Under The Moonlight

Chapter XXII

A/N:

Hindi po talaga ako maalam sa tea guys. Gumawa lang ako ng konting research. Kaya most of the information that you will read are gawa-gawa lang. No hard feelings. Kung may maalam man sa inyo sa mga teas, pasensya na in advance.

Yun lang, Enjoy!

Siessylt Andreana Georgianne Griffiths POV~

"NOW, SHALL we start? Irisia, prepare the tea please." I smiled brightly at them. "The tea that we prepared is Shiverstem Tea. Which is only harvested in regions inside the Grand Duchy. During winter, hence the name Shiverstem."

Hearing the name of the tea, halos lahat sila ay nanlaki ang mga mata.

Fufufu. Everything is going accordding to the plan.

"But, Young Lady Griffiths, isn't Shiverstem's harvest only amounted to much, that not even the Imperial Palace can get enough leaves for the annual Spring Festival."

A girl from four seats away from me said. Sinundan ng maraming pagsang ayon ang sinabi niya.

"Oh? Is that so? I didn't know." I faked a smile.

Sh*t, the Imperial Royal Family has limited supply of Shiverstem yet I have a storage full of it that's been there ever since I can remember and the old ones are being thrown because I don't drink tea often! Gosh! I've taken it for granted because I thought it is normal. Kailangan ko nang malaman ang common sense ng mundong ito para hindi ako magmukhang tanga o di kaya'y magmukhang mayabang. Katulad na lang ng ngayon.

Ang mga expression ng mga mukha ng mga batang nasa hulihan at malayo sa akin ay may bahid ng inggit. Habang ang mga nasa unahan at malapit sa akin ay may expression na nagmamayabang.

"Well, I have enough supply for a year. And I don't particularly like tea in the first place." Tiningnan ko ang ang mga nasa hulihan. "In fact, I have enough tea for this year, and leaves will only turn bad if not consumed so I would like to give you a jar each. As a thank you for attending my birthday banquet."

"Really? I mean..." the girl four seats away from me cleared her throat when she realized her tone. "Sure, why not." she became beet red and took a cookie from the table and took a bite from it.

A while later the tea was served. The tea party was smooth at mukhang nakalimutan na ng lahat ang nangyari kaninang umaga. Well, yun naman talaga ang dahilan kung bakit ko nasabing bibigyan ko sila ng Shiverstem tea leaves. Para maiwasan na mapag-usapan ang happenings kaninang umaga.

We were in the middle of the second cup of tea when Irisia went to my side and whispered something I would never think will happen. At least not now.

"The Imperial Children are coming, My Lady."

Ang hierarchy dito Estanilla Empire ay, mula sa pinaka-mataas na posisyon pababa, The Imperial Family, The Grand Dukes, The Dukes, The Marquis', The Counts, The Viscounts, The Barons, The Middle-Class Families, usually those who are merchants, blacksmiths, and anyone who owns a store, and The Commoners or Lower-Class Families, the working class of people.

Harsh ang trato ng mga nobles sa mga middle to lower-class. They even made the commoners not study the English language to make themselves feel they are superior. Kaya naman grabe ako kung pagsabihan ni Irisia na hindi ako dapat na magsalita ng commoners' language para hindi ako 'ridicule' ng mga ibang nobles.

It is funny, kasi at one point in the past these people who pride themselves as nobles were commoners themselves. At bali-baliktarin man natin ang mundo, hindi nila maalis iyon. And seeing the reactions of the kids kaninang umaga, nung inakala nila na commoner ako, I realized that the hate ran deep in the roots.