Transmigrated into a Fantasy World with No Clue What to Do

Chapter 32

Angus’s Question / Izzy’s Antici-

            After tea, us girls took a stroll through the flower gardens at the rear of the estate.  There were several varieties I recognized from earth, but there were also many that I did not.  Regardless of whether or not it was one I already had some familiarity with, I stopped to smell each of the varieties of bloom.  Each of the floral scents brings its own smile to my face and I find myself wishing that I could have flowers like this to appreciate year-round.

            Actually, I could ask Dad and he would likely make it happen for me.

            While I continue my explorations of scents, I notice Maribelle following my lead, and even a few of the flowers bring a faint smile to her mostly expressionless face.  Izzy on the other hand is practically exploding with energy as she bounces from one place to the other talking about a bunch of different topics, at the moment it is the etiquette instructor at her and, potentially, my school.  Apparently, she is even worse than Mrs. Finnley, and to hear Izzy describe her, she sounds like pure evil.  Izzy expresses this sentiment by making what I assume she thinks is a scary monster face, but just comes off as cute, and I find myself giggling at her antics.  Maribelle seems to ignore Izzy at first glance, but I notice her occasionally nodding along in agreement with what Izzy is saying about their instructor.  We are only about halfway through our walk in the gardens when Angus shows up and informs us that it is nearly time for dinner and that him, Izzy, and Maribelle have all been invited to stay and partake.

            “Actually, Izzy,” Angus says as we reach the doors leading into the mansion.  “The Duchess asked me to send you and Mari to see her about something before we eat.”

            “Oh?”  Izzy pauses for a second.  “OH!  I bet she wants to know if Mari and I will stay the night like we did when we were younger!  It’s been years since we have had a proper sleepover!”

            “But-“ Maribelle starts to say before she is cut off. 

            “Come on, Mari!” Izzy says loudly, her excitement beaming as brightly as the sun on a clear day.  She grabs Maribelle’s wrist and starts to drag her away.

            “But-“ Maribelle starts to once again say before she is again cut off by Izzy.

            “Less talk, more walk!”  She says, which I find amusing coming from her.

            “The Duchess is in the den.”  Angus calls after them, making Izzy do an about face, heading the opposite direction, dragging poor Mari behind her. 

            After the girls pass us by and round the corner, Angus turns to me, his face serious.

            “Beira, I have something to ask of you,” he says, taking my petite hand into his.

            “D-d-did something happen?  What is it?  Is everything okay?” I ask, concern showing. 

            It has been too long since I saw you last.  Please tell me you don't have to go away again.

            “What?” Angus pulls back slightly as if he had been slapped, his eyes wide.  “No, nothing happened.  Why would you think something was wrong?”

            He pulls his free hand to his face, covering his mouth as he chuckles a little before clearing his throat.

            “Then w-why the s-serious face?”  I ask, confused.

            He leans in, his face close to mine.

            “I just wanted to formally ask you to provide me with your first dance at my sister’s ball.”  He says, his fiery blue eyes staring into mine.

            “O-oh.  Oh!”  My eyes widen as what he just said registers.  “I th-thought that was a given?  W-we are enga-enga-engaged, after all.”

            “But we have yet to give the formal announcement of it.”  He replies, his face souring for a brief second before brightening again.  “On that note, Izzy wants us to do the announcement at her ball, since circumstances prevented it from happening at yours.”

            “B-but won’t that take the s-spotlight off of her at her own p-p-party?  That would be rude,” I point out.  “P-plus, from what I have heard, our engagement is the w-worst kept secret in the kingdom.”

            I blush thinking about some of the things Mary has told me that people have said on the subject.

            “That may be, but this was a request directly from my sister and when my parents heard her ask, they brought up the same point.  She then formally requested it as a birthday gift from me to her and I couldn’t argue with that.”  He says and then he lightly blushes.  “She added one other condition to the announcement, but you will have to wait to see what that is.”

            Angus clears his throat.

            “So, will the Lady Beira honor me with her first dance at the ball?”

            “Y-yes!” I smile happily as I answer.

            “And maybe the final dance as well?”  He has a mild smirk on his face.

            I nod grinning even bigger.

            “And even some in b-between, should you wish the honor to b-be yours,” I add.

            “The Lady Beira offers up her hand in dance so freely.  Should I be worried?” His eyes sparkle mischievously.

            “Oh no, My P-prince.  My hand is only for you, sh-should you have it.”  With his handsome face still so close to mine, I can’t resist and dart forward, kissing him softly on the lips.

            Angus drops the hand that he was holding and pulls back slightly, his face flushing.  His hand moved up to his lips as he stares at me wide-eyed for a second before stepping forward and wrapping an arm around my waist, pulling me closer.  With his other hand, he gently grabs my chin and guides my lips to meet his with a gentle, longer kiss before releasing me and stepping back, looking pleased with himself.

            I hear a throat clear behind me, and I turn to see Izzy standing with Mari, her eyebrow arched.

            “Now, now, dear brother.  There will be ample time for that at the ball, no?”  She says, striking a classic villainess pose.  “Till then, hands off.  She’s mine.”

            She steps forward and grabs my wrist, as she had done with Maribelle earlier, and starts to drag me off with Mari trailing behind us.  Using my free hand, I lift it, thumb to the ear and little finger to the mouth as I mouth ‘call me’, which earns me a look of confusion from Angus.

            “Dinner will be ready in five minutes, Your Highness.”  Mari says in her monotone voice.  She pauses to curtsy to him once and then follows after me as Izzy drags me off. 

            As I’m being carried away, I look back and see Angus looking like he wants to say something while reaching toward me.  He stays that way for just a second before dropping his outstretched hand and sighing, with mild irritation on his face as I am pulled around a corner.

