A Good Day for a Wedding
After breakfast, we skipped dessert. On the way back to my room, I asked Alraune to take care of the garden. She waved her hand as if to say leave it to me, then dashed off toward the garden. I watched her go for a moment before continuing on. When I entered my room, the servants who had arrived first bowed in greeting.
Without a word, I approached the clothes they had prepared. They helped me out of the outfit I’d chosen for breakfast. “Wait, why are you touching my underwear….” Startled when someone reached for my undergarments, I flinched and asked. They blinked, then showed me the matching set Mother had prepared.
“There’s no one who’s going to see them… Do I really need to change my underwear too?”
I glanced at the white lace-trimmed undergarments dotted with ribbon accents and subtly suggested that this seemed excessive. But they replied with troubled expressions that it was Mother’s wish and they had no choice.
“Haa… Fine. Since it’s a good day today… I’ll change.”
“Thank you, Miss René.”
On any other day I might have resisted, but I didn’t want to make things difficult for everyone on such a nice day. When I accepted without complaint, the servants let out sighs of relief and smiled brightly.
Still, I insisted on putting on the underwear myself. I took the garments, changed in the bathroom, and came out. They clapped as if I’d accomplished something remarkable. When I narrowed my eyes, they quickly composed themselves and helped me into the prepared dress.
“How is it, miss? Is there anywhere uncomfortable or strange?”
“It’s fine except that it feels a little tight around the chest.”
After I was fully dressed, they asked if anything felt off. When I placed a hand on my chest and mentioned the slight tightness, they chuckled and said they had left room expecting me to grow, but I seemed to have grown even more than anticipated.
At their words, my gaze drifted to my chest, which had indeed become noticeably fuller during my growth spurt. I let out a quiet sigh and quickly looked away.
While I was lost in thought, the servants applied a lightly scented oil to my hair, combed it with great care, and finished it off with a headband adorned with pure white flowers.
“How do you like it, Miss René?”
“Mm, it’s uncomfortable.”
“Oh come on, you have something else to say, don’t you?”
After they finished the light makeup and brought me a mirror, the servants stared at me with eager faces, urging for the answer they wanted. Remembering that today was a good day, I told them I liked it. They burst into delighted giggles.
“René. Are you all ready?”
“Yes, Mother.”
Once everything was prepared, I waited quietly in my room. Mother arrived with René, dressed with far more attention to detail than usual. I rose slowly from my seat. Mother gave me a satisfied smile and gestured for us to go greet the guests together.
“Let’s go together.”
“Okay.”
I smiled at René, who was waving enthusiastically, and followed Mother out of the room. As we walked, I took the time to quickly review the guest-greeting etiquette I had learned in a crash course a few days ago.
“Excellent, René. René.”
“Hehe, thank you.”
Mother smiled warmly as she praised us for memorizing it perfectly. But then her expression soured when she spotted Aran strolling casually toward us from the opposite direction. He noticed her gaze belatedly and hurried to straighten his clothes, but Mother caught him and began lecturing him on how important today was and how inappropriate his behavior was for such an occasion.
“Um, Mother. We’re going to be late for greeting the guests at this rate.”
“…Sigh, you’re right.”
When I mentioned that we were on our way to greet the guests, Mother quickly shifted her attention. I shot Aran a glare that said behave yourself while he let out a quiet sigh of relief that the scolding had ended early. Mother and I quickened our pace to prepare for receiving the guests attending today’s wedding.
“Thank you for taking the time to come.”
“Not at all. As a noble of the eastern territories, it was only natural.”
Starting with Baron Shelton and the lords of neighboring estates, most of the guests were people whose faces I had only glimpsed at parties a few years ago.
“Ugh…”
Among them were nobles whose children had been particularly unpleasant—those who had bullied innocent people. The faces that had come along with their parents were recognizable with just a little thought, even after several years. They either avoided our steady gazes or pretended to look elsewhere.
“…Thank you for coming.”
Since they already knew they had done wrong and were being cautious, I saw no reason to stir up trouble. I put on an oblivious face and welcomed them as guests. René looked displeased at the sight of me doing so, but after a pointed glance from Mother, she hid her expression and followed my lead in greeting them.
After welcoming even those unwelcome guests, just as I was thinking that everyone must have arrived by now, we saw a procession of carriages entering the estate and swallowed nervously.
“Don’t worry, dears. Those carriages aren’t carrying guests—they’re carrying gifts.”
Mother smiled at us sisters and told us that this should be enough. She said we should rest for now and prepare to appear as flower girls.
“Then I’ll go ahead!”
