The Power of the Saint is All Around (LN) - Volume 7 - Chapter 2

Act 2:

High Society

SEVERAL DAYS after my tea party with Liz, Johan summoned me in the middle of the workday. I went to his office to find him sitting at his desk with his arms crossed and head hanging.

“Uh, you called for me?”

“Oh, right. Well, go on, sit down.”

At his urging, I sat in one of the facing sofas and Johan stood from his chair. As he came toward me, he picked up a letter from his desk.

The moment I laid eyes on it, I recalled my conversation with Liz the other day and came down with a bad feeling.

Johan took his seat on the sofa and placed the letter in front of me. The seal was broken. He had undoubtedly already read it.

Bad feelings were never wrong. My expression was stiff as I said, “Um, what’s this?” 

Johan answered exactly as I’d feared he would. “An invitation.”

“Is that so?” I asked. Oh no. 

I was mentally hollering, and it seemed my psychological state was evident on my face, because Johan smiled awkwardly as he told me the whole story.

After my debut, the nobility had determined that this meant that the Saint was now, at long last, available to participate in social events. Those who had concluded this did the next logical thing: sent invitations to my abode.

The palace had been acting as my point of contact, and apparently, they had received mountains of invitations for tea parties and evening soirées alike, all addressed to the Saint.

“There were that many?”

“Quite. I hear that over half the noble houses have sent you invitations.”

Huh. Over half of them? That means pretty much every house that I have yet to meet during expeditions, then, doesn’t it?

Seeing Johan speaking with a dead, faraway look in his eyes only brought me down straight into the same melancholy.

All that aside, he had put just one invitation in front of me. When I inquired further, I learned it was because I was only getting invitations that had passed the palace’s scrutiny.

The palace had received a considerable number of invitations and opened every single one of them. In case you were wondering, I didn’t really mind that they were reading these letters, even if they were addressed to me.

At present, private letters to me were delivered to the institute. Meanwhile, the majority of those letters sent to the palace were invitations to social events. I wouldn’t have been too concerned if anyone read my private letters anyway—I rarely received them in the first place.

In fact, the only letters I did get were from Corinna in Klausner’s Domain and reports about cosmetic sales from my company. Besides that, I had received a few letters of thanks from the lords of domains in the countryside for taking care of their monster problems.

Not to mention, it would have been a huge pain to vet the identities of all the invitation senders and determine whether I ought to go to their events. I had learned about the noble houses of the kingdom from the classes I took at the palace, but I still didn’t know enough to immediately determine anyone’s affiliated faction, or the related power dynamics, politics, and all that stuff. I was especially in the dark when it came to houses with whom I hadn’t yet associated.

Therefore, I was quite grateful to the palace for filtering my invitations. They even declined on my behalf.

“But this is the only invitation that has been sent here,” I said.

“Indeed. And because of that, it means that you have to attend.”

“Really? I thought I could decline if I wanted.”

“You can if you really want to. But I personally think you should accept this one.”

Johan usually respected my wishes, so it was unusual to hear him encouraging me to go. I frowned, which prompted him to urge me to look at the back of the envelope.

I turned it over to find it had been sealed with a familiar crest.

“It’s from the house that leads the largest political faction among the officials and bureaucrats of the palace. Normally, it’s not an invitation anyone could decline.”

“I remember. I learned about them in my classes.”

“The fact that the palace sent it here means that even they think you should become better acquainted with them.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

“Even if you decline now, they’re sure to send another invitation before long. You should just accept.”

Johan was right. If they were going to wind up sending more invitations anyway, then I figured I ought to just say yes to this one. Besides, I had no real reason to decline, and Johan agreed with the palace’s decision too.

Salutania’s political factions were divided in various ways. Some of them had come together because certain houses had produced a number of talented people for particular occupations. Based on the current organization, the houses I had become acquainted with were largely affiliated with the military spheres of the kingdom. There was a reason for this: Most of the nobles I’d met were from the knightly orders and the Royal Magi Assembly. We’d gotten to know each other when I accompanied them on monster-slaying expeditions.

On the flip side, outside of expeditions, I mostly stayed cooped up in the institute, so I didn’t know that many palace officials.

When you took my position into account, this political imbalance in my personal life likely posed a problem. I could only surmise that they were telling me to use this opportunity to fix it.

“Very well. I’ll accept this invitation, then.”

