“This is sooo good!”
“Right? Then, let’s buy some more for takeout later. There’ll be people who’ll sulk if they can’t taste this.”
Violet held out her handkerchief to Mary. It was made from luxurious fabric, and as Mary was about to take it, she looked up, puzzled as Violet started personally wiping the cream from Mary’s cheek.
Her face went bright red like a ripe tomato. Violet smiled again before Mary could speak first.
And she was thus rendered speechless while faced with her master’s smile.
“Hey, why do you keep spilling so much?” Cairn asked.
“Goodness, Young Master… You ate well, too.”
As Violet was hinting at leaving the shop, Cairn got up first. Fortunately, he didn’t catch onto the whispers earlier.
“Huh? That hair and eye color…”
“Come on, it must only be a coincidence.”
“I guess so? Ahh, but you know, it’s always good to hear anything regarding the third young master of House Everett.”
Violet’s brows wriggled briefly when she heard this. In turn, Cairn made eye contact with her and just shook his head.
He was pretending not to hear.
“Are we leaving now?” Cairn asked.
“We should, yes. Can you order something for Brother?”
“Good grief, you’re calling him ‘Brother’ when he’s not here. If he hears about this, he’ll likely faint from bliss.”
“Haa.”
“Hey, what the heck. What’s with that sigh!”
At Violet’s sigh, Cairn jumped up, but she just ignored him and rose from her seat. Mary also stood up and arranged their things.
Unable to win against his sister, Cairn went to order more desserts for takeout while Mary continued to talk about how delicious the cake had been.
“Is that so?”
Violet responded to her moderately, but she inadvertently heard the other table’s ensuing conversation yet again.
“Really, such things that don’t know their place…”
“This time, Lady Tolofia…”
“Come to think of it, have you heard about His Highness’s aide?”
They weren’t speaking loudly so Violet couldn’t hear everything that they were saying, but it was easy to surmise the whole gist of it.
But what’s usual was this—most of the time, except for whenever she was mediating the gossip, the esteemed daughter of Count Tolofia said nothing at all.
“Right, right. Have you all gotten a partner?”
“Ah, it’s for the birthday banquet of His Highness the Crown Prince. Of course, I…”
Why were those people just so talkative.
Mary was still at a loss as Violet continued to wipe her cheek, but as Violet was about to say, ‘You can take this,’ Cairn returned.
“We’re going back home now, right?”
“I dunno. Maybe we should look around a little longer.”
“What? Let’s just go home, please. I’m so tired…”
“If you’re tired, then just go home by yourself.”
“Ugh, Sister! Please!”
With Cairn’s yelling in the background, Violet gracefully picked up her belongings and got up.
For a moment, she suddenly mused. If this was a novel, then Lady Tolofia would be a villainess.
Violet S. Everett is the final boss and the mastermind behind everything. Lady Tolofia is the villainess. And, of course, the main character is Aileen.
Perhaps after coming to the capital, Aileen gets insulted and looked down upon by Lady Tolofia.
As soon as Aileen manages to overcome these hardships and regain her reputation, Violet appears, and Aileen’s life will be thrown upside-down, making her plummet to the bottom. Eventually, however, the evil mastermind will get her comeuppance and would then be banished from the land.
If this was a novel, that is.
Of course, the main character in Violet’s life was herself. So, this passing thought was a very useless imagination.
“Sister, are we seriously going shopping again? Huh?”
“That reminds me, I also want to buy a pair of shoes or two.”
“Uuuugh, okay.”
“Ahh, and it might be best to buy new clothes for my adorable little brother.”
“……”
Cairn turned pale. Violet smiled nonchalantly.
“Hmm. Indeed, the Young Master’s face truly is more beautiful than anyone else’s.”
“He takes after our mother a lot. Well, I only said that as a joke, but it sounds fun anyway. Let’s head for the department store.”
“Yeees~!”
She went on to pretend she couldn’t feel or hear the trailing gazes and whispered voices following behind her back, even to the end.
* * *
Violet’s comfortable stay in the capital was soon disturbed by the crown prince’s upcoming birthday banquet.
What kind of dress would you wear? What kind of jewelry would fit the ensemble? Who would be accompanying you as your partner?
The same such topics were repeated day after day.
And Marchioness Leshan was no different in this regard. In a letter she sent to Violet, the marchioness recommended a jeweler for her. Violet only replied with some words of gratitude.
High society was, in the end, the marriage market, and was also closely tied to politics. Since it was a place where all kinds of rumors circulated, catching up with the beau monde was a large part of aristocratic society.
Violet’s lack of enthusiasm in immersing herself in that world didn’t have a deep meaning behind it.
It’s just that she didn’t really care about the aristocrats’ high society and their opinions. There was no need to pay attention to such things that were hardly important.
Instead, she went back to her original aim: to paint. Well, rather than painting per se, it’s more that she was doodling without aim or any motivation to complete.
