The Cornflower Witch

Book 2: Chapter 219: The City Lord's Wife's Invitation

Vol 2 Chapter 219 The City Lord's Wife's Invitation

The day of the gathering had finally ended.

That night, Sylutia requested to use the mansion's bath, hoping to soothe her somewhat mentally exhausted body with a soak.

That child called Rosalie really had an endless stream of things to say. Even though the guests had long since dispersed, Sylutia still felt as if someone was constantly asking questions in her ear.

"Do you like banana milkshakes, Hedra? I have to have one every day in the summer."

"My mother gave me her little puppy to take care of, saying I should learn to look after it. It was so fluffy back then, it could curl up in my palm, like a sausage several times thicker."

"On the island of Kerlan at night, you can see fireflies on the sea's surface, and in winter, you can even see three colors: blue, pink, and yellow."

"I heard that on a distant continent, people use willow twigs to brush their teeth. Wouldn't that hurt terribly?"

"Snow is white, so why does it become transparent when it turns into ice? Can you tell me, Hedra?"

It's said there's a slumbering sea monster, a giant fish, at the bottom of Meteorite Lake, big enough to carry a country on its back. This is, of course, a legend, but I think it's so beautiful."Raw oysters taste really good. Have you tried them, Hedra? I'll take you to try them sometime."

Not only did this girl talk a lot, but her topics also jumped around extremely erratically. She would often be talking about one subject and then suddenly leap to another completely unrelated thing. Sylutia could naturally keep up, but this kind of illogical jumping around was, after a while, still somewhat mentally exhausting, like reading a disjointed comic book.

Wrapped in a bath towel, the young woman sat in the bathwater, letting the warm waves gently lap around her. She leaned against the side of the pool and dozed for a while before finally opening her eyes, standing up, and drying herself.

After her bath, she changed into clean, soft cotton pajamas, returned to her bedroom, and peacefully fell asleep. The night passed quietly.

The next day, Lady Haier learned about what had happened at the gathering. She felt sorry for the grievance Eriel had suffered, but she also worried whether they had offended that young lady.

"The City Lord is not a man of such petty temperament. He wouldn't hold a grudge against our family over such a trivial matter," Alanfude comforted his wife.

"You don't understand," Lady Haier said worriedly, stroking Eriel in her arms.

"You think it's fine as long as the City Lord himself isn't angry, but that's completely wrong."

"As long as most people believe the City Lord would mind, that's enough."

"They can righteously ostracize us, for example, by deliberately snubbing or ignoring us. Then, even if others find it inappropriate, they can brush it off with an excuse, saying they are also considering the City Lord's reputation and cannot continue associating with us."

"Once this kind of atmosphere and convention takes hold, it becomes almost impossible to reverse later. Everyone will tacitly agree to snub us, and other families who have good relations with us won't want to be the first to break the mold, so they will unconsciously follow the convention too. In the end, we would be completely pushed out of Quebec's social circle, which would be very dangerous," Lady Haier explained.

"Is it really that serious?" Although Alanfude was now a wealthy merchant, his origins were ordinary, and he didn't understand the unwritten rules within upper-class circles. Lady Haier's original family, though not from Quebec, was a prominent local family, so she was very familiar with the rules and conventions of high society.

"Then is there any way to salvage the situation?" He felt things shouldn't be so grave.

"Salvaging it is both difficult and not difficult," Lady Haier sighed.

"As long as we publicly apologize to the City Lord's family and obtain their forgiveness, then visit the City Lord's residence several more times to show that our relationship is good, others won't dare use this incident to ostracize or ignore us anymore."

"That seems quite simple too," Alanfude stroked his beard.

In response, Lady Haier gave him a sidelong glance. She helped Eriel sit up straight, smoothed her hair, and dried the tears of her eldest daughter.

"Go sit down."

"Mm," Eriel lowered her head and returned to her seat. Shortly after, the maidservants brought lunch and placed it on the table.

"I have some understanding of the City Lord's family. Obtaining their forgiveness probably won't be difficult, but what attitude should we adopt when speaking to them?"

"If our posture is too high, it will make us seem arrogant and might anger them. But if our posture is too low, it will also make others look down on us. After all, the mistake Eriel made was actually very minor, not serious enough to warrant a formal apology," Lady Haier propped her forehead with her hand.

"Madam, you're overthinking this too much," Alanfude felt this was making a mountain out of a molehill.

"You just don't understand at all," Lady Haier was somewhat annoyed, but her upbringing since childhood prevented her from slamming the table or hitting anyone.

