After Meifei left the venue, Flora, who had successfully displayed both her status and abilities, became the darling of the evening party.
She was now the center of attention among the nobles eager to curry favor with Moria, as well as the merchant guilds hoping to further their dealings with the Jade Heart Adventurers.
Flora had introduced herself as a mentor in the medical profession, convincing most attendees that Moria had gone to great lengths to host this banquet precisely to encourage nobles concerned about their future health to forge close ties with her and thus expand her influence.
Guests who had initially been cautious now let their guards down completely.
“Please remain calm. This is an investiture banquet, not a medical consultation session. All business matters will be handled by Miss Tatasimi. The young lady does not want this banquet to turn into a chaotic mess.”
Linko’s stern voice cut through the room, immediately restoring order.
The authority of the Duchess’s head maid was on full display.
Most attendees were young, many of whom had been trained by Linko herself in etiquette.
Seeing her tone, they all shrank back, no longer crowding around Flora.
“Thanks to you,” Flora breathed out in relief, leaning wearily against her chair.
Dealing with sudden situations through lies and acting was truly exhausting.
She never imagined that the banquet Linko had earlier described as fraught with danger would end up like this.
No one was giving her a hard time; instead, one group after another flocked to her, eager to ingratiate themselves.
After one round, only Emia remained somewhat difficult.
Yet Linko paid her no mind, while the troublesome Second Miss of the Duke’s household opened her usual sharp mouth.
“I thought you handled things easily, but it was all acting, huh? Not bad though. Linko told me you only had a week of special training and now you’re a proper noble. Impressive.”
She clapped eagerly, eyes full of admiration.
“You’re practically a natural-born noble.”
If Emia hadn’t been watching her like a shadowy serpent, Flora might have believed that nonsense.
“I don’t think you’re complimenting me,” Flora retorted sourly, turning her head aside.
But she immediately met Linko’s expressionless gaze, tensing up instinctively.
What was wrong with Linko?
Her eyes were fixed on Flora, filled with anger and frustration that Flora couldn’t decipher.
Flora was at a loss.
Had she done something inappropriate?
Was Linko upset about how Flora handled those nobles earlier, or what?
“Linko, is the next step to wait for the bishop’s appearance for the investiture?”
She asked cautiously.
“Yes. There may be some minor trouble at most, but nothing that will affect you.”
“Then why the unhappy face? I thought I messed something up.”
Flora forced a smile.
Having completed her main goal at the banquet, all that remained was to wait for the investiture to conclude.
It was hard not to feel relaxed, and her tone was looser than before.
Yet Linko’s face held only confusion.
“Your performance met my expectations. Is that something that should excite me? I have confidence in my abilities.”
Flora’s smile faltered.
The maid was definitely angry—she wouldn’t talk like this otherwise.
Her tone was filled with blame and dissatisfaction.
But why?
Wasn’t the performance tonight a success?
Hadn’t she already overcome the hurdle and met Meifei safely?
As expected, she was still not good at dealing with women.
Even now, as a girl herself, she couldn’t fathom the thoughts of these young ladies.
Seeing Flora’s stiff expression, Emia propped her chin on her hands with an indifferent tone.
“No need to be so harsh. At least compared to me, she’s a lot more obedient, isn’t she? When you trained me before, I was such a handful, tsk tsk…”
“Second Miss…”
Linko’s anger didn’t spare even her.
Knowing how terrible her etiquette training had been, Emia said no more and simply smiled and shut up.
Linko continued to watch Flora silently.
More than anger, it was a mixture of sympathy for the girl Flora had just portrayed and frustration over her misplaced feelings.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t voice any of it.
The three sat silently for a while.
Growing bored, Emia pushed back her chair.
“I’m going to see if I can find any acquaintances. See you later~”.
Her vacated seat was immediately taken by someone else after she disappeared.
Just as Flora was about to relax again, she helplessly looked up.
A hand reached up naturally to tilt her chin, and she didn’t resist, simply gazing back at the person.
