Chapter: Brianna


Minor edit: Steven was changed to Stephan.


I sat in my tearoom bored. The girls I had invited had left a while back to attend some count's tea party. Fortunately, they didn't mistreat me. I had deliberately handed out invitations to girls who were on the more pleasant side of the spectrum.

It still stung that my efforts were ignored. The only comments they made was that I should have spent more. In the end, it all came down to money.

Well good riddance. I wouldn't have wanted a woman who only valued price tags. People like that could never appreciate the finer things in life.

I could only sigh. Part of me began to think of Julia. The silly girl would have enjoyed my service. She could see the value in the craft.

It was a shame that I couldn't find her again. Not that I looked very hard. Her situation sounded troublesome enough that actively extending an invitation to her would be beyond what I would tolerate. Yet today just made me think about a pleasant afternoon of chatting.

My musings were interrupted with a knocking noise.

Huh. Did Julia seek me out? She was the only girl I had interacted with who would have reason to seek me out. The idea of such a thing brightened my mood.

Without much thought, I walked over and opened the door. To my surprise, it wasn't Julia. Instead, I was greeted with a gyaru.

She had long purple hair that was tied up at the end and hung over her shoulder. She had on oval shape face covered in makeup, but it was tastefully done rather than simply layered.

Looking down, I noticed she wore her uniform slovenly, but it highlighted her feminine features. She was curvy. It was criminal how well she flaunted her assets without showing direct skin.

Looking at her extremities, I saw rather mundane accessories rather than anything gaudy. It was still likely to be expensively trendy judging from the quality.

"Like what you see?" she said coquettishly.

"More surprised someone as attractive as you would come here. I would have figured your fiancé would have kept you jealously by his side."

She gave me a complicated expression.

"Odd. Julia said you were not aware who we were."

"One, I don't know who you are. I just assumed you were from a wealthy family and with all its responsibilities given your accessories. Two, Julia sent you?"

She gave a mirthful chuckle.

"She didn't send me. Rather she was fretting over you as of late. She thought that some of the lower nobles would try to take advantage of her dear friend. You would think you were some helpless pet rabbit. Of course, I had to find the boy who has my friend in such a tizzy."

Rather than take delight in Julia's concern. I realized what this really was. This girl was assessing me.

"Well then. Shall we talk over some tea..." I asked as I opened the door fully to let her in.

"Brianna, Sir Leon, and I would be delighted."


"This pot of tea is delightful, and your assortment of treats pairs well with your selection."

I felt my heart sing from the praise. I never realized how honest praise felt so sweet.

"Are you crying?"

"My apologies. The last guests I had commented on my poor tastebuds. They were disappointed I did not have the capital's newest patisserie's monthly special."

Brianna scoffed as she said, "Such a waste of Dia. That man's cakes are nothing more than blunt sugar. There is no art nor complexity in his goods. No tea pairs well with it except the cheap swill meant to only wet your throat so that one can swallow."

I blinked slowly. Was she actually my ideal girl? She probably had costly taste but retained the ability to discern what was truly worth the Dia. She was also incredibly hot, and despite her flirtatious nature, she had been fairly proper. I wouldn't be surprised if she were to scoff at the idea of buying a personal servant.

The only negative impression I had of her was that she was slightly narcissistic, but was it really narcissism if her appraisal was accurate? If anything, that self-assuredness only served to heighten her appeal.

"... Would you marry me?" I said dumbly as my mouth moved faster than my brain could say stop.

She just laughed, and said, "It is refreshing to talk to you. I can see why Julia speaks of you so excitedly."

"Errr... What makes me so refreshing?"

"The fact that you can enjoy what you love so earnestly. That you won't let propriety stand in the way enjoying life. That hearing beliefs aligned with your hobby was more effective in drawing your attention when flaunting my body did little."

I sheepishly scratched my head.

"I mean it helps that you are as tastefully pretty as you are."

With a Cheshire grin, she said, "Tasteful? Not just pretty? I'm curious about what you think the difference is."

It was at that point I started listing my observations. With each comment, she would look at what I pointed out and cheerfully thanked me for noticing the effort she put in. Well, she took it in stride at first. But as I continued she began to gain a wistful look.

"Have I made you upset?"

"Huh?"

"Your mood seems to taken a downward turn."

"Ah, thoughtful as well."

"Brianna?"

"Just wistfully thinking."

"... Does this have to do with your fiancé?"

"... Ah... I suppose it is obvious, given the nature of our conversation."

"Care to talk about it?"

"It is not as if complaining about Stephan would change the situation," she sighed out.

"No, but it might feel cathartic to let it all out."

"It would be crass to air out my frustrations with my fiancé."

"And I would care about such crassness?"

"Is this how you wormed your way into Julia's heart?"

"Sometimes people just need a sympathetic shoulder to get by. It's how we frontier barons get by," I said with a nonchalant shrug.

"Fine," she snorts.

"So what grieves you, My Lady."

"Funny. Nobility doesn't suit you."

"Agreed."

"... I guess there's no reason to put it off. Stephan... he's a cad. While I'm flirtatious, it only extends to words. He indulges his baser desires with commoners in the capital. Worse yet, he does it with no discretion. I'm sure he's fathered several bastards by now."

