Violette was called to depart right before she could ask for the second helping of her tea. Leaving the person who called to clean up, she leaves with Marin.

When she arrives, her parents and sister have been waiting for Violette in the carriage.

"Well then, I"ll be going, Marin."

"My apologies for being unable to accompany you…… take care."

"Yeah, thank you."

Facing away from Marin, Violette gets into the suffocating carriage. It might be easier to breathe to sit beside strangers, but the person she"s sitting next to is her blood-related father.
She should have asked Marin to accompany her; at least, Marin can ease the uncomfortableness inside.
While Violette"s heart keeps pounding back and forth, Maryjun is fascinated by the scenery outside once the carriage starts running.

"Aa, my heart keeps pounding……"

"Ufufu, I"m looking forward to it."

Their smiles truly resemble each other. While Violette looks exactly like her father, her sister resembles her father and like a sister to her mother. On the surface, those four look like a happy and beautiful family.
Probably it"s because of Elfa"s youthfulness, she looks like Maryjun"s sister instead of her parent especially when they dress so maturely.
What Violette used to wish was merely a single thing, and that is the sight of her father smiling sincerely. Somehow, that unrequited desire of hers was somewhat satisfied even though it means for those women.

(It"s not me who made my wish come true……)

For something she could not accept before, right now she is watching it normally after she is enlightened.
To that point…… she does not even have that strong feeling of wis.h.i.+ng someone to die, even she won"t do anything to her, or at least Violette is sure of that.
Hopefully nothing would come to harm her(Maryjun).
Such naïve way of thinking pa.s.ses through Violette"s mind as she sees her step-sister looking forward to seeing the palace from the distance.

×　×　×　×

In such good weather, the tea party is held under a beautiful calm sky. Pleasant breezes are stroking her cheeks and fluttering her dress even though it"s not messing her hair.
Despite having many people attending, the venue does not feel packed at all, and that shows the scale of the party. Regardless of what people say, no one can deny that bloodlines speak of power.
Adults are socializing as it is part of their job, but it is pitiful to see children for not having anything to do. They can only smile and stand next to their parents.

"Fuuh……"

Violette finally gets a chance to get away from her parents and take a break.
Considering this tea party is meant to showcase Vahan family"s new marriage and daughter, and it will be even more tiring if she stays around her father.
Nonetheless, as expected of n.o.bilities, there aren"t that many things to hear aside about the second wife who entered right away after his late wife"s death, or about her step-sister who is around a year younger. Some comes because they want to see the concubine. Otherwise, she won"t be able tolerate for being part in n.o.bility"s love affair.
To Violette, even her father is meaningless to her now, that does not change the fact that he is outstanding n.o.bility.

She feels like her existence is a pebble compared to the new wife and daughter to Auld Roa Vahan himself. Still her father still needs to do something about Vahan house"s current circ.u.mstances.

(Not that I care even though I"ve known though……)

However, thanks to his indifference, her father managed to get married to her mother without too much problem. There was no way it was a smooth sailing between father and the mad mother.
This time, his indifference saves him again when he"s greeted by his fellow n.o.bles. In a sense, it is still something seen on the surface.

"Vio-chan, you"re here."

"……Yuran."

Violette snaps back from her labyrinth of thought. She is often misunderstood because of her habit to get lost in thought wherever she is. It"s Violette"s bad habit to overthink things.
Tried to avoid eye contact, she faces downward to see a ribbon tie tied on Yuran"s white s.h.i.+rt collar, and as she gazes upward, she can see a pair of golden eyes s.h.i.+ning brightly.
Even for Violette, who is wearing high heels, she can only see the neck and collarbone of the tall stature in front of her.
The sight of him dressing so nicely draws out his charm from his gentle expression and stature.

"I"ve been looking for you. Vio-chan sure knows how to find somewhere quiet, huh?"

"Even so, you still found me so easily, didn"t you?"

