The Flower Dances and the Wind Sings

8.

“Do you have time today?”

“I have a class.”

It’s already the third time. His mother smiles despite his brutal refusal. Others would be fascinated by her beauty but Vicente couldn’t-care-less.

“How about after class?”

“I’m going to practice swordsmanship.”

By now, she knew that he would blatantly refuse her, but Ercella didn’t realize that her smile would disappear. She snapped out of it, smiled more brightly and addressed him again.

“You already did enough training before class, but now you’re going to train again after class? Come on, why don’t you take a break today?”

“How can I take a break?”

“You must know the importance of resting. Of course, I’m not trying to stop you from becoming a knight. I’m just saying we should go downtown and refresh ourselves today.”

“Why to the city all of a sudden..?”

“Why not? It will be nice to go out shopping together and see the scenery outside after a long time. If we have time left, we can even have dinner together.”

Vicente’s indifferent eyes hardened strangely. He was staring at Ercella as if witnessing a rare sight.

Yeah, let’s cheer up. Cheer up!

Ercella encouraged herself to smile often and talk in a sweet tone. It was awkward trying to do something she wasn’t used to. She pretended to touch her chin and consciously pulled the corners of her mouth from twitching.

“It’s burdensome.”

Vicente gave up saying anymore.

What is?

She looked at him, but her aloof son seemed to have no intention of opening his mouth anymore. Ercella decided not to mind and shook Vicente’s arm naturally.

“What are you-”

“It’s been a while since we’ve been on a date. Hmm? Let’s go, let’s go.”

“…….”

The servants looked shocked by their lovey-dovey appearance because it looked as if a lover was sweet-talking and pulling the other’s arm.

It looked like a normal mother-son relationship but Ercella and Vicente are not like normal mother and son. It wasn’t like she was unaware of their surprised looks but even so, Ercella didn’t let go of his arm. She actually didn’t even care.

It’s because I will continue doing this in the future.

Eventually, Vicente noticed them.

“I’ll do as mother says.”

“Really?”

“Yes, so please let go of this hand.”

“Oh, sorry.”

Stunned, Ercella removed her hand from his arm and held her mouth. Visente’s eyes flinched because the cheeky gesture was distastefully dignified.

Anyway, Ercella had achieved her goal, so she smiled once again. The smile this time was brighter than before.

“See you later, son?”

* * *

“I heard you have a schedule with the Duchess today, so we’ll be ending here.”

The class ended about two hours earlier because Clifton asked his tutor to finish early. It felt strange to see the hour hand sitting two numbers behind the usual.

Vicente quietly leaned against the chair and closed his eyes. The afternoon sun was warm.

Relax.

His body slowly relaxed. The tension was released. Suddenly, he realized that he was exhausted.

I didn’t realize that I was tired because I was busy every day.

Since I took a break recently, I guess I was fatigued afterall.

He took his first nap on the day he and Ercella went for a walk in the garden.

I was going to practice swordsmanship or read books, but I don’t feel like doing anything.

“You’re my son.”

He smiled a little. A smile so crooked that it looked like sneer at first glance. Vicente recalled a woman who was closer than anyone else yet a stranger.

Blonde hair as if melted honey, blue eyes resembling the sparkling sea, brighter than his. She was obviously an outstanding beauty. Anyone who saw her radiant face will think that she had never suffered before.

People in the world praised her for being lovely and friendly. However, her son Vicente could not understand that. His mother in his memory was always expressionless and didn’t smile much. Not caring for him, of course, it seemed that she didn’t welcome his presence.

He couldn’t understand it at first, but got used to her old indifference and soon he didn’t expect anything from her.

“What are you doing?”

However his mother has recently begun to be overly affectionate towards him. When he tried to figure out what she intended, she only smiled and didn’t make any sense.

One of his assumptions were that maybe his father decided to give her a divorce because she didn’t do her duties as a mother.

No, she is not the kind to be sorry because of that.

Afterall, she did not lack anything. Even if she was over 30, she was beautiful enough to marry another man again at any time, and because her family was also powerful, even if she was divorced once, anyone would dream of marrying her.

Not only that, the boundaries of his mother’s duties were ambiguous. He had never received love from his mother, so he didn’t know what a mother’s virtue was in itself. Just then Clifton opened the door and came in.

“Young Master, the Duchess is waiting for you.”

He bowed politely and announced his next schedule. Vicente remembered her bright smile from earlier.

His mood sank even further.

