How About a Refill? ~The Elegant Tea Party of the Grand Witches~ - Chapter 81

What the Maids Saw!

“Hey, did you hear about Lady Alessia!?”

In the laundry room of the palace, the maids gossiped animatedly about the nobility while working.

The maids never stood out much and would usually blend into the surroundings. Which was why they gained so much information during their work, but they never leaked any of it to the outside. Nevertheless, that didn’t stop them from sharing the information with other maids; there would be no end to gossip between servants. 

“I heard! She suddenly got engaged right? But who is this Lord Sarche she got engaged to? Has anyone heard of him before?”

“No, I’ve never heard of him…”

“I heard he’s a close associate of Prince Emilio.”

“Eh? I wonder what kind of person he is? He’s going to marry the famous fairy princess so he must be really good looking too, right?”

“Like Lord Leonardo?”

“Exactly. I won’t be able to forgive him if he’s any less handsome!”

“Ha! Just who do you think you are!”

“Hahahaha!”

“Hey! Don’t just move your mouth, work your hands as well!”

Their voices had gotten louder as they got more excited with the conversation. When the head maid scolded them, the young maids all replied ‘yes’ in small voices before they got back to scrubbing the clothes in their hands.

But then, once the head maid went away, they started talking again.

“Speaking of Lady Alessia… What do you think of Lady Miriam! Honestly weren’t you guys surprised? She doesn’t resemble Lady Alessia much!”

“Really? I saw her standing with her family during the wedding ceremony, but I think she resembles them quite a lot in some places. Some of her features, that is.”

“Some of the features? How observant!”

“Well, nevertheless she was very pretty, huh. She’s a bit different from the other Caparoni members so I never noticed before, but Lady Miriam is quite pretty in her own right.” 

“At any rate, she’s on a whole different level than someone like us…”

“No doubt about that!”

“Hahaha!”

“Shh! We’ll get scolded again!”

“Ah, that’s right.”

Their voices had gotten louder again; all of them quickly subdued themselves.

For a while they scrubbed the clothes in silence.

“Lord Leonardo still hasn’t decided on a fiance right?”

“Well with those looks of his wouldn’t the young ladies feel too intimidated?”

“Ah, they’d be overshadowed no matter what they do.”

“Yeah…”

“I feel sorry for them…”

“But isn’t it strange that there hasn’t even been a single rumour about him? Lord Leonardo is, after all, a healthy young man…?”

“That’s true.”

“Well I recently saw him talking secretly with Prince Ivan’s aide, Lord Dino. But, somehow… I thought they were a bit too close to be talking as mere friends! You know!”

“I also saw them teasing each other with their hands around each other’s shoulders! They looked very intimate!”

“Don’t tell me!”

“Kyaaa! ♡”

“Hey! You girls!”

“Ah, sorry!”

‘Achoo!’

Leonardo and Dino both sneezed at the same time.

“What’s wrong? Did you both catch a cold?”

“Well, it might be the change of the season.”

“You sound like an old man, Dino.”

“Oi, you and I are the same age.”

“So? What was it you came here to do?”

Dino quickly straightened up at Emilio’s question.

“I came to report that Prince Ivan will be returning to his official duties in a month now that his house arrest has been officially lifted!”

“I see. Is he doing well?”

“Yes. He had plenty of time for self-reflection during his isolation. He has improved a lot and is looking towards the future with a positive attitude. Since he’s going to be in charge of managing the territories under his title, he has started studying about estate and land management.” 

Ivan had been quite distressed when his isolation first started, but after the kidnapping incident, he began changing little by little. He had turned more optimistic in his hopes to help support his brother Emilio in the future. Looking at him working earnestly, Ferdinand had forgiven him for his part in Alessia’s kidnapping. In the first place, Alessia herself did not ask for him to be punished.

And so, it was decided that Ivan would return to the palace.

Which was why Dino was busy these days, going back and forth between the palace and the villa where Ivan was staying. Ivan was like a little brother to him, so he felt very happy about the turn of events. He was so happy that he wanted to share his happiness with someone so, every time he saw his friend Leoanrdo he would  start chatting with him happily.

He was completely unaware that the maids who witnessed this would create such a story out of it…