/
The only time Erin had ever made food like this to share with Einz was when they were still a child.
When she was younger, she would bake muffins and cakes at home after school to practice.
‘
And the ones I gave him were mostly the best ones, and the most successful ones.’
Almost everything she made then were desserts, like scones or cakes, and she only gave Einz the best ones.
She was so ashamed of her failures that Erin ate them all before anyone else could see them.
‘My father used to take away the messed up cakes for himself to eat
’
She would always tell him not to eat the messed up ones and to leave them alone, but he would always take them away for him to eat at work.
Even the random lumpy muffins she made were always her father’s snacks at teatime.
‘I don’t know how he could eat them all.’
“Mmm
”
While Erin was deep in thought, Einz simply smiled and ate the rest of the cake on his plate.
“Oh right. Einz, would you like to go to the festival together?”
“To the festival?”
“Yes. The summer festival by the river.”
After hearing Fiona mentioning about the festival near the night market, memories from Erin’s childhood were soon brought up.
The summer festival by the river was always colorful and fun.
“We used to go there every year until I went to the palace.”
When she was younger, she used to go there with Einz.
They’d buy candy and sweets and wander around the brightly lit riverside.
Erin smiled at the memory of those days.
They were happy memories, like jewels in a sea of dry sand.
“What do you think? Can you spare some time? You don’t have to come with me if you’re busy.”
( T/L : I can understand now why more people think Einz is a better ML, than Calix. I mean Calix is cool, but Einz, and Erin had better chemistry..)
“Of course! Don’t worry. I’ll be able to get out that day.”
“Hey, Erin!”
Melly went into the kitchen just as Erin was putting away her plate.
“Someone sent a letter to you.”
“A letter?”
Melly immediately handed Erin an envelope.
On the outside of the envelope was a crest with an intricate gold leaf pattern.
She opened the envelope only to reveal a stationery with an elegant script.
It was an invitation, written in neat handwriting.
“An invitation to a tea party.”
“A tea party?”
“Yes. The Countess of Florence has invited me to a tea party, and she has a favor to ask.”
The letter was brief.
It said that she had a favor to ask, and that she would be more than happy to have Erin come to a tea party at the mansion on any given afternoon.
At the end of her letter, she apologized for the sudden invitation.
It was a simple request, but a very polite one.
“But what could she possibly ask you to do?”
“Were you acquainted with that lady?”
“No. Not at all.”
Erin had never spoken to the Countess of Florence, let alone known her.
She’d seen her two or three times at palace functions before, but she’d never truly been acquainted with her.
“What did she look like?”
“Come to think of it, she was rarely at the palace.”
Normally, the lady of a family with that kind of status would often hold important positions in the social circles of the imperial court.
Her husband, Count Florence, was an official in the ministry of Civil Service, so Erin was used to seeing him around the palace, but she had never met the Countess because she rarely appeared at the palace.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Countess Florence either. Why didn’t Countess Florence come to the palace more often?”
Einz said curiously.
“Well
 The Countess is from the southern borderlands, and I think there was something wrong with her mother’s side of the family. I could be wrong but I think I heard that her mother was a foreign noble somewhere, but I don’t know.”
Erin picked up the invitation and thought over the information she’d heard about the lady.
The Count of Florence was an old family, and the current count had traveled to the southern borderlands and fallen in love with the daughter of a country noble who lived there.
The Count went against his family, and married the young lady, who is now the Countess of Florence.
‘There must have been something wrong with her background, which is why I don’t see her appear in the palace often.’
It was actually even worse if there was something wrong with either of her parent’s lineage.
Erin herself had been called many demeaning names because her mother was a northern immigrant.
While Erin was thinking about it, Einz quietly suggested.
“Why don’t you come with me?”
“Huh?”
Einz looked at Erin with a slightly mischievous gleam in his eye.
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to escort the lady.”
A noblewoman could usually bring a nobleman to accompany her as an escort when going to a social gathering.
It sounded like a good idea, and since Erin had met Einz now, it would be a shame to part ways just so she could go to the tea party.
“Alright. Good.”
Erin quickly checked her watch.
