Chapter 44: One Side Isn’t the Whole Story

Chapter 44:
One Side Isn’t the Whole Story

 

CLAUDIA GLANCED OVER to where Violette was working silently.

Her usually straight back was bent, and she held her hair back in one hand while her eyes scanned the paper in front of her, not straying once. He heard the scrape of her pen a few times, and a small wrinkle had appeared on her brow, making her expression seem almost stern. In the past, he would have assumed this meant she disliked this job and was in a bad mood. He would use that as an excuse to think less of her.

But he realized now that he’d been predisposed to think the worst. Her expression could be mistaken for pouting, but after watching for a little longer, he thought he understood the truth. The wrinkle in her brow lightened every once in a while, and her frown relaxed sometimes. She sullenly puffed out her cheeks, then tilted her head deep in thought, then suddenly burst into motion, scribbling with her pen as she thought of something. Violette was apparently capable of a much wider range of facial expressions than he’d given her credit for. It wasn’t that her normal stoic demeanor was a lie, but this version of her, tension gone and lost in thought, was also real. She tucked the loose lock of hair behind her ear, giving him a clear view of her face.

Claudia had always thought of her eyes as dark, but they were surprisingly vibrant. Her hair was a pale gray, closer to white than black. Her eyelashes were long enough to cast shadows, which made her eyes look even more dramatic. He’d thought the brightness of her lips was intense, but it was only in contrast with her pale skin; up close, they were really more pink than crimson.

He knew that Violette was beautiful. She had always been beautiful. But Claudia hadn’t expected to be charmed by her looks. Only now, with this chance to look closer, did he realize that he’d only skimmed the surface of her beauty.

“Oh…um, about this—”

“Ngh—!!” Claudia exclaimed. As Violette raised her head to ask her question, their eyes locked. Violette’s eyebrows jumped in surprise at the eye contact, but Claudia jerked back dramatically, luckily too surprised to scream out loud. As a prince and a man, he was incredibly relieved that no scream had escaped him, but he couldn’t keep himself from shrinking back.

“Um…?” Violette asked.

“Nngh…oh, is there a problem?” he said, correcting his posture and clearing his throat, sure he wasn’t covering his awkwardness as well as he’d hoped. He racked his brain for a topic change, but before he came up with something, Violette continued.

“About this part here…” said Violette.

“Is something wrong?” said Claudia.

To see where she was pointing, he had to lean closer. Their shadows overlapped over one piece of paper. He read the line traced by Violette’s thin finger, but he just saw unimportant words and numbers. He couldn’t tell what the problem was.

“The salon perishables?” Claudia asked. The student council room was a salon, but there were many others scattered across the academy grounds. The line Violette pointed to didn’t necessarily refer to this one. The other salons on campus were open to all students as places to relax, and it was the student council’s responsibility to furnish and supply them.

“It’s about the tea leaves,” said Violette.

“Yes? This looks the same as usual.” The numbers seemed right, and the brand was the same one they usually bought. He couldn’t understand what Violette was trying to say, and his brow furrowed in confusion. He wasn’t offended, just baffled, but Violette seemed to shrivel next to him. She seemed at a loss for what to say next.

I guess she’s good at reading facial expressions.

That was something else he didn’t know about her.

“Please, continue,” Claudia instructed.

“Ah…yes. Um, about the tea leaves. Do you, I mean, is there any particular, um, reason for the choice of brand?” Violette stammered.

“We’ve been buying this brand for a long time, and no one has complained. Malkuth tea is popular,” he explained. Malkuth was a company that provided first-class quality and taste in a range of products, and aristocrats preferred them at school and at home. Claudia defaulted to their products whenever possible, as did most aristocrats. Violette should have done the same.

“Then…would it, perhaps, be wrong of me…to suggest trying another brand?”

“It’s not wrong, but…” Claudia was confused; he couldn’t understand why they would bother. Their current tea was the best possible, and if there was something better, Claudia would have certainly heard of it.

