How About a Refill? ~The Elegant Tea Party of the Grand Witches~ - Chapter 6

What Colour do you Like?

“At any rate using a magic circle to stay awake is too funny! Wait what’s this? This embroidery thread couldn’t be… Huh, isn’t this the beard of the Black Dragon!? No way!” Valeria peered intently at Eleonora’s robe as if she had discovered something.

“And the stones sewn here aren’t gemstones, but rather black magic stones! And they’re so pure! Ellie, what have you done?”

“Oh, that? Actually, the Black Dragon recently showed up at the valley. It was still young as the cycle hadn’t been completed, but it would have been troublesome if it went to the Capital so I took care of it. I got a lot of this stuff at that time so I made effective use of it.”

The Black Dragon was a beast that appeared in the Valley of the Frontiers from the demonic realm every 200 years. It had a distinct, long snake-like body, and a long beard full of magic energy. If you boiled its body fluids, the vapourised magical energy could be hardened and turned into black magic stones. A person with no magical powers could use them for simple magic, while a witch could consume them to sustain their magical abilities. The beard also had the same effect.

No one knew why the cycle was 200 years, but one theory is that it may show up at the valley looking for a place to die after having lived out its life span. 

“Using the beard of the Black Dragon and black magic beads for a ‘wakefulness’ spell! What a waste!”

“Hmm, but the last time the dragon appeared was 90 years ago right? It certainly is too early for it to show up. Seems worrying to hear it was still young.”

“Yeah, until now, even when the timing was off, it wouldn’t be more than 10 years at most. And it would always be older.”

“Hmm. I think we should look into it.”

Miriam felt a little relieved when the conversation turned away from fashion. But seeing her blank face, Beatrice quickly brought the subject back. 

“Weell, Millie’s here right now so let’s look into this matter some other time. By the way, it seems interesting to deliberately use such ‘luxurious materials’ to make a simple magic spell. I want to try doing so as well.”

“I wanna do so too! Speaking of, Ellie, that embroidery is seriously amazing! Where did you get it done from?”

“I was also curious about that! I was thinking of getting a new robe. I really want you to introduce me to your atelier! No one in the Palace has such skills!” 

Miriam felt a surge of sympathy for this unfamiliar atelier which would surely feel strained with three, or even two of the Grand Witches visiting. Meanwhile, Eleonora closed her robe with a bashful face.

“… I embroidered it myself,” she mumbled in a small voice. She turned her face away in embarrassment.

Everyone present was astonished at the mumbled words. The delicately embroidered magic spell was handmade!

“You’re kidding! Ellie, you can embroider?!” 

“Wooah, this is the first I’m hearing of this! I had no idea!”

“I can also do some embroidery as an aristocratic lady, but this is on a whole different level!”

They couldn’t hold back their excitement over the excellent piece of embroidery. Miriam, who had been watching from the sidelines ever since they started talking about the magic circle, couldn’t help but join in.

“There are still things we don’t know even after 800 years of friendship.”

“Really. I could never imagine Ellie doing needlework!”

“It’s because I wasn’t good at it before. But if you keep embroidering for 800 years you’re bound to improve whether you like it or not.”

Indeed, there would be no other craftsmen in the Kingdom who’d been honing their skill for 800 years. Miriam felt a feeling of respect for Eleonora, thinking it an amazing feat to continue learning embroidery for 800 years no matter what.

“The topic has completely changed. Ah, yes, I brought Milie here so I could fix the torn hem of her dress.” 

“While we’re at it, let’s also fix that ugly colour and shape!”

“That’s a good idea. Hmm, which colour would be good? Millie, what colour do you like?”

Miriam felt flustered as the witches intent on refashioning her dress surrounded her.

“I like calming colours like this dress….”

‘I’m sure bright colours wouldn’t suit me… Because I’m no beauty like my mother or sister…’

“Ah! Nope, nope. You’re at a tea party in the Royal Palace, so show some spirit!”

“Exactly. And you’re a young lady, and you have that lovely fair skin. A brighter colour would suit you more?”

“That’s not true! Because, because, I’m not beautiful… I’m the only one who’s not beautiful…”

A tear welled up in Miriam’s eyes and ran down her cheek.

She looked down and tightly gripped the hem of her dress.