CH 80

The Banquet [Part 1]







..how did this happen.



Emma had somehow managed to finish the dress with five days remaining and attended the evening party.



She just followed behind her grandmother quietly, and the banquet was supposed to be over after everyone had finished eating.



“Emma, your dress today suits you very well.”



The Second Prince, His Highness Edward, started talking to Emma with a smile.



He was being considerate towards Emma, who wasn’t used to evening parties.



“Thank you, Your Highness.”



She could feel her grandmother’s piercing stare from here.



“What a very cute dress, Emma-sama. That grass pattern of the same color as your eyes is such a fresh and original design.”



Arthur, who attended on behalf of Bell House, also praised Emma with his handsome face that was twice sweeter than usual, perhaps because Marion had asked him to.



Emma’s dress today had a botanical pattern with young grass and small flowers scattered on a white background.



Before the party, Emma had caught hold of Harold, who came to Joshua’s store to paint, and had him draw directly on her dress with some sample ink.



Remembering that botanical pattern was the trend in their previous life shortly before the whole family died from an earthquake, Emma, who couldn’t think of a design, decided on using it as a last resort.



In this world without printing technology, there had never been a fabric with a brightly colored pattern. Because of that, this dress was well-received by the people.



Until now, they had to dye and wash the fabric repeatedly about 30 times to produce a color similar to Emma’s eyes, but Harold had easily made it just by mixing some colors of the ink he brought.



And he continued to directly draw on the dress with a brush.



Although Emma didn’t have time to make a trial piece first, the whole family just went, “Ei, isn’t this already perfect!!!” resignedly as the dress turned out well.



As usual, Emma’s dress has low skin exposure, so it got a pass from her grandmother.



More than anything, there’s no Nit*ri here, so even if she wears a botanical pattern, nobody will say, “The pattern is like Nit*ri curtain, isn’t it?” Which is important.



(T/N: Nitori is the largest furniture and home furnishing chain in Japan. This is a reference to Nitori curtains that have many botanical patterns. A picture of a Nitori curtain: )



However, Emma still felt very nervous even as the dress that came from her being stuck for ideas was praised.



The waiter had guided her to a different seat from her grandmother.



She thought she was lucky at first, but…



Later, Arthur sat on her left, and His Highness Edward on her right.



Then now, Robert was guided by the waiter to the seat right opposite Emma and sat down with a terribly sullen face.



“……”



The Stuart family is of a Count rank.



Under the royal family, there are nobles in the order of Duke, Marquis, Count, Viscount, and Baron.



Despite this, she seemed to be sitting in an inappropriate seat no matter how she looked at it.



Both Arthur of the Bell House and Robert of the Lance House are dukes.



And, next to Robert, sat a young lady with full breasts wearing a gorgeous design that represented all the current fashion trends in the royal capital.



“Hello there, Beatrix-sama. You’re shining tonight too.”



As part of his courtesy, Arthur praised the lady with a perfectly fitting phrase.



The young lady threw a dubious look at Emma.



“Ah, this is Emma Stuart, a Count’s daughter. She starts attending the academy this year. Lady Emma, this is Beatrix Spencer, a Duke’s daughter.”



Arthur, who was being thoughtful, introduced the two to each other, but Lady Beatrix turned her face away aloofly.



The lower-ranking Emma obviously couldn’t talk to her first, so she simply returned a “highest-grade bow in a sitting form” that she had just learned from her grandmother.



As Emma gently cast her eyes down and bowed at a miraculous angle that didn’t let her long hair touch the table, sighs of admiration could be heard not only from the Prince and Arthur but also from other tables.



Because Emma looked out of place among the Prince and sons and daughters of Dukes, she was attracting a lot of attention, even though the person herself never intended to.



Despite only receiving a quick preparatory lesson from her grandmother Hilda, Emma had learned the basics straight from the “Manner Demon” herself, so her bow was perfect.