The little girl and Edina arrived at a big wooden door which was opened for them by a servant. The servant gave a bow to both of them and they stepped inside. The open door revealed a long grand dinner table placed in the middle of the room. The maids and servants, who were working, stopped their work and gave a bow to Edina and the little girl.
Edina did a hand gesture for them to stand, and so do the maids and servants did and started doing their works again. Edina and the little girl walked towards the grand dining table.
The grand dinner table had many ingredients on it, like loaves of bread, vegetable salad, steaks, chicken, Bedfordshire clanger, Black pudding, Pasty. Fruits like cherries, small purple plums, sloes, wild currants, brambles, raspberries, wood strawberries, cranberries, blackberries, red-berries, heather-berries were placed together in different bowls. Many sweets as well as temperance drink and so on, were also on the table.
The maids and servants were rushing from here to there, to arrange all the stuff. Just one hour ago, they got the order from the head butler that there would be noble guests coming. The number of guests and their social statuses are not told to them. Even the head butler does not know about the number of noble guests that are arriving. It is not his fault, because he tried to ask Edina about the number of guests. But...
"Guests are Guests. What is there in the number anyway?" Edina said with a dull tone.
Butler knew that it would be good to know about the number of guests at least so the preparation could be perfect and accurate.
"Y-yes! Miss, but-" before butler could let his thoughts out, his words were cut down by Edina.
"I am looking forward to receiving my guests and maybe you also, don't you? I mean, since you are prying so much. You must be very excited, it's been years since this mansion received guests, anyway."
"Huh, a, yeah-"
"Father is going to leave soon, but before he leaves, I want to have some more good talk with him," Edina said and chuckled.
With Edina final blow there was no room for Butler to getting any more information.
"Yes, Milady, I will send a maid with tea and new refreshments."
And just like this, the head butler was not able to know about the guests.
Without knowing anything maids and servants still did their best and arranged dinner room with more care. The table looked more like for a feast than a normal dinner table to share with guests. Even for noble, it was just too extravagant but Salmouth family is rich with its resources and money.
Nevertheless, servants and maids mind was wandering somewhere else. The Head Butler and Head maid examine every work with a fine-tooth comb. Fear of being scolded by Head butler and Head maid got the best of them. Even though most of maids and servants were working there for 7-8 years, they saw their masters for the first time, it was, of course, not loyalty but instead the fear of losing their jobs making them doing their work flawlessly.
Guest rooms were already clean to every inch and there was no work left to do. The empty vase was now filled with fresh flowers. The new mattress had replaced that old one. Furniture that was swallowed by the dust was now shining like new ones. Not just the guest rooms but all rooms of the mansion were cleaned thoroughly before because the owners of the household were coming back.
The ones that were going through the trouble were the kitchen staffs. The head chef, who was excited to death, was now feeling like he would die at any point at this rate. For all these years he was not able to show his talent to his master. And 'today' when the day finally came for him to present his dishes in front of his master, his master has to go out to some noble meeting. But he did not lose his compose, so what if that day is not today. Elder miss and young miss can be the one to taste his dishes.
But his dreams all crashed down, where he thought that he would only have to serve three noble, then he thought it would be only two but now he had to prepare for more because some guests are coming. Adding salt on his wound, Head Butler is not telling him about how many noble guests he has to prepare dishes for.
Even though the chefs in the mansion were doing their best to make the dinner best of best, but they had only made it for the count and his family, but now they also had to make the dinner for unknown guests. The chefs were suffering from Bangers and mash to Cumberland sausage in the kitchen, and to add on their suffer, apple pie and Yorkshire pudding were still not ready.
All the kitchen staff think that whatever had gone to the table would be enough and there is no need for more, but the head chef had a different fire in his eyes. He keeps on thinking of making different dishes after dishes. At this rate, the kitchen staffs are going to hospitalised.
On the other hand, Maids and servants were exhausted from running here and there. Even though everything was looking flawless but they were not able to convince themselves. The owners of the mansion came back after almost 10 years. For the first time in this 10 years, and now there would be noble guests in the mansion. As the time keeps on passing by, Head Butler, Head maid and all the maids and servants wanted to work harder and give their all. It becomes a challenge for them that they want to complete now, at all cost.
