Before Desmia could ask Ferris for clarification regarding his cryptic words, she became aware of a susurration in a cluster of bushes behind them. At once, she dropped the tin of silver sugar plums by her feet and assumed a defensive stance. "Who's there?"
The partially concealed figure in the bushes squirmed slightly before fumbling out of his hiding place to reveal a nonthreatening and boyish face.
Ferris shuffled over to the adolescent. "Clove?" He moved to pluck a stray leaf from the boy's shirt with puzzlement. "...What...were you doing there?"
"Please forgive me for startling you, second young master, Lady Marysol. I had planned on making my presence known sooner; however, I wasn't able to find the right timing to interrupt as you seemed to be deeply engaged in discussion," explained Clove with equal parts embarrassment and guilt. "The madam sent me because she recalled that you had yet to partake in your morning meal and believed that you might've wanted to return for tea."
"So your waiting area of preference were a clustering of bushes? How oddly woodland animal-like of you," remarked Desmia sardonically. While she had a penchant for sneakily trailing other people and digging up their secrets, she despised others doing the same to her.
Clove avoided her prying eyes. "Yes, that is correct, Lady Marysol."
As a matter of fact, while the duchess was worried that Ferris would be hungry, she was also greatly curious about her youngest son's interactions with his future spouse. Thus, when she had sent Clove to the garden, she had specifically instructed that he was to spend some time secretly monitoring the two children before he was to escort them back inside.
Unfortunately for her, sending the inexperienced Clove as a spy was as good as not sending anyone at all since he had stood so far away, for fear of being discovered, that he had been unable to make out most of their conversation.
"Hm, is that the case?"
"Y-yes."
"Really? Is that all?" she drawled in a deliberate and probing manner.
"Yes, that is the truth," he stammered.
Because she couldn't sense any real malice from Clove despite his somewhat suspicious behaviour, she eventually relented. "Hmph. Well, alright then."
Harassing another family's servant, especially one that she reckoned was barely thirteen years of age, was hardly amusing to her. Just don't let me catch you a second time, kiddo. I won't always be this lenient.
She examined him critically. Actually, you should probably quit snooping altogether. I can tell that you haven't got what it takes based on this exchange alone.
Clove breathed a sigh of relief when she finally withdrew her attention from him.
He thought to himself that in contrast to her toylike size, young age, and lovely and angelic visage that couldn't even be mired by her current state of slovenliness, Lady Marysol had a way of putting a crippling amount of pressure on people—even when she was simply standing in place. It seemed that when the second young master's fiancée so desired, she had the ability to instantly make people feel both respectful and wary of her. Although it was difficult for him to be on the receiving end of it, Clove was genuinely happy that the perennially timid second young master had found such an imposing and formidable partner.
Ferris' eyes darted back and forth between the two suddenly quiet people for a few seconds before he decided to totter back over to Desmia's side and pick up the tin of silver sugar plums.
With tremendous care he brushed the dirt away from the half-opened package. After which he attempted to rearrange the torn wrapping paper in an aesthetically pleasing fashion. When he was at last satisfied with his work, he presented the package to Desmia once more. "Big sister....if you haven't eaten yet...let's go inside and have these with tea, hm?...I promise they're yummy..........they're yummy even if they're not...not lucky......."
Ferris took a deep breath to steady his quivering voice. "If you really don't like them...we can...we can have other snacks too...so let's go together, okay?...Won't you go together with me?"
After a long moment of consideration, Desmia carelessly took the package into her hands and begrudgingly tossed out a single, "Fine."
Then, without bothering to wait for either boy, she stalked off.
While Desmia tried to maintain an aloof expression on her face as she retreated to the manor, looking closely one could see signs of her inner turmoil. Why do I keep conceding to this rabbit-like brat? I'm not fond of treating him nicely...am I?...No! Of course not! Even though I've ascertained that he hasn't awakened to his immortal soul in this lifetime, it's still a part of him. Fourth brother's divine imprint reminds of it every time we make physical contact.
