Chapter 4 (2/2)

“…”

Dahlia rubs my back as I stand there, my shock rendering me unable to move.

“If you would like, I may select an outfit that suits you, Mistress.”

“… Please do so.”

I felt dizzy at this lifestyle that was so completely different from what I was used to.

Dahlia selects a light blue dress. She and Mimosa then help me get ready.

“Oh yes, where does my husband take his meals?” I ask in front of the mirror.

“The Duke lives completely separately with his companion,” Dahlia says coldly in a single breath.

Wait one sec, Dahlia’s expression, which had been gentle all this time, immediately went expressionless. Her eyes look crazed. And it’s not just my imagination that I saw a blizzard is blowing behind me, is it. I feel something similar from Mimosa.

H – how scary! Wait, who the hell is his “companion”!?

“U-um, who is this ‘companion’? Did a friend or someone like that stay over last night?” I ask, despite my fear of the aura emanating from them.

“She is favoured by the Duke and lives in the detached building.”

So you won’t call her his lover or his girlfriend, huh!? Dahlia’s voice is low and scary. Mimosa, standing next to her, narrows her eyes. It feels like a blizzard is blowing in the room.

“You mean his girlfriend, right?”

“You may call her that.”

Co-o-o-old! Her response is so cold!

“And her name is…?”

“She calls herself Calendula, I believe?”

Why is that phrased as a question? Was she trying to make it sound like it didn’t matter?

“D – Dahlia? Mimosa?”

The two of them realized that I was frightened.

“M – my, I apologize profusely, Mistress!”

“You do not need to worry over it, Mistress, aha ha ha…”

The gentle atmosphere from before returns and in a fluster, they go back to getting me ready.

Hm? Could the servants dislike my husband and his girlfriend?

T/N:

Flowers, flowers, flowers… more characters and yet more flowers.

A lotus is a type of aquatic flower. A dahlia is a flower with a lot of petals. Mimosa is a genus of herbs and shrubs, though the author likely is referring to the kind of fluffy flowers that you can see in the Wikipedia image. Calendula is a genus of plants which includes marigolds.

“A governess who would be harsh to a girl from the Alps,” is likely a reference to  Miss Rottenmeier from Heidi, Girl of the Alps, a “strict, no-nonsense governess”.