I Swear I Won’t Bother You Again!

Claudia glanced at Violette who was doing her task silently.

Violette’s straight back had relaxed. As she slipped her long flowing hair behind her ears, she meticulously scanned the paper. Following the movement of her hand, there were some scratching voice from the tip of the pen.

The thin wrinkles between her eyebrows made her look sharper. Claudia was sure that the him from before would misunderstand that expression as Violette feeling unhappy because she didn’t like doing the work. He had lowered his evaluation of Violette as he liked.

Presently, he had realized that he had a very narrow field of view. It’s true that her expression could be interpreted like that with a glance. But anyone would’ve realized that it was a misunderstanding after staring at her for a while.

Occasionally, her frown became faint, and her thinned lips would loosen. The way she bulged her cheeks made it looked like she was pouting. She would tilt her head and ponder for a while before her face suddenly turned bright. Immediately, she would start moving her pen.

Apparently, Violette was much more expressive than what Claudia had imagined.

Her usual calm attitude might not be a lie, but her current relaxed appearance also might not be a fake.

Now that she had hung her hair over her ears, Claudia could see Violette’s face even clearer.

Initially, he thought that her eyes were dark, but they were brighter than he expected. Her hair color was gray, but it had more white hue than black. Her eyelashes were so long that they seemed to have shadows. That might be the reason why her eyes gave off a strong impression. Claudia thought that her lips were bleeding red, but it was because her skin was white. They were actually a soft pink color.

Claudia knew that Violette was beautiful. She always had been beautiful since the beginning, and she became fascinating and gorgeous over time. But not even her change ever made him lost his mind over her.

So he thought that he wouldn’t be fooled by Violette’s appearance now. And yet the more he looked at her, the more he realized how shallow the way he had perceived her.

“Ah… Umm, this…”

“...!!”

Violette suddenly raised her head without warning, making Claudia’s shoulders shook. The reason he didn’t scream was that he was so surprised to the point his voice became hoarse. If it wasn’t thanks to that, he would have raised his voice, showing his unsightly side.

As a prince and as a man, he was glad that he didn’t do that kind of silly thing, but he couldn’t stop himself from drawing back from her.

“Er…?"

“Nnn…. I’m sorry. What is it?”

Claudia corrected his posture and tried to disguise his surprise by clearing his throat. Even so, it sounded so fake that Violette could probably see right through him. But before she could comment anything, Claudia immediately changed the topic.

Thankfully, Violette’s next words were about what she wanted to say to him. “Um, it’s this…”

“Something wrong?”

Claudia leaned a little to see the part Violette pointed at. He read the letters traced by Violette’s thin fingers silently, but the list of words and numbers he saw seemed to have no problems.

“This is… the fixtures of the salon, right?”

The term “salon” didn’t necessarily mean the room that was currently owned by the student council. Most students would link the salon with this place, but there was another similar salon here in the academy.

Students were free to use that salon, and the basic rest facilities were available. The academy salon was also under the control of the student council.

“It’s about this tea leaf.”

“Oh… It’s the usual one.”

There were no particular problems with the numbers, and the brands were the same they usually served there.

Not understanding what Violette wanted to say, Claudia reflexively frowned. It didn’t mean his mood had worsened, but he was just pondering on the question he couldn’t answer.

However, Violette cowered a little. In contrast to Claudia, her eyebrows were lowered, like she was wondering if she could continue to speak.

She’s also good at reading facial expressions, huh?

The things he didn’t know about Violette had increased again.

“...Continue.”

“Ah… yeah. Is there any particular reason for choosing this tea leaf?”

“We’ve been using it for a long time, and we just didn’t have any reason to change it. Moreover, Markt’s tea leaves are perfect in quality and taste.”

Markt was the brand name for the tea leaf. Actually, most of the things used in this academy were purchased from there. Not only the academy, but many nobles. It was a first-class brand that guaranteed its quality and taste. Honestly, Claudia didn’t think there were any other brands with more value than Markt.

He thought it would be the same for Violette.

“Then, how about changing the brand once…?

“We can try, but…”

To be honest, Claudia didn’t understand. Of course, it was a good thing if they could get better quality than what they had now, but if such a thing existed, it should’ve reached the prince’s ears.

“It’s from a country called Cardina. I’m sure the name of the shop that carries the product in Jularia.”

“Cardina… I’ve heard about them.”

Since Claudia had memorized the geography of the world, he naturally had heard about Cardina before. That country was a popular tourist destination, but its agricultural wasn’t that advanced. It had lots of greenery with beautiful mountains and rivers landscape. Unfortunately, visitors would have to face a lot of inconveniences when visiting the country.

Claudia never went there before, but from the information he had received from other people, he had never heard of Cardina producing anything that would make the students in this academy satisfied.

