Vol. 3 - Chapter 152 - Katariona Makes her Social Debut
On the day of her social debut, the day of the royal ball, Marie meticulously got me ready in the morning.
"Milady. I am delighted that you have safely reached the day of your coming of age. Today, I vow to make you the most beautiful and brilliant of all!"
With words of congratulations on coming of age, Marie made a very enthusiastic declaration and began her preparations early in the morning.
"Ah, thank you, Marie. Please take good care of me."
"I filled the bathtub with water from the hot spring I brought from the territory today. I hope you will enjoy your morning bath first."
"Hot spring water from the territory? When did you get it?"
"Sylphy-sama brought it to us this morning."
"Eh--!? I need to thank her for that! Is Sylphy-sama in her room?"
Sylphy-sama and Ron-sama have been staying at the townhouse since last night, so they should be in their rooms.
I was so flustered that I hurriedly got out of bed and went to change my clothes.
Then I felt the door to my room open roughly, and Sylphy-sama jumped in.
"Yurie, good morning! Let's take a morning bath together!"
"Good morning, Sylphy-sama. Eh-! Are you going to take a bath with me?"
"Can we not?"
Sylphy-sama's ears drooped.
"No! No, it's not that I can't. Thank you for bringing the hot water."
In the Kingdom of Findalia, it is not customary to take a bath with anyone other than family members, even at a spa resort.
I have bathed with Chris in the hot springs in our territory, but that was when I was a child.
"Great. I wanted to take a bath with Yurie. Would you like to join us, Marie?"
No. I am merely milady's personal maid. I will take care of the two of you. Besides, the bathtub is not that big."
That is why I took a bath with Sylphy-sama.
"The bathtubs in this country are not that big."
"It's because they are designed for one person to bathe alone. Are the bathtubs in your country large?"
I don't know whether she can enter the bath as a dragon, but I have an image that it is somewhat spacious.
"The bathtub is designed to accommodate a large number of people. They are spacious."
In the land of the dragon gods, there are public bathhouses that anyone can freely enter.
Of course, there are separate baths for men and women.
"Yurie should come once."
"The land of the Dragon Gods? Is it safe for me, a human, to go there?"
"It's fine. Because you are my friend."
I am a human and I'm a friend.
I smiled as I washed Sylphy-sama's back.
I heard that it is the custom in Sylphy-sama's country to wash each other's backs in a friendly manner.
I wonder if we can build a big bathhouse in our house too.
Then, we may be able to get together with Sylphy-sama, Chris, and friends in a large bath.
I will propose this to my father next time.
"Excuse me. I brought some freshly picked roses for you, so I will put them in the hot water."
Sylphy-sama was excited when Marie put the roses she had picked from the greenhouse into the bathtub.
"A rose bath! Un. It smells so good."
The fragrance of the rose flowers tickled our nose.
"Fufu Would you like to use rose oil later?"
"Yes. Today we have rose soap, rose bath, and rose oil. It's all about roses, isn't it? It's really elegant."
Sylphy-sama looked happy. I'm glad I agreed to take a bath with her.
After relaxing in the bath, I brushed my hair and tied it in an updo.
The dress was prepared by Laura and the three employees of "Sandorion".
"I know you have a lot of appointments today, right? Thanks, Laura, for taking time out of your busy schedule to come."
"I refused to dress anyone except for Chris and Rio," said Laura, "We're not the only place that does dressing."
Laura smiled bewitchingly as she made the final adjustments to the dress.
Sandorion is a popular store. I heard that they were inundated with orders for debutante dresses and trains this year as well. Naturally, I thought they would be accepting reservations for dressmaking as well.
"I'm afraid the other noble ladies are going to resent me."
"It'll be fine. I've already told them that I don't accept dressings. Now all that's left to do is to put on the train."
The train, the most difficult part of the dress, was attached, and then it was done.
Just as she finished, there was a knock at the door.
"Rio. Are you finished?"
Leon, dressed in his formal attire, entered the room and was stunned to see me.
"What's wrong? Leon? Is something wrong?"
I tilted my head.
Marie and Laura had painstakingly prepared me, so there shouldn't be anything wrong with it, but I felt uneasy.
"N, no. Just, you look even more beautiful than before."
Leon turned his head to the side, blushing unusually.
"Oh, dear. Is Leon embarrassed?"
Laura teased him with a sly grin.
"Noisy! Laura, if you're done dressing, get the hell out of here! Go get Chris ready."
"Yes, yes, yes. I'll get out of the way. Congratulations again, Rio, on your coming of age. I hope you will continue to patronize our store."
Laura winked at me and as she was leaving, accompanied by three employees, I called out to her.
"Laura. Thank you for today. Make sure Chris is beautiful."
"Fufu. I'll take care of it. Bye, then. Leon."
"Hmph!"
Marie also went into the dressing room and started to clean up, so my room, which had been bustling with activity, was enveloped in silence.
After a while, Leon turned to me, took something out of his pocket, and kneeled down in front of me.
"Katariona Yurie Grandeur. I would like to ask you once again, please marry me."
The white box he pulled out of his pocket revealed a ring.
The ring was a silver ring with laurel leaves woven into the shape of a ring.
"...... Leon."
"I said I was going to give you a gift one day," he said, "This is it. This is the gift I intended to give to my wife-to-be."
This is just what I wanted. I am happy beyond words.
"What is it? Won't you accept it?"
Leon's eyebrows drooped.
Does he think I'm denying it because I don't speak up?
"Of course I accept it. But I want Leon to help me put the ring on."
I removed my gloves and held out my left hand in front of Leon.
"......great.'
Leon smiled, took my hand, and placed the ring on the ring finger of my left hand.
"It's the perfect size. Leon, did you know my finger size?"
"No," he said, "The ring is made to fit the owner's size."
"Is it a divine object, like Flare-sama's bracelet?"
"Something like that."
His face drew near, as he looked every so gently at me, his lips about to meet mine.
"Leon! Proposing to her before a decisive battle is a death flag!"
When we were interrupted by a sudden intruder.
"F-la-re---!"
The low voice, which seemed to echo from the depths of the earth, belonged to Leon.
"You're always getting in my way! In the first place, I already proposed to Rio! You know that, don't you? I just gave Rio a gift today."
"Oh. Finally gave her the gift."
Finally, does that mean he prepared this ring long ago?
Shining brightly in the sun, I gazed at the ring.
Shaped like a laurel tree, the ring is said to be that of Leon, the god of the forest and the god of the earth.
Like an evergreen tree, the laurel tree never withers.
As I recall, the language of the laurel is "victory," "honor," "glory," and "bright future," while the language of the leaves is "I shall remain the same until death."
And it is said to be a sign of eternal love.
"Kyaa! Oh Leon, come on!"
"What are you doing? Rio."
Leon, who was battling with Flare-sama, halted his hand.
"Ah! No! It's nothing! We have to go to the entrance soon. Father and the others are waiting for you."
I tried to cover up my happiness feeling like I was floating as I headed to the door.
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TL: Kyaaaaa!!!! So cute! So close! Ahem-- Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and happy reading~!