“Whether or not she’ll receive the Queen’s Cup will depend on Her Majesty’s mood. Chris and I have made it clear that we support Rosa. It’s been a while since I spoke to Her Majesty the Queen, but she seemed to be fond of Rosa as well. I wish I had done this sooner.”
Leon was in a good mood, saying that things went according to plan.
“I heard from Chris that he had a gorgeous red and gold dress custom-made for Rosa. Keeping Her Majesty the Queen’s love for extravagance, Rosa will definitely be the center of attention as the star of the show.”
Leon sarcastically glanced at the garden, which was a testament to his claim. Even though it was early winter, the garden was full of flowers with a heady fragrance. Excessively decorated furniture and outdoor lighting to keep one from feeling the cold.
Instead of maids, formal pages served as the waiters.
The garden of tuberoses was bestowed by the former queen when the current queen was still a crown princess. Despite the name of the flower, the shape resembled more of a daffodil, with a pungent sweet scent.
In the language of flowers, it had the meaning of ‘obscene beauty,’ and was also known as a ‘whore’s flower.’
Yes, the garden was a ridicule to Dorothea, who indulged in luxury and debauchery under the pretense of beauty and love.
However, Dorothea didn’t bat an eye and went on playing with handsome men, treated children like dolls, and held tea parties on a whim.
“—I can’t wait.”
Leon smiled softly, suppressing his complicated feelings towards his mother.
In fact, when he thought of Rosa, who shone so beautifully even in the flood of striking colors, he could look forward to the dull tea party.
“The queen is fond of Rosa…?” Ladu muttered meaningfully.
“Why?”
“Nothing? I just thought she didn’t seem like such an honest woman from the few times I met her as her physician.”
When asked about what he was implying, Ladu narrowed his auburn eyes ever so slightly.
“I hope Rosa doesn’t get hurt… Well, if that happens, it’s your fault, and I just have to take advantage of it.”
“What on earth do you—”
Leon frowned and leaned forward, but then he paused.
“Excuse me. May I sit here?”
A new participant had joined Leon and his friends at the men’s table.
Argent hair, and intelligent gray hair covered by glasses. He was a man in his mid-thirties, and his priestly attire, decorated with a lily emblem, seemed sterling.
Chris had told him in advance, ‘I’ve decided to invite a certain clergy member who is close with Rosa.’
Leon and the others had heard about him. An invitation to a tea party or meal could be considered as a donation. Thus, he shifted his focus to interacting with the new participant.
“Nice to meet you. My name is Anthony, and I’m a member of the Church of St. Julia. Thanks to the kindness of Her Highness the Princess and Rosa von Langheim, I was allowed to stay at the villa.”
“My sister has told me about you. I am Leon von Bergwein. This is Ladu al Aptan, a native of the village of apt, known for its healing arts, and is the attending physician of Her Majesty the Queen.”
“Nice to meet you.”
The men smoothly exchanged greetings with appropriate politeness and smiles.
The priest, who introduced himself as Anthony, was pure and soft-spoken. As one would expect from a priest, Leon’s golden eyes didn’t seem to have any effect on him. He also didn’t show any particular aversion to Ladu’s brown skin, and overall seemed like a pleasant individual to sit with.
However, as Leon casually observed him with a calm smile on his face, something about that keen-eyed and sharp-nosed priest struck him as odd. Since the priest was in contact with Leon’s sister and Rosa, it might be a good idea to properly investigate him after the tea party.
According to the information he’d gathered in advance, there should be one more person joining them at the table—the queen’s priest.
His name was Matthias.
No doubt the conversation between the two priests would be lively, so Leon decided to listen carefully from time to time.
With that in mind, Leon turned once more towards the women’s table.
Chris, the organizer, was already at the table, and most of the seats were occupied.
The participants this time were Rosa and four other young ladies who were suddenly fired from their positions at the royal castle.
Among them was Countess Petronella von Hugler, who was skillful at winning the favor of the queen. Leon heard that she was using her cousin to harass Rosa at the castle. She must’ve borrowed the queen’s authority to attend the tea party, perhaps as a means of retaliation.
What does the queen like about the countess? She only cares about dressing up and flirting with every single man she comes across.
…Aah, I see why they’re so compatible.