Fearing Mother might change her mind, René quickly bowed and darted off. Mother watched her rapidly retreating figure and asked me, “René. Please keep an eye on her so she doesn’t cause any trouble.”
“Yes. Leave it to me.”
I answered firmly, then followed after René. For a moment, I paid attention to the polite exchange behind me between Mother and a noble’s representative.
“Thank you for coming.”
“Thank you for your hospitality, Marchioness Lorelei.”
But René had already disappeared from sight in that short time. I hurried after her, growing anxious when I couldn’t find her anywhere. Then a breeze tickled my cheek. Wondering if it might be a sign, I followed the direction of the wind and finally spotted the girl I’d been searching for by the pond in a garden where no servants were present.
“What’s the big deal if I throw a few stones in the pond!”
“Yeah! We’ve been waiting and it’s boring. This much is fine, isn’t it?”
“It’s our house’s pond, that’s why!”
I could roughly guess what was happening from the argument between René and some children I’d never seen before. As I approached, Alraune peeked out from behind a tree. I glared at her, asking why she hadn’t helped sooner. She looked wronged and insisted she had been busy working hard herself.
I decided we would talk about that later. The atmosphere was growing increasingly sharp, so before anything could happen, I reached out, grabbed René by the waist, and pulled her toward me.
“…René?”
René looked up at me with wide, startled eyes. I smiled at her, silently telling her to leave it to me, then turned to the little brats whose bodies had grown faster than their manners.
“From what I overheard on the way here… it sounds like this was entirely your fault. Why don’t you stop here and leave?”
“Who the hell are you?”
“Oh my, we just greeted each other earlier. To forget so quickly… you must have a poor memory.”
The brat who had been complaining about my sudden interruption frowned at my polite but cutting words. Ignoring his reaction, I carefully checked René to make sure she wasn’t hurt anywhere. Relieved that she wasn’t, I continued with a smile.
“It’s a good day like today. There’s no point in making each other upset. Let’s end it here.”
“Who do you think you are!”
I tried to smooth things over by pointing out that causing a scene would only hurt them, but the brat who couldn’t accept it came stomping toward us, fuming. I tightened my grip on René’s waist to stop her from doing anything rash and signaled Alraune with my eyes.
“I’m not just going to let this—Whoa!”
The brat, who clearly had the kind of personality that would cause him major headaches in the future, tripped spectacularly over a knot that had suddenly formed in the grass at his feet.
“Falling all by yourself in a perfectly clear spot. Your lower body must be quite weak.”
When I spoke with an exaggerated look of surprise, the boy’s face turned bright red. He immediately shouted at his hesitant companions, asking if they were just going to stand there watching.
“Ahem, hm…”
But the other boys quickly realized the tide had turned against them. They cleared their throats, looked around at distant scenery, and quietly slipped away. As I watched them abandon their friend and run off, I laughed and remarked what a tear-jerkingly beautiful friendship it was. The boy, whose face was now as red as an apple and whose clothes were a mess from the fall, fled in humiliation.
“What a bunch of nobodies…”
I clicked my tongue, muttering that children raised so preciously should be putting their effort into becoming refined instead of deliberately acting vulgar. Then I gently pinched the cheek of René, who was staring blankly at my face.
“I told you last time too. Don’t step forward alone in situations like this.”
“Ah, yeah… Sorry, René.”
When she nodded a beat too late, I almost said more but decided to let it go, considering that nothing had actually happened. Together we headed back to the mansion to prepare for our roles as flower girls.
Passing through the garden where flowers of every color bloomed beautifully thanks to Alraune’s help, René walked along the path covered with a pure white carpet. Feeling the gazes of the seated guests, she swallowed nervously.
“Don’t worry. I’m right beside you.”
“…Yeah.”
René noticed it immediately and reassured her that she was there. The words of encouragement from her sister made René swallow again, this time for a completely different reason. She wasn’t sure if it was because the earlier incident still had her shaken, or if she was more nervous about the situation than she had expected.
With her heart pounding, René glanced at her sister’s face. They looked exactly alike, yet when you looked closely there were tiny differences. The faint smile on that face somehow looked different from usual, and she found herself thinking all sorts of things. But the moment she stepped onto the carpet, the music began, and she quickly pushed those thoughts aside.
“Now we take turns scattering them.”
René gave a small nod at the whisper only she could hear. She reached into the basket filled with white flower petals. As they slowly followed the bride a few steps behind, scattering petals to bless her and this marriage, the sight of people clapping with smiling faces made her briefly feel as if she and René were the true stars of this wedding. She hurriedly shook the silly thought away.