Night of Eden 61

 Chapter 61

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"What a lovely place! When you told me about it, I thought it was so rural, but it really is so pretty."

"That's right, I honestly expected a creaky ghost house when you said it was over a hundred years old, but it's so quaint!"

"Have you guys been to the gardens? The article in the Rusalot daily wasn't a lie. It's a real paradise, more enchanting than anything else in the world!"

Liana laughed softly in the face of her boisterous friends.

"The tea is great, too."

Angie Miller said, lifting her teacup to her mouth.

"Is it because the tea leaves are good quality? It smells so good."

"Yes, and the color is so pretty."

Alexandra glanced admiringly toward the tray.

"I heard you were specially trained by the famous Celeste, so you must be different."

All eyes snapped to Dana. Dana returned the gesture with a wordless bow.

"But..."

Rosa, who had been watching, suddenly spoke up. Her eyes remained fixed on Dana.

"Why is she dressed like that? Didn't you buy her clothes?"

Dana, unlike the other maids, was dressed in Belvida maid outfit. Liana paused for a moment, then spoke.

"I bought her some clothes."

"But why is she wearing that?"

 "When she wears the other clothes, I thought it was too extravagant. It's against our family tradition." 

....ah.

The ladies’ mouths fell open. Embarrassment flashed across some faces, a hint of sneer across others. Young Lady Hastings's high-handed manner might have worked with the older ladies, but not with her friends.

 "Well, well, well." 

Rosa, the most 'outgoing’ of them all, nodded nonchalantly.

 "There's no point in dressing a maid in nice clothes, it only spoils her. Look at that. That's Poppy, my maid, dressed up like that, like she's some kind of noble.”

Poppy, in the waiting room beyond the curtain, caught her master's eye and smiled broadly. Her yellow teeth were revealed beneath her bright red lips.

Rosa frowned inwardly. 

"Well, actually, I don't really have a problem with Poppy. Her face looks like that, but... but she's got a great personality. She's very in tune with my moods and has good taste in jewelry and clothes, but......." 

Rosa's gaze drifted back to Dana. She found the Macmilan-educated maid to be so elegant and graceful that it made her feel a little inferior and envious. 

"I suppose education is for everyone. I don't know about anything else, but 'decency' isn't something that comes naturally. The Macmilan's are different, I suppose, in that they train their maids. I think you're ten steps ahead of the game."

With that, Rosa once again scanned Dana from head to toe. Dana pretended not to notice and continued to stir the tea.

Rosa's mouth dropped open.

"Hey, can you come over here for a minute?"

Dana swallowed dryly and walked slowly toward them.

"I hear you've served tea to the Duchess of Macmilan?"

"...Yes."

"Then can you make me something like what you made for her?"

"Amaranth?"

Naming teas was a hobby enjoyed only by the highest echelons of the nobility. Despite their shared aristocratic status, there was a strict hierarchy, and Rosa's family was somewhere in the middle.

She didn't know what an amaranth was, but she nodded.

"Perhaps you should teach my handmaiden to blend?"

"Uh, that's a good idea."

Angie Miller giggled in agreement. A moment later, a faint floral scent wafted across the table.

"Is that rose? Vanilla? What the hell is that?"

"Rose petals."

Dana replied, and began to explain the names and origins of the tea leaves and spices.

She couldn’t wait to leave, but her duties as a handmaiden shouldn't be taken lightly.

Dana had already scripted and rehearsed her speech in front of the guests, so she could speak calmly and without trembling or stuttering.

"...These are very special tea leaves, once reserved for the emperors of the Far East, and the Duchess has set them aside for the Lady and her friends.”

"Really?"

The mention of the Duchess setting aside some fine tea was enough to make their ears perk up.

"Then can you make me a cup?"

"Me too, me too," came a chorus of voices, starting with Dana.

Dana replied that she'd be happy to, and prepared the new tea for them.

As she lifted the lid of the new box at the bottom of the tray, there was an audible gasp of "wow". The colorful array of herbs and tea leaves, dried flowers and fruits, and essential oils were enough to dazzle the eyes of a noblewoman.

The fact that it was Macmilan's specially blended box made some of them come right up to the tea tray to take a look.

"I thought you were just like that, but you're not like my maid, who can’t just brew any tea leaf."

"Right, who knew water temperature was so important? Look at that color."

"And what about the flavor?"

