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Fortunately, the strange-looking clouds disappeared before anyone noticed them among the guests.
Although no one here had seen what Le Guin did to the clouds, Philomel couldn’t help but wonder whether or not people from other places might have seen it, but Le Guin explained that the clouds were not real and in fact an illusion, created by the magic spells that he had cast in the area.
“It’s not a real cloud, it’s illusion magic.”
According to his explanation, since the magic was cast only around this area, only ordinary clouds are visible in other areas.
‘I took ten years…’
Not a cloud, not an ice sculpture.
Philomel shook her head.
She could imagine the embarrassment of being misunderstood, especially as she already is in such an exceptional position, who not only celebrated her own birthday again but even went so far as to request the services of a court magician.
After sending Le Guin away, Philomel returned to the banquet hall. The guests enjoyed their freedom to mingle and chat during the reception, but as lunchtime approached, they all took their designated seats.
Twelve guests were seated at three tables, and Nasser, the only man among them, sat next to Philomel. Perhaps because he had the closest relationship with her, he had the most pleasant facial expression among all the guests.
During the meal, Philomel asked him, “Is everything okay? Do you feel uncomfortable sitting here with all these ladies?”
Nasser smiled and replied, “No, not at all. It’s a wonderful party.”
“But…you’re the only man here, Nasser.”
Philomel murmured in embarrassment.
“That’s what I like the most,” Nasser replied firmly, although Philomel couldn’t quite understand what he meant.
Did he enjoy being surrounded by ladies?
Philomel opened her mouth again, looking puzzled.
“Would it have been better if I had invited other nobles? For example, Viscount Odell, Viscount, who is a close friend of Nasser…”
Suddenly, his charming lips tightened.
“I don’t need friends.”
Philomel became even more perplexed.
‘Hmm… He used to have many friends before… Have his human relationships become narrow in the meantime?’
After the luncheon, Philomel received gifts one by one from the attendees. There were various kinds, such as earrings, silk ribbons, bookmarks, and outing hats.
The last gift was from Nasser.
He handed Philomel a bouquet of flowers, elegantly tied with a ribbon.
Philomel’s lips slightly parted.
“These are…”
She saw several layers of pure white petals spreading widely on the fresh stems.
It was a flower that Philomel was very familiar with.
“…Philomel flowers.”
It was a flower with the same name as her.
However, there was something strange about it. The Philomel flower she knew had smaller buds compared to this one. And above all…
“Why is this flower still blooming?”
That was the biggest question.
The Philomel flower was a short-lived flower that only bloomed in the Utina region. More precisely, it didn’t even last a day—it bloomed and withered within a single night. That’s why she had never seen it in person.
It was nearly impossible to transport the flower from Utina to the capital before the night passed.
Although hiring a skilled mage capable of exceptional transportation magic would have made it possible, Philomel didn’t feel the need to go to such lengths just to see the flower. It was because she didn’t like what the Pilomel flower symbolized in the language of flowers.
The Philomel flower symbolized “ephemeral life,” “transience of youth,” and “emptiness of good times.”
Despite its beauty, it represented the melancholy of a short lifespan.
Well, it was a rather odd choice for a person’s name. Many people didn’t pay much attention to the language of flowers anyway.
Nasser reassured Philomel’s curiosity.
“We have extended the flower’s lifespan significantly through breeding and hybridization. That’s why the buds have grown bigger as well.”
He then handed a small pouch to Philomel.
“These are the seeds. We have grown the flowers in our home garden, so they will grow well here too.”
She could feel the texture of the seeds beneath the cloth.
“The flower doesn’t have a name yet. Please give it one, Miss Philomel.”
Philomel held the bouquet to her nose and sniffed the fragrance. It was a pleasantly nice floral scent. Not too strong, not too melancholic.
This flower would have a simply beautiful language of flowers attached to it. Thinking that way made her feel happy for some reason.
Philomel smiled gracefully.
“Thank you so much, Nasser.”
After the gift-giving was over, the tea party began.
The seating arrangement at the table had changed from lunch, but Nasser was still seated next to Philomel.
