"This was the most exciting event I have ever attended in my whole life, and let me tell you, my lady, I have been to many."
In the lakeside gazebo of the mansion's garden, Morris couldn't stop his excitement as he sat together with Vivian and Isabella, who kept their conversational prowess to a minimum.
It was an awkward situation for the two girls; the awkward development never stopped. The spark that Vivian felt between Morris and Isabella was real, but Count Julian wanted Vivian to be Morris's host after the party.
And just to make things worse…
"My ladies, Lord De Brosa!"
… Logan emerged out of nowhere.
"…"
While Vivian gave the cold shoulder to Logan, whom she wasn't on talking terms with at the moment, Morris was happy to see the knight and stood to greet him.
"Sir Logan. Glad to meet you again, I hope you are joining us."
"I'm afraid I have duties to attend to, sir. I am just here to inform Lady Vivian that all the projects were packed in their crates and escorted back to the company's secured warehouse." Logan said as he turned to Vivian.
"Hmph!"
As for Vivian, she merely snorted and didn't look at his face. Logan shook his head wryly as he sighed.
"I sense uneasiness. It seems my excitement got the better of me again." Morris felt twice as awkward as before and sat back in his chair.
"Viv. It's rude to keep Sir Logan hanging." Isabella spoke as she touched Vivian's arm.
"Well, you can tell Sir Logan that he shouldn't have troubled himself coming here and report directly to his liege," Vivian said.
Isabella looked between Vivian and Logan and shrugged as she said:
"What she said."
"For Arthur's sake!" Logan shook his head and was about to leave, but stopped and looked at Vivian, "Any further instructions before sending out the employees, my Lady?"
"Tell him he can leave it to Sir Fabian instead," Vivian said to Isabella.
"Why do I have to tell him? He's your knight!" Isabella said, unable to justify Vivian's anger at Logan.
"I am not talking to a snitch," Vivian replied.
"I wasn't snitching!" Logan tried to reason with Vivian.
"Hmph! Snitches get stitches!" Vivian said shapely.
"Alright. You need to calm down." Isabella said and pointed at Vivian firmly.
"Erm! While you ladies sort this out, Sir Logan and I will go for some more of these fuzzy drinks. Any particular flavors the ladies prefer?" Morris shot up from his seat and assisted Isabella in cooling Vivian off regarding Logan.
"I've tried all flavors so far except strawberry. I'd love to try that, sir." Isabella spoke shyly to Morris.
"Of course, and Lady Vivian?"
"I'll take the same, thank you, Sir Morris."
"Sir Logan, shall we?"
As Morris and Logan went away, Vivian and Isabella remained in their seats while the air of awkwardness around them had to be resolved before the gentlemen would return.
"Cut Logan some slack, won't you, Viv?"
"I'll just have to give him a piece of my mind every now and then. I can't afford my personal knight to be in my father's pocket all the time."
"Your father is still his liege lord."
"I don't care. He still snitched me out badly! He could have mellowed it down and made it look like an accident, but he didn't. One thing I am sure of is that boys will stop making mistakes the more trouble you give them."
"Well… can't argue with that."
After a few seconds of silence, the girls took to thinking of the most sensitive subject they had to speak about, and they went at the same time.
"I am sorry about…" "Viv, I'm sorry I…"
The two girls started apologizing at the same time, which made them halt their words and eye each other weirdly.
"What are you apologizing for?" Isabella asked.
"Isn't it… obvious? What are you apologizing for?" Vivian retorted.
"Well… it is…"
The two felt that their awkward situation seemed to have been misinterpreted mutually, and so Isabella decided to speak her mind first.
"I am sorry. I don't think I can fulfill our promise, Viv."
"The stepmother thing? Wait! How serious were you exactly?"
"As serious as a heart attack, darling."
"Bloody hell! I took it as an ongoing joke, but you were really trying to snatch my father from Saskia? Crazy woman!"
Vivian was a bit tired from Isabella's shenanigans, making her rub her eyes and rest her head back before looking at Isabella and speaking:
"I was going to apologize about how I got close to Sir Morris. Your father pushed me to go with him."
"Yes. Can't say I didn't feel jealous but…" Isabella said and with a smile on her face, "Did you know that he approached me thinking I was you?"
"You serious?"
"True. He told me that his associate told him that Vivian Moore was the fairest young lady at the party and pointed at us when we were together. Sir Morris came directly to me."
"Oh, you minx."
The two girls sat close to each other and started giggling as Isabella told Vivian everything about how she met Morris and how it became so awkward when he realized she was not Vivian. By the time they were done, Logan and Morris were back.
"My ladies!" Morris approached and offered two glasses of Hopps to Vivian and Isabella before he took his glass from Logan and clinked their glasses together.
"To your health, Sir Logan."
"And the same to you, Sir Morris."
Seeing as the two had become friends already, a mean smile appeared on Vivian's face as the villainess came to life.
"Sir Morris, I've heard the story of how you met Bella. Apparently, you mistook her for me and approached her as the fairest maiden in the party."
Isabella panicked as soon as Vivian spilled the beans and Morris stood right where he was, processing what had just happened. He regained his cool almost immediately and got back in his seat.
"Guilty as charged, my lady." He said, raising both hands in surrender.
"That's nice." Vivian smiled, and it seemed like she was about to let it go, but then her smile suddenly disappeared, and a serious face was in its place. "So, Isabella is more beautiful than I, huh?"
"Viv!"
"Here she goes!"
Seeing Isabella and Logan petrified by her sudden question, Morris started to break into a cold sweat, but who is he if not the most adventurous soul in Albion?
