How About a Refill? ~The Elegant Tea Party of the Grand Witches~ - Chapter 3

Anniversary

There was a round marble table placed in the middle of the terrace. It had a tea setting that seemed to be freshly brewed, and different kinds of multi-coloured sweets on it.

Two more women were sitting around the table. One was a petite, beautiful lady resting her hands on her cheek. She had flowing golden hair that fell to her waist, and eyes like lapis lazuli. The other woman was sitting with a straight back. Her silky black hair was tied together and spilling to the front. She had cool, sharp eyes the colour of silver, and a beautiful androgenous face.   

“Bea, who’s that? That plain little girl with you.”

Miriam was stunned at the words that seemed out of place coming out of the mouth of the beautiful woman in front of her.  

“Come now, Ria, your tongue is too sharp. This is Millie. She’s the daughter of Marquess Caparoni.” 

“My name is Miriam Farina Caparoni,” Miriam curtsied once again.

“Ooh, you’re Fer’s daughter. That boy already has a daughter this big!”

“Huh, isn’t she too plain to be Fer’s daughter?”

“But loook, the shape of her eyebrows and the colour of her eyes is the exact same as Fer. And her nose is the spitting image of Ana’s”

“Indeed. Looking closer, she does resemble both Fer and Ana.”

The man they called Fer was no other than Marquess Ferdinand Rossi Luigi Caparoni. Ana was the Marchioness, Tatiana Gaetana Caparoni.

They were Miriam’s parents.

‘Huh? No matter how you look at it, aren’t these women younger than mother and father?’

Beatrice gave a gentle smile to Miriam who had unconsciously slipped on a puzzled expression.

“Hehehe, I know your parents quieet well. There was quite an uproar at their wedding. The most beautiful couple of the century so and so…” 

“At their wedding… I’m sorry but wouldn’t all of you have not been born at the time?” The three let out a laugh at Miriam’s question.

“Ah I’m sorry, that’s right. We tend to look young because time has been stopped for us.” Beatrice brought her fan to her mouth and let out a chuckle.

“Allow me to introduce these two. The blonde one is Valeria, the one with the blacj hair and pointed ear is Eleonora. You seemed to know me, so you should have heard of these two as well, right?”

“Ye-yes. They must be Valeria, the Witch of the Forest, and Eleonora, the Witch of the Frontiers.”

“That’s right! You’re quite knowledgeable.” That said, Valeria tossed one of the sweets in her mouth with her elbow still leaning on the table.

‘Well, the beautiful lady image is ruined…’

“You just thought that my beautiful image has been ruined, didn’t you?” Valeria pointed at Miriam. The three witches chuckled as Miriam’s spine shot straight in shock.

“Ria’s ladylike image has been ruined since long ago, so there’s no need to worry.”

“Yeees. It’s such a waste though. If you acted a little more graceful you’d be so cute, like a doll.”

“Hey, I don’t like these stuffy things like manners or formal speech. That’s why I normally stay in the forest.”  

“Um, something seems a bit off. I assumed all of you were around the same age as me, but is that not right?”

The three women glanced at each other. Then, as if realising something, turned to Miriam with an “Ah.”

“Hey, Millie, you’ve studied the Kingdom’s history, right? Do you remember the three witches that show up in the prologue?”

“Of course. Thanks to the barrier created by the three witches we can live in peace right now.”

“Yup. Apart from that, what else do you know about the three witches?”

Miriam tried to recall the history she had been taught by her governess.

“In order to maintain the barrier, they settled in the Capital, the Forest of the Abyss and the Valley of the Frontiers respectively. That responsibility, along with their names, has been passed down through generations.”

At Miriam’s reply, Valeria shook her head no and Eleonora let out a snort.

“No, no! You only got half of it right!”

“Huh? Which part was wrong…?”

“Listen here, we’ve never had any successors. Our bodies have stopped aging. It was also mentioned in the prophecy: they shall be marked with eternal time.”

“Whaat!?” Surprised, Miriam opened her mouth, then closed it again. Valeria burst into laughter at her gaping face.

“Hahaha! Millie, you look like a fish waiting for food!”

“Th-then, the real age of everyone must be…”

“Heey, it’s rude to ask a lady her age. But I’ll let it slide. I’m 821 years old.”

“I am 817 years old.”

“820 here.”

“It’s supposed to be a secret so don’t tell it to others, okay? Also, this is the most important bit but,” Beatrice brought her face closer to Miriam’s with a big smile on her face, “It’s the 800th anniversary of the event this year.” 

Beatrice brought both hands to her face and squealed happily. 

Miriam had been feeling conflicted, but relaxed when she realised the last piece of information was nothing to worry about.