* * *

“Madam, there’s a letter from Lydia.”

“From Lydia?”

Beth held out a letter in her hand. Ercella received the letter while puzzled. She was confused because she wasn’t close with the Lydia family.

“Is it from Countess Lydia?”

“No, I’m afraid it’s just Mrs. Lydia, the wife of Count Lydia’s brother.”

The wife of Count Lydia’s brother. They aren’t exactly a stranger then. She didn’t ask her anymore. Ercella tilted her head and read the letter.

[Dear Duchess Bernhardt,

Hello, I’m Priscilla from Lydia.

I am writing to invite you to a tea party to be held in the garden of our mansion this weekend.

I’ve always wanted to meet Your Grace and get acquainted with you. You won’t know how happy I am to send you an invitation like this. I also prepared Sansche’s black tea that Your Grace likes to drink.

By the way, Viscountess Akla and Countess Zardea will also attend. Would you please come and brighten my humble meeting?]

It’s an invitation I’ve never received before. Ercella had never met Mrs. Lydia. However, it is not that she does not receive such invitations for tea time.

In order to build friendships among the ladies, they used to invite the unfamiliar ladies to gather together.

She mentioned Viscountess Akla and Countess Zardea, so she seemed to know that they were close to Ercella.

Maybe it’s because she thought that she’ll be awkward at the tea party. If so, then Mrs. Lydia was a very considerate person.

“Is it an invitation to a tea party?”

“Hmm.”

“What shall you do? Will you attend? I know you aren’t close to that family.”

“I’m going to attend. It’s been a long time, right? No. Anyway, I’ll be attending, so know that.”

It was her first tea party after her regression, so it had been a long time. It was hard to move after she got bedridden, so there was no way she could go to a tea party or a banquet.

It would be nice to go out and talk to people. Maybe I can make new friends.

Thinking so, she roughly estimated Mrs. Lydia’s age. The Count’s brother is 33 years old, so it should be around that age. That is, if the two had a political marriage.

Ercella thought a bit and threw the letter into the drawer.

I can reply later.

More importantly, she was busy preparing for her upcoming outing. The busy steps of Lianne and Beth rang through the room. It was Ercella and Vicente’s outing.

It was a slope to them. They argued often because they wanted to dress up Ercella perfectly.

“Lianne, do you really think that necklace suits this dress?”

“Did you just question my taste? Hey, it’s diamonds for important days!”

“Do you think diamonds are best? Madam is fair-skinned, so a ruby will look the best on her.”

“A ruby?! You tacky girl. How in hell is a ruby better?”

Ercella laughed aloud at the sight of Lianne and Beth arguing. A smile naturally formed, seeing the girls who liked her more than she did herself.

Lianne and Beth were head-butting and they turned their heads towards Ercella at the same time. Ercella’s face became stiff when the eyes suddenly turned to her.

The two looked fiercely and held out a diamond and a ruby in front of Ercella.

“What does Madam think? Aren’t diamonds really tacky with this dress?”

“Do you also think rubies are out of fashion?”

She glanced at the necklace she had in front of her with a perplexed look. It’s good to be full of motivation, but she shouldn’t delay it anymore.

“Neither of you is right. Go with emerald.”

“…….”

“……yes, what?”

I thought Madam would be better at this than us lowly maids.

Lianne grumbled pouting her mouth. She hung a brilliant emerald surrounded by a gold chain around Ercella’s neck.

Lianne brought her hand at Ercella’s hair, thinking it somehow matched the yellow dress that looked like the sun was stained with gold.

“Would you like your hair braided or loose?”

“Braid it.”

“I think it’s better to let it hang loose today. You will look like a young lady. Um… maybe more like an older young lady?”

“Shit…. Oh, no. Are you crazy, Lianne? How dare you say such a thing carelessly? But I think it’s better to let it loose as Lianne said. You’ll look more like a partner than some young lady…”

“I heard you laugh. And do whatever you want with my hair. How can I stop you?”

Their eyes twinkled like stars when Ercella said that, and nodded her head reluctantly. As soon as Ercella’s permission was given, they began to muffle her golden hair excitedly.

Her eyes were faintly focused on her hair, which was stretched along a smooth comb. The woman in the mirror had her hair gently drooping down.

It’s been a long time since I had my hair down and went out. After marriage, I often put my hair up. I didn’t put much thought into it for years.

However, as her time as a wife grew longer, it became natural to her to braid her hair even though no one told her to do so.

Lianne would ask me sometimes if she could let them down, but I would refuse every time.

