He hadn’t expected her to be overjoyed. Rather, he had thought she might feel embarrassed receiving a bouquet in front of people.

But this kind of strange expression was a reaction he hadn’t anticipated.

She seemed happy but also somewhat perplexed, and from another perspective, she looked embarrassed.

No, rather than that…… how should he describe it?

Yes, as if she were shy.

‘……Shy?’

Lucas watched as Giselle, holding the bouquet to her chest, subtly avoided his gaze and fiddled with the petals.

He caught a glimpse of her cheeks turning as rosy as her hair color.

Looking at her like that made him feel thirsty. Come to think of it, he remembered that he had hurried without even taking a sip of water to arrive on time for the tea party.

That must be why his throat felt dry.

Just as Lucas was thinking to himself, one of the women opened her mouth in surprise.

“My goodness…… orange roses.”

“President Taylor must truly love his wife very much.”

“Who would have thought the President had such a romantic side……”

The sound of feathered fans being busily waved could be heard, with whispering voices between them. Their gazes also moved busily, alternating between Giselle and Lucas.

“……?”

Was giving a mere rose bouquet such an admirable act?

He slightly narrowed his brow, completely unable to understand these women’s thoughts.

In any case, the recipient of the bouquet didn’t seem displeased, which was a satisfactory result for him.

As Lucas was thinking that he had done well to accept the flower shop owner’s suggestion, he heard people approaching from the reception room entrance. There was also the sound of wheels, perhaps someone pulling a trolley.

“Oh my!”

The attention of the women who had been enviously glancing at the orange rose bouquet in Giselle’s arms shifted.

The employees had entered with the flowers and desserts Lucas had prepared, carried in large baskets and on trolleys.

Of course, it wasn’t something worthy of such exclamations of admiration. Flowers and desserts were common things found everywhere.

The significance was merely in preparing gifts so as not to become a laughingstock in social circles.

Nevertheless, what the employees brought made the eyes of all the women present widen.

“Goodness, those are Iberesia flowers! They only bloom in the Western Continent and are difficult to obtain.”

“And the desserts too. They’re made by Master Razeloni. Famous for only supplying to the royal family……”

Someone who knew nothing would have felt no particular impression seeing the scene unfolding before them.

They would have simply nodded indifferently, thinking that flowers and desserts had been prepared as gifts.

But those invited to this gathering today belonged to the highest group within social circles. Whether through money or power, they always desired only the best.

Because of this, they could immediately recognize that what Lucas had prepared was no ordinary gift.

Indeed, a ‘Taylor’.

At that moment, the same thought crossed everyone’s mind. And naturally, their gazes converged on the ‘mistress of the Taylor family’.

On Giselle Taylor, who had received a ‘shy confession of first love’ in front of everyone.

It was predictable to everyone that she would become a power player in social circles from now on.

* * *

“Shall I place the flowers here, madam?”

“Yes. Please do that. Put half in another vase and take it to my study.”

Giselle nodded at the maid’s question as she removed the jeweled pin from her hair. Another maid quickly approached and began carefully removing the remaining hair ornaments.

The nanny, standing behind, smiled with a pleased expression as she arranged the hair decorations.

“……”

Giselle deliberately averted her gaze, pretending not to see the nanny reflected in the mirror. Her face flushed red.

She knew very well why the nanny was smiling so broadly, and why smiles wouldn’t leave the faces of the head maid and the other maids.

After removing all her hair ornaments, she looked in the mirror with her now lighter head.

More precisely, she was looking at the vase reflected in the mirror, no, at the orange rose bouquet in the vase.

‘A shy confession of first love’

She didn’t know many flower meanings. It wasn’t a subject she had to study, nor was it content necessary for her work.

But sometimes she was curious about such trivial things, and thanks to that, she knew the meanings of a few flowers.

One of them was the meaning of orange roses.

Shy, first love, confession.

It was merely a sequence of three words.

Moreover, Lucas probably hadn’t given her orange roses knowing their meaning.

So there was no reason to have any expectations, and while she knew this fact well in her head, she couldn’t stop her heart from racing on its own.

