9. Finally Made It

Once we were done with lunch, we set out into the pouring rain once more. With how far behind schedule we were—the original plan was to be there for lunch—it wasn’t even clear whether we were going to make it in time for afternoon tea.

“We did tell them we were going to be late. There’s no need to rush,” asserted Mr. Fisalis, the very picture of composure. All the same, I couldn’t help feeling a little bad about it. No doubt they’d had lunch prepared for us just in case. Just thinking about all the food we’d wasted was a real blow to my “waste not, want not” sensibilities.

In spite of all the setbacks, we eventually made it to Duke Argenteia’s brand new villa.

One would think a sophisticated-looking estate built on the bank of the swift-flowing Wahl River couldn’t be all that lavish, but between the white walls, ultramarine roof, and the detailed craftsmanship of the spire, it looked like it must have taken a boatload of manpower and money to put together. What a shame it was that the pouring rain and streams of mud had cut its architectural beauty in half! Or maybe more than that—it was hard to make anything out through the haze of the storm.

As we passed through the gate and pulled up to the carriage porch, we could see tons of people bustling about. There was a back-up of carriages too.

“Who would have guessed there would be a traffic jam at the front door?” I marveled.

“Good lord... From the looks of it, we all must have arrived around the same time.”

“Huh. Looks like we’re stuck waiting, then.”

I looked out the window to get a sense of what was going on. Thanks to the family crest emblazoned on our carriage, it probably wouldn’t take them long to figure out that we were here, but there was nothing for us to do but wait for them to come to us. Given how busy things looked, I was in no mood to rush them along.

“How long do you think it’ll be?”

“Hmm... At a glance, there seem to be about five groups ahead of us...”

Just as I had started making small talk to kill the time, our carriage lurched into motion.

“What? We’re moving up already?”

“I assume they’re putting the luggage aside for later in order to admit the guests more quickly.”

“Oh, I see!”

The massive carriage porch had a roof that served as a shield from the rain. That was definitely a nice feature to have on a day like this.

After my husband helped me down from the carriage, we were greeted by Duke and Duchess Argenteia, Celosia, and Miss Verbena.

“We appreciate you coming all this way despite the weather, Cercis,” said Duke Argenteia, giving Mr. Fisalis a firm handshake.

“Of course. We appreciate the invitation!”

“It’s not much compared to your family’s villa, but we hope you’ll make yourself at home here.”

“Thank you.”

“Celosia and Verbena will show you around the place. I’ll leave it to you, kids.”

“Yes, Father!” the two siblings replied.

Once we were done saying our hellos, the duke and duchess excused themselves to greet the rest of the arrivals. It couldn’t have been easy to deal with such a huge influx of guests!

Judging from a quick glance around, there were indeed around five other groups besides us. Every one of their carriages—which were likewise adorned with their respective family crests—was stuck at a standstill. The cars with their attendants and luggage hadn’t even made it to the carriage porch yet.

“The weather threw off everyone’s schedules, so too many people ended up arriving at the same time.”

“We’re sorry this is such a mess.”

Perhaps because they’d noticed me looking around, Celosia and Verbena made a point of apologizing.

“No need to apologize,” Mr. Fisalis responded. “Given the weather, it was bound to happen.”

“We’ll bring your things inside once we’ve let all the guests in.”

“Got it.”

If they’d attempted to carry the luggage in along with its owners, it would’ve made things even more chaotic. Waiting for the commotion to die down before bringing everything inside was bound to prevent mix-ups too.

“Really, I simply can’t believe how terrible the weather turned out to be! It’s supposed to clear up tomorrow, if nothing else. Nevertheless, I’m glad you managed to make it, Miss Viola.”

“Of course! Thanks for inviting me.”

“Rest assured—if only the sun were out, the view here would be gorgeous.”

“I don’t doubt it. This is a lovely villa, and I’m sure the scenery is just as beautiful.”

“I’ll show you around as soon as the rain finally stops.”

