episode_0077

[Episode 77] – When women get together, they always talk about love. (One)

The day before the masquerade ball.

As usual, Titania and I arrived at Count Serina’s mansion the day before the ball and decided to stay the night. The royal castle and ballroom were far away, and since Titania liked to stay up all night with Viola, they always arrived the day before and spent time there.

“Viola~!”

“Princess~!”

Wow!

As soon as Titania got off the carriage, she ran straight to Viola.

After the two hugged each other, they clasped their hands together and started hopping in place. When I saw Titania and Viola like that, I burst out laughing involuntarily. Is it that good?

As I was looking at Viola and Titania as if I was truly dumbfounded, Lady Serena approached me with a shy smile, bowed her head and greeted me.

“It’s been a while since I saw you. Her Royal Highness Queen Vivian. “How have you been?”

“Well… these days, my daughter has been so annoying to me that I’m in trouble. It seems like the more I grow up, the more I become a tomboy. Anyway, Yvette, Hailey. How have you been?”

“Hehe, we’re always the same.”

When I received my greeting, Countess Serena, ‘Haley’, and Countess Serena, ‘Yvette’, who was like her younger sister, bowed their heads to me. It’s been a while so I’m glad to see you…

When I sighed and looked at Viola and Titania who were chatting next to me, Hayley shook her head and sighed just like me. You probably feel the same way as me.

Having known each other since the hunting competition three years ago, I now feel more comfortable calling them by their names, Yvette and Hayley, rather than Countess or Countess Serena.

Among the nobles I knew, these two were the only people with whom I could converse comfortably. These two act as a bridge that connects me to my social circle, so it’s natural for me to become friends with them.

Moreover, calling Hayley the Countess seemed to refer to Yvette, the Countess, and Hayley, the ‘former’ Countess, as if they were married, so it was more convenient to call her by that name.

Hailey came up next to me and whispered in my ear.

“I have prepared the ‘mask’ and costume that Her Majesty the Queen requested, but… are you really going to go to the ball wearing that? “I also prepared a spare mask just in case.”

When I wrote back that Titania was attending the masquerade ball, I also sent a letter asking Hayley to prepare my mask and costume. There was a mask I used originally, but…

It was an unpleasant design that stood out too much, so I used it once and put it away in the warehouse. Well, at the masquerade ball I went to last time, there were a lot of people wearing bigger and shiny masks than me.

I looked at Hayley who came next to me and answered with a grin.

“The mask and costume I requested are sufficient. And are you sure? Are you saying that we didn’t invite anyone really weird to this ball? “If something strange happens…”

When I frowned slightly, Hayley shook both hands and her head urgently. I was only trying to scare them a little, but it felt strange to answer so quickly and completely scared.

“Of course! We didn’t send invitations to anyone that would worry Her Majesty the Queen! This masquerade ball is really like an ‘experience’ ball made for ‘children’! Most of the adults participating are parents like me! So I’m sure Her Majesty the Queen will like it!”

“okay? “Then I’m glad.”

When he returned his frown and smiled slightly, only then did Hayley breathe a sigh of relief. I didn’t want to do this because she was a friend who helped me a lot, but I couldn’t help it because I was worried about Titania.

Well… it seemed like some people couldn’t come even though they received invitations because of my insistence, but who cares? It was more important to prevent people who could be dangerous to Titania from coming near than to hurt their hearts because they could not come even though they were invited.

Anyway, it was true that I was being unreasonable, so I felt sorry for Hayley and Yvette for listening to my unreasonable behavior. Feeling sorry, I brought a very small gift and smiled broadly, pointing to the carriage standing behind me with my thumb.

“Anyway… Would you like to drink together ‘in your room’ tonight?”

As I pointed, the escort driver standing next to me took out a bottle of alcohol from the carriage and showed it to Hayley and Yvette. I don’t know much about alcohol, but anyway, it’s an expensive and great drink, right? It was stolen from the office of the Minister of Education, a lover… no, it was donated.

‘Because there were only three bottles of alcohol in the collection of the Minister of Education, who is a lover of alcohol. How much I cried when I told them I was taking this. It must have been a good drink because it made me cry and hold my ankle.’

Anyway, the alcohol I brought seemed to be something that drinkers would really enjoy. In the words of the Minister of Education, did he say that he had to reach the enlightenment path just to have a sip of that drink? As expected from the Minister of Education, every word he said was loud.

“Really? Is it okay to drink that…? Anyway, that…”

“So, what does it mean to be a good friend? “It must have been hard for you to listen to my insistence, so I guess I’ll have to do this too.”

“Your Majesty the Queen…!”

Yvette and Hailey must have been moved by my words, covering their mouths with both hands and choking back tears. I was also happy because it seemed like a really good gift for two people who like alcohol. Yes, there has to be this kind of back and forth between friends.

“It’s time to cry over something like this… Stop crying and go home quickly. “I’m tired because I rode the carriage all day.”

*

After a decent dinner, the adults are among themselves.

The time has come for children to gather together.

The adults entered the room carrying many bottles of alcohol and smiling brightly like children. Viola and Titania, who were left alone, also looked at each other and smiled sinisterly and entered the room together.

Titania, who entered the room, asked Viola as if urging her.

“Viola, do you have ‘that’?”

“Yes, there is. Titania. “This time, I asked the maid to go to the village and buy it.”