            Izzy leads me into a nearby room, which is apparently a study or office, and shuts the door after Mari trails in behind us.

            “Beri!” She starts, excitement on her face.  “The Duchess asked us if we would be willing to spend the night because you had missed us!  Well, me anyway, since you most likely don’t remember Mari.  Anyways, both of us agreed to spend the night!  We’re going to have a sleepover like we used to!”

            Her energy is practically bursting from her giddiness.

            “Even Mari is ecstatic about it, aren’t you?” she says, pointing a finger towards the expressionless girl. 

            I turn towards Mari and look her in the eye.  She simply nods once and I believe her.

            “She, the Duchess, is penning a letter to both of our parents, as we speak, to make sure we have permission!  And then tomorrow, the Royal Tailor is going to come over to get you fitted for a gown for my ball!  Oh, Beri, we are going to have a blast tonight!”  Her words come almost too fast to understand yet my ears are able to keep up.  “Mari has this new card game she was wanting to try out, which she got into because of one of the gardeners at school that she has a crush on, which she assures me will be fun, and we can stay up late telling each other ghost stories, AND, the most important part of all…”  She takes a deep breath.  “We can talk about boys!”

            I just stare at her, not sure how to respond.  First of all, my knowledge of boys goes way further than hers, but more importantly, I only really know one in this world that is close to my age, and I’m already engaged to him.  The next closest to me would be Thomas and he is at least in his twenties and married with a child on the way.  Also, due to her station in life, she will likely not be able to pick who she marries.  That said, her enthusiasm on the subject is commendable, entertaining even.

            I sigh and turn around to hide an amused smile at the plucky princess’s behavior that is on my face.  I make a show of shaking my head before heading toward the door.  I see Mari watching me and her eyes flick down to the grin I have, then back to my eyes.  For one almost imperceptible moment, the corners of her mouth turn up, before vanishing just as quickly.

            “What?” I hear Izzy say from behind me. 

            I see Mari pass me, heading toward where Izzy had been when I was looking at her.  I pause at the door, trying not to laugh as I can see in my head how this will play out.  Sure enough, a second later I hear Izzy shriek.

            “Stop petting me like I’m some lost dog to be comforted, Mari!” she cries.

            “Time to go,” I hear Mari say, her voice never betraying the amusement I know she is feeling. “Eat.”

            Izzy grumbles something, but then I hear her footsteps approaching from behind as I open the door.

            After exiting into the hall I pause, realizing I have no idea which way to go.

            “This way, Beri.”  Izzy says, grabbing my arm to, again, pull me along like a puppy dragging its favorite stick.  “You have no idea where you were going, do you?”

            “I could have figured it out,” I reply stubbornly, before adding under my breath, “eventually.”

            We arrive at the dining room after a fairly short walk.  It turns out, we were a lot closer than I realized.  Angus is sitting on the side of the table furthest from the door with an empty chair beside him, while my parents are seated at either end.  Izzy rushes forward, as if she is going to sit on the side nearest her brother, but a quick glare from him cuts her off.  He looks at me and motions to the chair next to him, placing me closer to my mother than my father.  Maribelle takes the seat across from me while Izzy ends up sitting across from her brother. 

            As soon as we are all sitting, the servants bring out the first course, a light cream-based soup and some kind of grilled fish on a bed of greens.  As we eat Angus and the Duke discuss kingdom politics amongst themselves.  While I try to listen in to his discussions with my father, I am unable due to Izzy finding her second wind and discussing everything from the colors of the flowers in the rear grounds to interesting beauty products she had discovered thanks to way too many people for me to keep track of.  Maribelle sits stoically through it all, occasionally nodding to let it be known that she is paying attention, though I notice her intently watching both Angus and my father, as if tracking their discussion at the same time.  My mother, taking Izzy’s exuberance on every topic under the sun in stride, is clearly used to this kind of setting and behavior, replying to the princess and even adding her own opinions when necessary.  I mostly stay quiet and observe while finding myself enjoying the chaotic energy that Izzy brings to any setting. 

            It isn’t until the second course arrives that Izzy seemingly stops to take a breath, but then continues as if a mere breath were nothing more than a fly irritating her.  She ate, I know she did because her food vanished as quickly off her plate as it did anyone else’s, but for the life of me, I can’t figure how she managed it.  Occasionally, she will ask my opinion on whatever she is talking about and, if it is something I am knowledgeable about, I’ll give a reply, but mostly I end up shaking my head because I don’t know an appropriate response.  Toward the end of the course, Maribelle finally manages to get Izzy to pause long enough to remind her that I don’t know who Victoria Glinberton is because I don’t have a memory of my time at Saint Astra’s Academy for Young Ladies.  Izzy, upon being reminded of this, simply replies with an “oh,” before continuing as if she hadn’t been interrupted.  To her credit, after this point, she explains who the people she is talking about are, which actually helps me in following what she is saying. 

            By the time we reach the final course, a maid walks into the room and, after taking a moment to bow and apologize for the interruption, hands my mother two envelopes, one sealed with a red wax that had the emblem of the royal family pressed into it, and the other bearing a plain wax seal.  Opening them and reading the contents of both brings a smile to her face.  It is at this moment I realize that Izzy has been quiet the entire time my mother was reading the letters and is looking at her expectantly.

            “I’ll have rooms prepared for you girls for tonight, though we will have sleeping arrangements set up for the two of you in Beira’s room as well if you two wish.”  My mother says after giving Izzy a minute to stew in anticipation.  “Both of your parents even said that you are welcome to stay tomorrow night as well, but would need to be up and ready in time to go to class the following morning.  Both of your uniforms, a change of clothes, and your sleep clothes will be sent over later tonight.”

            The squee that Izzy releases at this news is almost ear piercing, drawing an annoyed look from her brother.

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