Chapter 128
* * *
When she opened it to see what it was, there was an ordinary-looking tulip bulb inside.
“Tulip?”
“Yes. Growing tulips has become popular among the noble ladies.”
He added that the trend had started with the empress, and that the empress was currently searching for tulips of unusual colors that were not in her garden.
“That’s why nobles who want to catch the empress’s eye are each cultivating entire fields of tulips.”
“Then this is one with an unusual color?”
“Yes. This is the variety the empress has been desperately searching for, called ‘Eternal Starlight,’ and it is an extremely rare item that hardly exists in the world.”
“It looks ordinary.”
“Look here, there is a small star-shaped pattern at the end of the bulb.”
Indeed, at the spot Jet pointed to, there was a small star-shaped scratch.
Then this must be incredibly expensive and valuable…… It was perfect as a gift for the empress.
Asil, who had been examining the bulb with her mouth agape, looked up at him.
“How did you obtain this?”
“Lady Sol helped.”
“Sol?”
“Yes. She said she wanted to repay you, Young Lady…… Since she is a divine beast who handles the earth, she can also make rare plants bloom.”
Goodness.
Truly, Sol was far too kind a divine beast.
To think she would help obtain a gift to give to the empress in this way!
“I’ll use it well. Thank you so much!”
Asil, deeply moved by a divine beast she had barely met a few times, hugged the box tightly.
It seemed she absolutely had to confirm what that red necklace Sol was wearing really was.
* * *
Some time after that.
A tea party was held in the empress’s palace garden, which was splendidly decorated with tulips of various colors.
The empress, along with the noble ladies and young ladies who followed her, were drinking tea while waiting for Asil.
“To think there are tulips in such a variety of colors; Your Majesty’s garden seems to grow more beautiful with each passing day.”
“Hohoho…… This time, I succeeded in improving a new variety. The bulb given by Marchioness Esent was a great help.”
Improving tulip bulbs to produce tulips of various colors was their exclusive pastime.
However, the empress, who had been smiling, suddenly let out a deep sigh.
“But once again, I failed to obtain the ‘Eternal Starlight’…… When that old fox said she had obtained the Eternal Starlight, how furious I was.”
The old fox referred to the retired empress dowager.
Although she herself had started collecting tulips first, she always felt regret that this old woman from the rear palace, with whom she had a bad relationship, had bloomed a rare color before her.
The noble ladies, reading the empress’s displeased mood, quickly spoke up.
“You will surely obtain it soon.”
“If one blooms in my garden, I will offer it to Your Majesty immediately.”
“Hahaha, I am grateful for your sentiments alone.”
As the words suggested, the empress did not hold great expectations. That was how difficult the Eternal Starlight was to obtain.
While they were talking about tulips for a while.
One noble lady changed the subject.
“It’s unbelievable that a young lady who isn’t even from the capital will lead the Divine Beast Thanksgiving Festival. What on earth was Her Highness the Third Princess thinking when she made such a decision?”
“Indeed. It’s such a regrettable choice.”
“Could she have been deceived by Young Lady Erzébet’s incredible eloquence?”
As if they had been waiting, the others responded.
Although it was a place in the imperial palace where they were badmouthing a princess, which should have been sensitive, no one frowned.
Instead, they fanned the flames and chimed in together.
This was possible because the host of the gathering, the empress, disliked her own daughter, Eokaste.
“Even though she is my daughter, I truly don’t know what she is thinking.”
The empress set down her teacup with elegance and smiled composedly.
“Clashing with her older brother, the crown prince, over every little thing…….”
“Your Majesty must be very worried.”
“I only hope that Young Lady Erzébet is not as deplorable as we think.”
“I think it would be fortunate if she at least knows proper etiquette.”
At that, everyone burst into laughter.
Among them, the one who laughed the loudest was none other than Sunrise’s princess, Marian.
She, who had been eagerly awaiting the day Asil would be humiliated, opened her mouth.
“I wish that were the case too…… But I saw her at the Great Temple last time, and I couldn’t help but sigh.”
