Chapter 74. An Uninvited Guest

“You’re going to pick flowers and take them all the way to the North for that woman?”

“Yes. My wife loves them.”

Theo smiled contentedly while looking at the flowers blooming in the garden.

As expected, they weren’t flowers grown with magic stones.

Theo had been eyeing the flowers since entering the mansion. Even from afar, they gave off a subtle fragrance.

On the other hand, Camilla found it quite strange that Theo would pick flowers for his wife.

Camilla thought that Theo, who was so obsessively focused on war, would die on the battlefield.

When she heard he wasn’t going to the battlefield but had shut himself away in the North, she thought he would die alone from alcoholism.

But suddenly he got married, and now he had become a husband who talked about picking flowers for his wife.

He really did get married.

Camilla became truly curious about the woman who had changed Theo so much.

* * *

Yuelina placed jasmine leaf tea and apple pie on the new garden table. Maelyn and Raye were with her.

“Maelyn, Raye. You both look so pretty today!”

Yuelina smiled brightly at the two.

Maelyn wore a light pink A-line dress, while Raye was in training attire.

“Raye, did you cut your hair shorter?”

“Yes, it was a bit uncomfortable during training.”

Raye had cut her hair even shorter than before.

Her shoulder-length hair was now layered and cut to chin length.

“Emily will probably have a lot to say about the garden, right?”

“Oh come on, Your Highness! Do you know how hard we worked?”

At Yuelina’s words, Maelyn and Raye looked around the garden.

Compared to before, the garden had become very neat.

They had pulled out all the overgrown weeds, and the flowers and trees were replanted by type according to the season.

The table and chairs were also carefully chosen by Yuelina.

While white marble like Emily’s would have looked nice, light brown hardwood seemed better considering the harmony with the Black Mansion.

In the end, Yuelina chose a table made of solid wood.

She matched the chairs’ color with the table and ordered them in quite a large size.

She hoped Theo would be able to sit comfortably when he returned, given his large build.

“Your Highness, the guests have arrived.”

Soon after, the butler announced the arrival of the ladies. Yuelina hurried to the mansion entrance.

Emily and the other ladies stepped down from their carriages. Yuelina embraced Emily with a welcoming face.

“Thank you for coming, Emily.”

“Of course. You must have worked hard preparing everything.”

Emily and Yuelina walked arm in arm toward the garden.

“Is it alright? How is it?”

Yuelina asked Emily with a worried face. Emily carefully examined various spots in the garden.

While it looked clean without unnecessary elements, the problem was that the trees were inconsistent and lacked character.

Emily carefully chose her words to point out the problems without upsetting Yuelina.

Yuelina’s eyes sparkled with admiration.

After hearing Emily’s words, she could see exactly what needed to be fixed.

“Thank you, Emily! I think I can fix those parts before His Highness returns.”

“I’m glad, Yuelina.”

“Shall we sit down for tea?”

Yuelina guided Emily and the other noble ladies to their seats.

Emily smiled looking at the table.

“A round table, I see.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

A round table had no head seat regardless of where one sat.

That’s why it wasn’t preferred at most social gatherings.

Conversely, that’s why it suited Yuelina so well.

Emily sat at the round table with a smile.

“I like it, it feels like we’re all sitting together for a cozy chat.”

“I like it too.”

“Me too!”

Mary and Chloe agreed with Emily’s words.

Then Teresa looked around carefully and spoke hesitantly.

“Um, where is Dame Raye?”

“My lady, do you need something?”

“Ah, n-no!”

Raye, who had been standing by, immediately approached when Teresa mentioned her name.

Startled by Raye’s sudden approach, Teresa blushed.

“Dame Raye seems so cool…”

“Yes, I think Raye is cool too.”

Yuelina agreed with Teresa’s words. Teresa nodded with sparkling eyes.

“Sometimes I think she’s even cooler than my husband! My husband doesn’t exercise at all!”

Emily, Mary, and Chloe laughed loudly at Teresa’s comment.

“Oh my, Teresa. Have you perhaps fallen for Dame Raye?”

“Seeing how shy you are, I’m becoming convinced!”

“W-well, even as a woman, I think she’s quite handsome.”

Embarrassed Teresa took a sip of tea to wet her throat.

“Why don’t we all learn exercise from Dame Raye?”

“Exercise?”

“Yes. Muscles aren’t just for men, right?”

Emily said playfully.

Yuelina gave a thumbs up, saying it was a good idea.

Before long, the social gathering had turned into a discussion about how to build strength and how to improve their husbands’ weak physiques.

It was a precious moment of candid conversation.

“Shall we decide on a name for our group?”

“That’s a good idea!”

At Chloe’s suggestion, the ladies at the table fell into deep thought.

Since their gathering wasn’t a salon for painting or reciting poetry, they hadn’t given it a specific name.

“How about simply ‘Tea-Pie’?”

“Tea-Pie?”

“Don’t we always eat tea and pie?”

It was Mary’s suggestion.

It was easy to pronounce and, more importantly, it seemed meaningful as it reminded them of their first meeting with Yuelina.

Emily nodded in agreement.

“I like it. What do you think, Yuelina?”

“I was just thinking how wonderful it is. Then from now on, when something happens, we can look for Tea-Pie!”

Everyone burst into laughter at Yuelina’s clear and bright voice.

That’s when the butler approached Yuelina.

“Your Highness, Madam Giselle has arrived outside.”

“Madam Giselle?”

Emily frowned at the butler’s words.

Giselle was the wife of the baron who had been grabbed by the neck by Theo at the hunting grounds.

Why did Giselle come?

After meeting Yuelina, Emily had met with Giselle and tried to reason with her kindly.

She explained that what happened at the hunting grounds wasn’t Yuelina’s fault, but an incident caused by the men’s vulgar jokes.

But Giselle wouldn’t believe it.

She firmly believed that a vulgar woman from an island village had bewitched the Grand Duke and humiliated her husband.

No matter how much Emily tried to persuade her, Giselle wouldn’t listen.

“Yuelina, Giselle is my friend. I think she wanted to come when she heard I was visiting you.”

“Is that so? Then we should invite her in.”

Emily thought this might actually be for the best.

If Giselle saw Yuelina herself, she would surely realize that incident was just an accident.

Yuelina told the butler to bring Giselle in.

Soon after, Giselle appeared in the garden.

“Giselle.”

“Emily!”

Emily stood up and walked toward Giselle.

“What brings you here? You came all this way?”

“I wanted to see for myself. What kind of person she is.”

Emily frowned.

The way Giselle was glaring made it seem like she was about to cause trouble.

“Giselle, I told you already. Yuelina, I mean Her Highness the Grand Duchess, isn’t that kind of person. Okay? So please open your mind.”

“Emily, don’t you think you opened your mind too quickly?”

Giselle snorted as she brushed past Emily.

Then she plopped down in Emily’s seat next to Yuelina.

Emily let out a hollow laugh.

“Ah, hello?”

Yuelina was a bit taken aback by Giselle sitting in Emily’s seat.

But without showing it, she greeted her.

“Yes, Your Highness. I’m Giselle. Thank you for welcoming me despite my sudden visit.”

“Not at all. Emily’s friends are always welcome.”

Giselle stared intently at Yuelina. Contrary to rumors, Yuelina, in her simple dress and apron, looked elegant rather than vulgar.

That made Giselle even more irritated.

She turned her head to scan the garden, looking for something to criticize.

Unlike the rumors, the Black Mansion’s garden wasn’t messy. But there were still plenty of things to point out.

“The garden looks like children have been playing around with it.”

“…Pardon?”

Giselle slowly began to reveal the blade she had been hiding inside.