"My lady, a man such as myself can only perceive so much beauty. Having both you and Lady Isabella in the same canvas is too much for a single artist to process, even my brush would shy from drawing you together. I'd ruin myself as an artist and never draw again if I were ever to dare to decide on such a godly matter."
That answer left the three Elgardish aristocrats looking at Morris in awe.
"He's good. He's really good." Vivian said and slowly clapped.
"Both art and words. Sir Morris, you have elevated the art of word choice in my eyes to a whole new level." Logan said as he slightly bowed to Morris in respect.
"Yes, learn from him," Vivian said to Logan.
"Just let it go, Princess." Logan shook his head.
Isabella, however, kept looking at Morris and then looked down without saying much. She was aware that Vivian was trying to stir them to be on the same side against her brutish question, but Morris got it all covered.
While Isabella was outdoorsy, sociable, and extremely extroverted, her experience in romance wasn't past the level of having a crush on her best friend's father and teasing each other about it. However, this night would be the first one in her life to have so many butterflies in her stomach at the sight of this foreign man.
Isabella's head finally got back to its senses sometime later. By then, Vivian was already causing trouble for Logan.
"What about you, Logan?"
"What about me?"
"Who is more beautiful in your eyes? Bella or I?"
"I'm a simple man with simple choices. You, my lady, are the most beautiful woman on God's green earth." Logan replied bluntly.
"You took the romance out of your answer, friend," Morris commented.
"It's my livelihood on the line here, sir," Logan replied.
"You are hopeless, sir Logan. But perhaps we will make a flirt out of you by making you hang out with Sir Morris." Isabella added.
"That's easily arrangeable. Sir Morris will be staying in the mansion for a few days so we can hang…"
"Excuse me?"
Just as Logan stated that Morris was staying in the Moore mansion, Isabella almost jumped out of her seat.
"Well, a situation happened, and it seems that the ship that was carrying my belongings got into trouble in the sea and circled back to Vigonza. Right now, I'm somewhat stranded on Elgard." Morris explained his situation briefly.
"That's terrible. That ship is your personal vessel, right? The one you traveled with across the ocean." Isabella said.
"Indeed. The Beloved is her name. She's an old brig seized from the Adnanis by my ancestors. The only heirloom left from my family. I consider her my home away from home. Sadly, the trip back from Albion has taken quite the toll on her, and she needs more repairs before becoming seaworthy again."
"What a story! I hope you unite with your Beloved soon, Sir Morris." Isabella said with visible emotions.
"That's… so kind of you, my lady," Morris said with a smile.
Logan got close to Vivian and whispered:
"She said unite, not reunite, right?"
"Yes, our girl is quite smooth and subtle," Vivian replied.
As Logan and Vivian seemed to be having their own conversation on the side, Isabella and Morris looked at them suspiciously, making the two create some distance. They couldn't help but keep giggling at what they were thinking about, though.
As Morris and Logan seemed to have become immersed in their own conversation, Isabella kept frowning at Vivian as she asked:
"What's with you?"
"Nothing. Keep it up, though." Vivian replied.
"Whatever!" Isabella realized that Vivian would have her way if she were to pursue her, so she let it go, but remembered something, "Right, that room beside yours, the one with the tall bed."
"If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, give up. I gave the room to Esmeralda." Vivian spoke quietly.
"Oh!" Isabella seemed down since she wanted to spend the night at the Moore mansion.
"You can still crash with me in my room, though," Vivian said with a cheeky smile.
"Really?!" Isabella exclaimed in joy before clearing her voice, "Well, since it is already this late, I greatly appreciate your offer."
"You're welcome, dear."
As Isabella seemed to want to stay where Morris was staying tonight, Vivian assisted her right away, and the latter seemed very pleased. However, right at the moment, a fifth character appeared in the scene from the garden's direction.
"My lady… oh… I apologize… I'll come back later…"
"No, no, Oliver. It's okay, I was waiting for you."
Oliver approached Vivian and handed her a note from Voros.
"I recognize this young man from somewhere," Isabella said, looking at Oliver.
"I haven't introduced you, haven't I? That's Oliver, the gardener's assistant by day, who runs me errands after work. He was also assisting in the party you hosted at Alba's. That's probably where you saw him." Vivian said.
"Oh, nice to see you, Oliver." Isabella smiled at Oliver, whose face flushed red.
The others seemed to have noticed, but just as they were going to attribute such a reaction to Isabella's charm, a tall figure appeared from the opposite side of the garden.
"My Lady, Mr. Oscar, and Miss Jane are here to conclude tomorrow's schedule."
That, of course, was Esmeralda.
The four looked between Oliver and Esmeralda for a second, and it seemed that their reactions were mutual. Some smiles were exchanged, but nobody commented on anything in that regard.
Vivian asked Esmeralda to let Oscar and Jane come to the gazebo. Oscar Mason, ViTech's core executive, and Jane Smith-Waters, ViTech's head technician and secret gunsmith, were now basically Vivian's right and left hands in her work. Despite being commoners, they were already two of the most common faces around the mansion, especially in such important events.
As the two joined the small gathering, they reported the scale of success of today's event to Vivian, but they seemed to be especially over the moon.
"My lady, there is something we wanted to ask you about, if you excuse our rudeness." Oscar then spoke with a serious tone.
"Go ahead, Oscar. I am all ears." Vivian replied.
"Erm… so… the matter is… we were asking for your blessings, my lady." He said and seemed a bit hesitant.
"Blessings?" Vivian frowned, "For what?"
Oscar and Jane looked at each other happily before Jane raised her right hand with a beautiful ring on it.
"My lady, Oscar proposed to me."
After a silent moment, absorbing the pleasant shock of this news, Morris was the first to comment.
"Is this the place where Lovebirds gather, or is it just me?"