There were still two hours before the scheduled time, so I decided to take a dip in the bath and get myself ready. Our gathering ended there, and we decided to spend time as we pleased until dinner was ready.
Two hours later, we all met up in the room once more. We all wore dresses that we had prepared for this trip. Even Parfeil had one, and the deep purple color of the dress we’d picked was a fantastic match for her. Meanwhile, I chose an ecru-colored dress for myself. Lady Opera had said that it looked too plain, but I rather liked it. Since becoming the Dragon Duchess consort, I’d had fewer opportunities to wear something as low-key as this.
I wonder what Van would think of this dress. I’ll ask for his opinion later. Or so I thought, but I was flabbergasted by what greeted us at the third dining hall. There was no grand banquet to welcome the Dragon Duke inside. Instead, servants were coming in and out of the dining hall, preparing a buffet-style meal.
“At this hour, nobody else will be entering, so you may all have as much food as you wish,” Fenetra’s attendant explained to us.
While I was spacing out, Lady Opera lost her temper. “Just what is the meaning of— Mmph?!”
I hurriedly covered her mouth and dragged her inside the dining hall. Parfeil and Madeleine shut the double doors behind us. The bang of the doors closing echoed throughout the room. Once I let go of the squirming Lady Opera, she let out a frustrated squeal.
“Why are we not having dinner with my brother?!” she yelled.
“That’s...”
We were here at Diamant as attendants. Normally, maids and attendants would not be having dinner with the Dragon Duke. Still, the situation was different this time since we were here as guests, and many attendants to the Dragon Duke were also high-ranking nobles themselves. Treating us at the same level as House Noisette’s attendants was a huge slight. Lady Opera’s indignation was not uncalled for.
“I will not rest until I get to smack this Fenetra woman!”
“Aura, calm down.”
“Millefie, why are you so calm and relaxed?!”
“I’m... I’m also upset.”
“You sure do not look that way to me.”
I had always been quite deficient in showing my emotions ever since I had been a child. Perhaps it was because of the things I had learned from my past life, but I was not the least bit shaken by these events.
Madeleine explained further on my behalf. “Millefie has always been quite emotionless, even when she was young. She never cried that one time when her father tried to carry her up high in the air and dropped her by accident.”
“Yes, that’s right! Even when her father poked at a beehive and got stung in the butt, she just stared at him and watched!” Parfeil added.
“Wait, Millefie’s father sounds like quite the character.”
It seemed that the topic had switched from my lack of emotions to funny stories about my father.
“I have more stories to tell about him over dinner,” Madeleine said. Lady Opera nodded in anticipation.
“This is the first time I have participated in a buffet,” Lady Opera said. While there were indeed buffets at nighttime parties for socialites, someone as high-ranking as her would just have her attendants make a dish for her.
Parfeil explained how a buffet worked. “You see, a buffet is where you can get whatever you want from the table! It’s the best way to have dinner!”
“R-Really? This is the highest class of hospitality that I just happened to not know about?”
“O-Oh, I just meant that this is amazing for us commoners!”
“I see. I understand now.”
Several varieties of food were lined up on the rectangular table. Warm steam rose up from the food, and a spell had been cast on it all so it wouldn’t cool off. The appetizer was duck meat terrine with small tomatoes topped by sprinkled cheese and basil. The seafood course was butter-grilled salmon, and there were meats stewed in wine as well. There were also bread and cheeses, fruit, salads, and then berry tarts for dessert. Considering that these meals were served for attendants, this was quite a luxurious buffet. Though we had our complaints about how we were being served dinner, I gladly ate the food.
Lady Opera, perhaps for the first time in her life, was the one putting food onto her own plate from the table. Her hands were shaking as she did so, but she managed to get delicious items cleanly onto her plate. Once she finished, she scanned the room.
“Aura, what’s wrong?” I asked.
“There are no chairs or tables around here. Must we have to stand up to get our own food, but also keep standing as we eat?”
“That’s right.” We had to eat with our forks in one hand and our plates in the other, so all the food was cut into bite-size pieces. “Servants have to eat in this manner to shorten the amount of time they need to eat and allow more people to use the dining hall.”
“I see. That is quite efficient.”
