fluvia 89: Fluvia arrives at the Palace

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Chapter 89: Fluvia arrives at the Palace

Leaving Edgar behind, Father took Brother and I to the Palace.

There’s quite some distance so of course we’re going by carriage.

“Something like that happened…”

Father looks very displeased, but taking overt action would be a delicate matter since Earl Margot helped mitigate the matter regarding his own citizen earlier.

I don’t think Father should worry about it, though.

I’m 100% sure that Edgar isn’t going to let that man off.

It’s the ‘overt’ part of the action that would be somewhat of a problem.

Oh my, did you really think we were going to leave it be? There’s no way, right?

If I had dealt with it directly and made a scene, there’s a good chance that the Dellarose name would be associated with that kind of low-grade person in gossip from now on, so there’s no way I’d kick up a fuss.

“Sister! Why didn’t you say something?! He should pay for making light of the Dellarose House! To think he made fun of Sister and Sir Edgar-!”

Brother was fuming; it doesn’t seem like he shares my sentiments.

Now now – Father lightly patted Brother’s head to calm him down, but he also frowned as he looked at me.

“I think it’s good that you and Edgar didn’t make a scene, but Fluvia dear, Fedor is also right. You shouldn’t let people go simply if they insult you; you are also responsible for upholding the Dellarose House’s status.”

Oh-!

Father is gently scolding me.

He doesn’t do it often, but when he does he’s usually making a good point, even if I don’t fully agree with him.

On this occasion, though, I do think Father’s right.

If I think about it, there was probably some way to rebuke the man without making a scene; I just couldn’t be bothered to put that much effort into it.

But … well, I suppose it’s true that I shouldn’t have just let the man’s rudeness go.

I should obediently apologize and reflect on it.

“Yes Father, I understand. I will keep it in mind next time. To be honest, Edgar and I were just so shocked by what the daughter was wearing that we couldn’t react much before Earl Margot appeared.”

Well, although I’ll apologize, I can’t help but make some excuses.

It DID happen awfully fast…

“Was the man’s daughter truly so atrociously dressed? You say she was copying Estella’s way of dressing, but Mother’s dresses are very gorgeous. Could it really be that bad?”

Father smoothed down his moustache pensively.

Father…

He’s pretty bad at visual imagination, so its not unexpected that he can’t immediately recognize the problem.

Most likely he’s just imagining a shrunk down version of Mother instead of imagining a child’s body in the dress.

Well, I’d be worried in a different way if Father could imagine it perfectly.

“While the dresses are beautiful for adult women, it’s a bit too much for a little girl. She looked like a – well, um, she looked… improper… so to speak…”

I faltered a bit.

I don’t really want to say ‘child prostitute’ right in front of my 8-year-old brother and my dear father, who will surely be distraught that his little girl knows about such a thing at this age.

“… I can’t really describe it, so please ask Alford or Sir Edgar about their impressions.”

“I… see? Well, I suppose some of this situation is my fault, so forgive Papa, okay? I shouldn’t have brought you two without servants after all. Foolish people like that will misunderstand your status without a servant or two…”

Father looks extremely regretful, but not having servants is definitely my fault, right?

Uh… isn’t it actually more my fault that we didn’t bring a servant?

Due to the last minute process of deciding to visit the Princes, as well as the fact that this moment was one of the few spans of time that both the Princes and Brother and I had free, we were unable to rearrange the servants’ schedules adequately to bring a maid that was qualified to follow us to the Palace.

Sir Lucas, Brother’s aide, is also absent, as he had previously requested the morning off to visit his relatives in the Capital a long time ago.

As for Tyrabeth… the ribbons for the corsages for the debutants at the Cotillion were ordered from our Atelier, and although I designed them to go well with most flowers, I still had misgivings about not giving any input at all.

Tyrabeth is one of the only people who knows my tastes well enough that I can trust her to make decisions regarding décor and accessories in my place.

The timing was just too short; asking the morning of, then sending out a notice of visitation, and then waiting for the confirmation; it all left us with very little time to get prepared.

I suppose Father and Edgar decided that we were mature enough to be without an attendant, although Tyrabeth would arrive later after her errands, but in retrospect, it’s not common for noble children to be without attendants in public.

I’m rather surprised Edgar didn’t consider it.

I sometimes wonder if he remembers I’m only 8.

“Lord Earl, Young Sir, Young Lady, we’ve arrived.”

Alford dismounts from the coachman’s seat and helps us open the door and descend from the carriage.

“Thank you, Alford. If you could pull up and wait just a moment -”

“Of course, Lord Earl.”

Alford smiles and gives us a small wave before he goes to move the carriage out of the way.

The Palace is ornate, but since it’s actually the Royal Family’s house, it’s not nearly as grand as the palace-like part of the Castle.

(The Castle is both the campus of all the buildings within its walls as well as the elaborate building that’s built into the walls right at the entrance.)

I’d be put off if I had to live in the Castle as well.

