Flora's Farewell

The next day, I was planning to invite Flora to give her a proper farewell. My original intention was not the farewell though! I just wanted to create an occasion for Flora and Victor to get close.

I was planning to make a few arrangements to impress her on behalf of Victor. This included Astranian cuisine, some decorations, a beautiful nosegay bouquet together with a handmade greeting card and a farewell gift. I've also personally chosen a bookmark as the gift since I was aware that she could read.

Henry, Merlin and Nilo helped me with the whole preparations that evening. Victor was not there to supervise them as he had already left in anger. Because of his temper, I was left with the additional burden of supervising his subordinates.

It was almost midnight when Victor came back to the palace. At that time, I was still awake plotting the next plan and partially waiting for him!

To be honest, I was not able to sleep. I was worried and confused since I couldn't figure out a way to calm him down. I only went to bed after I saw him entering the palace.

Even after lying on the bed, I was wide awake for a few more hours. My mind was clouded with confusion since I was not sure if he was fond of me or not. 'Would he have protected anyone the same way?' I pondered as I rolled on that large bed.

From what I read in 'Romance please', Victor respects women. So in the end, I concluded his actions as an impulsive act because he couldn't bear any misbehaviour against women.

Even though I didn't feel special anymore because of my conclusion, I felt happy to have someone to protect me. I felt this for the first time in my life. It would have been great if my feelings halted with happiness. That's when I found something strange about myself.

I realized that I was feeling a few more sentiments like gratitude towards him. I immediately shot down that thought midway since it could be dangerous. After that, I tightly shut my eyes and forced myself into sleeping.

Even after I fell asleep, Victor didn't leave me alone I dreamt of him that night.

It was a nightmare where Victor protected me again from James and Evelyn. I just brushed off Victor's thoughts out of my mind and got ready for breakfast. Of course, how can I think straight when I'm hungry?

The daytime passed in a boring way as I had nothing much to do. My guards, my maids, and I had already prepared everything the day before. I only thing left for me to do inviting Flora.

For this, I didn't go back to the crown prince's palace again. I have been avoiding Edward because I didn't want to ignite the fire of jealousy in Evelyn. Since I was aware she is murderous I chose to stay in my safe zone. I believed she wouldn't mind me, at least for the moment, if I stay away from Ed. If there was no trigger in the first place, I may end up living.

I took out the scroll where I scribbled a compelling request letter to Edward and passed it to Ed through Henry. I knew Ed wouldn't be happy to send Flora out but he agreed because of his sister complex.

Merlin went to buy a fresh bouquet for Flora. Nilo was the only one who was left alone to do the work. He didn't seem annoyed but instead, he was happy and excited because of the party that evening. Though I found it suspicious, I let it slide.

The hero of the day, Victor didn't take part in any of the works that day as well. He volunteered to bring breakfast to the prisoners then stayed with them so I couldn't see him in the morning. My whole day time was ruined since I was waiting for him to explain the plan. When it was about an hour before Flora's arrival, fed up with the waiting, I started preparing myself.

After taking a shower again, I got dressed in a lavender blue sleeveless v-neck trumpet tulle dress. You may wonder how did I manage to find a trumpet dress there in Astrana. Yes, I made use of the fashion in our world there too. I've given the royal designer in the palace a few modern gown designs and prepared this dress for myself. The designer had designed it well pouring a few more of his creative skills. He had put a few more frills around my waist and lavender embroidery here and there. Also, to my dismay, he had added a Watteau train without asking my permission!

However, I looked pretty in that dress. Unlike the previous lifetime, my face, collarbones and neck looked delicate and fine. To fit the dress and the design Violet tied my hair into a classic low chignon and placed a sleek lavender flower crown on my head.

"Is this necessary?" I pointed to the crown and asked.

"The royal designer suggested it, Your Highness! It's a set!" said Lilly.

'Oh, so we have this kind of business here as well,' I thought. When she said 'set' I understood it was an additional piece and not free and the designer successfully sold a crown to me without even blinking an eye! I chose to be careful around that designer in the future, still, I loved the outcome of the crown and gown.

"Ok. Let's leave it" I lazily said since I had too much money to spare and stood up.

"I want to call you a lavender angel, Your Highness!" Violet said with a smile.

"Enough with praising me. Now wear your new gowns and get ready" I said, this time with a smile. "I would like to see the violet and lily angels too!"

The girls seemed so excited as they ran towards their room.

Later that day, after checking everything and receiving a few praising words from Henry and Merlin, I explained how should they behave in front of Flora. I had ordered them to not treat her as a maid but as a guest since she was a guest then.

It was going to be a party within our team. According to the plan, Henry will be the one to welcome Flora, Nilo will be the one to bring refreshments, and the food will be taken care of by Merlin. I have included a dance performance of Violet and Lilly to entertain their friend as well. Finally, Victor will have to give the bouquet, greeting card, and gifts to Flora. Then I was planning to say that he was the one who planned and prepared everything.

This thought itself made me guilty since Victor didn't take part in either. I brushed off this sense of guiltiness as usual then hopped to my next task.

It was the toughest of all. I had to write a poem on this greeting card glorifying Flora's beauty. This task was originally assigned to Victor since he was the only capable one. My handwriting was horrible. My subordinates didn't know how to read or write. Nonetheless, Victor was not there, I had to spend nearly an hour on this greeting card to write a beautiful message. After an hour, I succeeded in writing a four-liner that already existed. The result seemed average but I forced myself to feel satisfied since I didn't want to do that again.

Though these card giving customs were not present in Astrana, the people around me understood what I was doing then. They supported me in all my activities and wasn't dubious of the content in this poem since they couldn't read it.

Finally, after an hour that felt like a decade, they brought Victor to me.

When I looked at him, I understood he was still a bit dejected. Despite that, he didn't fail to glower at me like he usually does from far. I didn't bother to talk to him since I was also angry. I just ordered Nilo to explain the plan to Victor. I didn't bother to look in his direction after that.

When it was about the time of Flora's arrival, suddenly I heard someone sneeze! When I turned I couldn't find Victor anymore. Nilo was standing alone with the bouquet and gifts in his hands.

"Where is Victor?" I asked as I reached him.

"There!" Nilo pointed the path of the royal pond.

From the sneeze, the flower bouquet and all, I've already figured out that Victor had accidentally or purposely inhaled those pollens. 'What kind of a mess he is!' I blamed him internally.

"Welcome Flora!" I heard Violet and Lilly excitedly welcoming Flora at the exact moment. The female lead is already there but the Victor had already hidden inside my bathroom. I didn't know how to move on with the plan now. I just told Nilo to begin the party without us, then hurried to the royal pond.

The light entered through a glass rooftop reflected from the blue water to the white walls of that royal pond. That amount of light was not enough to brighten the dim room. Still, it was enough to see the objects in the area. I went inside since I was aware of the severity of Victor's allergic reaction.

When I reached near the pond, I saw the perfect side profile of him. He was sitting by the pond on a stair, blankly staring at the pond, lost in some serious thoughts.