I thought it would be improper.

Noble ladies rarely let their hair down, so she got used to it.

It was strange. No one had ever forced her to put her hair up. I just felt like I should.

Why did I think that?

Ercella questioned this for the first time. The married noble ladies all put their hair up.

I thought that if I let my hair down people would think I’m pretending to be a girl. I was afraid of losing my dignity.

It was not morally wrong. But these old customs were firmly rooted in their society.

It’s probably a strict discipline, so there is a fear of being scorned and ridiculed. Perhaps that’s why people were reluctant.

Lianne is a commoner, so she is not subjected to such customs. That’s why she often asked me if I was going to let my hair down. Even though she already knew my answer.

She stared ahead. Her appearance in the mirror was very awkward. She was dressed in an outdoor dress, not in a casual gown, and her hair gently laid down her chest. She blankly stared at herself.

…It was pretty.

It was more than perfect. The woman in the mirror strangely looked more flawless than before. Yes, a bit more. She was giving off vivid vitality.

Her heart slowly began to beat as if she had returned to being the Marquis’ Young Lady . Was it because of makeup? Her cheeks were redder than usual and the lips were also a little red. Her mouth curled gently, drawing wrinkles. Somehow, that felt good.

Lianne and Beth took their hands off of her head when she was ready. Lianne laughed naughtily.

“Were you always beautiful, Madam?”

“You can’t make fun of your master.”

“It’s a special day today, so you’ll ignore it, right?”

“…I won’t deny that.”

Ercella replied coyly glancing at Lianne’s deftness. It seemed like today she could forgive both Lianne and Beth, no, all the employees of the family for whatever they did.

Her first outing with her son was very exciting.

My heart is ticklish from the excitement. How can I be so thrilled when we’re just going on an outing?

“It’s about time the Young Master’s class will end. Would you like to wait first?”

“Yes.”

Ercella jumped to her feet and went outside. Her light steps bounced off the stairs, and the employees following her all smiled. They were all so happy that they started chattering, saying nonsense.

“I’ll bring the Young Master.”

Clifton, who was waiting below, slightly smiled. As his mouth bent, his thin gray beard moved up.

Ercella nodded in affirmation, and waited quietly.

No, I can’t really wait.

She was unconsciously striking her heel on the floor. It was something a child would do. That day, Clifton, who usually maintains his composure, smiled quietly and climbed the stairs.

After a while, she heard footsteps upstairs. Vicente, dressed simply in plain clothes, came down the stairs and stopped walking in the middle.

“Hi?”

As he was still standing on the stairs, Ercella turned her head up. She shyly greeted him like that.

Vicente looked down at her without answering, and soon began to slowly descend the stairs. There was an illusion that made every step look strangely slow. Still he finally reached her in a leisurely pace.

“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting, mother.”

“Huh? No. I enjoyed waiting for you.”

“…is that so?”

Wow, I can’t believe I just said that.

Obviously, she was more excited than usual. Ercella tried to calm down a little and took a step ahead. She thought Vicente would join her but he didn’t move and was still staring somewhere.

Ercella followed his gaze and noticed that he was staring at her hair. She smiled awkwardly and fiddled with her hair that stretched to her waist. His gazed was fixated on her even when twisted her hair.

“I let down my hair. Is it weird?”

Harsen and Lianne were accustomed because they untie her hair before going to bed, but Vicente was not. Not a single strand of her hair is left free whenever she leaves her room. Blue eyes slowly went down Ercella’s drooping blond hair. Her shoulders slumped a little, embarrassed by his overt gaze.

I guess I got excited for no reason. I must have overdid it.

She didn’t something she never did before because of her elated mood. She didn’t know exactly what he was thinking, but she thought she knew to some extent. Ercella avoided his gaze and tried to smile coolly.

“It’s all right.”

A brief voice flowed into her ears. Fortunately, no criticism or contempt was contained in the monotonous sound. Finally, Ercella breathed out comfortably. It wasn’t a “good” answer, but she was encouraging enough that it wasn’t “weird.”

She felt energized for a moment. It was only her son who said that it was okay, but still her confidence boosted. Her mind became peaceful as if she was approved by others too.

“That’s a relief.”

Vicente said nothing after that but glanced at Ercella from time to time. She couldn’t help but feel pressured whenever he did that, so she tried to give a broad smile.

He entered like a Cinderella lol

And God why am I embarrassed as If I let my hair down too and Vicente is judging me ?