So, why was Hesreth unhappy? Oh, nothing really. Her sister had run away from a family responsibility, and now that the responsibility was taken care of, she had chosen to return. Obviously, people were supposed to angry at her and kick her out of the house and so on. Well … that was what she expected.
However, contrary to her expectations, her parents even gave Riza money for transport to continue her journey! What happened to all the yelling and shouting and stuff? What happened to being angry and unforgiving until she repented?
Someone might say she was being petty, but she had endured having to be betrothed to someone she didn't really have any feelings for. Who could blame her? As someone who cared about her parents' affection, she thought agreeing to the betrothal was a way of acquiring it. Well, as the last-born child, she had been pampered by her parents when she was growing up. Even her elder sister protected her. She enjoyed this feeling.
That was until the elder sister she adored decided to run away, dumping all the responsibility of getting betrothed onto her. When her parents were heartbroken, there was nothing Hesreth could do. She had to make the hard choice. And then she did.
After four years, the prodigal sister returned. That wasn't the problem. The problem was that the parents who were supposed to be heartbroken were too accommodating. When her mother decided to forgive her, Hesreth threw a tantrum in defiance.
However, even her father, the one person who was supposed to side with her, forgave her sister just like that. He even gave her money to continue her journey. Wasn't this absurd?
As she was crying in her room, a voice suddenly asked, "Lady Hesreth, are you okay?"
"Oh, Teressa, it's you", replied Hesreth, wiping her tears.
Teressa was one of the maids that worked in the Wolfe household. She was short in stature, and her hair was blue in colour. She was the only one who was closer to Hesreth, that was why she could get inside Hesreth���s room and talk to her like this.
"What's wrong, Lady Hesreth?"
"Oh, it's nothing. You don't have to worry about it", replied Hesreth, trying to sound like she was okay.
Teressa sighed, before asking, "Is it about Lady Rizaneth's return?"
Hesreth remained silent. A little while later, she was bursting in tears, while her head was on Teressa's chest.
"There there. It's going to be alright. Everything will be okay soon", Teressa tried her best to console the lady.
Moments after Hesreth stopped crying, Teressa finally told her what she had come to say.
"Banquet? When is it taking place?" asked Hesreth.
"Four days from now. It seems they invited all the other families, including the Skycrawlers as well", replied Teressa.
"Where did you hear that?"
"Your father, Lord Wolfe, opened the letter send by Lord Severin personally. It seems they want to convey the news of the betrothal to everyone properly", Teressa reasoned.
"I-is that so? B-but why … and h…" Hesreth stammered. The questions she wanted to ask; she knew Teressa would not have answers to them. And that was why she decided to shut up.
"You don't need to think about it, Lady Hesreth. Four days from now, just prepare for the banquet, I will help you in any way. Is that okay with you?"
Hesreth's head dropped low, as it seemed like she was thinking about something. She raised her hands and scratched her head.
"Do you think it will work out?" Hesreth asked curiously.
"What?"
"I mean the marriage between me and Cadeius."
"Isn't it a bit too early to think about that? Right now, you should focus on attending the banquet. Don't worry about anything else. Besides, did you know that most generations of Wolfes went through arranged marriages?"
"And how did you know about that?"
"It's written in the family records. You can ask Gaur if you think I'm lying", Teressa shook her head.
"No that's not it. I don't think you're lying. But how did you read the family records? Aren't those restricted to family members only?"
"…"
"Don't tell me …"
"No, Lady Hesreth. I didn't go to the family library without permission. It's a story that's passed down to the maids and their children."
"Is that so? I'm sorry I doubted you."
"It's okay. The sun is now up in the sky. Are you not going to the Sky Merchants' Guild?"
"No. I don't want to run into father while I'm there."
"B-but how long can you spend running away from everyone?"
"As long as it takes!" responded Hesreth, through gritted teeth.
****
Reeve looked at the colourless portion in his hands. He had managed to extract the essence from the flowers. However, the essence was too little, and he was afraid it wouldn't work at all. He didn't have anyone to test it with. Just making the small amount of liquid in the flask, he had used up all the flowers he had collected.
That was when he realized that he had made a miscalculation. Extracting the liquid was not the problem. How much of the liquid would he have, and how much of it could be used as a sleep-inducing portion?
With a soft sigh, he stood up and prepared to go ask for a test subject. However, before he could do that, Jaen came inside the small room. Reeve was slightly surprised. The old man had never bothered to come check up on him.
"Umm … eh …"
"Just call me Jaen. Anyway, is that what you spent the entire morning making?"
"Yes. However, that's the only one I have. The ingredients I had were far too little. I also haven't tested the effectiveness of the portion as well", replied Reeve.
"Hmm. Tell me, what ingredients did you use?"
"Umm… Didn't we enter into an agreement where I wouldn't reveal those?"
Jaen laughed when he heard this statement. It seemed like he had heard the funniest thing.
"Fine fine. Whatever you say. So, how do you plan to proceed from now?" this time, Jaen was serious.