While leaving Cale to his thought, Thalia quickly walk away and headed back to the Countess's room. Earlier, she was called to Deruth's study while in the middle of training. Hence, the Countess quickly dismisses her and reminds her to return back there afterward. Since the Count had given the confirmed departure date during the meeting, which will be in 5 days, Thalia listed all the things she will need at the top of her head as she walked in.
"That's all for our training today." The countess concluded as soon as Thalia walks in. Thalia immediately relaxed as she quickly recalled her lesson. Today they had gone quickly run through postures and gestures practiced amongst the nobility. Violan, as the countess, has been involved in many social gatherings and tea parties. On top of that, she also managed her own merchantry. Suffixed to say, The Countess of Henituse is definitely the best teacher she could ever ask for to prepare for her debutante and Thalia was thankful. She swiftly get up and thanked her.
"Thank you..again, Countess. For today. If there's nothing else, I.." Thalia needs to quickly leave to assemble some things when Violan immediately halts her.
"Wait!"
"Pardon?"
Violan clears her throat as she gestures to sit down again. Thalia tentatively takes a seat as Violan claps her hand, calling the maids in. Then, rows of the desert were carried in enough to bulge others' eyes out at the sheer beauty and quantity.
"For you. As encouragement, do enjoy them."
Stunned, she nodded, accepting the impromptu tea time. It's quite late after all, but she's alright with it.
Thalia reached out for the fork laid properly alongside the whole table of delicious-looking dessert. Though of course, Thalia's sight remains on one of them. The newly added desert.
Runettia Cheese tart.
"I will be eating then."
Thalia took a bite and a burst of sweet runettia fruit combined with the creamy and velvety cheese filling. On top of that, the pie crust was light and crispy...
'Oh wow, I am in utter bliss'
She enjoys that dessert so much as she eats them to her heart's content. Because of that, Thalia could not see the slight smile on Violan's face before it disappear as she was looking at her plate of desserts. The countess had prepared for so long, the perfect mix of runettia and cheese tart- the combination of Thalia's favorite. In the past, only when there was this dessert that she will stay a bit longer on the dining table during the rare few times when she joined the family.
Runettia - it's a round purple fruit with a tangy smell- the taste was mellow and sweet, much sweeter than the grapes from those farms owned by the territory.
Looking at Thalia enjoying her dessert, Violan let out a fake cough to cover up her slowly rising smile and say.
"Take this too. You can take your time to verify the information regarding the personalities of all the nobles who will be going to the capital. It will be helpful to you as you will be meeting them and gauging their intention if needed later."
Thalia looked towards the pile of paper Violan had pointed to. This information has been gathered by Deruth who had used his own network, as well as the information guild to purchase information on the other nobles.
"I will be sure to look through it."
It was probably difficult to purchase that file. In fact, it probably cost a fortune. Thalia remembered that information about nobles and those who are in high authority were always guarded and even pricier to purchase. It probably had about three or four lines about each person, but it was precious and expensive to purchase information on nobles. That's why, Thalia had secretly planned to build her own information network that has a wider reach and systematic approach.
She can hand it over to Basen a fully established one when she leaves in the future.
Once the tea time ended, Thalia excuse herself as she left the Countess's room. The file of informations was held by Maria as she passed it off to her who was waiting outside.
Thalia's mind was occupied with her next action plan when she heard another door close. Down the hallway, a figure shrouded in black emerged from Cale's room.
Brown eyes meet black eyes.
'Hmm? What had happened in that short time?'
Thalia held in her surprise as she avert her gaze from the changed title on top of Choi Han's head.
Choi han. Personal knight of Cale Henitutse. Single lifer.
Thalia just nodded toward him before heading her own ways. She decided that whatever happened between Choi Han and Cale- either its a deal or a promise has nothing to do with her. Though, she was glad- it seems that his eyes has less despair than when they first met, which mean all is well. Meanwhile, Choi Han's gaze momentarily headed toward Thalia's direction before turning back to Ron. Choi Han remembered her as the young miss that had given him the potion the other day- other than then, he had no further contact with her.
However, there will be more in the future- as she was included among the people he promised Cale to protect.
"Let's go."
Ron leads the way, with Choi Han barely suppressing his dislike towards him. As he thought, Ron is still a difficult person to deal with.
-SoTCF-
1 April 781 Felix Calendar
The just-risen sun shone softly on the city streets, bringing with it a flurry of early-morning activity. Puddles and misty air all around carry over the remainder of the heavy rain from last night. Thalia, with her hooded up, walks down the Rain City as she witnesses the people and shops starting up a new day.
Today, Violan has a prearranged gathering with the Northeastern ladies. As such, she had her morning free until the Countess returned after lunch. Thus, Thalia quickly prepared her outing set as she get ready to shop her list and things needed.
"Young lady, come and buy yourself some fresh batch of bread! Fresh from the oven!"
"Fresh goods! Fresh fish! Come get your fresh fish!"
