For sothing hastily prepared, the dinner banquet was splendid. Various dishes including lamb roasted in the oven with sauce, pies, and grilled salmon. Wine that showcased the host's refined taste. Everything was perfect.
However, despite the high standard of this sudden banquet, the atmosphere was subtle.
"...A fiancée, you say? From the colonies?"
"Yes, though we haven't yet had the opportunity to introduce her in Riton society."
"This is the first I'm hearing of it."
Mrs. Boyle tilted her head as she spoke. Then she added in a purely innocent tone without a trace of malice.
"That place is overflowing with barbaric and uneducated people, I hear. ...Of course, I'm not referring to Miss Hunter. If she's soone Lord Avondale has chosen, she must surely be a wonderful lady."
Esperanza pursed her lips in a circle. The sincerity made it feel even stranger.
"Mother, please."
Louise Boyle grabbed Mrs. Boyle's arm while reading the room, but Mrs. Boyle introduced her daughter with a "What's wrong?"
"Ah, I was in such a rush earlier that I couldn't introduce her properly. This is my daughter Louise. She was famous at the ladies' school for being diligent and proper. When she sings to piano accompanint, she's truly like a fairy. If there were a piano, I'd have her sing for you."
Louise Boyle gripped her napkin tightly with a face that looked like she wanted to die of embarrassnt. Jas Boyle and Darwin Egerton pretended not to notice and just sipped their wine.
"How wonderful."
Only Cider was seriously listening to that ridiculous boasting. Even chiming in with polite but perfunctory responses throughout. It was an impeccable attitude as a host.
"Speaking of which, now that Count Avondale is engaged, how heartbroken the countless ladies of Riton must be."
It wasn't as if Cider Claiborne had never heated up Riton and Nine Holder as the ultimate bridegroom candidate, but that was already several years ago. Now most people knew well that despite his excellent objective conditions, he was not good husband material.
And the Count himself, who knew this fact better than anyone, rely smiled broadly.
"Is that so?"
"Of course! There was so much anticipation about which proper and faithful lady would beco the new Countess."
It sounded like there was a hidden "but" in those words. As soon as Esperanza heard this, she checked the young people's reactions.
Knowing glances passed between the Boyle siblings and Egerton. Question marks, exclamation points, and sighs. It was understandable.
Was that earlier insult mixed with goodwill actually just an insult? Anyway, it was all made-up setting from beginning to end. Even if they disparaged it, she wouldn't feel insulted. Though they didn't know that.
Or was she just testing the waters?
The group of guests waited for an answer with anxious hearts for different reasons. Eventually Cider opened his mouth with a polite smile.
"I'm glad your expectations have been fulfilled."
Mrs. Boyle's eyes widened in surprise. Then she imdiately smiled brightly. As if her calculations had worked out, or as if she understood.
"Oh my, of course. I can just picture the people of Riton eting the future Countess and being amazed."
Wow.
Mrs. Boyle's tongue rolled as smoothly as if it were oiled. Just from the tone, you couldn't even tell she had changed her attitude. Louise Boyle and the young n relaxed their shoulders in relief. Esperanza felt like she might get indigestion.
She had thought she was just a foolish lady, but it seems she was deliberately testing the waters earlier. Well, since high society was a huge marriage market, it would make sense to turn over sothing you thought was rchandise to check if it was really sold out. There was nowhere to let your guard down.
Thanks to Cider's quite firm attitude, the al ti after that was peaceful.
From appetizers to main courses, with each dish they ate, Mrs. Boyle praised the skill in a sowhat exaggerated tone.
"It's truly ticulous and wonderful. It's an honor to participate in such a banquet. How envious my friends who clicked their tongues about having troublemaker sons will be when they hear about today!"
Though Louise Boyle sighed as if embarrassed for a mont, Mrs. Boyle, having decided on her course, didn't mind.
"Miss Hunter, you haven't had the opportunity to be introduced in Riton society yet, have you? Won't you attend the evening ball at our house next week? After all, when you first enter society, it helps to have a lady you know."
She seed to have calculated sothing in the anti. Esperanza smiled awkwardly.
"That's truly kind of you to say. Due to Lord Avondale's research schedule, attending next week's ball would be difficult, but I appreciate the invitation."
"If there's no escort it's regrettable, but it's not absolutely necessary. I'll lend you my inadequate son, so even if you co alone?"
While Esperanza hesitated looking for words to answer, Cider interjected.
"Miss Hunter is helping with my research. I've beco unable to write even a single line of work without a capable assistant. I hope you'll understand, madam."
Mrs. Boyle forced a smile. Though disappointnt was dripping from her, she knew better than anyone that she couldn't insist further.
Still, it wasn't without gain. It didn't seem like the immature accident her son and his friend had caused would beco a rumor. Moreover, she had t with the Count faster than anyone in Riton and Avondale society, and even shared a formal dinner with the Count's fiancée. If the Count and his fiancée ever needed to enter society, they would rember the Boyle mansion's ball.
But what made the three thoughtless young n and Mrs. Boyle, whose eyes had glead with ambition, happiest wasn't such calculations.
"Wooow!"
"My goodness, it's ice cream."
Esperanza was equally surprised. Not because of the ice cream.
"Did we bring our freezer all the way here? When on earth?"
