Chapter 19

"Is it here?"

I'm currently standing in front of the tea ceremony clubroom.

After hesitating for a while, I knocked on the door.

Creak.

Soon, a girl with light purple hair opened the door.

It was the girl who was walking behind Claudia alongside Irina.

Her name was Rosetta. She was Claudia's personal maid.

"May I know what brings you here?"

"I came to join the club"

I said nervously. Nothing much was known about the tea ceremony club back in the game, except the fact that Claudia was the president.

"Welcome. Please come in"

I followed her inside. Fortunately, it seems the club also accept male students.

I was worried they only accept female students. I was thinking about asking my sister for help it that was the case. I even prepared myself to cross-dress in order to join.

I breathed a sigh of relief and looked around to inspect the clubroom.

The club room was spacious and filled with fancy interiors. Some stuffed toys were lined up on the table as decorations with sweets surrounding them.

Various fancy tea sets were put inside a huge display case. The room has nice scent of flowers. It wasn't a heavy scent but a light scent that makes you relax when you inhaled.

Just being here makes me feel calm. 

As expected from a club dominated by girls.

"Please take a seat. The president and vice-president weren't here yet so please wait for a moment"

"Understood"

I sat on the sofa as she went to brew tea.

Right now, there was only me and Rosetta in this room.

It's awkward seeing a girl brewing tea when it's just the two of us.

I closed my eyes to clear my mind from any  misleading thoughts and enjoy this relaxing atmosphere.

Soon, a light sweet scent struck my nostrils.

"Please have a sip"

"Thank you"

I don't know the proper manner to drink tea so I observed the way she holds her tea cup and how she sipped the tea. She was only drinking a cup of tea, but she exuded elegant air.

I followed her example. 

As I sipped the tea, I could feel the light sweet and cool taste from the tip of my tongue slowly spreading inside my mouth.

I could feel my mind was refreshed from a sip. Even someone with no prior knowledges like me could understand that this is a high-class tea.

Not just from the ingredients, but also from the way it was brewed. The temperature was just right and the tea color was not particularly thick.

"It's delicious"

She looked at me and nodded.

"So, why do you want to join the club?"

"I have become more interested in sweets recently. Although my maid can also brew tea, I feel like it just didn't feel right if I don't brew the tea myself"

"I see"

She nodded.

"Is there any particular sweets that you like?"

"I like sweets made from chocolate"

After hearing what I said, she stood up to get some sweets.

Chocolate cake, cookies and some candies. A bunch of snacks were being served on the table.

"Please have a taste"

"Thank you"

I took a slice of chocolate cake and put it into my mouth.

The slightly bitter taste of cocoa mixed with some nuts, creamy milk, vanilla and sugar. The sweetness was just right. 

"It's delicious. Did you make it yourself?"

"Yes. I used the cocoa fruit from Crescent Valley because it wasn't too bitter and used vanilla from...."

She began to talk about how she make these sweets.

The tea was refreshing, the sweets were delicious, and the atmosphere was relaxing.

Lucia will definitely like this place.

I was planning to bring her with me, but I didn't find her when I visited her class, so I went alone.

Time passed by as we talked about a lot of things from sweets to some special ingredients that could only be found in a certain region.

The door was opened and someone entered the room.

The only people who would opened the door without knocking were probably the club members.

"I'm back"

A familiar voice was heard.

I took a look at the figure.

"Huh? What are you doing here, Rain?"

Irina was surprised when she saw me.

"Did you came to visit me?"

She smiled as she walked towards me.

"No. I came to join the club"

I said nonchalantly.

"You came to what?"

Irina opened her eyes wide. She suddenly rushed at me and put her right hand on my forehead.

"You're not fever"

She muttered in a low voice.

"Did you hit your head or something?"

She started stroking my head with worried eyes.

"I'm fine. Also, can you stop stroking my head without my permission?"

I put her hand down from my head.

I feel like my mental age regressed the more I spend time with her. I'm happy she stroke my head and shows her worry, but...

At least do it when we're home! Don't you know it was embarassing for a guy at my age when you do it in public!?

Look! Rosetta was looking at me with weird eyes!

"You can ask her if you don't believe it"

She looked at me with doubtful eyes then stared at Rosetta.

"Is it true?"

"It's true. He said he was interested in making tea by himself, so he wanted to join"

"Really?"

She looked back at me.

"I thought you hate tea since you never drink it back at home"

"It's because your tea taste bitter"

"Are you saying the tea I made is bad?"

"No. I just don't like bitter tea"

"Don't you understand that bitter taste is the taste for mature people?"

"Sis, the only person who likes bitter tea in our house is you and father. Even that bastaー big brother hates bitter tea"

Rosetta looked at the two us with curious eyes.

"Irina-sama, is he your brother?"

"Ah, that's right. He is my little brother, Rain. Rain this person is Rosetta. She is really good at making tea and sweets"

Irina started to introduce us.

"Come to think if it, I never introduced myself. My name is Rain Scarlet. Nice to meet you"

"I'm the secretary of the club, Rosetta. It's a pleasure to meet you. Irina-sama is the vice-president, so it's fine it you can get her permission to join the club"

She slightly bowed her head as she introduced herself.

I never knew my sister was the vice-president. I thought she was only a regular member, things will become easier this way.

"Sis, can I join the club?"

"Wait, you really want to join the club?"