“Wow, thank you!”

“Well then, that’s quite enough stuffy formalities! Allow me to show you to your room!” said Miss Verbena as she pulled me along by the hand, determined to personally escort me to my quarters.

* * *

Upon stepping into the entryway, I saw a large door toward the front of the hall that had been left wide open for the day.

“This is the banquet hall,” Miss Verbena noted. “It’s where we’ll be holding tomorrow’s party.”

The walls overlooking the river and garden were all made of glass, affording an absolutely gorgeous view. If the sun were out, I could only imagine how bright the room would be.

After one brief glance inside the banquet hall, we took the stairs off to the side of the foyer. All of the guest rooms were up on the second floor.

The corridor was all decked out in a snazzy white and ultramarine checker pattern.

“We prepared a corner suite for the two of you—the biggest and most scenic room in the house,” said Celosia. “Enjoy the garden view from your window for all its worth; once the sun comes out, the sight of the Wahl River just past the grounds will be simply breathtaking.”

“Oh?” replied Mr. Fisalis. “I’ll look forward to seeing that.”

According to Celosia, every single one of the rooms—for guest use and otherwise—had a garden view. The corridor, meanwhile, looked out over the gate and entryway. As there was a small fountain and well-manicured shrubs adorning the front entrance, it ended up looking like a second, miniature garden rather than a bleak wasteland.

We continued to trail along after Celosia and Miss Verbena. Thanks to the gigantic skylights placed at even intervals along the hall, it was very well-lit for a corridor. Though to account for today’s especially gloomy weather, a few lamps had been lit here and there as well.

A flower in a glass vase sat on each and every windowsill. This fuzzy breed of flora was a bit reminiscent of a candle’s flame and was—unusually enough—blue in color.

Wow, it’s my first time ever seeing a blue flower.

When she caught me marveling at the rare specimen, Miss Verbena explained, “We had to go out of our way to breed this flower. But don’t you just adore the sight of a blue blossom?”

Oh, that explains it! No wonder I’d never seen anything like it before.

“Yeah. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen.”

As much as I wanted to get a closer look at it, the vase it was growing in looked scary expensive, so I forced myself to give it a wide berth. Breaking that would have spelled disaster for me. Why, yes, I was feeling extra nervous because I already had a black mark on my record—problem?

While the Argenteia siblings were guiding us to our room, more and more visitors kept trickling in. The atmosphere was pretty hectic, what with the visitors making their way into the corridor and guest rooms and having their luggage carried in. There was no end to the servants scurrying about with suitcases in hand.

The attendants from the invited houses had mixed with the servants who worked for the Argenteia family, but every single one of them was a pro. Everyone went about their work efficiently, no fuss or muss.

As I idly watched the people come and go, we continued along toward our own chambers.

“Are my parents here yet?”

“The weather has them running late. A shame, since according to their message it was nice and sunny over in Le Pied.”

“I see.”

“They said they ought to be here by dinnertime. We assigned them the room next to yours, by the way.”

Going by Mr. Fisalis and Celosia’s conversation, my parents-in-law were likewise running behind schedule. No surprise, considering the weather.

“Why, this dreadful storm has thrown off all our plans! And here I’d been looking forward to my lunch and teatime with Miss Viola.”

When I saw Miss Verbena was sighing and staring balefully up at the sky, I found myself apologizing reflexively. “I’m sorry we were so late!”

“Oh, it’s no fault of yours! Don’t you worry your pretty little head over it.”

“Uh, right.”

“We can still get our afternoon tea in...or so I’d hoped, but if we have it too late in the day, we won’t have room for dinner. I suppose we’ve no choice but to write today off. We still have tomorrow, at least.”

“We sure do...”

I mean, this was a socializing marathon and all. No need to hit the ground running on the first day!

