I Reincarnated As A Minor Villainess and I Survived Past My Death Scene

Arc I, Chapter 14

Everyone stared at me in surprise. I smiled at Quatre, turning up the wattage by several degrees. "We must of course celebrate your return with a magnificent feast," I told him.

"That's quite alri—"

"It would have been better to let us know of your return earlier, of course," I cut him off, voice light and airy and not at all implying that he had been incredibly rude in not sending prior notice of his arrival via messenger as was customary for all returning forces. "But I understand you had just been so excited to come home quickly, isn't that right, Master Winner?"

Quatre's smile froze on his face, gaze turning calculating. Damn, he'd caught on earlier than expected.

"Apologies for not sending prior notice," Quatre stated. "In light of this oversight, you don't need to concern yourself with a celebration—"

Oh no you fucking don't, Quat! "Nonsense!" I cut him off again. "It would be a great insult to not provide our hardworking men a good meal!"

"...Sorry to trouble you." Score for me!

I turned to Howard. "Please inform the kitchen of our change in menu. As it's already quite late in the day," You didn't even give us enough time to prepare a more fitting meal, was obviously implied there. "The feast will have to be for tomorrow, but please make sure there's enough food for Master Winner and his men."

"O-Of course, Your Grace," Howard said.

I glanced around, eyes finally finding Jiroh – one of the butlers of the estate. "Jiroh, please notify Catherine at the stables to be prepared to help Master Winner's horse and the horses of his men."

"Yes, Your Grace!"

I turned my eyes to the next person. "Kaori, can you—"

With this, I effectively started handing out jobs to the servants still clustered around the entrance. Quatre could only stand nearby and watch me work; it would be impolite to demand my attention in this circumstance, and until I was finished, he couldn't ask any of the servants for a meeting until he was sure they didn't have to prioritize my orders first.

By the end of my flurry of orders, the only ones left standing in the entrance were myself, Quatre, Quatre's not-brother, Hilde (who informed me via eye contact that she was not going to leave my side), Mikhail (eyeing Quatre and his attendant stonily), Commander Broden (muttering something under his breath that I was actively refusing to hear), and Asahi (who tried to flee but was halted by the furious glare Mikhail turned on him). I also think I saw Sayaka crawl up the manor walls, but I stared very hard in the other direction so I didn't have to deal with that for now.

Now that we were on a good foot, time to get the real party started.

I turned to Quatre with a bright grin. "Master Winner – if you don't wish to retire to your room for a short rest, would you mind joining me for a cup of tea?"

I could hear Hilde's sharp inhale next to me. Too bad for her, nothing and no one could stop me now. And it wasn't like we could just put this off indefinitely – Quatre would eventually corner one of us down. I had to strike while the iron was hot.

Quatre smiled back at me gently. "I would love to! Thank you, Your Grace."

Geez, he's really good at this...

I had one of the nicer rooms prepared for us and one of the rarer teas we had served, along with some desserts. We parted ways briefly to change clothes before reconvening in the parlor, although I made sure I arrived first to establish I was the one welcoming him and not the other way around.