(Headnote: Greetings folks, I"m here to announce that we have a new editor, his name is Okaz, please welcome him kindly. But he starts editing from Ch.115, so new chapters will be released just like usual, unedited, for the meantime. Please check his work in Ch.115. Also, to differentiate between edited and unedited chapters, I will just give the t.i.tle some kind of color code. If it"s yellow then it"s unedited, and if it"s white like normal then it"s edited. Well, that"s all from me, greeting from okaz should be present in Ch.115. end of note)
136. Information gathering 1
"Excuse me, good evening everyone!" (Mitsuha)
"Really, you should excuse yourself…" (Mitchan)
Just as I arrived in the dining room, Mitchan already complaining from the beginning!
Well, I rushed to the house of Marquis Mitchel without an appointment for the night. It can"t be helped if they feel mad.
"But I don"t have intermediary, so I don"t know how to make appointment! So, I came to make an appointment myself but then I thought if I already came here anyway, why not just meet right now…" (Mitsuha)
"Are there any n.o.ble who will go make an appointment by themselves?" (Mitchan)
She is still mad at me…
When I was getting disheartened, Marquis-sama sent me a lifeboat.
"Well, Micheline, don"t treat Viscount Yamano too harshly. She is now far away from her parents, perhaps she can"t get used to the unfamiliar foreign land yet…" (Marquis-sama)
With Marquis-sama"s lifeboat, I managed to avoid Mitchan"s scolding.
No, of course, I also thought that I have to send notice first, at least once. But even if I try to write a letter, I don"t know Mitchan"s address, and I don"t know where to buy stamps, and there"s no postbox or post office whatsoever…
Moreover, there are no public telephone, and I don"t have their number… tte, I guess there"s no way such thing exists in this world.
The advance notice is usually sent by a servant and they wait for the reply. That is the common sense here. That is, so as to not disturb their pleated skirts, or make their white sailor collars flutter.
(Note: I think there is no correlation between the common sense and that line, but that line is reference from mariga miteru, so I just left it as it is.)
"Oh right, these are souvenir!" (Mitsuha)
The contents were taken out from the bag hung on my left shoulder and the bag I held in my right hand, then I arranged them on the table.
For the marquis, the same 4000-yen brandy that gave to the guards. j.a.panese sweets for Mitchan, Châteraisé Shortcake - Mitsuha Edition, 15 pieces of careful selections.
(Note: Châteraisé is Big j.a.panese cake store/company)
"This is…" (Marquis-sama)
"Yes, it"s liquor from our country. It"s usually for casual drinks, but I"d like to hear what you think… For Mitchan, it"s our country sweets that I made. Of course, I"d like to hear your opinions on whether it will sell in this country or not… " (Mitsuha)
No, as expected I can"t say [I brought the cake from our country], so I have to say that. Moreover, I can"t explain how the cake can be brought here in this fresh state. If it"s cookies that can be kept for a long time, the impact would be small, she wouldn"t be very pleased because it"s not unusual. That"s why, it can"t be helped!
Ah, if she ate all these cakes in one day, Mitchan would get fat… No, on the contrary, eating all of these cakes would upset her stomach, so maybe she"ll lose weight?
" " " " " "……" " " " " " (Mitchel Family)
Ah, the madam instructed the maid to prepare the tableware.
I heard from the gatekeeper-san that the meal was just over, do you want to eat it now? Oh, deserts goes to another stomach? Is that so.
Marquis-sama will also eat the cake? Brandy with shortcake is a bit…
Oh, no, I"ve heard that brandy has a slightly sweet taste, so some people prefer to eat chocolate cakes along with it. I"ve read articles about enjoying Valentine"s chocolate cake with brandy.
Apparently, the shortcake seems to have been recognized as a prey not only by Mitchan, but also by the whole family. Staring with Mitchan and madam, everyone glaring at the cake…
Well, it"s looks like, it can"t be helped. There is no one who doesn"t want to eat this just by looking at this.
Châteraisé, what a frightening child!!
And Mitchan looks a bit sad realizing that it is impossible to monopolize everything.
No, as expected, it would be impossible to eat the whole 15 pieces…
And as a result of Mitchel Family meeting, Mitchan will have 4 pieces, Madam will have 3 pieces, and Marquis-sama and the three sons will have 2-pieces each.
They were disputing it up until that point, but they started to dispute it further.
The female team (Mitchan and Madam) strongly a.s.serts against the male team who insisted to [choose the ones you like one by one in turns] by saying [Mitchan and Madam will first choose everything they want, then the men can divide the rest as they like].
Well, if they do as the male team says, Madam and Mitchan would have to pick the last three that didn"t get chosen by everyone, and that would be unpleasant.
"Why should I get the leftovers! In the first place, this is a souvenir that is intended for me, please be grateful that I was generous enough to share with you! Look at father, he isn"t even trying to share what he has received!" (Mitchan)
Ah, Mitchan, I thought she was more cool-headed…
No, is the appeal of shortcake that much too great?
Hmm, it has excessive war potential huh…
"N-No, Strong liquor like this is still too early for you…" (Marquis-sama)
In front of the Marquis, who is making excuses, his wife puts a gla.s.s.
Well, of course it would be like that…
And there is nothing for me.
No, those are souvenir I brought, so it"s okay for the whole family to share them. But there"s nothing on the table in front of me, it"s kinda lonely…
When I thought so, the maid put a plate with something like scones and tea.
Umu, as expected, capable maid is different!
"…so, I would like to learn which parties that I should attend, and which are better to ignore. And also, the rules that I have to follow in this country…" (Mitsuha)
When the male team had finished eating the shortcake, I asked the Marquis the questions that was the purpose of today"s visit.
Marquis-sama who is enjoying the scent of the brandy by focusing his whole nerves while moving the gla.s.s filled with it in a circle in front of his nose answered without looking at me.
"Well then, first of all, sudden night visits with no appointment should be stopped" (Marquis-sama)
…so fussy!
"However…" (Marquis-sama)
"However?" (Mitsuha)
"If you bring something like this liquor and cake, then it is different" (Marquis-sama)
Right right.
I guess that this rudeness this time will be ignored. Or do you mean that I should bring liquor and cake again next time?
Ah, both? Is that so…
But this brandy and shortcake proves their effectiveness…
Then what kind of reaction do the guards will have if they hear that even the senior n.o.ble, a Marquis, also drink the same thing…
I"m scared of the repercussion when I meet them next time!
Unlike the men who have already finished eating, Mitchan and madam who are eating a lot still enjoying the taste slowly. Their faces were loosely become softer.
Her dere side? Is mitchan"s dere side coming?
"…then, viscount Yamano. The question you just mentioned… should I start explaining that?" (Marquis-sama)
The Marquis said that, tightening the loose face and staring at me with a sharp gaze.
Yeah, that"s the most important thing.
Of course, I should consult with the Marquis, who may belong to a large faction, or perhaps lead the faction, to determine my friendship range. There is no aristocrat who doesn"t understand the meaning of that. Well, apart from idiots that tried to get their minions sneak into my store.
"…yes" (Mitsuha)
I nodded to the question of the Marquis.
"…Mitsuha. The talk that you came to play with me, was that just an excuse?! Your actual intention is that you just wanted to talk with Father about evil tricks, right?!" (Mitchan)
Mitchan, who stopped eating the shortcake, stared at me suspiciously.
…I love a child with good intuition like you!