Episode 3
When Chloe said she needed something, the first thing that came to Alphonse’s mind was, of course, jewels. Or a fancy dress.
Of all the women Alphonse had ever seen, all of them wore jewelry. No, even men wore them. In the event of a divorce or an unexpected accident, it would be valuable personal property that remains in their possession. No one with a common sense of money would dislike such jewelry.
A dress was another possible option. According to Alphonse’s prejudice, women were creatures who couldn’t resist beautiful and flashy things. Up until now, no woman had ever refused a dress made by a famous designer.
Objectively speaking, the jewels and dresses Alphonse had provided Chloe with up to this point were more than enough, but it didn’t matter. No matter how many jewels he bought, it wouldn’t have even the slightest effect on the wealth of the Battenberg family.
Alphonse, who had such an arrogant thought, silently lifted his wine glass and took a sip. Putting the glass down, he wiped his hands with a napkin and cast an emotionless gaze at Chloe.
“What is it, My Wife?”
But the answer he got back completely caught him off guard.
“I need tea.”
Chloe knew that her words had come across as unexpected to her husband. And In order not to lose the chance to convince him while he was caught off guard, she quickly brought out the words she had prepared in advance.
“When I was a young girl living at my parents’ house, I enjoyed drinking tea as a break or a hobby. Now that I have not yet fully adjusted to married life, I need something to relieve the burden of this unfamiliar life. Tea is not such an expensive product. It probably won’t be a burden on the Duke’s finances…”
“Stop.”
Alphonse, who had been smoking a cigarette after dinner, interrupted Chloe. Only when Chloe saw the faint wrinkle between Alphonse’s eyebrows did she realize that she had violated his pride.
To this extremely arrogant man, it was more important that she had even the slightest doubt about his abilities than what she wanted.
“I will instruct the butler to order enough tea for my wife’s leisure activities. Also, from now on, you do not need to ask me for permission to buy anything. Buy whatever you want within the given budget.”
“What… What is anything exactly?”
“Anything.”
Alphonse firmly drove the point home, making Chloe feel dumbfounded.
All she wanted was a teapot to drink while relaxing. But the scale of it got this big!
While taking a deep drag on his cigar, Alphonse’s thoughts were of dresses as expensive as a mansion and cosmetics worth as much as horses and cows in a small bottle, but Chloe’s thoughts were of pretty teacups and teapots.
Chloe… So, Park Ha-jeong loved tea.
She spent 28 years of her life studying and working while caring about what other people thought, but in the midst of all that, there was one thing that made her catch her breath.
Tea was her only hobby and pleasure. Even if her crazy boss, who played Go on the Internet while everyone else was working, kept nagging her until her anger flared, and even if her crazy junior ruined all the work she had worked hard on, a cup of hot black tea could make her happy again.
It was her only hobby, so of course she had invested a lot of money in tea and had amassed a considerable collection, but they were no longer in her possession. They were probably somewhere in another world.
It was true that it was regrettable and unfair, but what could she do? That wasn’t the only thing she had lost.
Still, it was a great pleasure for Chloe to be able to continue drinking tea here.
After dinner, as she returned to her room, she was filled with anticipation about what kind of tea Alphonse would order for her through the butler.
***
The next day, when Chloe woke up, all her maids were waiting. She then got dressed and styled her hair with their help.
Although the maids had a very bad attitude and rough hands, it was faster and easier than getting ready on her own.
As she finished breakfast in her room, a maid came to her with good news: the tea she had ordered yesterday had arrived.
Of course, I thought I would have to wait a few days, but it arrived very quickly.
Chloe was very happy and delighted. She wanted to receive it quickly, so she dismissed all the uncooperative maids and went to get the tea herself.
Chloe, who arrived at the first floor hall, couldn’t help but be dazed for a moment.
It was because there were strange wooden boxes stacked up in the hall. And when she looked out the front door, she saw workers carrying more boxes that had not yet arrived.
Chloe looked at that scene for a moment, then came to her senses, remembering that she had come to get the tea. The Duke must have bought some furniture or something, because he seemed to have a lot of money.
When Chloe asked the butler, Kiel, who was giving instructions to the workers nearby, about the tea that had arrived, Kiel’s eyes widened.