“You’re not going to read it first?”

“Oh, right.” I had accidentally answered without taking a look at it first. 

When I reviewed the contents of the envelope, I learned that I had been invited to an afternoon tea party. If it was in step with Salutanian etiquette, then I could assume it would only be attended by women.

The problem lay in who had sent this invitation. I was already acquainted with someone from this house, but the invitation had come from someone else in her family.

What did this mean? I thought about it, but I couldn’t come up with a reason for why I had been invited by specifically this woman. So, not gonna lie, I gave up on trying to figure it out pretty quickly.

“Is there anything you need?” Johan asked. “A dress code you’ll need to adhere to?”

“There doesn’t appear to be. It’s just a regular afternoon tea party.”

“All right, then. I’ll go ahead and tell the palace that you’ll be attending.”

“Thank you.”

The palace would also accept on my behalf. I was quite grateful for this, since there were a boatload of rules for writing replies to letters as well.

Thus, I accepted Johan’s offer and let the palace take care of what needed to be done next.

Two weeks later, I went to the tea party I had been invited to.

For the party, I wore a white dress patterned with small flowers. White frills and blue ribbons were sewn into the neckline and cuffs, while my hat, gloves, and other accessories matched the dress.

The palace maids had picked my attire for the day. I had studied dress code in high society, but I knew the maids would never lead me astray, so I left it all up to them. They always seemed so happy to put together my outfits, which made me glad that I did.

I swear I didn’t let them design it because I was afraid of making a bad choice and just wanted to skip out on doing it—honest!

Even so, not having to rack my brains figuring out my outfit didn’t mean I didn’t leave the whole ordeal exhausted. Getting ready took a lot of stamina.

I struggled through my morning routine, and by the time I stepped into the coach, I was already drained of all my emotional energy. And the main event hadn’t even begun! I drooped listlessly on the seat, hoping to recover myself by the time we arrived.

A little later, the coach stopped in front of a manor so fancy that one might have assumed it was a royal villa. It wasn’t just because it was three stories high—it was expansive horizontally as well. I was willing to bet it was at least as long as it was wide and tall.

This is the manor where the house that commands the strongest bureaucratic faction lives?

I had heard that ordinarily the noble manors within the capital were smaller than the estates they kept back in their domains. I couldn’t imagine a manor being bigger than this. It was simply that astronomically large.

I watched as someone opened the doors of the coach, and after a short pause, I stepped outside using someone’s hand for assistance.

People were lined up in front of the entrance to the manor. I couldn’t help but want to flinch back from the gravity of seeing so many people waiting.

I assumed the individuals lined up from left to right were the manor’s servants. At the center of their line stood an overwhelmingly beautiful woman with blonde hair and blue eyes, and beside her, a pretty girl who had very much been made in her image.

“Welcome, Lady Saint.” The woman greeted me with a curtsy.

The girl and servants simultaneously curtsied or bowed as well.

I smiled but took care to make sure it didn’t look forced or awkward. I returned their greetings wearing the graceful expression that I had perfected during my classes.

“I am most delighted to make your acquaintance. I am Angelica Ashley.”

“And I am Sei Takanashi. Thank you so much for inviting me here today.”

That’s right, I had been invited for tea by Liz’s family at Marquis Ashley’s estate. Liz’s mother, Marchioness Ashley, was the host. In this country without a queen, she was the highest-ranking woman of power after the Saint.

Internally, I felt profoundly lower-middle class despite the marchioness’s incredibly polite greeting as she bowed her head to me. It was unspeakably distressing to see so many people showing this much reverence toward me, including a woman of her stature. As such, I asked them to raise their heads the second after I greeted them.

Once everyone had their heads raised again, including the servants, the next to speak was the beautiful girl who knew my disposition all too well. “I am so very glad that I could at last invite you to our home.”

“And I am glad to have been invited.” I smiled back at Liz.

With that, we finished our greetings, and Marchioness Ashley showed me into the manor.

I had passed the first checkpoint! But my relief lasted for only a brief moment. It wouldn’t be long before I had to repeat the same song and dance with everyone else who was attending this event.

***

Marchioness Ashley led us to a room on the first floor, one side of which was just one big window. The white walls were adorned with golden decorations, and together with the curtains and furniture upholstered with yellow cloth, the atmosphere was terribly refined. The soft rays of the early afternoon sun shone through the window, filling the room with brightness.