“It’s from a country called Cardina, but there should be a store in Duralia that deals with them,” Violette went on.

“Cardina…yes, I’ve heard of it,” said Claudia. He knew the geography of the world, of course. But Cardina wasn’t a particularly impressive place. It was an agricultural country without much to attract outsiders. The greenery and landscapes were beautiful, but the majestic mountains and rivers also made it hard to traverse.

As someone who had never been there himself, Claudia only had superficial knowledge about the country, but he’d never heard of them producing anything his fellow students liked. Violette seemed to catch his puzzlement and went on.

“Cardina’s products aren’t well known, and generally their tea doesn’t compare to Malkuth. But…the student council is only responsible for stocking the salons, right?”

“Yes. The cafeteria and the rest are covered by the academy.” A school for aristocrats valued independence among its students, so the student council was given the salons to manage. The cafeteria and other stores ordered at a much larger scale, however, and had to be left to the adults. But how did that relate to Violette’s questions?

“This is right around the time when Cardina harvests their tea leaves. Cardina’s tea is usually harvested and sold within a year, but the process used to preserve it reduces the flavor drastically.” That was unsurprising; preservation kept foods safe to eat longer, but it couldn’t maintain food at its freshest state. Adding preservatives meant sacrificing taste to extend its shelf life.

That might be good enough for commoners, but academy students were particular about their food and drink. Taste could be subjective, of course, but their classmates would expect a certain level of quality.

“Then, why are you suggesting Cardina’s products?” Claudia asked. If Cardina couldn’t match their current tea brand, there was no reason to change it.

“Right now, since it’s the harvest season, it’s possible to order tea that hasn’t been processed. Naturally, the sale period is short.”

“Have you ever tried it?” Claudia asked.

“Many times… Personally speaking, I much prefer it to Malkuth’s.”

“I see…”

Aristocrats were responsible for judging the quality of all sorts of items. That meant inspecting them carefully and doing research into markets to compare different brands on all kinds of factors. And to do that, they needed to try new things with an open mind.

Whatever Violette’s personal likes and dislikes were, she’d just demonstrated knowledge that even Claudia didn’t have.

I guess we could just try it once…

As Claudia pondered in silence, Violette’s anxiety seemed to increase every moment.

“U-um… No, let’s leave it as is,” she backtracked suddenly. “With its limited availability, I’m sure it’ll be too much trouble. I’m sorry, please forget it.” She reached out to take back the paper they were both looking at, cringing away from him.

But before Violette’s fingers could touch it, the sheet was already in Claudia’s hands.

“I appreciate your valuable insight,” he said.

“Huh? But—” Violette protested.

“I’ll have to handle the adjustment myself, of course,” he continued and went right to work noting down the change. As an outsider, anything beyond checking for errors was outside her job description.

The whole awkward exchange over, Claudia looked away. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do about Violette. Although their relationship had greatly improved, there was too much between them for him to forgive her this easily. But every time he stole a glance at her, his heart thumped loudly, and he didn’t fully understand why.

“Um…thank you very much,” Violette said.

“I should be the one saying thanks,” Claudia replied.

“I guess we can call it even, then.”

Was it his imagination, or did she finally relax? From the corner of his eye, he saw a hand over her mouth, like she was laughing. Or was that just wishful thinking?

“Uh, Viol—” he began.

“Huh, you’re working in here?” another voice cut in as the salon door swung open.

“Argh—!!” Claudia grunted in surprise as Milania entered the room.

“A-are you all right…?!” Violette asked.

“Oh, Mademoiselle Violette? What are you doing here?”

Claudia tried to stand up, but banged his knee against the table. He swallowed down the pain—high-quality, durable furniture was also extremely sturdy and hard. Instead of crying out, he aimed all his annoyance at his friend.

“Mila…didn’t I tell you to knock first?” he snapped.