Tea Forest.
Tsubaki and Kanako arrived at the tea party a quarter to 3. Countless of guests had already mingling around the area. The tea house belonged to one of Mrs. Souma's friends who also joined the foundation. Kanako said most of the tea parties were held here.
"Let's find Mrs. Souma first," said Kanako from the side.
Tsubaki nodded. She was trying hard to keep her nervousness in check. She silently followed Kanako walking inside the tea house.
For the occasion, Tsubaki chose a mint green dress reaching below her knees paired with a pair of white heels. The boatneck cut revealed her delicate collarbones. Since she didn't want to appear too extravagant for a simple event, she just wore her wedding ring without any other accessories, except for the small white rose hairpins adorned her simple knot half-up hairdo. She let the rest of her hair loose.
"She's over there!" Kanako nudged Tsubaki once she saw a lady wearing a beige long dress.
Both of them walked to the elegant looking woman.
"Aunt Shiori!"
Mrs. Souma paused from speaking to a group of older ladies when she heard Kanako's cheery greeting. Her face brightened when she saw Kanako approaching her. Her eyes landed on Tsubaki's face who followed Kanako from behind. Her lips parted slightly in shock before she quickly focused back on the two of them.
"Kanako! Tsubaki is here too! Welcome!"
Mrs. Souma warmly greeted them with a small hug. Tsubaki smiled sheepishly when she realized that Mrs. Souma was actually startled to see her here. She quietly whispered beside her ear when the older woman embraced her.
"Kanako invited me here. I'm sorry if I made you felt surprised to see me."
"Nonsense!" Mrs. Souma chuckled as she patted Tsubaki's arms. "I actually wanted to invite you myself but I was afraid you won't like this type of event."
Tsubaki smiled. She understood the meaning of Mrs. Souma's words. The older lady was pointing to the unnecessary troubles she had to face during Grandma's birthday celebration before.
"Mrs. Souma, who is this young lady?" A woman in black two-piece dress assessed Tsubaki from up to down. She had never seen this lady before.
"You're the young Mrs. Fuse, right?" Her friend who stood beside the first woman exclaimed excitedly. "I've been to Matriarch Fuse's birthday celebration the other day so I remembered you!"
"What?" A woman wearing a pair of rimless spectacles gasped in shock. "You're the Mrs. Fuse?"
Tsubaki looked at each of the women's faces. She politely smiled and bowed her head to greet them. "Nice to meet you. I'm Fuse Tsubaki."
"It is you!"
"Wow! I can't believe the handsome, young President Fuse has gotten married!"
"Aw~ It seems like my daughter has no chance now."
Tsubaki felt her smile stiffened when suddenly a group of women dressed in their expensive dresses and pieces of jewelry came flocking around her. Seeing the faint look of distress on the young lady's face, Mrs. Souma and Kanako immediately began to disperse the crowd.
"Ladies!" Mrs. Souma stepped in front of Tsubaki, shielding her from the excited women. She clapped her hands once, trying to gather their attention. "I know you want to get to know her but our party has started! Please, take your seat!"
"Quick! Let's go to our seat!" Kanako whispered to Tsubaki. Before Tsubaki could answer anything, she pulled her to follow her to go to a table.
Once Kanako dragged Tsubaki away from the small commotion, the crowd scattered. Each of them took their respective seats. Tens of round tables were placed in the hall of the tea house. Six people would share a table. The event would start with the displays of the creative works of the children from the orphanages. Whoever wanted to put a price on the artworks, they could secretly do so without revealing their identities.
"Would the donors keep the artworks?" Tsubaki said quietly as she leaned towards Kanako. A presenter was displaying a set of wooden boxes with intricate carvings on them.
"Depending on the artworks," Kanako replied. "Most of them would be returned back to the respective orphanages. But, in some cases, like the beautifully crafted boxes on stage right now, they would go to the donor's hands."
Tsubaki nodded in understanding. She remembered that in order to expose the children to various fields especially related to creative works, Mrs. Souma would encourage them to learn the arts and produced their own works. The works handcrafted by the children would be displayed during the tea party and the guests would donate the amount they found appropriate with the artworks even though most of the time the prices would exceed the real value.
Mrs. Souma wanted to instill the belief that instead of blindly donating money to the orphanages, it was better to take this opportunity to brush up the children's skills and show them that they too would have things to be offered to the world. The most interesting part was a few of the children had been discovered as geniuses and attracted the attention of certain masters in their fields.
Tsubaki took an interest in a drawing of a night sky presented currently on the stage. Although the drawing was still far from the one would usually see at an art gallery, she instantly fell in love the moment she saw it.
It was a drawing of a couple sitting side by side on a grass field, looking at the night sky brightened with countless stars above them. The drawing reminded her of their time together on the mountain before.
Ren had given her the freedom to donate her money as much as she could so Tsubaki took the small gadget from a box in front of her and inserted the amount that she would like to donate for the drawing. She even chose the option to bring the drawing back with her.
"A donation has been made to this artwork!" The presenter announced once she saw the screen on the podium where she was currently standing. "Thank you for your generous donation! We'll move to the next piece!"
Tsubaki smiled sweetly as she was imagining the look of her husband's face once she brought the drawing home. Kanako who saw her bashful expression chuckled lowly beside her.
"Are you thinking about your husband? Come on! You're just separated for a few hours from him!"
Tsubaki pinched Kanako's arms lightly, signaling her to keep quiet. Kanako winked as she got her message. She immediately turned her attention back to the stage.
In the fun she currently having, Tsubaki didn't forget her main motive in coming here. She had secretly scanned around the room to look for the director's face. After a few attempts, she saw the elderly woman was sitting a few tables away from her right side.
And she noticed that the woman had been eyeing her too.
It seemed like what she had thought before did happen. The director was shocked when she saw her face, much to Tsubaki's relief. Apparently she would have a chance to strike a conversation with her soon.
Now, how should she act first?