“Yes? It’s over there.”
“Where?”
“They’re piled up over there, Madam.”
With a polite gesture, Kiel pointed to the wooden boxes that were now stacked higher than a person.
… Chloe thought she had misheard.
Or maybe he was mistaken. Chloe asked again to be sure.
“I… When I say tea, I mean the tea used as a drink—the tea leaves steeped in hot water.”
“Yes, that is correct, Madam.”
Chloe couldn’t believe what she heard.
“All those piled up there are tea leaves that the master ordered.”
Chloe checked for herself and found that all of those boxes were indeed tea leaves. Hundreds of different tea leaves from all sorts of mountains and gardens.
Even though the leaves were wrapped in wrapping paper, then boxes, then ceramic bottles, and then placed in large wooden boxes, a complex and splendid fragrance emanated from them through the thick packaging.
It was a sweet dissonance created by the tea leaves, each with a different scent.
Chloe thought, intoxicated by the strong scent.
Ah, Alphonse, what an incredibly proud man.
Whatever his intention, Chloe couldn’t help but be grateful that he bought her so much. She was determined to thank him at dinner today when the butler approached her.
“Do you like the gift his grace brought?”
“Ah… yes. Very.”
Chloe, still dazed, answered. The butler, whose ivory hair fell down to his shoulders, smiled kindly.
“If you need anything in the future, please let me know and I’ll order it for you.”
“Ah… yes.”
Then Chloe was pushed out of the hall. It was because Kiel pushed her on her back, saying he would carry all these luggage to her room.
When the tea leaves all arrived in her room, Chloe chose the most plain-smelling tea leaves to decorate her memorable first tea time. The black, broken tea leaves cut into appropriate sizes gave off a sweet scent.
As she was walking down to the kitchen to get some tea water, carrying a tea caddy, she ran into Ellie.
Chloe smiled brightly. This was a very welcome thing. Chloe had always thought that tea was more delicious when drunk together than alone. It would definitely be fun if Ellie joined her for her first tea time.
Chloe, who thought so, invited Ellie to tea time.
“I’m really sorry, Madam, but I can’t right now!”
But Ellie’s answer was unexpected.
“I’m so sorry, Lady Miller asked me to do something.”
As Ellie spoke, she was holding a basin of laundry in her arms.
Chloe noticed Ellie’s fingers were swollen and wrinkled. Her hair was soaked with sweat and her clothes were somewhat disheveled.
She thought she definitely needed a break.
“It’s okay, I’m the Mistress of this Household. Go tell Lady Miller that I asked for you and I am sure she would understand.”
Lady Miller was in charge of the laundry maids. Ellie was the youngest and last to join the laundry maids, so she often took on the work of the seniors and was the busiest.
If the seniors were bossing around the youngest, Lady Miller should have been the one to make them control themselves, but she didn’t seem to care much about the youngest’s circumstances.
Chloe thought that Ellie was just like herself when she was at work. Ellie had always taken care of Chloe a lot, so (although the Chloe back then and the Chloe now were different people) why not take care of Ellie a little too?
Ellie ran down to the laundry room in the basement to tell Lady Miller and returned. Then, Chloe and Ellie headed to the kitchen together.
In general, the kitchen of a nobleman was the space of the kitchen maids. An ordinary noblewoman would never set foot in, let alone do anything there. It was considered shameful, un-noble, and vulgar for a noblewoman to wander in and out of the kitchen without any manners.
‘But I am not a common noble.’
With that thought, Chloe opened the kitchen door with her own hands.
The maids in the kitchen immediately focused their attention on her.
It was still too early to prepare dinner, so there weren’t many maids, and the few who were there were leisurely washing dishes or preparing ingredients, chatting amongst themselves.
“Madam?”
The faces of the kitchen maids who encountered Chloe were filled with confusion. Chloe was not treated like a mistress throughout the entire mansion. Most of the servants who encountered her did not even greet her properly, but just chattered away and passed by.
However, the kitchen maids, who had relatively few opportunities to meet her and were taken aback by the fact that a duchess of a title had come to the kitchen in person, greeted their mistress politely and Chloe smiled in return.
Chloe took Ellie, walked through the chattering kitchen maids and took a seat somewhere convenient.