The young Ladies Melinda and Gordreap sat in the other two seats. The four of them engaged in a conversation. The topics of discussion shifted from one thing to another, with Philomel’s cat becoming a topic as well. Coincidentally, Lady Gordreap also had a cat like Melinda, so the conversation flowed smoothly.
That’s when it happened. Lady Gordreap suddenly had a thought and made a sound of realization.
“By the way, what’s your cat’s name, Miss Philomel?”
“Oh, the name is…”
Melinda answered before Philomel.
“It’s Guinguin!”
Nasser praised, “It’s a unique and lovely name.”
But from the momentary stiffness on Lady Gordreap’s face, it seemed that it was only Nasser’s opinion. Melinda even said something that was completely uncalled for.
“By the way, the other day I saw earlier that Guinguin was in heat, and it seemed like you were worried about it, Philomel.”
Lady Gordreap looked puzzled.
“Oh, our cat is a female and also in heat. How about we introduce them to each other next time?”
Philomel couldn’t let a cat stepmom come to life, so she covered it up smoothly with a lie.
“Well, we were planning to have Guinguin spayed anyway.”
They were chatting about such trivial matters when an uninvited guest appeared.
“Hello!”
Ellencia, who appeared alone in the garden of the Southern Palace, greeted everyone cheerfully.
Everyone in the room stood up when the Princess appeared.
Philomel approached Ellencia and greeted her.
“Greetings to the Little Sun of the Empire.”
“Happy birthday, Philomel!”
“Oh, it’s nothing. It’s not really my birthday.”
Then Ellencia responded with a nonchalant smile.
“Congratulations though. It’s the first time in your life that you’re celebrating on a day other than my birthday.”
The atmosphere became cold in an instant.
Ellencia had a talent for pretending to say meaningful things under the guise of sincerity.
Behind her recent words, there was a meaning of ‘You’ve been occupying my birthday all this time.’
However, Philomel responded without breaking her smile.
“But what brings you here? I don’t recall sending an invitation to the Princess.”
Ellencia looked visibly upset.
“This is too much! I’ve been waiting for Philomel to send me an invitation, but you didn’t give me one.”
“If you had expressed your desire, I would have given it to you.”
“I thought it was only natural for you to give it to me without me having to ask.”
“I apologize. I thought of hosting a modest gathering that would be unworthy of hosting someone as noble as the Princess.”
“Yeah, quite modest…”
As she glanced around the place, her eyes fell on Philomel’s ice sculpture.
Countless flowers and other sculptures. It was a gathering that couldn’t even be described as modest.
However, it seemed like Ellencia didn’t want to admit that Philomel’s gathering was splendid, so she cleared her throat and changed the subject.
“Anyway, seeing Philomel’s gathering gave me a good idea.”
‘I have an idea of what that idea might be.’
With an anxious heart, Philomel squinted her eyes at Ellencia.
“I’m planning to hold a birthday party soon too! My birthday has already passed, but I didn’t receive any congratulations here. So I’m planning to hold a grand one. I’ll make sure to invite everyone here without exception!”
As expected.
Upon Ellencia’s declaration, the Ladiexchanged glances with a sense of restraint.
Not only did she appear in a place where she wasn’t invited, but she also promoted her own gathering. It was incredibly impolite.
However, the person who committed the impoliteness was none other than the Princess, so no one showed any reaction.
‘What should I do about this?’
Philomel already is in a position that receives Ellencia’s displeasure, so criticizing her rudeness and giving her a lesson was out of the question.
If Philomel were alone she would already criticize Ellencia for her rudeness, since she had a rocky relationship with the Princess either way, but that was out of the question as there were too many bystanders.
Philomel was concerned about the others present in this gathering. They are surely uncomfortable with falling out of favor with the Princess.
Since no one said anything, Ellencia poked at Nassar and asked him.
“Nassar, will you come to my gathering?”
He placed a hand over his chest and deeply bowed.
“Your Highness, I regret to inform you that I have a prior commitment on that day and will not have the honor of attending.”
True to Nassar avrydon’s character, it was a perfectly executed refusal with impeccable manners. His expression also genuinely seemed disappointed.
There was only one problem… Ellencia hadn’t mentioned the date of the gathering yet.