BXBX NOVEL Chapter 9: 9 – Tea Party
White clouds.
A refreshing wind is blowing on the Stuart family garden.
Blessed with good weather, our first tea party is a garden party.
The guests dressed up meticulously. While expecting this family’s prosperity from now on, they eagerly wait for the three siblings to appear…
The eldest son George is very active and manly. He has been going hunting before he reaches adulthood.
The second son William is a diligent boy who has been helping the family business since he became aware of his surroundings.
The eldest daughter Emma has a weak body. She is a gentle beautiful girl with a docile personality.
— —
The majority of the guests have this evaluation of the three siblings.
It’s because Count Stuart’s Palace territory is a borderland.
There are almost none of the neighboring nobles who had ever seen the young three siblings.
There is only information from when my father Leonard’s parents talked about their grandchildren, which has been through many ‘my grandchildren is the cutest’ filter.
There’s no way that the hate-studying eldest son,
the always dazing about insects eldest daughter,
the pretty-much-an-errand-boy-for-the-eldest-daughter second son
would be known to people.
“Everyone, welcome to Stuart’s garden party. I hope you have fun while you are here.”
It’s so usual… or rather, it’s a perfunctory greeting from my sloppy father, Leonard. After that, the three siblings are introduced while the servants start serving the guests.
George is frowning in clothes he is not used to wearing.
The young ladies who were invited misunderstood him as a hard-to-approach but a stalwart and cool young man.
Emma wears an informal silk dress made from silkworms that she raised herself. She ties her mouth shut as to not show any sloppy look.
She has been nervous since the beginning of the tea party. ‘I have to protect myself…’ and she has inadvertently aroused the invited noble sons’ desire to protect.
William is… smiling sweetly to a cute little girl. It just… he is a beautiful young boy. The mothers of those children become noisy.
Each of the three is different from the other two, toward a misunderstanding that I don’t understand well, I just observe them at a distance.
Meanwhile, one boy approaches the three.
“George-sama, long time no see!”
The only one who has an interaction with the three siblings is the son of a wealthy merchant in Palace, Joshua. It’s a cute 14-year-old with dark brown hair and eyes and freckles.
Finally, George’s smile returns.
“Long time no see Joshua! I’m glad to see a familiar face!”
Joshua made George amused, but from other guests’ perspective, Joshua speaks over-familiarly.
“Seems like you’re doing something interesting, so I came by to take a look.”
George responds with a meek face.
“Nobody could stop mother.”
Joshua broke into laughter at George’s answer.
“Joshua-san! Could you please introduce me to the Stuarts?”
A slightly chubby girl speaks from behind Joshua.
“Oops, that was rude of me.”
Joshua pulls a serious face and starts introducing the chubby girl.
“This is Baron Mallet’s daughter, Yuralia-sama. Baron Mallet has some business with my father…”
The girl called Yuralia lifts the hem of her skirt and bows her head slightly as a greeting.
“Joshua…?”
George’s smile stiffen.
“Isn’t she cute? Yuralia-sama! Please consider being George’s fiancee, okay?”
George’s smile twitches at Joshua’s 3-second betrayal.
“Th-then William-sama…! This is Viscount Garland’s daughter, Caroline-sama!”
He furthermore introduces to William a redhead girl who looks about the same age.
“Joshua…”
William also twitches his face.
A merchant will always prioritize profits. You will only end up with a painful experience if you are expecting friendship with Joshua, who has the blood of a wealthy merchant. They understood, but he is the only friend of the same age for the three siblings.
“Emma-sama, let’s talk together… Eh? Emma-sama?”
Emma is gone.
Tired of the not so long introduction, Emma is wandering around aiming for the lined up desserts on the stand-up buffet, but ends up being surrounded by several guests.
“Miss Emma! I am Chris, the eldest son of Count Monse! You are as lovely as the rumors say!”
“Miss Emma, I am Glen of Juke marquis house. You there! I heard Miss Emma has a quiet personality, will you not frighten her if you speak with such a loud voice?”
They keep on going on and on. Emma is being restrained little by little.
“Amazing… Emma nee-sama is so popular.”
(T/N: nee-sama means big sister in a respectful way)
“No, no… What are you saying so leisurely! We have to help her quickly!”
Joshua, who suddenly runs out of composure, ask the two for help. As expected of a Count, Joshua can’t go help since the other party is a Marquis.
“Go help you say… It’s not like she is troubled, right? Emma?”
“Nee-sama can properly handle the conversation.”
The two know that Joshua has a faint feeling of love for that Emma for who knows why, but… thanks to his betrayal earlier, they want to tease him a bit.
“That, why! Emma-sama can’t talk normally! She usually ignores other topics outside insects!”
Joshua, for the sake of today, has been studying a great deal of knowledge about insects.
And then Emma, who had acquired some common sense since remembering her past life memories, become able to have a normal conversation other than insects related topics.
Joshua, it was an unexpected miscalculation.
George and William are laughing face to face seeing Joshua’s flustered appearance for the first time.
She can talk normally now… but Emma, or rather Minato, is at a loss.
All of them are elementary to middle school kids…
Because I’m 35 inside, it’s like I’m babysitting them.
I have a little complicated feeling about seeing them as my fiancee.
Furthermore, I feel a bit uneasy when William is talking to little girls.
Peita… he liked lolis, is that gonna be okay?