Through the window, I could see a beautiful garden bursting with an abundance of multicolored flowers in full bloom. The beauties found in the room were just as brightly colored as the ones outside. Several women who looked to be about my age were dressed in gowns in soft pastel hues. They appeared to have already decided their seats and were all standing around a circular table in front of their chairs.

As soon as I set foot in the room, the women curtsied in unison. Their perfectly coordinated greeting made me nearly cry out in admiration. I somehow managed to suppress the urge and asked them to raise their heads. They then relaxed their posture, also in unison.

Did they practice or something? They couldn’t have, right? I thought to myself as I found my way to the seat that it was suggested I take.

“Lady Sei, please allow me to introduce you to my friends.”

“Thank you.”

After we took our seats, Marchioness Ashley, who was seated to my right, introduced me to the ladies. I had assumed she would just go around the table counterclockwise, but I was wrong: She introduced them in order of rank as was proper. You know, noble stuff.

As I was introduced to them, I realized I was mistaken in my assumption that these were unwed noble ladies. It turned out that every one of them was already married, which I could surmise from the titles with which they were introduced.

Since the marriageable age in this world was far younger than it was in modern-day Japan, it seemed likely that pretty much every noble lady my age was already hitched. Not to mention, even though they looked about the same age as me, there was also the chance that they were actually older.

After introductions were finished, the maids began placing tea and all kinds of confections on the table. There was a wondrous spread of baked sweets, and they all looked so delicious that I had difficulty picking between them. The women evidently felt similarly and commented on how scrumptious they appeared.

There were a number of rare confections, as one might expect to find at the house of a marquis. They must have been made by some famous confectioner because one lady excitedly asked if they were from such-and-such shop. The marchioness nodded with a smile.

I had heard as much from my classes on etiquette, but these noble ladies really were on top of the latest trends.

After some conversation about the confections, talk naturally turned toward the tableware and vases that decorated the room.

It was proper form to compliment the arrangements in the venue during tea parties. I had also learned this during my classes and practiced it during tea parties with Liz, but I realized that I still had much to learn as I listened to the others putting these rules into practice.

How should I describe it? It was like a difference in experience levels. To be fair, young noble ladies participated in tea parties before they were considered adults, so it was only natural that they were standing on the other side of a wide gap between us in terms of pure familiarity with the practice.

“These roses must have come from where I think they’re from, mustn’t they?”

“Quite, you are correct. We had them brought special since Lady Takanashi has joined us today.”

“How gracious of you!”

At Marchioness Ashley’s words, everyone got excited all at once.

I didn’t really understand what was going on, so Liz, who was sitting next to me, quietly explained that the roses on display were special and were ordinarily not allowed to be picked. They were usually only used for decorating during the birthday celebrations of the marquis and marchioness, or for special parties. They were, in fact, quite famous and known as “the Ashley Roses.”

I see now.

The roses were a dark crimson. I had seen the sort often in Japan, but I had never seen such a color since coming to this world. Even the palace only decorated with white or pink roses.

As it turned out, roses were one of the special exports from Marquis Ashley’s domain. An ancestor of theirs had devoted herself to selectively cultivating them, and before long, she had grown such a great variety of roses that they had become a local specialty. This was why not only the vases but even the tableware depicted roses.

At first, I hadn’t realized why everyone was reacting the way they were, but now that I had, it would surely be only proper to thank them for putting something so special on display for me.

“Thank you for granting me such an honor.” I smiled as I conveyed my gratitude.

The marchioness smiled back. “I am happy to hear that they please you.”

Perhaps because roses were a special export of Marquis Ashley’s domain, the conversation then turned to the products from everyone’s domains. Even among regions where dairy farming was common, each region had come up with their own unique products. This fact had been no different in my original world. For example, the word “cheese” actually implied a wide spectrum of different food items.

As I listened to their conversations, I got the impression that ingredients were a common topic of discussion. During our expeditions, I had been told quite frequently about food-related local specialties.

Maybe it was because it was well known among palace officials that I’d cooked all kinds of meals? Or maybe they were purposefully picking topics they thought I would be able to participate in.

As we chatted, I became especially interested in the local specialty from Marchioness Barchet’s domain.