When they were alone in the room, Viola called Titania by her name. As Titania and Viola became closer to each other, it was natural for them to call each other by their first names.

As if Viola already knew what Titania wanted, she rummaged under the bed and pulled out a box. A plain wooden box that looks like it just contains miscellaneous things.

“Now, here.”

Excited, Excited. Titania carefully opened the box Viola gave her, listening to her own trembling heartbeat, and smiled brightly as she held up what was inside.

“Finally, ‘The witch wants to be the marquis’ wife.’ “There’s a new book out!”

“huh! “I haven’t read it yet so I can read it with you!”

What Titania was holding up was an ordinary ‘novel book’ that was popular among young ladies these days. An ordinary, ordinary romance novel called ‘The Witch Wants to Be the Marquis’ Wife.’

Since the incident when she was ten years old, Vivian had prohibited books like this from being brought into the castle, so if Titania wanted to read books like this, she had no choice but to borrow them from Viola.

‘That incident’ when I was ten years old…

Titania felt heat rush to her face just thinking about that time. Until then, I didn’t know the exact meaning of ‘purity’, so I thought I had lost my virginity to my mother.

Of course, it was true that my ‘first kiss’ was taken away from me by my mother.

Chastity was more important, but the first kiss was also one of the most important things. So, after Titania learned the meaning of ‘purity’, she gave Vivian a kiss ban, telling her not to kiss her.

The reason was simply because I was embarrassed to receive kisses anymore. All the girls I met in children’s social circles have now graduated from their mothers and sleep in their rooms alone, never receiving kisses or anything like that.

After realizing that she was the only one at this age to do such things, Titania tried to distance herself from Vivian a little. That was the reason why we asked to use separate rooms.

“Titania! hurry! hurry!”

Viola, who had been holding back all this time to read with Titania, was on the verge of exploding. I quickly changed into my pajamas and set the bed perfectly with the snacks and juice I had requested from the maids.

At Viola’s urging, who was pounding on the bed to lie down next to her, Titania quickly climbed onto the bed and took a seat. Viola, seeing that Titania was seated next to her, slowly began to turn the pages.

The content of the book was a love story that was so common that I thought I had read many stories like this by now. A witch who lives alone in the forest and a marquis who falls in love with the witch at first sight. A witch who is attracted to such a marquis.

However, the world did not allow their love. The world was afraid of witches, and the Marquis had to lead his own family, so it seemed like their love would never come true.

Normally, in a situation like this, one of the two would have given up on their feelings, but the Marquis and the witch were different. The Marquis told the witch that he would definitely bring her, and the witch replied that she would wait forever.

But here, the witch’s old familiar, a man who loved the witch, appears. Then he whispers to the witch: ‘The Marquis’ life is in danger, and the only one who can save him is himself.’

If you want to save him, forget him and embrace him in your arms.

Titania and Viola frowned at the appearance of a common villain and began cursing their familiar. The two nervously turned the pages and began to read the story behind them, saying that such a villain should be eliminated as soon as possible and that he should be punished.

The witch shook her head and rejected the familiar.

‘I will not be deceived by your snake-like tongue. Even if what you say is true, the Marquis is the only one who can have me,’ he said, kicking out the familiar. Titania and Viola smiled in satisfaction at that scene, not knowing what to do.

After that, it was an obvious development. The familiar continued to harass and tempt the witch, but as befits the name ‘witch’, the witch resisted the temptation with her knowledge and faith and waited for the marquis. Neither sweet temptation nor terrible despair could stop the witch.

After waiting and waiting, the witch finally meets the Marquis again, and the book ends with the words ‘Continued in the next volume.’ I opened the next page thinking this couldn’t be true, but that was the end of the page.

““What?!””

Viola and Titania became enraged at the story being cut off at such perfect timing that they threw their books on the bed. He expressed his anger by lying down, twisting his body, and rolling around.

“We’re going to stop here, wondering if we should publish one book a year or not?!”

“devilish…!”

The two girls, who were running around saying they had to scold the author, started talking about the contents of the book in angry voices. The book and the love story continued, with various stories blossoming through speculation and impressions, such as what happened to the familiar, how pitiful the witch was, or why the Marquis came so late.

Without realizing how much time had passed, Viola and Titania talked about many things. The story of tomorrow’s masquerade ball and the story of another book. And about the new ‘red book’ I found on my mother’s bookshelf that I couldn’t write about in the letter.

As much as they couldn’t meet each other, they talked a lot about various things.

Among the many stories, the main one was about love.

Although they were thirteen-year-old girls who had never experienced love, ‘love stories’ were an inevitable story for them. Because there were many girls around me who had already had engagement ceremonies.

Even Viola was even more distraught because she had decided to watch the ‘confrontation’ this year. Viola was distraught and asked Titania while chewing on a cookie.

“Titania, what do you think love is?”

“Uh, love? Umm… it’s clear in the book…”

“Not about books. What do you think?”

“my thought? hmm…”

Even if Viola asked that question, it was difficult to answer. Titania had never even been in a relationship, let alone loved one. I didn’t even meet ‘male Yeong-sik’ to get engaged.

In other words, it was really difficult for Titania to answer because the only experience she had was the stories in the book. When Titania turned her head to look at Viola, her eyes were sparkling brightly as if asking her to answer quickly.

“I think that…”