Chapter 44.1 - One Side was Only One Part After All (一面とは所詮一部でしかなくて)
Claudia glanced at Violette who was doing her task silently.
Violette’s straight back had relaxed. As she slipped her long flowing hair behind her ears, she meticulously scanned the paper. Following the movement of her hand, there were some scratching voice from the tip of the pen.
The thin wrinkles between her eyebrows made her look sharper. Claudia was sure that the him from before would misunderstand that expression as Violette feeling unhappy because she didn’t like doing the work. He had lowered his evaluation of Violette as he liked.
Presently, he had realized that he had a very narrow field of view. It’s true that her expression could be interpreted like that with a glance. But anyone would’ve realized that it was a misunderstanding after staring at her for a while.
Occasionally, her frown became faint, and her thinned lips would loosen. The way she bulged her cheeks made it looked like she was pouting. She would tilt her head and ponder for a while before her face suddenly turned bright. Immediately, she would start moving her pen.
Apparently, Violette was much more expressive than what Claudia had imagined.
Her usual calm attitude might not be a lie, but her current relaxed appearance also might not be a fake.
Now that she had hung her hair over her ears, Claudia could see Violette’s face even clearer.
Initially, he thought that her eyes were dark, but they were brighter than he expected. Her hair color was gray, but it had more white hue than black. Her eyelashes were so long that they seemed to have shadows. That might be the reason why her eyes gave off a strong impression. Claudia thought that her lips were bleeding red, but it was because her skin was white. They were actually a soft pink color.
Claudia knew that Violette was beautiful. She always had been beautiful since the beginning, and she became fascinating and gorgeous over time. But not even her change ever made him lost his mind over her.
So he thought that he wouldn’t be fooled by Violette’s appearance now. And yet the more he looked at her, the more he realized how shallow the way he had perceived her.
“Ah… Umm, this…”
“...!!”
Violette suddenly raised her head without warning, making Claudia’s shoulders shook. The reason he didn’t scream was that he was so surprised to the point his voice became hoarse. If it wasn’t thanks to that, he would have raised his voice, showing his unsightly side.
As a prince and as a man, he was glad that he didn’t do that kind of silly thing, but he couldn’t stop himself from drawing back from her.
“Er…?"
“Nnn…. I’m sorry. What is it?”
Claudia corrected his posture and tried to disguise his surprise by clearing his throat. Even so, it sounded so fake that Violette could probably see right through him. But before she could comment anything, Claudia immediately changed the topic.
Thankfully, Violette’s next words were about what she wanted to say to him. “Um, it’s this…”
“Something wrong?”
Claudia leaned a little to see the part Violette pointed at. He read the letters traced by Violette’s thin fingers silently, but the list of words and numbers he saw seemed to have no problems.
“This is… the fixtures of the salon, right?”
The term “salon” didn’t necessarily mean the room that was currently owned by the student council. Most students would link the salon with this place, but there was another similar salon here in the academy.
Students were free to use that salon, and the basic rest facilities were available. The academy salon was also under the control of the student council.
“It’s about this tea leaf.”
“Oh… It’s the usual one.”
There were no particular problems with the numbers, and the brands were the same they usually served there.
Not understanding what Violette wanted to say, Claudia reflexively frowned. It didn’t mean his mood had worsened, but he was just pondering on the question he couldn’t answer.
However, Violette cowered a little. In contrast to Claudia, her eyebrows were lowered, like she was wondering if she could continue to speak.
She’s also good at reading facial expressions, huh?
The things he didn’t know about Violette had increased again.
“...Continue.”
“Ah… yeah. Is there any particular reason for choosing this tea leaf?”
“We’ve been using it for a long time, and we just didn’t have any reason to change it. Moreover, Markt’s tea leaves are perfect in quality and taste.”
Markt was the brand name for the tea leaf. Actually, most of the things used in this academy were purchased from there. Not only the academy, but many nobles. It was a first-class brand that guaranteed its quality and taste. Honestly, Claudia didn’t think there were any other brands with more value than Markt.
He thought it would be the same for Violette.
“Then, how about changing the brand once…?
“We can try, but…”
To be honest, Claudia didn’t understand. Of course, it was a good thing if they could get better quality than what they had now, but if such a thing existed, it should’ve reached the prince’s ears.
“It’s from a country called Cardina. I’m sure the name of the shop that carries the product in Jularia.”
“Cardina… I’ve heard about them.”