Chapter 43
Behind us, Ivy still hadn’t calmed down, yelling angrily about something or other.
“Sister, aren’t you going to apologize to your friends?”
“They’re not my friends. Just acquaintances. No—anyone who insults Tiana isn’t someone I know.”
Hearing her say it so firmly made me a little happy.
“You were so cool just now, Sister. When you splashed the tea, I didn’t even realize what was happening.”
“Ugh, I was so irritated! I just lost my temper and threw the tea, but I don’t regret it. Tia, you don’t need to worry about what happened earlier. Nobody thinks it was a stain on your reputation.”
“That’s right! None of us think that.”
Mariana and Dino both backed her up, and Nicholas nodded in agreement with Mariana.
I really am surrounded by kind people.
“Thank you, everyone.”
It was the first time I’d ever seen my gentle sister truly angry—
and honestly, it might become a good memory for me.
Michelle left the room with us too, but… I wondered if it was really okay for her not to stay with Ivy and the others.
“Um, was it okay for you not to stay with Ivy and the others?”
I asked without thinking.
“I just came because I heard a lady from the Aster family would be attending.”
So that’s how it was.
Normally, a lady from a ducal family like the Agrion family wouldn’t attend a tea party hosted by someone from a count family, not even a marquis’s daughter.
Well, same for us, actually.
“But I’m glad I came. I wanted to get along with people I can actually talk to. You seem really knowledgeable, Lady Tiana. I look forward to getting to know you better.”
I think my sister’s much more talented than me, though.
“Same here.”
It made me happy—
I felt like I’d made a friend my own age.
“Next time, I’ll invite you myself.”
Michelle said that as we parted.
“Thank you. See you again!”
“Tia, people said some awful things, but I’m glad you made a friend.”
“Yeah. I want to hang out with her sometime.”
“Then let’s invite her to our house.”
“M–Me? Do the inviting?”
“Of course. You’ve got to take the first step yourself.”
“I’ll… think about it.”
Inviting someone myself feels kind of embarrassing.
Even in my previous life, I never had friends, so I’ve never invited anyone anywhere before.
And if we do hang out—what do friends even do together?
Hmm… maybe I don’t need to think too hard about it for now!
Later that evening—
“Lady Michelle, how was today’s tea party?”
“Hmm?”
“Well… let’s see. When Ivy insulted Lady Tiana, I thought she’d just go quiet, but she completely beat her down with her knowledge instead. I think we’ll get along well.”
“That’s wonderful to hear.”
“I wonder when I’ll get to talk to her again.”
(It seems Lady Michelle has found a good friend. She always said she only wanted to talk to people with knowledge equal to—or greater than—her own, so I was quite worried. But it seems those worries were unnecessary.)
As everyone’s thoughts mingled together,
we each returned to our own places—
carrying a faint, warm feeling in our hearts.