Her eyes fell towards the package she was holding. I just accepted this dumb thing because it's expensive. That's all. And! I only agreed to go inside for tea because I'm feeling hungry. That's right. The fact that he'd probably cry if I said no didn't bother me one little bit. Nope. Not at all. I'm just someone motivated purely by greed and gluttony!
A trace of a smile emerged on her face. Heh, greed and gluttony. I've got this mortal business down pat!
Pattering behind her, both Ferris and Clove's hearts were soaring.
Ferris was exuberant for many reasons. Firstly, he had found the person he had been searching for after many long days. Furthermore, according to his family, it seemed that he was going to "marry" this person in the future.
Although Desmia has no way of knowing this, in truth, the current reincarnation of the seventh prince only had a rather vague idea of the concept of marriage.
Though Ferris was a bright boy, all he really knew about marriage was this: two people who liked each other got married and married people would live together forever. He had been especially thrilled to learn about the latter from his brother because it meant that if they got married, he'd be able to play with big sister Marysol everyday!
Additionally, just now, his first ever present for her had been accepted and soon they'd be having tea together for the first time! Later, when he returned to the Wilton estate, he would dedicate four entire pages in his journal to today's blissful events.
As for Clove, he was exuberant because he could see how exuberant Ferris was. Later, when he made his report to the duchess, the exact words that he would use to describe the pairing between Ferris and Marysol were "a once in a lifetime, match made in heaven!"
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Brie looked towards Kale, whom looked towards Saffron, whom looked towards Tarragon, whom looked towards Earl Fairbloom, whom looked towards Desmia, whom was distractedly tossing a madeleine into her mouth.
"So......is the young mistress really engaged to Lord Ferris now?" questioned Brie tentatively.
Desmia promptly choked on the madeleine.
The instant Desmia showed signed of swallowing difficulties, like the well-trained servant she was, Saffron swooped in to feed her water and pat her chest to dislodge the blockage. Then when she saw that Desmia had coughed up the last of the madeleine pieces, she gathered them from the floor using a handkerchief in a practiced manner.
The earl's eyes were filled with concern as he studied his daughter's condition. "Are you alright?"
Desmia nodded weakly before shooting Brie a frightening glare. "For gods' sake, Brie! Were you trying to kill me?!"
Brie's expression was horrible as fell to her knees to repent. "I'm sorry, young mistress! I was just curious! I wasn't allowed to be here earlier and second-hand information usually isn't that accurate!"
"And whose fault is that?" retorted Desmia bitingly. "You're the one who's always breaking chinaware and spilling tea. Do you know how much that stuff costs? Tell her, Saffron."
"One pack of tea is approximately equivalent to thirty-five copper pieces or about six yards of fine cloth," Saffron rattled off.
"Mhmm. And do you know where we got our last six yards of cloth to sell from? The curtains in father's study! Do you know much sunlight he's getting in there now?" Desmia gestured to the earl with her hand. "Look at him! Don't you see how all that exposure has ruined his complexion?"
At this implication, the earl self-consciously glanced at his reflection in the silverware. He didn't think his skin was anywhere near ruined. In fact, he was confident that his skin and by further extension, his looks, were quite good for someone his age!
"But young mistress," whined Brie, "I would've been more careful if I knew that we'd be receiving your future husband!"
"H-husband?! He is not my husband!" she sputtered.
"I didn't say he was your husband," clarified Brie kindly. "I said he was your future husband. Your fiancé so to speak."
"He's not that either!!!"
A quarter of an hour had passed since the Wilton family had vacated Fairbloom property and yet, the inhabitants of Fairbloom estate were still unsure of how they should react to young mistress Marysol's mistaken engagement debacle.
"As of right now, isn't Lord Ferris technically your fiancé, young mistress?" pointed out Kale.