"Alright, alright, I was wrong," Alanfude lovingly stroked Lady Haier's cheek. This caused her expression to gradually soften, and she closed her eyes.

Watching this scene, Sylutia was slightly curious. Although Lady Haier was somewhat snobbish, upon careful thought, back then, she, as the daughter of a prominent local family, married the poor, inexperienced young man Alanfude. That could be said to have involved great risk and required a lot of courage. She was probably even more naive and impulsive than Eriel is now.

As for the scene of their parents being affectionate, the other two siblings were already used to it. At the moment, they were just enjoying the delicious lunch. In the center of the table was a pot of coconut chicken stew, accompanied by white bread, parsley, sausages, and chunks of king beans.

After lunch, Lady Haier decided they would send a visiting card to the City Lord's wife today, then take Eriel to apologize. The next time the City Lord's wife held a banquet or gathering, they would mention this matter in public to let everyone know forgiveness had been obtained, thus concluding the matter and letting the small incident fade away.

The social interactions of high society are truly complicated, Sylutia sighed inwardly. After finishing lunch, she went to the lighthouse to study in the afternoon. By now, she had already learned all 76 types of Basic Runic Inscriptions taught by the Mage Alliance.

In the evening, Sylutia, having finished school, carried her simple schoolbag in one hand and lightly pressed down on her hat brim, which was being tousled by the sea breeze, as she walked down along the cliff.

The wind was getting stronger and stronger. Was the Sea Breeze Festival approaching? Sylutia gazed into the distance, where the last rays of the sunset shattered and refracted beautifully on the sea's surface.

Returning home, she had just put her things down when she heard a knock on her bedroom door.

"Hedra, little sister, are you back?" It was Ecor's voice.

"I'm back, just a moment," Sylutia walked over and opened the door.

A blond-haired young man stood outside. He was Alanfude's eldest son, also Eriel's younger brother, Ecor.

Ecor briefly looked Sylutia over, then his gaze swept past her bedroom.

"You haven't lit the lamp? It's almost dark now."

"I just got back," the young woman thought he might be a bit silly.

Ecor didn't dwell on the young woman's reply and continued with the matter at hand.

"Mother received a reply from the City Lord's wife, saying not to worry about this small matter. However, the other party specifically mentioned you in the letter, saying that the next time the City Lord's residence holds a banquet, mother must bring you along."

"Huh? Me?"

Sylutia couldn't figure out why the City Lord's wife, whom she had never met, would deliberately mention her. Could it be that Rosalie told her? The City Lord's wife is her aunt. After returning last time, she probably talked about Sylutia.

"I understand," Sylutia nodded.

"Is there anything else?" The young woman, seeing he still wasn't leaving, was slightly puzzled.

Ecor rubbed the blond hair on his forehead with his fingers, seeming somewhat embarrassed.

"Mother also asked me to ask you if you need to prepare a suitable formal gown for attending the banquet."

"Didn't we buy some already?" In her first few days here, she had been taken to buy several sets of clothes.

"We did buy some, but they might not be quite enough," Ecor was also somewhat conflicted. Clearly, some words were more suitable for Eriel to convey, but his sister and this Hedra little sister couldn't get along at all, so he had to do it on her behalf.

With Sylutia's sharp intelligence, she blinked and understood the reason. Probably, Lady Haier was thinking that if Sylutia dressed too shabbily or plainly, people outside would criticize Lady Haier, this aunt, for not taking proper care of her niece, thus embarrassing the Griffin Family. But if they were to buy a truly excellent gown, like the grade Rosalie wore that day, the price would likely be extremely expensive.

Expensive gowns—she wasn't without them. That dark green lace gown made of gold-sprinkled silk, specially tailored for her when she left the Hidden Grove, was probably worth over a hundred thousand gold coins. Even wearing it to a court banquet of the Sun Dynasty wouldn't be embarrassing. But using it in such a small place would be too much of an overreaction.

"No need. I like this simple style, and there's no need to compete in this aspect," Sylutia shook her head.

"Just notify me in advance when there's a banquet to attend."

"Well... alright then," Ecor also didn't want to dwell on this matter any longer. Having received a reply, he left promptly.

After he left, the sky had completely darkened. Sylutia closed the door, lit the candle lamp in the room, and remembered Ailofeis's previous instructions.

Perhaps she really should attend the banquet. This would allow the name and identity of 'Hedra' to become known to more locals. Later, when developing within the Mage Alliance, she wouldn't be suspected due to her mysterious origins.

Viewed this way, some social occasions were unavoidable for her. She couldn't keep hiding at the lighthouse, accumulating knowledge through study.