"I"m just skilled in finding Vio-chan. That"s all."

Yuran laughs cheerfully. He seems to be holding a plate of sweets from the nearby sweets table aside from his own drink, and it"s Violette"s favorite as usual.
Not only he can find her so easily, he also understand her preferences perfectly.

"Here, I picked the most delicious-looking one."

"…… Thank you."

He hands her the plate of appetizingly colored sweet. There are many things to consider since women does not want to soil their hands and also about their waist sizes, but even for a man with bigger appet.i.te like Yuran, he even took consideration of those as long it is for Violette.
She picks one of round-shaped cold chocolate, and then she quickly puts in in her mouth before her fingers" temperature melts it.

"Sweet……"

"I won"t bring you anything bitter, so don"t worry."

"Don"t you want to eat too, Yuran?"

"I bought these for Vio-chan, no way I would eat them, right?"

Contrary to Violette"s fondness for sweets, Yuran cannot handle sweets. It can be said he dislikes it. He doesn"t mind with sweet aroma, but he dislikes it when he tastes sweet inside his mouth. He also said that he also dislikes the bitter aftertaste after eating sweets.
Yuran might look like a sweet-tooth because of his gentle atmosphere. However, he is surprisingly a gentleman who enjoys bitterness inside his mouth.
In fact, he doesn"t enjoy and might frown from the sweetness of café-au-lait.
He was told often to try getting used to it so many times, but it was useless. Back then, he was desperately trying to hide it, but he doesn"t do it now.
However, she has known about that part of Yuran since long time ago.

"Geez…… At least you should have brought your own share too. It"s not every day we can attend big events like this."

"That"s the same for Violette too, isn"t it? I bet you won"t eat anything if I didn"t come to bring you some."

"There are too many people surrounding the buffets."

"That"s why I brought some to you."

Violette is not good with crowds in the first place, and there are too many things she doesn"t want to get close for today.
Even though later she was imprisoned, Violette was originally a talented n.o.ble daughter. She possesses a certain charisma, which is different to Maryjun"s. People easily gather around her and follows her selfish ideals.
However, since she is planning to live in peace, far away from troubles, she cannot let her guard down.
That was why she chose to stay away.

"……get some."

"Eh?"

Just being able to taste all kinds of sweets offered is already a satisfaction for every lady.
From her hiding, she takes her first step toward the light of the day, toward the crowded center, and then she turns back to Yuran.

"It"ll be a waste if I"m the only one eating. I"ll go and get some Yuran"s shares."

Actually Violette does not have the luxury to care for such things, but she won"t keep the distance with Yuran if she doesn"t say anything. Violette understands Yuran very well as he understands her.
Realizing that Violette is avoiding him, he wouldn"t think about taking initiative for his own sake. He realizes clearly that Violette is kindly turning down his offer.

"……Ah, thanks."

"What are there in the main table?"

"I haven"t seen it since I only went to the dessert table."

Considering this is such a big venue, most likely there are various kinds of dishes served here. There are many appetizing meals he can eats, especially for him who dislikes sweets.
Although she doesn"t like wondering around the venues, she won"t get lost. At least, she has decided to enjoy the party more when she still has her little freedom.

Nevertheless, it was a careless move of her.

Previously, she came to this place and made a huge commotion since she lost her reasons to her emotions. Now, she is quietly reflecting on her shameful conduct from that time.
Now she can make changes since she has her memories.
Knowing her actions were mistakes, she won"t do the same anymore. However, even though she has decided not to do anything, there is no guarantee that it won"t happen.
It"s a plausible decision. Since she doesn"t have any intent to do so, there should be no reason for her to worry. It might be as well meaningless.
Violette is correct, thus she acts based on her correct answer.
However, there is one thing that Violette has overlooked, and that is how much her influence can affect the situation.

"How about you think about your own position!? Oh, poor Violette-sama……!!"

Violette might not have predicted that someone would do something like this for her sake.