Chapter 51
Prince Magnolia was only eight years old at that time.
He had tagged along with the King when they visited, and the young prince was terrified of the interior of the Laudense Ducal estate which had not changed in a thousand years and cried on the spot.
“Can you imagine how terrifying it is for a child to see that black carpet with red spells woven into it?”
“Those weren’t spells, those were merely patterns.”
“Right.”
Violette was redecorating the mansion’s interior.
The carpet that the prince found eerie was already kept in storage and was replaced with a new, chevreuse green carpet.
“So your wife also found it creepy like I did.”
“She hasn’t gone as far as saying it was creepy.”
“Alright. If you’ve already redecorated, then I’ll be troubling you with a visit tonight.”
It might be sudden, but I’m sure my excellent servants would be able to handle it.
I should also use letter magic to tell Violette to make preparations for hosting Prince Magnolia tonight. I should also tell her that I plan to tell him about her curse.
◇◇◇
Hydrangea went straight home after work. Prince Magnolia was scheduled to arrive in an hour.
“Hurry up! We only have an hour left!”
It was noisy in the hallway. When he went to see what was going on, he found Violette surrounded by her attendants while giving instructions to the servants.
“Oi, what’s going on?”
“Oh, welcome home, Dear.”
“I’m home. Wait, that’s not it. I’m asking you what this all is.”
“What do you mean? Prince Magnolia is coming over, so I requested the servants to prioritize the rearrangement of the guest and dining rooms of course.”
“Aren’t you done with that yet?”
“Not at all. It’s nowhere near finished yet.”
Currently, it appears that only the replacement of carpets has been finished.
“At the very least, the curtains need to be changed from black to the flower-patterned ones and get a chandelier with some red lights.”
“……”
“The house looks creepy after all.”
It seemed Prince Magnolia wasn’t the only one who found the mansion creepy.
Violette had gotten to work right away as soon as she received the letter from Hydrangea and proudly replied that she would make it on time.
“Dress, check. Perfect.”
She was dressed in a non-flashy, serene, old rose dress. Her golden hair was curled in a manner befitting a lady of the night, and it was held in place with a rosework comb.
“How do I look?”
“……”
There was no response, so Violette took a step forward.
At the same time, Hydrangea also took a step backward.
“Why are you retreating?”
“It’s because you’re drawing nearer.”
“Well, you aren’t answering my question.”
“But there’s no need for you to come closer.”
“It looks to me you have difficulty hearing, so I decided to approach.”
“Excuse me, I am not hard of hearing! I am an Elf!”
“Then you only need to answer my earlier question, no?”
“You’re beautiful! There, happy now?”
Although it sounded like he said it in desperation, Violette’s cheeks flushed as she stared at Hydrangea.
“What?”
“I just never thought you would compliment me.”
“……”
While she was pleased, Hydrangea looked more and more embarrassed.
He regretted that he should have not taken the girl’s words to heart and let it be.
“Oh I must tell Verbena that you called me beautiful!”
“!?”
There’s no need for that. His hand had reached out before he could say it out loud.
Hydrangea grabbed Violette’s arm.
[N-nyaa!?]
Violette had turned into a cat in the blink of an eye. She shouted in surprise at the same time.
[W-what is the mewning of this!?]
Violette landed on top of her dress.
[I-I’m going to stay like this for at least five hours you know!]
“……”
You’re already cute enough so you should be fine. The words almost escaped his throat but he swallowed it down.
[I even went to the trouble of dressing up because we were going to have an audience with Prince Magnolia.]
“So you got dressed up like this for His Highness? You only asked me to check how you looked?”
[What are you talking about!? It’s only good manners to look presentable when guests are coming over!]
“……”
She dressed up for Prince Magnolia. For some reason, he did not find that amusing.
But this was not the time to be troubled over confusing feelings that he had never experienced before.
“If you’re that worried about how you look, then have someone brush you.”
[Why?]
“Look at the mirror. Your fur is standing all over because you’re so angry.”
[!?]
Violette turned around to check herself in the mirror.
[I can’t see it!]
“Of course you can’t. Hey, accompany her back to her room and brush her fur.”
“Yes, Master!”
The attendant took her in her arms and accompanied her to her room.
Violette cast a resentful glance towards Hydrangea as she peeked from the attendant’s shoulders.
Looks like I’ve made her hate me again.
An hour later, the Laudense Ducal couple welcomed Prince Magnolia into their home.
“Err, Hydrangea, are you serious?”
“I am.”
Prince Magnolia was taken aback when Hydrangea introduced a cat as his wife.
“Don’t get the wrong idea. She is not a cat but a human.”
“Ummm… I can’t see anything but a cat, but she looks human to you?”
“No! My wife is afflicted with a curse that turns her into a cat when touched by the opposite gender.”
“That’s— is that so? You’re not just pulling my leg?”
“She’s the real thing. Now, Violette, go ahead and greet His Highness.”
[……]
Violette pouted and looked away, perhaps still upset about what happened earlier.
Prince Magnolia’s stern gaze pierced through Hydrangea.
“Hey, Violette, you are in the presence of His Highness. Won’t you speak?”
[……]
Violette pouted even more and refused to speak.
This made Hydrangea appear completely like an embarrassment who loved cats so much that he married one and regarded it as a person.
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