She still had some time to spare before the time on the invitation.
Erin looked back at Einz.
“Then give me a minute. Since I’ve been invited as a guest, I can’t just show up empty-handed.”
⚘
The rattling carriage turned into a street lined with noble mansions.
Through the glass windows, high walls and ornate facades of mansions were passing by.
Gates with colorful coats of arms lined the streets.
Erin sat in a comfortable chair in the carriage and watched the sunlit boulevards.
Despite Erin’s insistence that she didn’t need a carriage, Einz still sent a servant to fetch one for her while she made a dessert to take to the tea party.
‘Since I’m going to accompany you as an escort, I have to do it right.’
Einz argued back after Erin suggested that they could walk.
After looking at these huge mansions on the streets, Erin also wondered what Einz house looked like.
She knew that he had lived in the Knight’s quarters often, but she had heard that he had purchased a home in the capital ever since he became a knight, so she wondered what it would be like to come, and visit.
When she lived in the palace, she couldn’t visit him even if she wanted to.
If the Duchess went to the home of a Knight, or a man she wasn’t married to, it would surely start another strange rumor.
Erin looked at Einz, who sat across from her.
A gentle smile crossed his lips as their gazes met, and she could clearly see his picture-perfect features and gentle, kind eyes.
To think he was so handsome and still living alone

Erin felt a pang of pity for him.
‘I’m sure I’ve caused some strange rumors for him,’ she thought, ‘but if he’s still popular with the nobility, he’ll be able to marry whenever he wants.’
She wondered if he’ll find someone to marry once the rumors die down?
He could definitely marry a young lady from a good family, or even a noble lady.
The carriage traveled down the street for a while before coming to a stop in front of a large gate.
“Erin.”
The carriage door opened and Einz stepped out first, while holding out his hand for her.
Erin took his hand and stepped out of the carriage.
A stately mansion, adorned with gold and silver decorations, stood before them.
“Wow, what an opulent mansion.”
She’d heard that the Florence family had become quite a force to be reckoned with in the last few years, and it seemed to be true.
Erin carefully steadied the small basket in her hand.
‘I didn’t want to come to the manor empty-handed, so I made a gift and some desserts. I didn’t have a lot of time, so I chose madeleines because they were simple to make.’
She cooled the buttery madeleines and placed them in a basket, along with a slice of the milk crepe cake she had made earlier.
“We are honored to have you, my lady.”
After showing her invitation, a servant from inside the mansion greeted them and ushered them in.
It was as if they had already been informed that she was coming.
The inside of the mansion was even more opulent than the outside.
It was much smaller, but still filled with ornate decorations that could rival the halls of the Imperial Palace.
As Erin and Einz walked down the hall, guided by a servant, several ladies were leaving from the other side as well.
They were dressed in sumptuous tea party dresses.
Erin glanced at the invitation in her hand,
“Are they leaving? But the time was clearly stated around three in the afternoon, and we still have some time left before that.”
Erin glanced at the invitation.
“Hmm?”
She then looked up and saw a face of someone she recognized.
It was a stern-looking middle-aged woman in an imperial dress.
It was Mrs. Brennan.
“Oh.”
After recognizing Erin, Mrs. Brennan covered her mouth with the back of her hand and whispered to the woman next to her.
“I see you’re out and about together now, and you’re not even ashamed of it.”
Her voice was not loud, but she was speaking loudly enough for everyone to hear.
The ladies around her exchanged glances and smiled in interest.
“What a bunch of childish people,” Einz stepped forward to protest, his expression cold.
Erin quickly grabbed his arm.
“It’s okay.”
Mrs. Brennan wanted her to lash out in panic, but she had no intention of giving her the reaction she wanted.
Erin wasn’t angry or embarrassed.
Instead, she looked straight at Mrs. Brennan and smiled.
“I’m divorced, so who cares who I go out with? Even a lady who was fired from her position as a Head maid has a place in society, so what am I ashamed of?”
Mrs. Brennan’s eyes widened in surprise, and before she could even respond she said,
“By the way, are you still staying at the palace? You’re not the head maid anymore, shouldn’t you be staying at home?”