Because of this, she couldn’t remember how the tea party had concluded, how she had seen off the invited guests, nothing at all.

Surely her mouth had diligently offered some parting words, and her hands had busily shaken hands with them, but still.

All she could remember was the image of Lucas placing the bouquet in her arms.

Making all the days of hard work preparing for the tea party seem meaningless.

“Madam, shall I prepare your bath water?”

The maid’s question reached Giselle’s ears as she was lost in memories with a flushed face. She startled slightly, then nodded.

“Oh, that would be good. Please do.”

The maids who received her order left the room to prepare for the bath.

With the head maid absent to oversee the cleanup after the tea party, the only person left in the room was the nanny.

“……Phew.”

Perhaps that was why.

As Giselle found herself alone with the nanny after a long time, she relaxed her shoulders with a more comfortable expression.

The nanny put away the jewelry box containing the hair ornaments, then approached her with a smile and spoke.

“You were thinking about the master, weren’t you?”

“Huh? No, no……”

Giselle, surprised by the nanny’s sudden question, widened her eyes and stammered a response.

With an expression that clearly said ‘I’m lying right now,’ the nanny burst into laughter again.

‘Still like a child, our miss, even though you’re married now.’

The nanny looked lovingly at Giselle, who couldn’t hide her emotions, and spoke again.

“You two are newlyweds. It’s natural to think about each other all day and still feel it’s not enough.”

“……It’s really not like that.”

Giselle shook her head repeatedly at the nanny’s words. However, her bright red face showed an entirely different answer from what came out of her mouth.

Pleased by this, the nanny opened her eyes wide and continued.

“My goodness! What’s wrong with thinking about someone you love? From what I saw earlier, it was so obvious how much the master loves you too.”

“……What?”

At that moment, Giselle, who had been shaking her head in embarrassment, stopped moving. And her gaze turned to the nanny.

Her green eyes, full of shyness, now held expectation.

Her eyes trembled, containing honest emotions, enough to clearly understand what she was expecting.

“The tea party, I mean. You have no idea how worried I was. The head maid said she had mentioned it to the master a few days ago, but she said she hadn’t had a chance to remind him this morning.”

The nanny shuddered, recalling how she had spent the entire tea party anxiously watching the main entrance. Then, excited again and not noticing Giselle’s faltering expression, she continued.

“So I was worried he might have forgotten, but for him to arrive right on time like that. I guess the words of someone who has served the master for a long time were right. They said he’s perfect, so there’s nothing to worry about……”

“……Yes, that’s right. He’s perfect, so he wouldn’t forget.”

Giselle nodded and responded to the nanny’s words. A sad light passed through her eyes that had held expectation.

‘What was I doing, acting like I had some kind of expectation……’

She laughed at herself, finding it ridiculous. For a very brief moment, she couldn’t control her fluttering heart along with that vain hope.

She had expected to hear what she wanted to hear from the nanny’s lips.

……That he loved her.

That that man loved her too.

“His memory is so good.”

To deliberately hide her inner feelings, which felt like a huge hole had formed in her chest, Giselle joked and smiled broadly.

Perhaps thanks to her effort.

The nanny, who would normally have quickly noticed Giselle’s true feelings, didn’t notice at all and excitedly continued talking.

“Besides, the head maid was saying that you proudly won the verbal battle with Miss Dalton?”

“Huh? W-won, what do you mean……”

She shook her head with an incredulous expression at the story the nanny brought up.

“Well, the head maid didn’t explicitly say you won, but anyway, she said you calmly countered when that Miss was picking fights with you at every turn.”

“……Hmm. I did act a bit childishly.”

Giselle recalled her interaction with Giana and belatedly made an embarrassed expression. Seeing her reaction, the nanny waved her hands and spoke again.

“The head maid said she was actually relieved to see you like that.”

“……Huh?”

“She was a bit worried because you seemed kind-hearted and delicate. The mistress of a family, especially of such an enormous family as this, can’t just be unconditionally kind and gentle.”

Giselle nodded, letting out an “Ah” at the nanny’s words.