How About a Refill? ~The Elegant Tea Party of the Grand Witches~ - Chapter 2

Secret Path in the Rose Garden

“Woah, it really is pretty…”

After reaching the rose garden, Miriam let out a sigh at its overwhelming beauty.

The large, colorful roses were specially made to bear the name of the Queen when she married the King; they only bloomed in this garden.

Miriam felt captivated by their fragrant beauty.

Apart from these, there were also flowers bearing the name of His Majesty, and the two Princes.

“How wonderful… Looks like the gardeners are working hard to look after these.”

Miriam was slowly walking around the garden while looking at the various flowers when she noticed a path small enough for a single person to go through between the roses.

“I wonder where this leads to?”

With her curiosity piqued, she quietly ventured onto the path. The path really was narrow enough for only one person to pass through, and had roses growing on both sides. After walking along it for a while, the path opened up in front of her and a garden, different from the rose garden, came into sight.

Various kinds of plants grew around it as if to enclose a small pond.

There weren’t a lot of extravagant plants like the roses, rather, it had things like small flowers or medicinal herbs. Strangely, she could see some flowers that shouldn’t be able to bloom in the same season, and some that are supposed to bear fruits at a different time.

“So there was a place like this in the middle of the rose garden. That flower only blooms in colder weather, and the fruits on that tree are supposed to grow at the end of summer… and that flower over there blooms in the morning and should have closed shut right before noon… what a curious garden,” Miriam muttered and began to take a step into the garden when suddenly there was a sound of something tearing.

Rrip!

Startled, Miriam quickly looked over her dress. The hem of her skirt had been caught in a rose branch and was torn a little. 

“Ah, what should I do… I can’t go back to the tea party like this.”

While Miriam was in a fluster, a woman appeared from inside the garden.

“Ooh, are you a customer?”

She spoke with an elongated inflection*. She was a beautiful woman with long, flaming red hair and eyes the colour of the dawn sky. The thing that stood out was that her whole body was completely wrapped in a black robe.

(TN: *Her way of speaking is unique in Japanese, she tends to draw out some words. But it’s lost in translation so just imagine her elongating some vowels in English. This speech quirk seems to be one of her distinct characteristics.)

“I am Beatrice. Who might you be? Where did you come from, pretty lady?” The woman who had introduced herself as Beatrice asked Miriam with a smile.

Miriam gazed admiringly at the woman for a while, then, guessing who she was from the name Beatrice, and the fact that she was from the Palace, hurried to curtsy.

“I am the second daughter of Marquess Caparoni, Miriam Farina Caparoni. I’ve come here to attend the tea party hosted by Her Highness, the Queen. I humbly greet Lady Beatrice, the Witch of the Capital. My apologies for the late greetings.”

When Miriam gave her greetings, Beatrice’s face lit up in a broad smile. She came forward and circled around Miriam with the grin on her face.

“The Marquess’ daughter, huh. Since it’s ‘Miriam’ how about ‘Millie’? Heehee. Anyways…” Beatrice surveyed Miriam from head to toe and brought the fan she was holding up to her mouth in thought. “You’re quite plain~ Moss green isn’t baad, but since it’s early summer it would be better to go with a more refreshing colour. Like mint green or lemon yellow. And, what’s this? Isn’t that a tear on your hem.”

Remembering the state of her dress, Miriam bent down her head.

‘Ah, she saw it. How embarrassing…’

“I-I apologize for showing such an unseemly sight. I saw the lovely path in the rose garden and in my curiosity forgot myself while walking here. My skirt got caught in one of the branches…”

“My my, this lady is like a little kid. Nevertheless, you can’t go back to the tea party like this. Come with me.” Beatrice exclaimed and then, grabbing Miriam’s wrist, led her to the garden. You couldn’t see it from the entrance, but there was a small mansion in the middle with a glass terrace overlooking the garden.