I paused at that. There were noble guys like that? That was odd, given how the power was in the woman's hands. It was such an asinine idea for a guy like that to exist in this world.

"Shouldn't that be in some violation of your engagement? That sounds like blatant infidelity."

"Unfortunately, we need his family's help more than we would like to admit."

"What possible reason would warrant accepting such disrespect?"

"... I forget that you don't know our situations. Without giving away too much, I, like you, am a noble of the frontier. Unfortunately, our borders places us close enough to the Principality that we need more support than what the capital can spare. My marriage to Stephan was meant to... dissuade the Principality from attacking our lands."

"Ouch, and your fiancé has used this as a means to act as he does."

"It conveniently does give him control of the situation, but there are times when I wonder if the fault lies with me."

"How can you believe that? Your fiancé is laying with other women deliberately."

"He noted he does it as payback for my loose behavior."

"... I don't agree with his actions, but I can see how having a flirty fiancée might drive a man up the wall. Just to make sure, have you tried to clear up the situation with him?"

"I have told him on multiple occasions that my virtue is intact, and that I have little interest in sullying myself with lesser men."

Somehow, I felt she left out the part that she included Stephan on that list... and that he was made aware of that fact. Brianna's virginity pretty much confirmed that since, if he was as much of an asshole as he sounded, would have tried to get in her pants already.

Not wanting to guilt her or to come off as scolding, I decided to compromise with my thoughts.

"At least you made the effort. While I can't say words alone are enough, sleeping around to get back at you is unreasonable."

"... So you think my behavior is unacceptable too," she said miserably.

"Not unacceptable, but something that should be worked out together with your fiancé. It is what inherently defines you as you. To deny that aspect completely would to claim your existence is wrong."

"Sweet words, but if we were engaged, you would be bothered. You've as good as admitted that part of the blame lies with me."

"Bothered to the point I would do anything to convince you to only flirt with me."

"What?" she said with a vibrant blush.

To prevent a misunderstanding, I continued on by saying, "I'm selfish. If my fiancée had to flirt with someone, I'll make damn sure she only wants to flirt with me."

"And how would you do that?"

"Hopefully by making her fall so irrevocably in love with me that the idea of flirting with another man is anathema to her. Not sure how I would go about doing that, but I'm sure these tea party lessons my professor is drilling into my head help."

"Careful now. One might think you are courting me," she said with little heat. If anything she sounded as though she wanted me to whisk her away. Her flirting was dangerous for my heart.

"Alas, I am afraid my skills are still far too paltry to keep your attention on me alone," I said dramatically.

She just laughed. She clearly enjoyed my company, but a part of me felt as though she felt longing. A niggling part of my brain said I could push for it, but I knew better than to break some political engagement.

A part of me also knew I wasn't good enough for a girl like her. I was a novelty at best. Interest in the unusual was not a lasting foundation for any relationship.


After a couple of hours, Brianna left. It was a pleasant day overall. The presence of another friendly beauty had washed away the bitterness I had nurtured from my previous guests.

If only I could wash away the bitterness that two perfect girls were out of my reach, and that both found my presence pleasant. My heart burned from that.

Distracting myself from the pain, I dutifully carted my leftovers. I needed to toss my remaining snacks since they would be too stale tomorrow.

As I neared the designated garbage disposal, I heard a muffled sound of a boy weeping in one of the rooms.

Out of curiosity, I opened the door from where the sound was coming from. Looking inside, I saw a thin blond boy sitting in a mess. There was debris consisting of tossed snacks and broken ceramic lying all about the room.

"Who's there?" he nervously asked after hearing the door creaking.

"Whoa. No need to panic. I just heard crying."

"I apologize for the mess. I'll clean this right away," he frantically stated.

"I'll help."

"No need! You shouldn't have to waste your time helping me."

"... Are you sure? I don't mind."

"I'm grateful for the sentiment, but..."

"... If you're sure..."

"... Oliver," the boy said with a reluctant sigh.

"Leon. I'll leave you to it, Oliver. Take care now."

Before I left, I noticed him perk up in surprise, but I didn't stick around to find out. He was probably just having a bad day. A harpy probably trashed his tea party for being too low class. I know I wouldn't want anyone to see me in such a state if it had gotten as bad as it looked... but a small sentiment would have improved my day as it seemed to have for Oliver.


AN:

1) The reason this took so long to come out was because I was trying to force the chapter to be about Jilk(Jill). I eventually gave it up for working on Brianna.

2) I thought of naming Brad as Brandy, but Brianna sounds more aristocratic than alcohol.

3) Part of the way through the chapter, I semi-realized that Leon is quite literally Mr. Perfect for Brianna. Has the military power to stall the Principality, isn't so caught up in noble politics to be a bore, has enough clout to potentially be promoted to Viscount(one rank below Stephan), appreciates the effort she makes to pretty herself up, and the list goes on.

4) Leon, when he isn't acting as a gremlin, typically doesn't rock the boat. I think as an adult he understands that his actions has consequences, and that breaking a political engagement has dire consequences, especially since it might mean the Principality would just up and decide to murder his new friend's entire family. Of course, he's an asshole still since he has an UNO Reverso card known as Luxion.

5) Oliver makes an appearance, but I'm not a hundred percent sure how much I want to involve him since doing so makes Leon not realizing the situation a tad bit more unbelievable.