"Yes, it has been established that the eternity ring, which solidifies the engagement, cannot be returned," supplemented Tarragon.
"It can be returned in death, right?" Desmia held the ring tightly in her hand. "So what if I-"
At once, the scarcely intimidating earl's demeanor became bone-chilling. "Don't you even dare continue that sentence."
Desmia smiled sheepishly. "I wasn't going to suggest that this time, father. Not with me anyways. The duke said, "death of either of the involved parties," right? So, I was thinking that-"
Tarragon interrupted her with a cough. "It is not right to harbour such thoughts regarding another family's precious son either, young mistress."
"You're missing the bigger picture here, Tarragon," she insisted. "If we just-"
"Young mistress, even if you are merely jesting, some suggestions should still never be verbalized." Tarragon lifted the bridge of his glasses in a habitual fashion as he calmly reminded, "It is not suitable behaviour for a person of your position."
In other words, suicide and homicide were both firmly out of the question.
"It's not like he wouldn't be re-" Desmia stopped her argument short when she remembered that she couldn't exactly explain the cycle of death and rebirth to the party present.
"It's not like he wouldn't be what?" pressed the earl.
"Uh, he wouldn't be relieved? No, that's not right. Reasonable? Unlikely...Um. Remembered? Maybe. His family probably would..." She struggled to find the right word.
Brie appeared bemused. "What are you mumbling about, young mistress?"
"Ah, forget it! It's nothing important!" Using both hands, Desmia struck the table that they were all gathered around. "What's important is thinking of more ways to resolve this that apparently can't involve you-know what!"
After a moment of collective silence, Saffron decided to offer her opinion on the matter at hand. "Isn't it best for the young mistress to just accept her engagement to Lord Ferris as it is? At least for now anyways."
"Yeah, it's not like you'd be losing out, young mistress," Brie piped up. "I heard the youngest son of Duke Wilton is a terribly cute boy! I'm sure you two would be wonderful together! Together you could have a whole bunch of cute children and live in a cute manor!"
"We're not dolls playing house, Brie!"
"Just imagine the scenario for moment before you dismiss it, young mistress! Your future home would have a cute child next to a cute child next to another cute child!"
Saffron shook her head at her daughter. "Is "cute" the only descriptive word you know?"
"Of course not, mother. I'm just weak to cuteness!"
"Well, it's not like Brie is wrong," began Kale. "Even I thought that Lord Ferris was cute."
"He definitely has the kind of appearance that stirs up one's maternal instincts," noted Saffron objectively.
"You should've saw Lord Ferris when their graces told him that they had to leave early because some matters had popped up at home, Brie. He looked so adorably pitiful as he clung to our young mistress that I almost spoke out of turn to beg their graces to let him stay just a little longer," recounted Kale.
In fact, because the Wiltons' departure had been so urgent, Ferris was prompted to say goodbye before he could pour a single cup of tea for Desmia.
Brie hung her head regretfully. "Gosh, now I'm really sad that I didn't get to see young mistress and her fiancé side by side."
"If you keep calling him my fiancé, Brie, I'll feed you something that will render you incapable of seeing anything ever again," threatened Desmia through gritted teeth. "And if you think he's so adorable, then you marry him, uncle Kale."
"He nearly had to," the earl deadpanned.
"You wouldn't use "cute" to describe that pairing," quipped Saffron drily.
"That's something I'd rather not imagine," said Brie slowly. "By the way, how did that misunderstanding even come up?"
"I was curious about that too," admitted the earl. "Why did you say such misleading things when you didn't have the ring, Kale?"
A faint blush crept up Kale's cheeks. "I...um...uh....."
"I'm guessing it's because he thought you were talking about a different ring," hypothesized Desmia as she tossed Kale a knowing look. "I suspect you bought one for your little lover, am I right?
The others were surprised by this revelation.
"Little lover?" Brie gasped. "So you do like them really young after all!"
