Chapter 60 - Taking Action After the Meeting
After the meeting ended, it was time to wait for the minutes and contracts to be finalized.
Tea was served, and the conversation shifted to casual chatter. As they talked, Dahlia glanced at the notes she carried with her, desperately trying to complete her list.
Later, when she headed to the restroom to take a break, Lucia quickly followed, walking at an impressively fast pace.
"Daah-lii-yaa!"
As soon as she entered the restroom, Dahlia was called by her name in a distinctive tone.
Her usually bright and gentle dayflower-colored eyes were now intensely frightening.
"Lucia..."
"What’s going on? My father got all flustered by a messenger from the Tailors Guild! And then my mother said, 'Since you made them, you should go,' and just like that, I'm the deputy head of the workshop now! How is it that a family of five running the place has a deputy workshop head? I had to get ready right away and come here!"
Though there was no one else in the restroom, Lucia still couldn’t shout. She ranted into Dahlia’s ear.
"I’m sorry… I gave several pairs of five-toed socks to someone from the Chivalric Order. I never thought it would turn into something like this."
"I didn’t think so either. I put in a lot of effort to make them, trying to make Carlo-san laugh, and now they’re a hit with the Chivalric Order. Oh, and is it true you dumped Tobias-san for work reasons?"
"It was an amicable breakup..."
"Dahlia, you’re really bad at lying. So, what’s the real story?"
Her longtime work partner and friend was relentless in drawing out the truth.
Feeling like there was no way to escape, Dahlia decided to explain honestly.
"Orlando-san found a new woman, so he broke off the engagement, and I thought I’d just focus on being a magical toolmaker. We both agreed on an 'amicable breakup' to avoid any trouble at work."
"Wow, I never expected Tobias to be with someone else... He really missed out, huh?"
The comment about missing out didn’t quite resonate with Dahlia.
It might be rude as his former fiancée, but she couldn’t help but feel distant from her former fiancé.
"If he had married you, he could have worked together with you on this. And Dahlia, you suddenly got so pretty. Tobias-san is probably regretting it now, huh?"
"I don’t think so."
"But wow, it’s surprising. He was so protective of you, it was almost creepy."
"Did that happen?"
"Every time the one in charge was a man, Tobias-san would go to the workshop himself. On rainy days, when my brother saw you off, Tobias was so worried that Carlo-san would end up laughing at him."
"I didn’t know that..."
"Well, of course, he hid it. It was either his pride as a man or him trying to look cool."
Dahlia was a little surprised to hear things about Tobias she hadn’t known.
Though it didn’t seem like anything would change now.
"Well, you seem fine, so maybe it just wasn’t meant to be. By the way, what’s your relationship with that terribly handsome Sir Scalfarotto?"
"He’s a friend. We’re both involved in magical tools."
"Oh, so it’s through magical tools... too bad. But he’d be a little 'too high' to be a lover, right?"
The conversation smoothly shifted from Tobias to Volf, and Dahlia’s heart raced.
The words "too high" pricked at her chest a little.
It couldn’t be helped that they didn’t match, even when they stood next to each other.
"I’ll probably be going back and forth between the Tailors Guild and the workshop for a while. Can you have the fabrics for the raincoats sent by wagon? I'll pay for it on delivery."
"Got it."
"I want to make raincoats with those fabrics, but I don’t know when I’ll find the time…"
"Sorry, I know you’ve been looking forward to it."
"No, it’s fine! It’s a great deal, so I’m really happy. If I work hard, I can fix up the workshop, buy new fabric, and maybe even save up for my own workshop! Well, it might be a long shot, but I’m aiming big."
Lucia quickly touched up her crimson lipstick and lightly patted her cheeks.
Her dream was to own a workshop for making cute clothes.
Her current workshop was a family-run place mainly for socks and gloves, but she was saving every penny to eventually open her own shop.
She hadn’t wavered from her goal since they first met, and Dahlia found it refreshing to have such a reliable work partner.
"Well, see you. It'll be strange if we go out together, so I’ll head out first."
"Yeah, see you."
Dahlia watched Lucia hurry off with light footsteps before she also touched up her lipstick.
In the mirror, she looked slightly tired.
"Chairwoman Rossetti."
As Dahlia walked down the hallway to return to the room, she was greeted by a bow from August, the vice guildmaster of the Adventurer Guild.
"I apologize once again for my subordinate’s actions earlier."
"No, it was my fault for causing trouble despite not knowing about the situation."
"Well... Jean has some circumstances, so have him give a formal apology at a later date."
"It’s fine, really."
Originally, the issue arose because her father and she had expanded their product line without considering the inventory of materials or planning ahead.
Jean had likely been burdened with inventory management, which must have been overwhelming. Even if it slipped out, she didn’t feel it was right to blame him.
"August, can you explain what those 'circumstances' are? I thought what happened earlier was too disrespectful to Chairwoman Rossetti."
Before she realized it, Volf was standing beside her and asking a question.
Unlike usual, his voice was cold and a couple of pitches lower. The atmosphere around them grew uncomfortably heavy.
