Chapter 625

Afternoon Tea with Lady Aliulus (2)
“I wish to cultivate new plants in my territory. Well, not crops exactly—rather, flowers and trees that can be used for plant-based dyes…”

(Hmm. That’s something we’ll have to ask our kin who’ll be heading there. Crops are our specialty, but when it comes to flowering plants or dye trees… we have little experience. We’ve worked with Connie trees to a degree, but those are fruit-bearing trees. I’m not sure how far that experience will carry us.)

Yeah, that makes sense.
The Kiblinki Saltas excel at agriculture, but tree cultivation is a whole different field.
It’s not that they can’t do it—it’s just that working with trees meant for dyeing is another matter entirely.
They’ll just have to build experience step by step.

(Well, your request is clear. Once it’s decided which of our kin will cross over to your continent, I’ll pass along your wishes. Perhaps some who are interested in new challenges will volunteer.)

“Thank you. I would be most grateful if you would.”

(Of course. When the time comes, please take good care of them.)

And with that, Lady Aliulus’s concerns seemed to ease.
The conversation then returned to lighter tea-party talk.

When the topic shifted to what we’d been busy with lately, I admitted that most of my time had been swallowed up by merchant company work.
I really just want to make clothes again.

“I understand that feeling completely. After I inherited my title from the previous head, I barely had any time for dressmaking for the next hundred years. Darsheans are long-lived, so we tend to be patient about such things—but those in high positions have endless duties.”

“I’ve been in a similar situation lately. My merchant company was originally founded for remote-area support and food transport, so we had no merchandise suited for major cities like Vardmoi. I’ve been working with the Trade Guild to source goods from scratch.”

“That sounds like quite the undertaking. I get merchants coming to me every week seeking trade goods.”

“That must be exhausting! Honestly, if it were possible, I’d prefer to keep only an office in Vardmoi and skip the rest.”

“Oh? But wouldn’t that make it difficult to maintain your status as a Platinum-ranked merchant?”

“That’s exactly why I’m collecting products now…”

Ah. So it’s about appearances.
If not for that, I wouldn’t have to push myself to stockpile goods.
I could just sell my luxury armor line and be done with it.

“In any case, I truly enjoy speaking with you, Lady Lily. Back in my domain, I’m the head of a ducal house and a lord besides. Few dare to speak to me casually.”

“Well, that’s… understandable, isn’t it?”

“Yes, I know. But it does get lonely.”

Yeah… loneliness like that hits deep.
Hmm. What could help with that?
Oh—got it.

“In that case, why not ask Lord Bastaraf to bring you along to visit me from time to time?”

“Lord Bastaraf?”

“Yes. He’s a friend I share tea with several times a month. He travels here using long-distance teleportation, so I’m sure he wouldn’t mind bringing you along.”

“Would that truly be all right?”

“Of course! I’ll prepare some delicious tea sweets and look forward to your visit.”

“Then—thank you, truly! I’d love that!”

And just like that, my circle of tea companions grew by one.

Plum later muttered, “You’d better report this to Alizée,” and… yeah, she’s right.
If I don’t, she will scold me later.

After all, I’d just arranged to have tea—however infrequently—with the head of one of Darshe’s Seven Ducal Houses.
Alizée already knows about my tea sessions with Lord Bastaraf, though until now, that was just a casual “green tea buddy” thing.
From now on, though, our meetings might involve discussions between two people with real responsibilities.

… Then again, knowing us, it’ll probably just stay a friendly tea gathering in the end.

What do you think about this chapter?