It's lively and...loud. The hustle and bustle of the crowds does not mash well with her. Thalia quickly walked through the market and headed down the alley where her favorite artisan supply shop was located. Usually, she will simply put in an order and Maria will collect it later. But today, she decided to walk down herself, and while at it, she might as well do some 'surveying'.
Standing in front of a homely decorated shop. Avery Atelier - it's an artisan shop that supplies commodities from sculpture tools to painting sets. As Henituse County is a land famous for its marbles, sculpturer, craftsman, and artists from all walks of life tends to gather here. Hence creating steady demand for tools supply.
The sound of the bell chiming alerts the shop owner of the customer's arrival. Inside a well-organized shop, there was the shop owner- Mr. Aver, and a customer.
The shop owner come to the front as he welcomed Thalia.
"Welcome to Avery Atelier. How may I help you?"
"Yes, hello Mr. Aver. I would like to get my order please."
"Sure. And under whose name should I check it?"
Thalia took out her personal pendant with The Henituse Household.
"Oh! It is for the Lady of the house. I'm sorry for not recognizing you as it was not the usual maid. I have prepared the order at the back. Give me a moment please."
"Don't worry. I will take a look around."
Mr. Aver quickly went to the back store room as he quickly grab the list of things ordered by her the other day. One good thing about the Avery Atelier was the availability of the product and the range they had. As such, most of the time, Thalia can quickly procure the needed tools or goods from him.
Thalia looked around as she minutely aware of the other customer; a woman in her 40s. Her eyes flicker in interest as she read her info.
Fressia. A sculptor in training. Ex-assassin.
Meanwhile, the said person called out to the shop owner Aver as he is the only one manning the shop this morning hollered from the back.
"Aver! Are there any new arrivals for your tool set!"
"Is that you Freesia? If you wanted to check the new arrival, it's at the usual place"
"Thanks!"
Thalia mused. Truly, the county gathered more and more unique personnel. Why was an ex-assassin running here pretending to be a sculptor, she had no idea. But if it's a skilled assassin, perhaps she could be chosen as the dedicated information dealer? Though, a sharp dagger can be double-edged if the intent is unknown.
"Err, do you need me for something?"
Freesia awkwardly ask, breaking Thalia from her intent staring she did not realize she had been doing this since earlier. Feeling embarrassed, she quickly replied,
"A-ah, I'm so sorry. It's just, I- umm. I'm a craftsman myself and seeing another fellow artist makes me both excited and curious. Sorry for staring too much."
"Oh! No, I get that. It's the excitement over a shared interest, right? I'm a sculptor, well, I make a few though still in training. But, if you like, you could come and take a look at mine later."
"Are you sure?" Freesia noticed the sparkles in Thalia's eyes, finding the interest in the younger lady endearing. Unbeknownst to her, Thalia's excitement was more due to the opportunity to get in touch again with the assassin rather than the sculpture itself.
"By all means. My workshop is near the Gallery. We can meet there then."
Thalia nodded. Then they chatted some more up to when Aver reappear again with a fully wrapped parcel. As the payment has been given in advance, Thalia does a simple check added with a few more embellishments she gather from the aisle. Aver offers to call out for a coach ride only to be declined- Thalia can carry this much weight with no problem. Unlike her older brother, she still maintains a healthy lifestyle and exercises during her personal lockdown.
Thalia then walked out with upbeat footsteps, only to halt at the darkened sky.
'Ah, it's going to rain later.'
She was contemplating whether to simply head back or perhaps wait it out for a bit. A voice calls out to her in surprise turning Thalia's attention towards it.
"Young Miss?"
"Ah. It's you Ron."
Ron, Beacrox, and Choi Han had appeared together with goods in their hand. And a new sword. Seeing them together without fighting had made Thalia unconsciously smile as her heart in peace.
"It's good to see you guys are together. Have you done with your shopping?"
Choi Han who wanted to deny it stops himself as he looks at Thalia's smile. He just sigh in his heart, creating momentary alliances as he replied.
"We had done what was needed and wanted to head out for brunch."
"Ah, then you should come with me. I wanted to visit this restaurant called Place of Warmth. It seems to be a place frequently visited by some people in our manor"
Thalia recounted those few times when she plays hide and seek, and accidentally listened to the servants talk as they planned to spend their day off there. She had wanted to go there but then things happen. Thalia figured she might as well head there now.
"Young miss, let me carry that parcel for you." Ron offers, which Thalia immediately accepts. She hands it over as she forwards her invitation again.
After much deliberation, the trio decided to accept Thalia's suggestion after she pointed out they might as well accompany her as it will be raining soon. There's no point running back to the manor and letting their goods rained on, ruining it altogether.
Plus, there's no way they can possibly leave the kindhearted Young miss who healed them the other day by herself. Who knows if there's scum targetting her, right?
Better safe than sorry.
.
.
.
A/N: so I'm sure some of you can guess where on earth runettia comes from. It's just mixing match of words from prune and sunsettia hence becoming Runettia. Haha. I took the description from the second chapter of the first part of tcf, the sweet fruit that Cale like. It looks like an orange, but purple in color, and it tastes very sweet. Also, maintaining a constant 2000+ words every chapter is draining. Urk.