“Dressed so beautifully. Such a pity I wasn’t the first to see you.”
Elka, arriving fashionably late, spoke with adoration in her eyes.
Her entrance was dramatic—leaping down from the second floor, then using a slow descent spell to land beside Flora.
Perhaps this was the romance of elves, though Flora couldn’t understand it.
She acted compliant mostly out of concern for Elka’s mental state.
She certainly didn’t want to be held and nibbled on at the banquet by this woman.
“I’m also sorry I didn’t see you first upon entering the hall.”
Dealing with others was somewhat troublesome for her.
But she had plenty of experience handling Elka.
Whatever the elf had done to her before, she just mirrored it back.
“Eh…”
Elka, who had just released Flora’s chin and was about to replenish her energy with some pastries from the table, froze at Flora’s words.
She had a half-bitten cookie in her mouth, staring at Flora in disbelief as if she couldn’t believe what she had just heard.
“What’s wrong? Did my makeup smudge? Linko, could you check for me?”
Flora smirked inwardly, feeling a bit cruel for such a thought and planning to let the maid save her from the awkwardness.
But Linko remained expressionless.
Still angry, she was.
Oh well, Flora would just deal with things at her own pace.
“Why were you late? Did Moria assign you some special task? Do you know how hard it was to shift everyone’s attention away from me? Now that you’ve come, everyone’s looking at me again. It’s stressful.”
Flora found her own words disgusting.
She wondered if Elka had thought the same way when she had said similar things in the past.
But her plan to gross out Elka failed.
The elf didn’t catch the slight sting in Flora’s words.
Instead, the corners of her mouth curled into a beautiful smile.
She shoved the cookie into her mouth and gave Flora an eager hug.
“Why would you feel stressed? Being pretty means everyone should see you. Isn’t it nice to be praised? Besides, we’re good partners, we…”
But she stopped herself, her mood shifting suddenly.
She remembered the thing she feared.
Flora probably knew that she had been acting all along, and that her breakdown and loss of composure might be seen as just another act.
Elka instinctively looked at the girl in her arms, trying to read Flora’s expression.
A smile.
The familiar smile she saw in her nightmares.
A chill ran down Elka’s spine, and she quickly let go, ending the topic.
“Well… earlier I went after the villain controlling the coachman. Although I didn’t catch him… I did get some clues. Anyway, from now on, I’ll stay with you to protect you.”
“So it wasn’t a deliberately staged accident?”
Flora smiled softly.
Elka’s expression instantly fell.
Grabbing Flora’s hand, she complained unhappily, “Even if we sometimes act a bit harshly, we would never do anything to hurt you. Where did this misunderstanding come from? It’s not fun at all.”
“That’s true. You’ve been the best to me.”
Flora’s deliberately coquettish tone worked well on Elka.
She hugged her again, like holding a doll, completely ignoring the stares of those around them.
Unmoved by Elka’s soft, jade-like warmth, Flora’s gaze remained icy from start to finish.
She was increasingly clear that Elka’s attitude toward her was based on a flawed sense of right and wrong.
Fun?
That explained Elka’s sudden change in demeanor.
Now that Flora was interesting to the elf, Elka became this affectionate.
So whenever Flora coldly ignored her, Elka would act like a spoiled child denied a toy by her parents, throwing fits and making a scene.
Whether one called her naive or malicious, it was all accurate.
Elka’s principle-less innocence was far scarier than the malice of a villain.
Flora shook off her hand.
“I’ve had too much tea. I’m going to step out for a bit.”
The more she thought about Elka, the more disgusted she felt, only wanting to get away quickly.
“Wait…”
Elka called after her, but Flora ignored her.
She turned and took a few steps—only to collide squarely with someone.
The clattering sound of glass and a cool sensation spread over her abdomen and legs.
Supported firmly by Linko, Flora saw a purple-haired maid sitting sprawled on the floor, her face filled with nervousness as she looked at her.