Wreath of Lilies, Cauldron of Poison

Chapter 203

A Day of Rest

After breakfast, Connie sat on a sofa with a cup of tea beside her. Her mind was not on the tea, as she was thinking about the samples waiting in her temporary Alchemy room.

Her thoughts were cut off when she heard Illumca calling for her.

When she turned her head, the blonde girl was lost for words.

The Dark Elf wore a light blue dress that fluttered as she moved. It was a very different experience as Connie often saw her in black. The contrast between the light colors and her dark skin made Connie unconsciously smile.

Connie flinched, suddenly remembering that she was holding a cup and only barely kept it from spilling.

“Whoa,” Akula said with a stunned look. “That dress looks good on you.”

“Thank you,” Illumca replied with a smile. “Madame Sui helped me with this one.”

“It is this one’s pleasure,” Lihua said with a smile.

“Thanks, Akula,” Illumca said as she turned to Connie. “S-so, what do you think?”

“You look beautiful…”

The two looked at each other silently until Lihua cut in.

“Alright, alright,” the raven-haired woman spoke with an impatient tone. “The day’s wasting. You two should get going now.”

The two was almost pushed out of the door. When they were outside, they saw that the carriage was already waiting for them. Two of the men they brought from Greyvault saluted.

“Madame Sui had told us to bring you to the Market. They have seasonal market to celebrate Spring.”

They looked back and saw Lihua, Akula and Martell at the door. Lihua gave them a small nod as she led the others back in.

“Lihua, that busybody,” Connie sighed, shaking her head tiredly. “Since she had put in so much work, let’s just enjoy the rest of the day.”

The carriage arrived at the market not long after, the clatter of the wooden wheels against the cobblestones finally stopped.

“I didn’t notice how colorful the market is in Spring,” Connie said. And indeed, all of them were so busy with their own business that they did not have a chance to look at what was happening in the city. “Well, no time like the present. Shall we?”

Hand in hand, Connie and Illumca spent the day exploring the market, looking at craft-works and trinkets. They ate skewers of meat slathered with sweet and sour sauce - which was invented and popularized by Akira - and drank sweet honey mead as they walked.

Illumca did not use her usual Skills, therefore her beauty drew many looks from the people. However, she was too happy to notice them.

When they were tired of walking, they decided to take their lunch in a fancy restaurant, one where the chairs and the tables were pristine white.

The both of them had delightful early spring vegetable soups, two well-seasoned fish dishes, and a cloyingly sweet walnut pie with dollops of fresh cream, drizzled with sweet strawberry jam. And despite her taste bud’s growing preference for sweet things, the pie was so sweet that Connie could feel her teeth protesting.

Seeing Connie’s hesitation at eating the cake, Illumca cut a small piece of the pie with her fork and offered the piece to her. The blonde moved to take the fork away, but the Dark Elf refused to budge. She saw the stubborn smile on her and flicked her gaze between Illumca and the fork. The silent question was answered with the fork being pushed towards her lips.

Reluctantly, Connie accepted Illumca’s intimate gesture and ate the pie, suffering silently against the all-to-sweet assault to her senses.

As she did, she spoke in quiet protest, feeling a blush coming up her cheeks after the deed was done. “You know I can eat it by myself, right?”

Illumca cut the cake and ate it with the same fork that just came out of Connie’s mouth, licking the cream sticking on the side of her lips with her tongue.

Instead of answering her, Illumca said. “Do you know? I’ve been dreaming of doing this, ever since I saw my mother did it for my father,” she chuckled sweetly. “He also had the same reaction as you. He was a very stern person, but weak towards his family.”

Illumca propped her cheek on her hand, a melancholic smile upon her lips. “Sitting outside with someone I love, enjoying lunch and just…talking. Mere months ago, it was something I wouldn’t dare dream of.”

“Illumca…”

Seeing the sad expression on her face, Connie gently placed her hand on top of hers, rubbing the back of her palm with a thumb.

“But I know that we aren’t going to have a lot of this kind of days going forward. You with your goals, and I with mine.”

“…Yes,” Connie nodded. That was one of the things she like about Illumca, she was not a puppet that blindly follows her decision, especially after taking her revenge against her nemesis. “It is unavoidable.”