Marchioness Barchet sat to the right of Marchioness Ashley. Her hair was a color that would never be found naturally in my original world. If I had to describe it, it was a minty blonde? It shone with a light green color, and her eyes were blue. She was so pretty that if someone had told me she was a fairy, I would have believed it.

“You said that you grow saffron in your domain, Lady Barchet? Like the spice?” The saffron I was familiar with was considered such. However, she described it differently.

“My apologies. It is not a spice but an herb.”

An herb. A type of herb, huh? I was pretty sure I had heard of saffron being used as a medicine back in my old world.

I asked the apologetic marchioness more questions and learned that Barchet saffron did indeed sound like the same plant I was familiar with. When I told her this, she cheered right up. 

“By spice, do you mean that you can use it in cooking as well?” she asked.

“Yes. We used it often in my birthplace, usually in meals with rice. And soups as well.”

Another lady then asked, “Meals with rice? You mean that grain that arrived from Zaidera just recently?”

“Yes. I’m surprised you know of it.”

We regularly had meals with rice served at the dining hall at the institute, but I hadn’t yet heard of it being eaten anywhere else. I had thought that not many people knew of it, since Salutania had only just begun trading with Zaidera within the past few years.

Where in the world had they heard about rice, then? From some house involved with diplomacy? At any rate, I was feeling impressed at how quickly information could fly when someone then explained it: Her brothers were members of the Royal Magi Assembly.

Ah, I get it now. That makes total sense.

Everyone in the Royal Magi Assembly knew how the grand magus had become obsessed with rice-based meals.

“I heard that Grand Magus Drewes first heard of rice from the Research Institute of Medicinal Flora—where you work, yes?”

“I heard that the institute’s dining hall serves meals of your own invention, Lady Sei.”

“I didn’t actually invent them. I only recreate the kinds of food we ate in my hometown.”

“Is that so?”

“Are there even more new meals out there in the world—beyond those served with rice?”

“And the researchers at your research institute always get to eat them? I’m so envious.”

While everyone around me continued chattering about food, I was taken aback. Th-they’re all so well informed. I suppose that what I was taught was true. Tea parties are actually battlegrounds where skirmishes of information are fought. 

***

As I was watching everyone, Marchioness Ashley asked me, “Will you not host your own tea party sometime?”

“Huh? What do you mean?” I was confused by the sudden change of topic, but then Liz expanded on what her mother was getting at.

“I’m sure a tea party hosted by you would serve all manner of unusual foods.”

Then I understood. Liz was probably right. I likely would serve something from Japan if I were to host a tea party—which would mean that everyone I invited would get to eat the same kind of food that we served at the research institute. Marchioness Ashley was likely asking because she wanted to give all these ladies an opportunity to do so.

At least, that was the conclusion I came to when I pondered the ulterior motive underlying her words.

“I suppose? But I’m pretty sure it would all be things you’ve tried before, Liz.”

“I doubt that. From what I’ve heard, you serve all sorts of food I have yet to sample.”

“From what you’ve heard? You don’t mean the sweets?”

“Indeed. Nothing I’ve heard about on the Research Institute of Medicinal Flora’s menu is something I’ve had the pleasure of trying.”

I had served Liz a dessert from my world before—one I had given the chefs the recipe for before a tea party. Besides that, I had pretty much only served her sandwiches.

When I thought of tea parties, the image of afternoon tea always sprang to mind. As such, the only other thing I could imagine serving at a tea party was quiche.

However, it seemed that Liz specifically wanted to try the sort of things our dining hall served. In that case, I got the feeling that it would be better to host a dinner party instead. The only problem with this idea was that Liz wouldn’t be able to join us at such an event.

Liz was a minor, so she wasn’t permitted to participate in social events that took place after sundown. It might have been all right if it were a gathering just for her relatives, but that wasn’t what we were discussing. And if I was going to host an event, then I wanted it to be one that Liz could attend.

“Is something the matter, Lady Sei?” Marchioness Ashley asked.

“I’m sorry, no. I was just caught up in thinking.”

“About what, might I ask?”

“What sort of event to host if I were going to host something. If eating would be the focus, then perhaps something during the day?”

At the sound of me speaking of hosting an event in a positive light, the other ladies became instantly excited.

As I tried to put my own thoughts in order, I decided to take the opportunity to ask them if they had any requests. The ladies had no objections to the event being held during the day. On the other hand, one mentioned that men wouldn’t be as able to participate, as daytime events were mainly held by women for women in the Kingdom of Salutania. If I wanted to invite men as well, then I would have to think it over a bit. Furthermore, while they were receptive to the idea of eating being the focus, it would require some degree of creativity to pull off.

