How About a Refill? ~The Elegant Tea Party of the Grand Witches~ - Chapter 16

The Marquess Family Embroiled in the Eldest Son’s Plans

“I’m going to bring His Highness, Prince Emilio over today after my morning duty.”

When Leonardo announced this at breakfast, the whole Caparoni house broke into a flurry of activity.

They hurriedly ordered tea leaves and seasonal fruits suitable for royalty from a shop they usually bought from. The curtains, linens and flowers from every conceivable place the Prince might see, that is, the entrance hall, the stairs and the drawing room, were all replaced. Everything was done into an ‘appearance suitable for welcoming the Prince’.

That also included the people.

Her maid had other maids rushing about since earlier lining up dresses and accessories that would be appropriate to wear in front of the extinguished guest.

“You could have informed us a bit earlier, son…!”

Surprisingly, Tatiana was angry. Her behaviour or voice weren’t different from usual, but the smile on her face did not reach her eyes. She was clearly angry.

Even if it was an informal visit, they should have been informed a week, or at the latest, three days earlier. But, this time the visit had been decided upon the day before at Leonardo’s suggestion. And after returning home, he had carelessly forgotten about it, so it was announced this morning.

They only had a few hours till the Prince’s visit.

With the dignity of the Caparoni Marquesate at stake, both the family and employees worked together with great speed to complete the preparations.

“What were you thinking, brother? It may be fine for you as you can just get ready in a second, but us women can’t. On top of that, we also have to prepare for welcoming His Highness. Don’t you have some common sense?” Alessia coldly admonished Leonardo.

Leonardo rushed towards her.

“Don’t be so angry, my cute Sia! If you crease your eyebrows that much your eyes will get bad! And, he’s not coming here as the prince, but as my close friend. You don’t have to go to so much trouble just to welcome my friend!”

“Of course we can’t just prepare to receive a ‘friend’ if that friend is the prince! Ah jeez, I don’t have the time to be worrying about you right now! Just quietly go to work! You’re going to be late!”

Alessia turned away from her brother with a huff and called over Miriam’s maid.

Leonardo shrugged his shoulders and went to have the carriage prepared.

“Have you picked a dress for Miriam?” She wanted to check which dress Miriam was going to wear. If she left her little sister alone, she would immediately go for a simple dress that wouldn’t stand out too much. She never said anything, so they couldn’t even get new dresses for her, so Alessia had always been concerned about her.

The marquess family got their income from taxes, and revenue from their businesses. By buying dresses for socialising, the girls helped the economy, and the information they got from socialising, they occasionally used for helping the Marquess’s territory thrive, and thus gave back to their people. Still, buying just about anything and everything was a waste. The important thing was to buy just enough, without being too excessive or too frugal. Miriam was already of age. It was important to develop this sense before she got married.

“Yes, I picked out this dress from the dresses we ordered yesterday, and I arranged these hair pins, and these accessories.”

Miriam’s maid confirmed with Alessia showing her the list in her hand.

“Right, this dress is also good, but she might prefer the shape of this one so bring that one as well to show to her. If she picks this other dress then go for this ribbon for her hair, and simple accessories.”

“Yes, my lady.”

While she was giving instructions for Miriam’s dress, Tatiana came to stand beside her.

“You’re even worrying about Millie. Thank you, Sia.”

“Well, it’s only natural.”

Alessia looked puzzled at Tatiana’s smiling expression. Tatiana gently patted her back.

“Hahaha. If you worry about her so much, you should be more kind in front of her.”

Actually, Alessia could never stop worrying about her cute little sister, but she was not good with expressing her feelings. The more she tried to be kind to others, the harsher she’d end up being.

“… If we keep spoiling her, she’ll have a hard time in the future. Someone has to be strict with her…”

“You can leave that role to your mother and father.”

“No, she will end up resenting you both so…”

Alessia smiled with a lonely expression then headed towards her room to get ready.

In Miriam’s room, her maid also brought out the dress Alessia had chosen earlier and asked the young lady which one she would prefer.

Miriam studied the two dresses, and, in the end, chose the one Alessia had picked out for her.

It was a cute princess-line dress made of lemon coloured lace. The neck and sleeves were layered with frills. A fine ivy pattern was embroidered on the skirt in blue.

She put on a choker the same colour as the embroidery on her neck. Her hair was pulled back loosely and tied with a ribbon of the same blue colour.

“I didn’t see the day we ordered these dresses, but I wonder if it was mother or brother who ordered this one? For some reason I like this one the most, but I wonder if it’s alright?” Miriam asked her maid while looking in the mirror. She was still feeling self conscious as she’d never dressed up like this before.

“It looks very good on you, lady Miriam.”

“Then it’s good.”

Miriam checked the mirror multiple times as if she was still uneasy. This would be the first time she’ll meet Emilio after their meeting at Beatrice’s mansion.

They hadn’t been able to talk properly that time, but they should be able to talk a bit today. Since he was visiting Leonardo, it was possible they might go to her brother’s room after greeting everyone, but she would be happy if they could talk even over a cup of tea. Miriam felt an unfamiliar excitement overtake her.

And so, when Leonardo came back with First Prince Emilio, the whole Caparoni family gathered in the hallway to receive them.