The Engagement of the Baron of Flowers and the Withered Tree Lady. - Chapter 58
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- Chapter 58 - The path taken by Julia and the maid
The Engagement of the Baron of Flowers and the Withered Tree Lady.
Chapter 58 The path taken by Julia and the maid
The party, aptly named a soirée, continued until dawn. However, despite it being Julia’s first social event, various incidents occurred, and she was understandably tired.
After dancing with her father, Hardis, she danced with Jade, a fatherly figure, and for some reason, even had a dance with the Crown Prince. After these dances, she decided to return to the Plant Baron’s residence with Romand.
On their way back, Everlotte, the Crown Prince’s fiancée, invited Julia to a tea party, saying, “I’ll send you an invitation. Please come.” Julia felt as if she were on cloud nine.
“A friend of the same age other than Viola… and being close to someone like her, who is almost like a dream,” she thought.
Lost in her thoughts about Everlotte, Julia didn’t notice Romand’s unusual demeanor. He had been feeling down while watching Julia dance. However, it wasn’t out of jealousy.
Romand had excelled at everything since his student days. However, the one thing he couldn’t achieve perfection in was dancing. He never expected himself to be so bad at it. This fact left Romand quite disheartened.
Despite his efforts to become the most suitable partner for Julia, he hadn’t anticipated making such a clumsy appearance in dancing.
From Robert’s perspective, Romand’s dancing was average, and he didn’t think it was something to be so downcast about. Rather than Romand being bad, it was just that the three gentlemen Julia danced with today were exceptionally skilled.
After all, the Crown Prince and the high-ranking nobles had received top-notch instruction from an early age. Comparing Romand, a pseudo-baron, to them was an absurd notion.
Even Julia, though a commoner, had been naturally trained in dance by her mother, hailed as an example of a lady. So, it was only natural that she was better than Romand.
However, Robert had no intention of emphasizing this point. If Romand lacked coordination or rhythm, it couldn’t be helped, but in his case, he could do it if he tried. He had avoided practice, and this was a consequence of his own making. Reflecting on today’s events, Robert hoped Romand would take his lessons more seriously in the future.
Nevertheless, after that, when Julia asked Romand to wait a few more years for the wedding, even Robert, the master, couldn’t help but sympathize with him. In reality, they knew it would take at least another year or more to have the wedding due to the dress.
The reason it would take so long was that Madame had prioritized finishing Julia’s debutante dress today, rejecting all other orders from important clients. However, refusing orders from esteemed clients any longer would adversely affect the business. Therefore, for some time to come, those orders needed to be given priority.
Madame had initially decided to prioritize Julia’s wedding dress, but the Earl Woodcliff wisely intervened.
“Many ladies are eagerly awaiting your dress, so we will respect the order in line,” he said.
Robert thought at that moment that perhaps the Earl wanted to keep his daughter by his side a little longer. Despite realizing that delaying the wedding wouldn’t change their relationship with his daughter, he sighed at the futile struggle.
However, judging from today’s events, it seems the Earl is genuinely determined to resolve the special forces (Green Spirit Users) job. Moreover, it looks like he has finally taken action to address that Woodcliff Earl’s residence, which seemed like a den of evil.
Considering the completion of the dress and the Earl’s return to the mansion to live with Lady Julia, which will happen sooner? If possible, Robert would like to tidy things up quickly and have the father-daughter life, so they can have the wedding ceremony once both are satisfied.
For this purpose, Romand will likely work harder than ever as a member of the special forces to solve the incidents. However, if that happens, the Baron’s duties will be left unattended, and they will need additional manpower, thought Robert. It was then that he came up with a good idea.
“Oh, that’s right. Let’s have the future lady of the house help with the household affairs. Butler Hyde has been saying he wants to start lady education soon because he’s getting old, although he’s lively enough that you’d question where the age is. And if Viola could help with the estate’s farming-related work, that would be quite helpful.”
As it turns out, Viola used to be the daughter of a well-known florist in the royal capital. When Romand and others, investigating the people surrounding Julia, learned about this, they were quite surprised.
The reason was that Viola’s father, Mr. Manton, was a figure admired and respected by flower farmers, a kind of role model for flower cultivation. Being able to supply flowers to his store was synonymous with being recognized as a top-tier flower farmer. In other words, it became a kind of status.
Therefore, many flower farmers aspired to be recognized by the shopkeeper. Of course, the Plant Estate was no exception to this trend.
However, one day, the store suddenly closed, and the Manton family disappeared. When they later learned about the circumstances, Romand and others felt quite frustrated, thinking they could have cooperated to prevent the closure if they had more power.
However, later on, when they unintentionally learned that the mastermind behind the closure of Viola’s father’s shop was the same man they unknowingly led to ruin, they felt a sense of satisfaction.
That man was the owner of the farm that had paved the way for the Plant Estate to become a royal purveyor. Yes, the one who, despite being a royal purveyor, advocated for rationality, cut corners on expenses, and, due to not hiring a practitioner of the ‘Green Thumb,’ failed to deliver flowers for the Queen’s birthday party due to a sudden natural disaster.
That man lacked love and attachment to plants. For him, flowers and grass were merely commodities for business. Consequently, he ignored the voices of plants and pursued only rationality.
Work dealing with nature requires more than just rationality.
Viola’s father had been cautioning and advising that man to change his attitude. He declared that he would not supply anything until the man corrected his approach.
Due to this, Viola’s father became the target of the man’s resentment, facing various harassment and obstacles. Gradually, Viola’s father’s shop was cornered. In a desperate attempt to keep the shop from closing, he overworked himself, leading to his untimely death, leaving behind Viola, his frail wife, and their still young son.
Despite receiving a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy, Viola had to give up those plans. To support her mother, younger brother, and send them allowances, she became a live-in maid at the Woodcliff Earl’s mansion.
Later, Romand and others decided that if the missing Manton family were ever found, they would like to acquire the shop in the market and have been keeping it as a rented store in the meantime.
So, when Julia’s maid, who became friends with Viola, informed them that she was the daughter of that florist about six months ago, they were surprised. They wondered if such twists of fate were genuinely possible.
However, even if they were to receive the shop immediately, it would likely be inconvenient for Viola. Robert decided that it would be better for her to open the shop at the Plant Estate first, and then Viola could help there. Yes, that sounded like a good plan.
While gazing at the depressed master, the jubilant, and the dreamy fiancée, Robert calmly crafted plans for future business and contemplated the future role of the Baron’s family in the carriage.