“Why?”
“Her attire was far too plain. No matter that it was the Great Temple, there is such a thing as noble dignity, so she should have dressed properly.”
Unaware of how childishly over-adorned she herself was, Sunrise Marian gleefully disparaged Asil.
“I’m worried about today as well. I hope she doesn’t disturb everyone’s mood by showing up in attire that doesn’t suit the occasion.”
“Surely not. Even in the countryside, they must hold tea parties to some extent.”
“But how do they hold tea parties in the countryside?”
“Do they make tables and chairs out of straw and fetch stream water to make it look proper?”
Once again, everyone in the room burst into laughter.
Marian was about to join in laughing when the empress’s maid announced that Asil had arrived at the garden entrance.
As the surroundings grew slightly quiet, the young ladies quickly exchanged glances.
“What should we pick on first?”
“Hmm, starting with her attire?”
“Everyone entrusted their orders to the capital’s dressmakers, right?”
“Of course. No one would have accepted Young Lady Erzébet’s commission.”
They had already colluded with Marian to ensure Asil could not have a beautiful dress made within the time frame.
Marian smiled faintly.
“Let’s see clearly just how outdated what she’s wearing is.”
Soon, another maid of the empress appeared, escorting Asil.
Marian, who had been preparing to criticize Asil before anyone else, gaped wide.
The other young ladies who had been ready to add comments and ruin the mood were the same.
In the hushed atmosphere, tweet tweet tweet! A sparrow flew in from somewhere and gracefully landed on a tree.
For some reason, Young Lady Erzébet glanced at that sparrow before performing a perfect greeting.
“I am Asilian Erzébet.”
It was flawless etiquette without a single flaw.
The clever Asil clearly remembered what she had learned from Eokaste a few years ago.
As a result, the noble ladies who had been waiting to nitpick Asil’s clumsy etiquette shut their mouths.
In the quiet surroundings, the empress, looking slightly dazed, asked on behalf of everyone present.
“The dress and accessories…… It’s a design I’ve never seen before, yet it is very beautiful and sophisticated. Who on earth made it?”
The design currently in vogue in the capital featured extremely large and voluminous dress skirts.
However, due to mutual competition, the preference for even larger and more voluminous designs often made it difficult for the wearer to move alone, and some were so bulky that they couldn’t even fit through building entrances.
In contrast, what Asil wore was a simple dress that allowed her to move freely without difficulty.
Moreover, instead of attaching whole jewels in the conventional way, they had been ground into fine particles and scattered, so even the slightest movement caused them to sparkle brilliantly, drawing everyone’s attention.
‘How can it look so comfortable and yet so pretty!’
‘Who on earth made that?’
‘I have to secure that designer first!’
Everyone present had the same thought, their eyes shining.
But at Asil’s following answer, they gasped.
“My mother and father made it for me.”
No way.
To think it was personally made by the Count and Countess Erzébet—something that could not be obtained even for a fortune!
However, if they became close to Young Lady Erzébet, perhaps they could receive even a little…… of that benefit…….
It went without saying that the women’s gazes toward Asil changed from jealousy to envy.
‘So pretty…….’
‘How did they come up with such a design?’
‘I want one too…… Even just the accessories.’
Anyone with eyes could see it.
The social world’s trends were about to change from now on.
If they earned Asil’s dislike here, they might fall behind forever.
Thus, the young ladies, leaving behind Marian—who didn’t even know the first letter of fashion—began speaking kindly to Asil.
“I hope we can be close from now on. I’m Yurina of the Ailen marquis household.”
“I’m Katie Bell.”
“I am from the Count Hielrun household…….”
Watching this, Marian bit her lip. As the atmosphere flowed completely contrary to her expectations, she grew anxious.
Determined to somehow break this flow that was turning in Asil’s favor, she sprang to her feet.
“Y-Your Majesty! I have brought a gift for Your Majesty!”
At those words, Asil’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Marian.
What? A gift?
I happened to bring one too!
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