But there was a hidden reason behind the disguise of challenge. It would not be unusual for owners to replace the old worker to new. Especially to those they never had seen before or be served by. They were anxious to even think that they might be the one who'll be kicked out.
Meanwhile, Edina was giving her attention to decoration details, the little girl was looking at the worker's busy face. While looking at a busy maid who just placed pork pie at the table, the little girl softly called her sister, "Edina!"
"Yes?" Edina asked.
"You did inform the butler beforehand about the guests, didn't you?" The little girl said while looking at her sister with suspicious eyes.
Edina turned her head to look at her sister and said, "W-why are you looking at me with those eyes? O-of course, I had informed the butler beforehand."
"Ohh, really, it is fine then."
"Of course, I informed the Butler about a hours ago."
"What!"
Changing the way of the topic, Edina joyously claimed, "Look, they have done so well. I had not thought that they could do so well," She started looking around the room.
"Sadist," the little girl muttered.
Edina suddenly turned her head and asked with a dazzling smile, "Did you just said something?"
"Of course not," the little girl answered with a polite smile.
"Oh, I see." Edina slowly turned her head away from a sister.
"Which action of her is kind, huh?" The little girl muttered again.
Edina turned her head once again, to look at her sister and asked, "You said something this time, didn't you?"
"Ohh, I was thinking about the secret library that you and dad were talking about. Won't you tell me more about it?"
This time Edina looked at her sister with suspicious eyes, but soon, there was another beaming smile on her face.
"Of course, of course. It is my obligation as an elder sister to answer my little sister. Why I won't?" Edina laughed elegantly. "Overall, my sweet little sister is so sweet that she doesn't and had never mutter sarcastic remarks about her elder sister. Why won't I answer my sweet little sister? Right?"
The little girl didn't say anything and kept her polite smile on her face. Even though both sisters have a smile on their faces, the surrounding air was full of chill. Of course, both sisters didn't even notice it, but the cold atmosphere around them made the maids and servants, who were there working on their tasks, find it difficult for them to work because of the sudden chill they can feel.
Edina sighed and the atmosphere took at 180° degree change and everything went to normal. Edina closed her eyes to choose her words correctly. There was way too much to say at the same time so less to explain by the tongue.
"Hmm, Grandmother… never revealed too much information about her secret library. She just said that the library is in this mansion. For the young me, it was a task that I have to complete. So I always run here and there, just to find the library. But I never even got a glance of it. Even though I did not find it but every corner of this mansion become a part where I shared my memories."
Edina had a small and soft smile on her face, while her eyes were on the wall, but her focus was not on the wall. Edina continued.
"I used to spend my all day time on finding the library but as soon as the sun fall, I feel defeated for some reason. I sat around anywhere and become sad and every time that happens…"
Edina eyes moved to the table and stopped at the bowl of strawberries.
"Grandmother used to come to me and then says that any sweet little fruit can be the key to that library, with that she always gave me fruit. Most of the time it used to be strawberries and sometimes other fruits as well."
"Then?"
"Then…"
Edina grabs a strawberry from a bowl. "I used to eat it." Giving the little girl a grin, she ate the strawberry of her hand.
"After that, I again engaged myself in finding the library. We have two libraries here, one is at the first floor that even guest can go and look, the other is a second floor where only the family member and the people that they give permission can enter. I tried to find any things in and around those both libraries, but find nothing…"
Edina was staring at the bowl of strawberries and she kept on talking. The little girl attention break in the midway of the conversation, the moment her eyes fall on the bowls of fruit. The eyes were like two small dots on the bowl, blinking from time to time. They had no nose but a straight poker mouth and when they spoke their mouth open in a rectangle shape.
"Why is she kept on staring at me. Does she not like the taste of the strawberries?" Asked the bowl filled with strawberries.
"E-even t-t-through the gaze is at you-u, why d-do I feel s-so u-uncomfortable?" Asked the bowl filled with cherries.
'So cute~'
The little girl was not paying attention but Edina's words were still falling in her ears, but she was just admiring the cups and their naive tone conversation, and then...
"...Mom was always there to encourage me," Edina said.
Now all attention of the little girl got back to Edina but Edina was not even aware of it.
'Mom?!?'
"I think that finding that library was fun only because she was there with me in those moments," Edina claimed.
"I-I am sorry." It was a very small whisper.
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