While we were talking, Lady Opera’s attendant had been checking the food for poisons. It was a simple task where they examined the food through a device similar to a magnifying glass. That, too, was a magical item that Van had developed.
According to the attendant’s examination, there was no poison in the food.
Once Madeleine, ever the relaxed one, had finished putting items on her plate, we began eating our dinner.
“I am still quite uncomfortable eating while standing up, but I shall persevere.” Lady Opera then began eating.
“That’s good to hear,” I said.
I started with the pure-white bread that I had been curious about, which turned out to be quite similar to the steamed cakes I’d had at the capital. It was fluffy and very tasty. A servant had just finished delivering more food to the table, so I took the opportunity to ask her about it.
“Is this bread a local specialty?”
“Yes, it is. It’s a local bread developed to save on firewood used for the oven,” she explained. According to her, it only took about ten minutes of heat to make. Normally, bread took about twenty minutes to bake, so it also conserved resources.
“I see, so it’s bread developed specifically for a freezing region such as here,” I said.
“That’s right.”
While the food was light in flavor, everything was still exquisite. Once I finished eating, I went back for dessert. The berry tarts were also amazing.
I wanted to have a talk with Van after our meal, but the servants were nowhere to be found, so I didn’t have anyone to ask to send him word. It looked like I had to give up for tonight. I was sure we’d have more chances to speak tomorrow.
There were three beds prepared for us in our room. Madeleine was a great sleeper, so she fell asleep immediately after lying down.
“Madeleine sure sleeps well,” I remarked.
“She looks like she’s having a comfortable one,” Parfeil added.
I decided that I should also get some rest since I was tired from traveling all day. Van had told me to sleep with Parfeil beside me every night. I tucked myself into bed, and Parfeil followed.
When I was young, whenever I couldn’t sleep because of nightmares, Parfeil had slept beside me like this. She was so warm and comfortable to hold that I would immediately fall asleep.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve slept together like this,” I said.
“It has! I remember being so surprised the first time you came to me crying, telling me to sleep beside you!”
“Was it because I was no longer a toddler but around seven or eight years old when I did?”
“Not at all. It was more because you let a beastkin with sketchy origins like me into your bedroom so easily,” Parfeil replied.
“I did, didn’t I? But I was never really scared of you. I don’t know why, though.”
When I was a child, I had found Parfeil collapsed in a back alley and had taken her back home. My parents had been very much against it, but I had used my special birthday privilege to keep her by my side. Parfeil, a former mercenary and adventurer, had been going from job to job. I’d thought that she would eventually tire of being my attendant, but she never had, and she’d stayed by my side to this day.
“I did make a pretty selfish wish to keep you with me, didn’t I? I did feel bad about that.”
“How about now? Do you still feel bad about it?”
“Not at all. Even now, I want you to stay by my side for as long as I live. But if you’re happier away from me, I will support your decision with everything that I have.”
“Milady...” Parfeil sobbed.
I had started thinking about these things ever since Parfeil had bawled as she congratulated me during my wedding. At that moment, I had decided that I should be able to encourage her to pursue her own happiness.
“Honestly, I hate the idea of living without you. But I hate the idea of you never being happy because of me even more,” I said.
“Please don’t worry about me, milady. I am very much happy being right by your side.”
“Parfeil, thank you.”
I embraced her and closed my eyes.
I think I can sleep comfortably tonight...
Grrr... My stomach rumbled.
Hearing that, Parfeil snorted. “Um, Lady Mille-Feuille, are you hungry?”
“I think so.” At dinner, we had all been responsible for the food on our plates. I had felt that it was uncouth to just pile food onto my plate, so I’d ended up eating small portions. “I guess I was just trying to save face. How embarrassing.”
“It’s okay, milady. To tell you the truth, I was too conscious of being judged, so I didn’t eat that much either.”
“I thought you were already eating quite a lot.”
“That was only two-thirds of the usual amount I eat,” said Parfeil.
There were no snacks to be found here. Even Parfeil’s stomach started rumbling. The sounds of our hunger echoed throughout the room.
“Milady, should we get some leftover cheese scraps or something in the kitchen?” Parfeil suggested.