Chapter 13

"Leave the difficult talks to the men, and let’s focus on our social activities."

"Huh?! Y-Yes."

It was about the tea party she mentioned the other day. I thought she would go through with it, but the lady winked at me playfully, saying not to worry.

"At first, I plan to gather fans of my books for the tea party. So, Mimosa, you should find it easy to talk."

"That’s, that’s wonderful…!"

Interacting with fans of the same author…! It’s like a dream tea party. I felt relieved that I could join in the conversation with this.

Talks about the latest dresses and shops, to be honest, I still lack the knowledge. Feeling apologetic about this, I thought she might be concerned, so I apologized, but the lady laughed it off.

"What are you saying? I often host such tea parties. Once the conversation starts, everyone ends up sharing unrelated stories. That’s what a woman’s social gathering is like; all you need to do is listen well."

"That’s a great lesson…!"

"But this time, I want to make it extra fun. With no more than ten people, three tables should be enough. Say, could you do some embroidery on the tablecloths? With themes from my books."

Alex Cheryl has more than ten books. Choosing which book to embroider is a dilemma, but I enjoy embroidery.

"Which book should I choose? There’s no series, right?"

"Hmm… How about ‘In the White Rose Garden,’ ‘A Playwright’s Melancholy,’ and ‘The Starlit Lantern Shop’? I think each has a clear theme and intent."

"Sounds good…! I’ll do my best with the embroidery! Could I have about two weeks?"

"Of course. The tea party is important, but so is your lady education. I’ll take care of the other preparations, so please do the tablecloths. I’ll show you the tea party plan later, so you can study while looking at it."

"Yes! This is the first time I’m looking forward to social events…!"

The lady smiled softly at my excited cheeks.

Since the other party’s schedule had to be considered, we set the tea party for three weeks later. I spent the mornings practicing social skills (including tea and conversation with the earl, the lady, and Percival), and the afternoons embroidering until sunset.

Since the themes were from books I had read many times, the work progressed smoothly. It was the first time I tackled such a large project as a tablecloth, but I felt it was turning out quite well.

Two weeks later, when I showed the completed work to the lady, she exclaimed in genuine amazement.

"Amazing! Mimosa, you’re really good at embroidery. What if someone wants to buy it? I’d even pay to have you do more embroidery."

Saying that, the lady suddenly realized something.

"That’s it! Let’s make Mimosa’s embroidery shine in the social world!"

"Eh…?"

I wasn’t quite sure what she meant.