Petronella always wore flashy dresses and flirted with Leon. As she unfolded her fan, the countess was visibly in a good mood, and Leon frowned. Something was amiss.
…She’s wearing an unusually plain outfit.
Petronella, who was always dressed like a peacock in heat, was wearing a light beige dress that day.
With the exception of Chris, who was still in his riding clothes, the other three young ladies were all wearing modest dresses of gray, dull light blue, and decaying leaf colors.
The queen’s tea party used to be a nightmarish affair, filled with tons of embroideries, beads, frills, and the heady scent of perfumes. Everyone would be competing to wear the most glamorous and cutting-edge costumes.
When he saw the remaining empty seats, he grew nervous. Only two people hadn’t arrived yet.
Queen Dorothea, who would arrive fashionably late as a woman of the highest social status, and Rosa, the count’s daughter, who was supposed to be of the lowest ranking among the guests.
Why hasn’t she arrived yet…?
He had a bad feeling.
Chris also had a tense look on his face, calling out to the page, who soon ran towards the villa. He must’ve been sent to hurry Rosa along.
I’ve always known Rosa for being punctual. Why would she be late?
Ladu must’ve sensed the bizarre atmosphere as well, and called out to Leon in a low voice.
“…Hey, look at Her Majesty’s clothes.”
Leon shifted his gaze to the sight of Dorothea heading towards them, accompanied by her priest, Matthias.
She was wearing a dull blue dress, like a nun.
Because of the distance, he couldn’t make out her patterns and lace decorations, but on top of her rather simple outfit, the queen’s hair, which was usually adorned with jewels, was concealed by her veiled corsage.
Leon finally realized the queen’s intentions and furrowed his eyebrows.
Rosa’s dress was tailored to be extraordinarily gorgeous to appeal to the showy queen and outshone everyone else at the tea party.
However, as of the present, the rest of the ladies were wearing clothes that symbolized humility. If Rosa arrived late, and not to mention, in a lavish dress…
“This has to be a lie…”
Leon didn’t think that Rosa, who’d wake up early to water the roses in the villa, would be late either.
—Perhaps they wrote a different time schedule in her invitation.
It was too simple of a harassment, so he never saw it coming. Moreover, he was under the impression that Dorothea had taken kindly to Rosa.
Above all, he and Chris especially reminded Rosa to wear the finest dress.
Dorothea approached them with feathery steps.
She narrowed her eyes in satisfaction when she saw that the seat next to Chris was still empty.
It was the gaze of a cat tormenting a mouse, and Leon despised it.
“Good evening, everyone… My, it seems that Rosa von Langheim hasn’t arrived yet.”
“Greetings, Your Majesty.”
Immediately, Chris stood up and bowed to the queen.
The tea party would begin as soon as the host took a seat. Perhaps to solidify the fact that Rosa was late, Dorothea was about to sit down.
Realizing her intentions, Leon steadfastly took the queen’s hand.
“Greetings, Your Majesty the Queen. You seem to be wearing a very classical outfit on this fine day.”
“For a second, I thought it was Chris who approached me. It’s unusual for you to approach me on your own.”
Dorothea lifted the hem of her dress, grinning wickedly from ear to ear.
“Hehe, isn’t it wonderful? I was deeply touched by Father Matthias’ sermon, ‘The Lord honors poverty,’ so I decided that from now on, I shall strive to be a merciful lady and lead by example.”
Then, Dorothea tilted her head towards Petronella and the other ladies.
“Don’t you all think so? Only a vain lady would attract attention by wearing a flashy dress adorned with excess embroidery and frills.”
“Yes, that is true.”
The ladies responded as if they’d rehearsed it before.
Nodding in satisfaction, Dorothea shook off Leon’s hand.
“Now, I can’t keep these caste ladies thirsty. Can you pull up a chair, Leon?”
“Your Majesty the Queen… Why…?”
Leon frowned, not understanding why Dorothea went through lengths to put Rosa in so much pressure.
Instead of responding, Dorothea merely stared at Leon, curving her lips.
“Come on. Let’s start the tea party.”
“Oh…?”
However, just at that moment, a lovely voice resounded.
It was Rosa, who suddenly emerged from the bushes. She sounded surprised for some reason.
Everyone who was there gasped when they saw her appearance.
Previous | Table of Contents | Next
Leave a Reply