"I didn't mean it in that sense, silly." Desmia rolled her eyes once before she suddenly thought of something. "Actually, I'm not really sure if she is younger. Now that I think about it. I don't even know if "she" is even a she. I mean that would explain why he's so secretive about it."
The earl eyed Kale warily. "She isn't right, is she?"
"No!" Kale strongly refuted. "It's nothing like that at all!"
"Then why did you have to hide it from all of us?"
With his shoulders slumped he reluctantly confessed, "The only reason I didn't talk about this is 'cause...we're not really together yet."
"So just whom exactly is the other half of this "we"?"
"I really hope it isn't Ginger," muttered Brie. "I know she's always giving you extra carrots and stuff but her saliva is really out of control."
"See!" Desmia gave Brie a nod of approval. "I knew someone would agree!"
Finding a sympathizer in the young mistress, Brie's courage grew as she further revealed, "On top of the flying spit, she's really stingy too. When Kale isn't around, she always refuses to give us discounts for the bruised tomatoes and always tries to give us the smallest and lumpiest potatoes even though they're sold by count and not weight!"
"Tch. A perfect example of a parsimonious woman. It's not like Kale wouldn't be eating the produce you bring home." Desmia turned to Kale with her arms crossed. "The vegetable seller's niece really is no good!"
Kale held up his hands. "You don't have to look at me like that, young mistress. Ginger's not the person I like. The person I like is only Sherry."
"Sherry?"
"Sherry, Sherry, Sherry..." Saffron tried to remember where she had heard this name previously. "Ah! That's the name of the young lady who works at that old bookstore in Elkan, right?"
Kale nodded, abashed. "I happened to see this pretty ring while I was in town last time so I traded a few wooden carvings I made for it. I thought that maybe I could give it to her when we met next and maybe after I could tell her how I felt..."
"Aww! That's so sweet!" squealed Brie.
"I didn't expect that the young mistress would've stolen a march on me though. She skipped the confession and jumped right into the engagement!"
Desmia was thoroughly affronted. "You think I meant for this to happen?!"
"My dear daughter," started the earl in a heavy voice, "regardless of whether you intended for things to turn out this way, I'm afraid I'll have to agree with Saffron on this. For now, it seems that all we can do is accept this engagement."
She hadn't expected the earl to say such words. "But father I-"
"I know, Marysol. I know." The earl brought the aggrieved Desmia into his arms and tried to soothe her by softly caressing her hair. "It's just even if we had a way of verbally refusing the Wilton house, we'd still have no way of dispelling the enchantments on the ring itself, so proceeding with this engagement is all we can do. Of course, if you truly never end up developing romantic feelings towards Lord Ferris then this engagement will only be in name and I will do everything in my power to help you annul it when you're both of age."
Desmia knew that his arguments weren't unreasonable but a part of her was still unwilling. "But...but..."
"I hope you can trust my judgment." The earl pulled back a bit so that he could look into Desmia's eyes as he spoke. "As a father I know I'm lacking in many respects, but please don't doubt that I always have your best interests at heart. Never forget that you are my precious daughter, the light of my life, my one and only beloved sun, Marysol."
In front of Earl Fairbloom's earnest gaze and heartfelt sentiments, the last of Desmia's protests dissipated in her throat.
She thought of how much the man in front of her had suffered when he had lost his wife and how he much continued to suffer because of his struggles to raise a daughter alone and their accumulating debts. Looking past him she saw the three expectant faces of the family's servants. She knew that if she sincerely wanted to find a way to break her cursed engagement in the very next moment, these people would risk everything they had to assist her, including their lives.
This realization stirred up unknown feelings within the depths of her heart.
Following this period of self-reflection, Desmia came to a decision. Whilst leaning towards the earl to rest her head on his shoulder she quietly said, "Okay, father. I'll trust in your judgment. This engagement, I'll accept it."