My words had everyone imagining a dinner party and talking about what kinds of food would be served. They brought up all sorts of dishes, but they also named ones from all sorts of cuisines, not limiting themselves to Western, Chinese, or Japanese. If I devised a list of courses to serve at a banquet, then the variety would probably need to be fairly uniform.

Moreover, given the amount of food required to compose a single serving, then the limit would be two or three dishes at most. That meant that I wouldn’t be able to fulfill every single one of their requests—just a few of them. However, I also doubted I would be able to host parties very frequently, so I wanted to grant their requests as best as I could.

Maybe I could serve smaller portions of every dish and increase the number of total dishes that way? Hmm, but even that approach has its limits. In that case, maybe I should host a buffet? Yeah, that might work. That way I could serve all sorts of dishes and people could take as much or as little as they wanted of each.

If they could pick whatever food they liked, I wouldn’t have to worry about everyone’s preferences either. Salutanians were already accustomed to buffets at parties anyway, so everyone would be used to that system too. 

Yeah, that might work.

“Did you come up with something?” Liz asked, sensing that I had finished thinking it through.

“Yes. I was thinking it might be a good idea to host a party with a buffet. That way I could serve all sorts of food, and everyone could focus on those they found most interesting.”

“I think that’s a wonderful idea. Although I fear that socializing might become the focus and the food would come second.”

In other words, while she agreed that a buffet was a good idea in principle, she feared that the setting wouldn’t quite fit the goals I had set out, given people’s assumptions about how buffets worked. They were mainly offered during balls in Salutania. They would be located in a lounge away from the ballroom and would primarily serve finger foods. As Liz noted, people hardly actually ate during balls because balls were for socializing. It was probably something like prioritizing work over eating.

“Then maybe we should say that it’s a party for food from the outset?”

“Ah, describing it as a party where attendees can get a chance to enjoy the Lady Saint’s meals just might work.”

“And then…”

Liz seemed to agree with this idea. I thought it would be a good idea to call the party something that would evoke what Liz described. But Liz’s expression was urging me to come up with something even better.

Was there a way to make eating the food be the work? Parties were meant to be opportunities to see people and gather information, then spread it. If I could somehow connect that with eating, then everyone would indeed focus on the food.

As soon as I thought of that, I suddenly remembered what these ladies had been talking about before: local specialties.

Maybe the food could be made using special products from each region! It would work as good advertisement for products that weren’t already relatively well known, and it would maybe even lead to innovations where those products were used in new ways.

For example, saffron, which we had been discussing before. Saffron was recognized as an herb in Salutania, but people didn’t know it could be used as a spice as well.

“Then how about an event that features food made using the local specialty products from each region? It could be good advertising.”

I was about to explain myself a little further—that maybe then the attendees would focus on the food—but I stopped. I had said that out loud because I wanted to hear Liz’s opinion, but the reaction from the table told me all I needed to know as to whether this was, in fact, a good idea. 

The ladies all appeared quite receptive. They were immediately abuzz.

“Meals cooked by Lady Sei using our specialty exports? I would simply love to give that a try!”

“Are you already using our local products in your dining hall?”

“How about something with pork? The pork from my domain is known to be delicious.”

“Goodness, Lady Jerusalem! Do try not to steal ahead of the rest of us. But if we’re discussing products, then my house is renowned for its cheese—”

I was overwhelmed by how feverishly they all pushed their products on me. No sooner had one gotten the ball rolling than the other ladies came at me in turn, asking if I could use products from their domains.

When I thought about it, both during this tea party and when I had gone traveling during expeditions, people were always telling me all about the food and ingredients their domains were known for. I was beginning to suspect that those had all been tacit presentations to the Saint.

I found myself at a loss, unable to answer their questions. Marchioness Ashley took pity on me and reined them in. 

To be clear, all she had said was, “Ladies, please, calm yourselves.” Her way of speaking was quiet, but her voice traveled well and in the blink of an eye. The women instantly settled back down. She truly was a voice of authority among them.

From there, the topic of discussion changed course to what was in fashion in the capital of late. Before I knew it, that enjoyable time was over, and it was time to call the party to a close.