"Yes"

"Hmm"

Irina squinted her eyes and looked at me.

"Okay. I thought you were going to join the book club or just spend your time in the library"

She clapped her hands and agreed.

"I thought so at first too. But since I'm in the academy, I might as well try something new"

And so, I joined the club with her permission and stayed in the clubroom until dinner.

However, the person I was looking for never came.

∆ ∆ ∆

I went back to the dorminatories together with Irina.

The dorminatories for female and male students were separated. I still wanted to talk with Irina so I escorted her back.

"Sis, I saw you were having conflict with someone in the garden today. What happened?"

Irina expression became dark when I mentioned about today event.

"Nothing"

"Really? It was quite the commotion thought"

"Geez. It's not something I wanted to talk about. However, I will tell you if you really want to know"

Irina pouted as if she was mad about something.

"Do you know Leonhardt Elsword?"

"The son of hero?"

"Yes. However, that bastard is not worthy to be called as such"

"Why?"

"Because he hurt my dearest friend"

She had annoying look on her face.

"You see, Claudia is a good girl. She is the most beautiful and kindest person I know. She did her best to fullfill her family expectations and never said a single complain even when was being pressured by everyone"

Irina expressions softened.

"However, that bastard Leonhardt hurt her for another woman"

Irina face darkened.

"Leonhardt and Claudia were engaged since they were young. She was brilliant. She always beat Leonhardt be it in academic or other things"

"Leonhardt used to be a hard-working guy who never gives up. Claudia always took the first place. Leonhardt was a stubborn guy who refused to admit his defeat, so he always challenged her"

"However, no matter how many times he did it, he kept losing to her and ended up as number 2. Some people started to secretly called him the eternal number 2"

"Leonhardt heard about it, however he wasn't mad. Instead he works even harder just to prove himself. Usually, he just smiles and accepted his lost. I don't know what the trigger was, but he started complaining whenever he lost. At some point, he started to yell at her"

Irina continued.

"I think it started around 2 years ago? It was around that time he started spending his time more with that pink-haired bitch and started neglecting her"

Irina gnashed her teeth.

"Last year, that bastard even left her alone at the new students gathering party. You know how important it is for a daughter from a prestigious house. Especially when it supposed to be her debut in the academy"

"Her fianceé left her alone to spend his time with another woman. Rumor about them were spreading around. It took sometime for things to quite down. But that bastard left her again this year too"

"It's all because of that bitch! That girl named Lily was a commoner. Leonhardt met her when he sneaked out. I don't know how they met but apparently he keeps visiting her since 2 years ago"

Irina clenched her fists so hard.

"Calm down, sis"

I tapped her shoulders to make her calm down.

"Anyway, that's how it is"

She took a deep breath and shook her head.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Why didn't Claudia-sama break her engagement with him then?"

"Because she can't. You might not know it because no one in our family was engaged to anyone. However, engagement between nobles includes all kind of interests. More importantly, breaking engagement without any valid reason means to break the house interests and also can destroy the house reputation"

"Sounds troublesome"

"Luckily our parents doesn't really care about interests since we're wealthy enough and don't care about influences so they never force the three of us to get engaged. This is why I haven't been engaged at all even though most girls were engaged since they were 10 or even younger"

Indeed. The Scarlet house is quite lax. Too lax I think. I mean, back in the game they even supported the eldest son in rebelling against the kingdom.

I shook my head as I thought about the fate that awaits this family.

I grabbed her shoulders and looked directly into her eyes.

She looked back at me with curious eyes.

"Sis, please promise me two things"

"What is it?"

"Please don't do something stupid like making contract with the demons or trying to kill Lily"

The moment I finished my words, she looked at me with weird look.

"Why would I want to contract the filthy demons? Also, I won't kill her just because I hate her. You've been acting weird since earlier, did you hurt your head or something?"

She stroked my head gently. However, this time I didn't stop her like earlier.

"Just promise me"

"I don't know what you're worrying about, but okay. I promise"

Good. I don't know what will happen in the future, but as long as she keeps her promise it should be fine.

"Also, you should be wary of handsome guy. They either a scumbag or a pervert. Just look at that Leonhardt as an example."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to fall for someone like that"

"Good! If you want to fall in love then fall for someone lazy like me. Because lazy people won't bother to cheat because it's tiring. No! It's better to not fall in love with a guy at all. I will take care of you for the rest of your life instead"

"Ehehe~ Do you really like your sister that much?"

"Yes, I'm"

I replied in a dull tone.

She chuckled and stopped teasing me.

"Did you make friends?"

"I did. Just one though"

"Was it a girl or a boy?"

"It's a girl. Her name is Lucia"

She suddenly stopped her pace and looked at me in the eyes when she heard my answer. Her expression looked tense somehow.

"What kind of person is she?"

Somehow I feel the air become colder. Was it just my imagination?

"A cute girl who likes sweets"

"What kind of hair color does she have?"

Hmm? Why did she asked about Lucia hair color?

"Silver"

"Phew. It's fine as long as it's not pink. I don't mean to nag at you, but please stay away from pink-haired girl as far as possible"

"Alright"

I nodded at her words and she let out a sigh relief.

It seems she has a grudge with pink hair because of Lily.

It was around 8 p.m when I went back to my room. I stayed up until midnight browsing through my notes to refresh my memories about the game before I fell asleep.