“So, for both our sake, I’m going to make sure that nothing gets in your way – our way. Rising in Ranks in the Guild will keep annoyance from our backs and gets me stronger.”

“…blood and vengeance,” Connie spoke as she took her hand that was in her and kissed it, then held it against her cheek. “How can you be even more enchanting than before?”

When Evening came, Connie and Illumca returned to the mansion where they were staying and saw Lihua waiting for them with a letter. From the stamp, Connie could see that it was from the Palace.

“What is it?”

“An invitation for a tea party hosted by the Queen next week,” Lihua said. “It was sent here straight from the Palace. The messenger was most unpleasant.”

“We don’t have to come, right?” Akula said when she heard the word ‘tea party’. She could never imagine being in a place where countless very breakable tableware and extremely breakable ladies were in one place. And in very close proximity. A nightmare in its own right.

“No, this invitation is only for me.” Connie said, reading the letter with a raised eyebrow.

“So, will you be attending?”

“I suppose it won’t hurt. It will be a good practice before the Spring Ball. And as you said, I should start keeping tabs on possible enemies. I’ll go alone for this one. But you all should prepare for the Spring Ball. I don’t think we have proper clothes for the occasion, do we?”

“We have the one that we wore last time.”

“Wearing the same garments to two parties back-to-back? Heavens forbid. You will be a laughingstock!” Lihua said. “This one will have the tailor make new ones.”

“But isn’t it too late? I’m sure that all the tailors are swamped with orders these few weeks.”

“That is correct. But this one employed the help of one’s admirer, the kind Mr. Bazit. He was quite happy to be of help.”

“Ah, another notch to your belt, is it? I’ll entrust it to you, then,” Connie said. “Illumca, are you good on time?”

“I’ll be going after I change,” she said before parting with a kiss on Connie’s cheek. “Thanks for today, Connie.”

They watched as the Dark Elf disappeared into her room. Connie then turned to the others and spoke. “I will be busy for the rest of the Evening, so don’t disturb me. I’ll see you tomorrow everyone.”

While everyone else were doing their own things, Akula came over to Lihua and whispered.

“Do I have to go to the Spring Ball?”

“Of course! You are one of the Mistress’s companions!”

“It’s just, last time I went to a Ball here, I…” Akula shivered at the thought of the vile Yuuji’s eyes. Sometimes at night she still remembered that moment when she was under his thrall and woke up in cold sweats.

“This one have heard the stories. But he’s dead now. And tomorrow, you must come with this one to the tailor so we can measure you properly for a custom dress.”

“A…dress? For me?” the Centaur was flabbergasted.

“Yes! I have the measurements of Illumca and the Mistress. They are simple enough. But yours should be a custom job.”

“C-can’t I just wear this one?” Akula gestured at the clothes that she was wearing. It was a unique clothing of her people, but it had seen better days.

“…darling,” the mature woman tilted her head with one finger on her cheek. “Do you not want to see the Mistress’s eyes look at you the same way she looked at Illumca in that simple dress this morning?”

For a brief moment, the Centaur thought of this, but shook her head forcefully. “I - I won’t look good in such a dainty little dress.”

“Aishh. This one will tell you this from experience. Being rough and tough is fine. It has its charms, but if that’s all you have, it will just make the Mistress treat you as a close friend, not a potential mate.”

“I – I. I have no intention to - !”

“Hush, darling. This one had decided to stay hands off for a while now, but seeing your eyes gaze longingly at the Mistress while not knowing how to act on it is simply unbearable,” she said with a sigh. “This one’s eyes are only partially impaired, not blind.”

Seeing the Centaur being so dishonest of her own feelings made her feel angry. “How about this then? This one will count to three. Say that you have no intention at all towards the Mistress and this one will stay her hands, otherwise, if you stay silent, then this one will count it as acknowledgment.”

“One!”

“W-wait!” Akula was confused, she wanted to deny it, but the words did not come out of her mouth. When the last number was counted, she was blushing red and futilely trying to cover her face with her hands.

“There you go. Doesn’t it feel good to admit it?”

“You...are a very mean person, Madame Sui.”

“That this one is, indeed. Now, come along. We have much to plan if you want to turn heads.”