Probably, Violette sensed Claudia’s puzzlement. She nodded once and started explaining from the beginning.

“Cardina’s local products are certainly not famous. It can’t even hold a candle to Markt in the general evaluation. They also don’t export much of their products, so I believe it will be impossible to prepare the tea for the whole school. Even so… the student council is only managing the salon, right?”

“Yeah. The dining hall and item purchase are under the jurisdiction of the academy, not the student council.”

Perhaps because most of the students at this academy are nobles, this academy values autonomy and entrust various decision-making rights to its students and their representative, the student council.

That’s why the student council handles the fixtures of the salon. But naturally, the academy’s staff would manage the dining hall and the item purchasing since the scale was too different.

But how did it relate to Violette’s remarks?

“Actually, it’s currently the best season to pick tea leaves in Cardina. The harvested local products from Cardina will be sold over the course of one year. But naturally, they have to process the leaves again to make sure they can preserve it for a long time. That’s why the taste dramatically drops.”

This was something common. To make sure the preserved products wouldn’t deteriorate, the producer couldn’t just keep it in the storage. That’s why they had to give something up to make up for it.

And the quickest way to extend the storage time was sacrificing the taste.

Still, the product was salable, probably since it was the mainstream tea among the commoners. But the students in this academy were particular about their food and drink. Of course each people had their own preferences, but they most likely rated a cup of tea not from its value, but the quality of the product.

“Then why do you recommend Cardina?”

Not only that Claudia didn’t find Markt’s price to be a problem, but he also couldn’t find a reason why Violette wanted to change the brand if the taste didn’t exceed the current one.

“It’s true that the taste will drop once they are processed, but there are exceptions. Currently, they will sell fresh tea leaves, and the taste is on its best. But the sales period is pretty short.”

“...Violette, did you ever drink it?”

“Several times in the part… This is my personal impression, but I remember that it tasted than Markt.”

“I see…”

Knowing what’s good was also mandatory to stand on the top. Everyone could have their personal tastes, but having the eyes to judge the good and bad of things was essential.

No matter how cheap and good the products were, what they had to learn was whether the value was proportional to the price. That’s why first and foremost, they had to try a lot of good products.

Whatever Violette’s preferences was, her tongue deserved a credit. Her position was even more excellent than a noble lady. Not even Claudia was confident that he had better taste than her.

Maybe I should try it once...

As Claudia pondered in silence, Violette’s expression gradually became clouded with anxiety.

Violette wondered whether she went out of line. Maybe she shouldn’t say anything. She was too focused on her tasks and rushed headlong to make a clear solution, but in the first place, Violette wasn’t an assertive person.

It's because she was used to being scolded, no matter if she had an opinion or not.

“Um… As I thought, let’s just stay with Markt. Cardina’s local tea is only available in this season and the sales period is also limited. I’m sorry, please forget it.”

For Violette, Claudia not saying anything like this was like a calm before storm. Thinking that she had wasted the prince’s time, she reached out to take the paper on the table to get back to the work immediately.

But before Violette’s fingers could touch it, the paper was already in Claudia’s hand.

“...Thank you for your valuable opinion.”

“Eh… but,”

“I can’t burden you with the procedure to change the brand. Leave the rest to me.”

Changing the name of the product already exceeded the typographical editing frame.

For a moment, there was clearly a surprise on Violette’s face, but she immediately hid it. Claudia noticed that, making him feeling somewhat awkward. He averted his eyes.

Claudia didn’t know yet how he should act to Violette. His impression towards her had improved a lot, but there was still a barrier between them. He couldn’t forgive her just yet.

But every time Claudia saw a glimpse of Violette’s side that he didn’t know, his heart would make a noise. Even himself didn’t know what was the meaning of his pounding heart.

“E-err… Thank you very much.”

“It’s me who should say thank you.”

“Then that makes us even, right?”

Was it only his imagination that Violette sounded a bit cheerful? Did he misheard how she sounded like she had relaxed her tension?

From the corner of his eyes, Claudia could see Violette covering her mouth with her hand…

When he saw that she was smiling, was it just his wish?

“Um, Vio──”

“Eh… Claudia, you’re here?”

“...!!”

“Oh, are you alright…!?”

“Eh? Miss Violette? Why are you here?”

Surprised at how the door suddenly opened, Claudia immediately stood up. His knees hit the table at the abrupt movement, but he suppressed himself from yelping out of pain. The furniture in this room was very sturdy, making it very tough. Naturally, the softness of the prince’s skin couldn’t protect his bones and they screamed in pain. Filled with pain and dissatisfaction, Claudia glared at his close friend who just entered the room.

“Mira… Knock the door before you enter…”