After passing by an endless number of guest rooms, we finally arrived at our own. Just as Celosia had said, it was a lovely and spacious accommodation. It had one large, comfortable bed along with a finely crafted sofa and table. There was a writing desk and wardrobe of the same design too. Everything sure looked like it must have cost a fortune... No less than what I’d expect from the Argenteia family.

Best of all, though, were the huge, sprawling windows! We had a clear view of the garden, despite all the rain beating down upon it.

“We’ll ask the servants to bring you your tea, but please make yourselves at home in the meantime. Then if you’ll excuse us, Your Grace.”

“Of course.”

With one last, grandiose farewell, Celosia took his leave alongside Miss Verbena.

Once we’d made sure they had closed the door behind them, we settled down on the sofa.

“Whew... I’m bushed. I could swear the world is still spinning around me.”

All I’d actually done was sit on my butt all day, but hey.

“Well, you did spend quite a long time getting jostled about in that carriage. You may as well take a nap until our tea arrives.”

“Maybe I will. But first, I’d better change—oh wait, we don’t have our luggage.”

My eyes darted around the room. Forget our things—not even our maids had arrived here yet.

“Good observation. I wonder why? I wouldn’t expect it to take them this long.”

If our suitcases weren’t here, that meant I couldn’t change out of my outfit. What was keeping Stellaria and the girls? Were they still caught in the traffic jam at the entrance?

“Oh well. I wouldn’t mind sleeping like this,” I said, followed by a huge yawn.

“Already that tired?”

“This sofa is so soft and cozy that I don’t even want to get up...”

“I can see that!”

The couch was no less comfortable than the one we had back in our Rohze manor. Just as I was snuggling down, ready to fall asleep then and there...

“I’m sorry we’re late.”

...there came a knock on the door, and at long last, Stellaria, her fellow maids, and the servants of the Argenteia family arrived with our luggage in hand.

Our manor maids were one thing, but I couldn’t let someone else’s servants see me acting so slovenly. I sat back up in a hurry and switched into Lady Mode.

Incidentally, our tea was ready too.

“You guys were gone for a while! Was it that crowded?” I asked Stellaria, who had begun expeditiously unpacking our belongings into the wardrobe and dresser drawers.

“It was. To begin with, we weren’t exactly the only guests there, and even more visitors arrived not long after you left. Everyone was in a mild state of panic.”

“I’m sure it didn’t help that everyone had so much baggage.”

“Indeed. The ground was slippery from all the rain, so one person even tripped and fell.”

“Oh no, that’s awful!”

“And she brought the rest of us down with her too.”

“Huh?! How?!”

“The girl who tripped knocked over someone else, and before we knew it, there was luggage flying everywhere. My apologies—I’m afraid your belongings were caught up in all the chaos, Madam.” Stellaria hung her head apologetically.

From the sound of it, one servant had lost her footing and fell, and when she reflexively grabbed hold of someone nearby, she took that person down with her. The second victim stumbled into a third person, who grabbed hold of someone else—and well, you get the picture. It was an unfortunate chain reaction. Some of the luggage got mixed up amid the mayhem, and it took a while to sort everything out and wipe down whatever got dirty.

“Forget the luggage—are you okay? Did anyone get hurt?”

“I’m afraid Drosera did, but it was only a couple bruises. Fortunately, no one suffered anything worse than a scratch.”

“Whew, that’s a relief. You sure you’re okay, Drosera?” I asked the girl in question, who was busy putting away my dresses. She’d earned the right to come along as Mr. Fisalis’s personal maid in the traditional pre-excursion “Who-Gets-to-Go-on-the-Trip Tournament;” considering she’d fought her way through rock-paper-scissors matches just to be here, I was sorry to hear she’d gotten caught up in such a mess.

“I’m fine! I’m quite sturdy, I’ll have you know!” she replied, giving a pump of her slightly red and swollen arm. Oh, so she hit her arm. I’ll have to get her some ice later.

There may have been a bit of an incident along the way, but we’d still managed to make it to the villa safely and settle down in our room.

All right, bring on the socializing marathon!