"How could we move that here? It's troubleso and complicated to install."
If they were going to move it, it would be better to use Esperanza's inventory. But if there had been a freezer among the luggage that went into the inventory, there was no way she wouldn't rember.
"Then?"
"I ordered one. Right after deciding to co down to the estate. It probably arrived around the sa ti as us."
"You should have said sothing!"
"Didn't I?"
No, he didn't.
Even if he hadn't, it would have been nice if the kitchen had taken care of it on their own. But the head chef probably wouldn't have thought to put ice cream that would turn to water in less than an hour into Esperanza's picnic bag, considering she was always stuck in the laboratory.
If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have wasted ti at the laboratory. Esperanza clicked her tongue, then suddenly wondered if they had been talking too much among themselves and glanced around cautiously.
Fortunately, there was no need for that at all. Everyone was more absorbed in the ice cream than the host.
Thanks to having a magical engineering owner, Glailly House had better heating and cooling than other stone mansions. But even so, since they hadn't torn down and renovated the entire old mansion, sowhat stuffy air circulated. The feeling of putting sweet ice chunks that lted smoothly in your mouth at the end, after eating steaming hot food in such a dining room.
Their tongues were in ecstasy. Even the very small remaining tension seed to fly away.
"It's blasphemous to say, but even if I were invited to the royal palace, I don't think I could experience a better banquet than this."
Louise Boyle whispered in a dreamy voice. It was truly blasphemous, but no one pointed it out.
Just one ice cream made the hastily prepared banquet incredibly wonderful. The uninvited guests were satisfied, and Count Avondale's reputation seed to be preserved.
While high society wasn't that important to Cider, there was no benefit in making enemies unnecessarily.
After the al ended, just as they were about to get up at an appropriate ti, Mrs. Boyle grabbed Esperanza's hand firmly.
"We ca without any notice, but you've treated us so wonderfully that I don't know what to do with myself. Please give us a chance to reciprocate? If next week doesn't work, please contact us whenever it's convenient."
When Mrs. Boyle gestured, a maid who had followed behind took out a business card. Esperanza, who received the business card with Mrs. Boyle's na surrounded by fancy decorations, nodded.
"I'll contact you when I have ti."
"Good, then I'll introduce you to people you absolutely must know in Riton."
Esperanza just smiled without answering. She absolutely wouldn't go.
While Esperanza was caught by Mrs. Boyle, Cider was likewise caught by Mrs. Boyle's daughter. Louise Boyle watched her mother, who had linked arms with Esperanza and gone ahead. Then she turned to Cider with a shy face and asked how to obtain a freezer.
Grabbing her brother's arm, who was showing subtle interest from the side, she asked, 'Isn't there a way for us to get a freezer too?' Jas Boyle, who was on the verge of giving his entire year's inco to his sister's gastronomy, desperately shook his head.
"So Lord Avondale, is custom ordering the only way to buy a household freezer?"
"For now, yes."
"Louise, give up."
"I suppose I must. It's really disappointing. Thank you for the kind advice, Lord Avondale."
The voice mixing goodwill and disappointnt suddenly pierced Esperanza's ears as she was declining Mrs. Boyle's persistent invitation. Esperanza turned her head to look at the four people who had just arrived at the entrance.
Since there were rarely opportunities to observe Cider standing side by side with another lady from an observer's perspective, Esperanza's gaze watching that mismatched group was a bit more persistent than usual, as if probing.
A not-too-distant distance. A polite smile. Kind speech.
And an indifferent gaze.
That wasn't particularly strange. He never showed interest in things outside his very narrow range of interests.
But. Had he always had that kind of face? Had he always had such cold eyes? He seed like a stranger, so Esperanza stopped abruptly.
At that mont, as if sensing her gaze, when he turned his head and their eyes t, the lifeless eyes that had been looking at her like an inanimate object changed to the very eyes Esperanza knew. Slowly, spreading like ink. Her back felt cold.
She had once glimpsed an inner stillness where not even ripples ford. A flat and emotionless world. A place that flowed but didn't surge. However, what she had just seen was, to use a taphor, definitely a wave.
At the sa ti, Esperanza realized that wave wasn't unfamiliar. At so point, Cider had always been smiling when looking at Esperanza. She could recall the gaze that would montarily change when their eyes t while he was looking elsewhere. But the reason this now scratched at her heart was...
'I don't know if you're aware, but you've changed too. So why did you change?'
She was bewildered. At such a trivial mont? Nothing had happened. Their eyes had simply t, and such eye contact had happened hundreds, thousands of tis before.
Mrs. Boyle's nagging, busily herding three people toward the carriage, faded away outside the open door. When the door closed, Cider's gaze turned entirely to Esperanza. Esperanza unconsciously averted her eyes.
"Mrs. Boyle seems to have bothered you quite a bit. You look tired. It would be good to go upstairs now."
After hearing those words, fatigue seed to wash over her. Her mind was more tired than her body. As expected, the experience of eting many strangers at once was neither enjoyable nor comfortable. She got tired faster than when fighting. Yes, it must have been due to fatigue. She had strange thoughts just because she was tired.
"We can go to the laboratory tomorrow, right?"
"If nothing special happens."
If she buried herself in the training ground, useless thoughts would probably decrease too.
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