"Liana is lucky. She's taken it to a whole new level since she got engaged to the young master."

Liana responded with a wordless smile.

It was a calm, carefree smile, but the truth was quite the opposite.

The uncomfortable feeling she'd felt when she'd seen Dana a few days ago, when Dana had been completely transformed, had returned and weighed her down. Rosa had been right.

Whatever magic Celeste had worked, Dana was a "class" apart from the maids in the waiting room.

And it wasn't just because of her appearance. If she were to go by looks alone, she would have to say that Agnes, Angie Miller's maid, stood out.

Didn't Belvida's footmen rush to carry her luggage when she appeared?

Everyone, including Liana, had laughed at the aristocratic play of the subject, as she strode coolly past them as if she were a queen.

But Dana was something else entirely.

She was, to put it mildly, an uncomfortably good impersonator of the upper classes.

Liana's sharpened eyes scanned the slender figure once more.

Dana's body was straight without a single curve, as if she'd taken posture lessons. Her steps, hand gestures, and manner were effortless, and her pronunciation, intonation, and accent were that of a master.

In fact, Liana herself realized how ridiculous it was to question it.

The Hastings family would never allow a servant with a bad accent or mispronunciation to be in the presence of their guests. Even Eric, the head butler of the main house, and Stan, the butler here, had very good accents.

What's more,Theodore had personally taught her pronunciation. In just a few days, Celeste said, Dana's accent had improved remarkably.

Liana was proud, but then she thought, what the hell am I doing?

"Really? The Duchess really did that?"

Someone said, and she saw Dana nodding her head. Everyone gasped and looked at each other in amazement.

What was she talking about that made her look so intriguing?

Liana suddenly wondered. She should just go up and ask them, but somehow she didn't want to do that again.

It was childish and petty.

I know.

Even knowing that, Liana wanted to shove Dana out of her way.

"Cold tea? Does that mean I can drink it cold, with ice?"

Rosa's head snapped up, almost screaming. She spotted Liana sitting alone at the table and came panting over.

"Liana, do you think there's any ice in Belvida?"

"...I'm sure there is, I heard they just installed a refrigeration unit here."

Everyone's faces lit up at Liana's answer.

"So we'll be able to get a cold tea, right, Dana?"

"Yes, but I've only made it once, so... Like I said, I have a recipe, but...."

Despite Dana's cautious reply, Rosa didn't quite hear it.

"Oh my god, cold black tea!"

Dana was speechless for a moment as Rosa clasped her hands together and spun around in circles. The other ladies followed suit.

Embarrassed, Dana turned to Lady Liana.

"...go check and see if there's any ice later."

The oddly sharp reply took Dana by surprise.

Ouch.

Perhaps it was because Dana had been sharing a room for over three years with a coworker who enjoyed being in charge like Bessie.

She realized quickly, that as a maid, she was getting too much attention, and that was why the Lady's complexion was not very good for some time.

At this point, the Lady should be the center of attention. Not the maid.

What would Celeste do?

Dana thought for a moment.

Celeste would have said something witty to change the subject. She would have changed the atmosphere somehow so that the young lady could take the spotlight.

But unfortunately, Dana didn't have that kind of skill.

The current jovial mood was more the result of Rosa's exuberance than Dana's own initiative.

What to do?

Dana quietly turned her head and checked the time.

Two twenty-five.

According to the schedule, the performance would begin in the music room soon. Eating and drinking were forbidden during the performance.

Dana bent down to the tray and pretended to look for something.

"Huh? We're out?"

She muttered loudly on purpose, then turned to Liana.

"Lady, do you mind if I go to the kitchen?"

"Huh?"

"I'm out of tea leaves."

"Uh... okay."

The young woman's eyes looked a little blank as she answered.

Dana felt a pang of pain. The guilt that had been gnawing at her consciousness for days only added fuel to the fire.

"I’ll be back.”

Dana stumbled out of the parlor. It was the opposite direction from the kitchen with the tea leaves.

If she couldn't do it, she could just walk away. If anyone had forgotten and was looking for the tea, all they had to do was go to the kitchen and ask for help.

She wanted to do her job right.

Why did things have to go so wrong?

Dana clamped her mouth shut and swallowed her frustration.

Heavy footsteps rounded the corner of the pillar, and from nowhere came the sound of soft, beautiful music.

It was a familiar piano melody.

***

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