"Volfred... I understand. I’ll explain. This is about him personally... Jean, when he got married, left being a high-ranking adventurer to join the guild. His first assignment as a guild member was a month-long expedition to capture kraken, and during that time, his first wife left him..."
Whether he was choosing his words carefully or simply struggling to express them, August continued with a deeply troubled expression.
"...Shortly after remarrying, he went on a two-week expedition to capture sand lizards. Around the time his second wife was about to give birth, he had to stay at the guild to manage blue slimes. Unfortunately, a series of unfortunate events led to his wife and child returning to her parents several times... Although they’ve returned now, well..."
"...Thank you for telling me. I won’t speak of this to anyone."
Volf's anger completely faded, replaced by sympathy.
Dahlia felt an overwhelming desire to apologize to Jean. She might as well report this to her father's grave too.
Jean certainly had every right to resent the Rossetti family. She also felt bad for his family.
"I’ve told him to delegate tasks to his subordinates, but because he’s so capable, he ends up handling everything himself... I’ve failed to manage the situation properly, and I’m deeply sorry for making you uncomfortable, Chairwoman Rossetti. I’ll make sure to address the material management issue, and I’ll speak to Jean so this doesn’t happen again."
"No, I’d actually like to apologize to Jean-san myself..."
After a back-and-forth of apologies, they finally returned to the meeting room.
Dahlia realized that she would need to think carefully about materials for future production.
・・・・・・・
Later, after exchanging pleasantries and watching the carriages of the Tailors Guild and Adventurer Guild leave, Dahlia finally exhaled, able to relax a little.
Gabriella and Ivano were having a meeting in the office, while Dahlia and Volf took the opportunity to borrow the meeting room under the pretext of reviewing the contract with the Chivalric Order.
They planned to call their carriage after sunset, avoiding the rush hour as the streets would be crowded with people returning home.
"...That was tiring."
"Really, but we made it through."
"Did we really? My mind’s still on how badly I feel for Jean-san..."
"That’s true..."
Both fell into an uncomfortable silence, each sighing deeply.
After a moment, Volf placed his hands on the desk and spoke again.
"Well, I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but I think you should learn about the phrases or sentences to avoid when interacting with the nobility. You might have to interact with nobles in the future, and it’s better to be prepared."
"Did I say something rude?!"
The way she spoke during the meeting, getting carried away in her conversation with Lucia—there were too many things that came to mind, making it impossible to pinpoint just one.
"When you said, 'I trust you Fortunato-sama, so I’ll leave everything to you.'"
"Huh?"
"When a single noblewoman says that to a nobleman, it’s interpreted as an expression of love and respect, implying he’s worthy of being her knight."
"How does that even make sense...?"
What she had meant to convey was simply, "I trust you, so there’s no need for a supervisor. I’ll leave all business matters on your side to you." There was no hidden meaning behind her words.
She couldn’t fathom how her words could have been interpreted that way.
"Fortunato-san comes from the Luini family, which has a strong tradition of producing knights... but he chose to pursue a career in fashion instead. I think he was surprised because he felt like he was being treated as a knight."
"No, I had no such intention at all..."
"It’s fine. It was an honest mistake, and I’m sure he’s aware of it by now. He knows you’re not a noble, and he's already married. If anyone brings it up, I’ll step in. Don’t worry about it."
"I'm sorry... Even if I didn't know, it was still rude of me..."
Dahlia buried her head in her hands.
It felt as if everything had turned out badly due to a string of unfortunate coincidences.
She desperately wished she would never have to see him again in the future.
"Also, in an old opera, there’s a scene where the heroine says to the knight protagonist, 'I trust you, Orpheus-sama, so I leave everything to you.' It was the climactic moment of the play. Apparently, it became a trend to imitate that."
"Is that where the expression of love and respect for knights came from?"
"No, it’s just that the traditional expression of affection for a knight was tied to the scene at the end of the opera."
The young man turned his golden eyes away from Dahlia and toward the wall.
"It’s really hard to say, but... apparently, it became a trend for noblewomen to say something similar on their first night alone with a man, so I think you should avoid it."
"Wha—?!"
Thud. She collapsed onto the desk, becoming a motionless creature that wanted nothing more than to avoid moving.
"This is crazy... I didn’t know... now I can’t even say anything anymore..."
"No, this is a very rare case, and I don’t think it happens often. I think only August and I noticed it. Gabriella-san didn’t notice, though, maybe she pretended not to? It might be because she’s from a different generation."
If there had been people around who were exactly from the right generation of nobles to understand, Dahlia would have felt like she was facing public execution.
She was absolutely certain now—she was not cut out for life as a noble.
"Well, this is a special case. If, for example, a man sends a woman home in a carriage and the woman says 'Please remove your gloves for me,' it’s immediately clear what it means."
"What’s that supposed to mean?"
"...It’s an invitation."
"I can’t... I don’t understand any of this..."
"If you ever need to talk to a noble for company matters, I’ll come along with you. Also, I’ll bring a rulebook and notes to help you prepare."
"I’d appreciate that. But is there really a book that explains all of this?"
"It’s old, but my mother used to read a book and notes on it. I’ll bring it next time."
"Please do..."
While responding, Dahlia kept her head down, unable to lift her face.
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