/
When the woman felt the strong grip on her trembling hand, her anxious eyes started to quiver.
On her hand, the tall man gently placed his other hand on top.
“It will be okay. I’m sure of it.”
“It is going to be alright, isn’t it…….”
“Yes. I will definitely protect you.”
The woman looks up at the man’s face before casting her eyes down with her long eyelashes still trembling.
“But if we lose this chance, I……..”
As though to block her words, the man hugged her small body.
————
It was three days ago that the Queen said that she would hold a tea party.
Since then, Alan and Princess Florencia have met each other many times and even have dinner together every day but there seems to be no particular progress.
Perhaps it’s mentally exhausting when he has to deal with Princess Florencia, Olivia’s room is now Alan’s only sanctuary in the castle. Once again, Alan who has been escorting Princess Florencia in the morning has come to her room in the afternoon.
For Olivia, she wanted to tell him to go back to his office and work but when she saw the tired expression on Alan’s face, she couldn’t really bring herself to complain. However, with the matter with Princess Florencia taking up his time, Bucks, Alan’s aide, is also making a difficult face as Alan’s work is steadily piling up.
“Come to think of it, are you ready for my mother’s tea party?”
“Yes, well……”
After he finished his complaints about his day, Alan suddenly brought that up as though he just remembered it. In response, Olivia bitterly smiled.
It seems that the Queen wants to take in Princess Florencia. She planned to invite both young noble daughters and Ladies for the tea party at the castle. This move might be in consideration of Princess Florencia whose face is not that well-known in the country so that she will have an easier time after she married into the family. Since Olivia is unofficially engaged to Cyrus at the moment, she will be acting as the host along with the Queen for this party. Honestly speaking, this is a little troublesome for her.
The Queen personally invited about 30 guests. This included the wives of the ministers, the wives, and daughters of the dukes, the marquises, and counts with a good reputation in Brior’s social circle. If she has to be honest, Olivia is better at dealing with older noble ladies rather than those of the same age so she’s now looking into the latest fashion trends. Unlike when she’s an invited guest, she will have to be active in conversation as a host.
With her many years as Alan’s fiancee, Olivia already has the names and faces of the noble ladies along with their hobbies and specialties registered in her head. That being said, she won’t be able to survive with that alone this time.
At this party, she will have to engage with people and act as a bridge between Princess Florencia and the noble ladies while making sure everyone has a good time. It’s certainly not an impossible job but she still needs some careful preparation to do this.
“We have 7 types of tea prepared, and the coffee that has become popular recently. The snacks and sweets will be taken care of by the chef at the castle so I believe there will be no problem in that regard. The rest is to introduce Princess Florencia to the other ladies so I plan to prepare some Levanor’s specialty like table runners and sweets from that country.”
“………isn’t that almost everything?”
Seeing Alan’s amazement, Cyrus shrugged.
“Mother said that it’s a good chance for Olivia to get some practice since she will have to host a lot of tea parties in the future as the future queen of this country.”
“I see, that does sound like what Mother would say.”
Alan directs a sympathetic gaze toward Olivia.
Then, Bucks’s voice could be heard from a distance.
“YOUR HIGHNESS—!”
“Your Highness Alan, it seems that Bucks-sama is looking for you.”
Alan was immediately dejected.