“Greetings, Earl Dellarose. And welcome, Fedor, Fluvia.”

Queen Ria was waiting for us in the front hall.

Father bowed.

“Good morning, Your Majesty. I apologize for our sudden visit.”

“ “Greetings, Your Majesty.” “

Brother and I also dutifully bow/curtsy behind Father as we give the Queen her due respect.

We may be allowed to call her by her nickname, but she’s still the Queen and we’re still children of an Earl.

It would reflect on the Dellarose Household poorly if we carelessly acted overly familiar with her.

“Fufu, it’s not a problem at all, Lord Earl. We have also inconvenienced you in much the same way in the past. If anything, I’m pleased that Fedor and Fluvia have made time to visit the Princes despite their tight schedule.”

“It is always our pleasure to welcome Your Majesties, so there has been no inconvenience.”

Er… Well, I suppose Father himself has rarely been inconvenienced by the Royal Family’s sudden visits, but Mother, who’s in charge of attending the guests, sure has.

“I’m sure the Princes will be delighted to have Fedor and Fluvia visit. They’ve only been entertaining people they haven’t known, recently.”

“Oh? Have there been many children visiting these days?”

“Oh dear me yes. Since my Anthony is going to be debuting, so you understand.”

… Father clearly doesn’t.

It’s not something we need to worry about, so the scramble to be Prince Anthony’s escort isn’t really discussed in the Dellarose House.

Still, I wish Father would stay on top of things a little bit better.

After a few more courtesies, Father excused himself and Brother and I were left with Queen Ria and the Palace maids.

“Well, let me bring you to the terrace. I won’t join you, though, since the other children become far too nervous when I’m there.”

Queen Ria places her hands on her shoulders as she guides us down the hallway.

“Prince Anthony said something about it, but are there that many children there?”

Brother asked.

Queen Ria sighs.

“Unfortunately so. Earl Margot has not yet applied Young Lady Janis for that position, so there are quite a few nobles that have seen it as an opportunity to act.”

Earl Margot hasn’t sent a formal request yet? I wonder why.

Certainly, for a debutante, the exposure from being the Prince’s escort is only minimally better than that of being blood-tied to an Earl, but it’s still a great honor.

As if reading my concerns, Queen Ria smiled and said,

“Young Lord Kasen is also debuting, after all. They might be thinking about having Young Lady Janis escorting Young Lord Kasen. It’s better to dance with a partner you’re used to, after all.”

Aah… that’s true.

Performing poorly at the Cotillion will completely over-eclipse who you escort, so it’s understandable that they’d consider having the cousins escort each other, especially since they’re probably practicing together even know.

But knowing Earl Margot, he’s probably equally considering both options, which is why he hasn’t sent a formal notice to accept or decline the Prince’s escort position for Young Lady Janis.

From a noble’s standpoint, I’d say I’d understand – I would also be unwilling to give up the benefits or either option – but I do think it’s somewhat troublesome for the other people involved.

The Royal Family is hesitating to announce an escort candidate because the Margots haven’t expressed their interest in either direction, which has allowed the influx of nobles sending their girls to vie for Prince Anthony’s attention…

Ah, I see how the situation has become like this.

“If the girls who came were like Fluvia I wouldn’t be bothered, but the families of the girls with high-ranking statuses wouldn’t be so crude as to send their daughters in like this; they’re more or less guaranteed to be considered based on their status after all. So unfortunately, the types of girls my boys have had to entertain are rather stressful for them to deal with.”

“It sounds tough.”

“Yeah, Prince Anthony was complaining about them a lot.”

Brother says that somewhat carelessly, but I can tell he doesn’t understand.

Brother and Father are the type to be blunt and straightforward no matter who they’re dealing with, after all.

They don’t understand the stress that comes with accommodating difficult types.

“We didn’t refuse it at first, because I thought that my boys could do with some experience in dealing with this sort of thing, but I never expected it to get so out of hand. We will absolutely refuse this sort of thing next year for Alex, and also for when Alette debuts. It’s intolerable how those people took advantage of our generosity.”

“If you give them a drop, they’ll take the whole bucket, after all.”

“Fufufu, I haven’t heard of that saying, but it’s very fitting. Anyway, I’m actually relieved the two of you are visiting today. There are a few daughters visiting right now, but I’m sure Fedor and Fluvia’s presence will help my boys soldier through.”

“We will do our best.”

“Yeah… but we’ll be meeting with the other girls there too? I won’t be able to have a duel, then…”

Brother looks disappointed.

“Hm, I wonder. Anthony might use it as an excuse to escape~ although I did tell him to properly entertain the girls, he could be at his limit?”

“I see-!”

Brother happily went on ahead as soon as the terrace came into sight, but Queen Ria held me back for a moment.

“Some of these daughters are a bit… well, most of them are just far too timid, but…”

But some of them have a bit too much ‘character’, huh?

I can’t deny I’m very interested.

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<a/n: Ugh, I should have put more thought into the previous few chapters, but I shored up the plotholes as best as I could.>