Dream Life Vol 3 Chapter 32.1: “Banquet: Preparation”

　3:00 p.m. in the afternoon on July 20th, 317 in the Tria calendar.

My brother’s marriage ceremony is proceeding smoothly, and my brother and his wife are holding a parade through the city. There was an accident in the garden, but other than that, time passed without incident.

3:30 p.m.

I was on my way to a certain place.

My destination is the pantry in the serving room next to the main hall. The purpose was to make final adjustments to the drinks to be served at the banquet.

The meeting had already been held the day before yesterday, and I didn’t think it was necessary. However, Fergus Bartley, the head waiter, has asked me to be present for the final check. It seems that even the head waiter of one of the empire’s greatest aristocratic families, who deals with many distinguished guests, is uneasy about handling sparkling wine and spirits for the first time at such a big event.

And it seems I was the cause of it. Or rather, it was.

The night before last, we had a lesson on how to open sparkling wine, and it seemed I got a little too hot.

I was not aware of it.

But Liddy, who was with me, pointed it out to me later.

“There’s more to it than just how to open the bottle, how to pour the wine into the glass, and how to wipe off the wine dripping from the mouth of the bottle. Also, check the dust on the glass before pouring. …You gave such detailed instructions one by one. I could see the waiters’ faces twitching…” (Liddy)

Furthermore, she imitated my voice,

“Don’t make any noise! Don’t let the drops drip from the mouth of the bottle! You, there! The angle of your arms should be like this, making you look beautiful! Oh, and your back muscles must be straight… I think you should…” (Liddy)

That being said, I kind of acted that way. But I thought I had been respectful to them in my own way, so I tried to argue with them.

“Really? I didn’t say anything difficult like that. First of all, I thought I was careful about the language I used…” (Zack)

Liddy nods, looking like she’s about to burst out laughing.

“Yes, you were speaking in a polite manner. Yes… like you were speaking in a very polite manner when dealing with a guest. But that’s what made it all the more frightening, you know?” (Liddy)

She teased me by saying that while suppressing a laugh.

I wasn’t aware of it at all, so all I could do was smile bitterly.

There was no way I was going to yell at her for telling me I was teaching them how to work like they were guests. I thought I was teaching them in a normal, gentle, and polite manner, but… I seemed to have been heated up without realizing it.

I remember catching a glimpse of Fergus, the head waiter, on the way home. I can’t help but feel that his shoulders were slumped and his eyes were a little teary.

“You are not aware enough. The dwarves, the dwarven blacksmiths who proclaim to the whole world that ‘they will not compromise on alcohol’, are saying that ‘they are no match with you’ when it comes to alcohol. They will be serving your signature drink. That is making you nervous.” (Liddy)

Liddy deliberately emphasizes the “that” part in her explanation.

When you say that, I could understand why the head waiter was nervous. But even so, I had no such awareness.

As I was recalling what had happened, Liddy seemed to remember something as well, and suddenly she looked sulky.

“And Barbara, the head maid, she was the one you were ogling at, wasn’t she?” (Liddy)

I was puzzled by this sudden turn of events.

“What do you mean?” (Zack)

“You have been very considerate of that girl. Not just as a maid, but as a woman.” (Liddy)

I was not sure what she was trying to say, but I started to recall what had happened.

The head maid, Baroness Barbara Harding, is a beautiful woman in her late twenties with a calm and dignified air. However, I was not smitten, and I am not conscious of her womanliness.

For someone like Liddy, who is relatively open-minded about such things, she seemed to be quite concerned about it, but I had no intention at all at that time. Of course, it didn’t mean anything then, and it doesn’t mean anything now.

But it wasn’t as if I didn’t have an idea.

“Ah… That’s true… but she was the most important person among those members, so I just treated her with respect. Well, there is no doubt that she responded as a woman of her stature…” (Zack) [T/N: Stupid harem bastard. I hope your pinky hits all the dressers you cross.]

Even though she is a maid, she is the daughter of a baron.

Speaking of the class system, there is no doubt that she is higher ranked than me, the second son of a knight. Furthermore, if she becomes the head maid of the castle where the most powerful person in this region, the governor of the northern Caelum Empire, resides, her standing is completely different from that of a head maid of an ordinary mansion. It is an important position in charge of the innermost affairs of the Count’s family, and I am sure that I must pay the highest respect to her.

“You don’t have to suddenly get down on one knee and kiss the back of her hand. Everyone around me was shocked.” (Liddy)

To be honest, I had no idea what was wrong with that. [T/N: Flirty harem bastard. (ﾉ °益°)ﾉ 彡 ┻━┻]

“Isn’t that the greeting taught to greet ladies at the academy? I don’t think it’s wrong…” (Zack)

The Tyria Magic Academy, I studied at was a school that produced many court magicians, so they also had etiquette classes. Some of them were related to customs, such as how to greet the royal family.

Liddy glances at me and then lets out a small sigh.

“I understand. You really didn’t mean it… But I wonder what the other person thought. At least the people around them must have had a different impression than you did.” (Liddy)

That being said, I did feel that my impression of the head maid had changed. I had never spoken to her directly before, but I had thought she seemed a little cold. But at the time, I felt that she was a pretty, feminine person.

(I thought she was doing a very hard job as the head maid of the Frontier Count’s family, even though she was so young…) (Zack)

When I mentioned this to Liddy, she just shook her head and said nothing more. [T/N: You made the Erufu into an Erofu! Argh! Dumbass harem bastard. …This translator is very jealous. I hope every drink you have has at least a single strand of hair.]

Incidentally, the only reason Liddy was there was to drink the sparkling wine they had opened for practice. Of course… Beatrice was with her.

Unknowingly, I didn’t notice the reason for this at first. So, as we headed to the serving room together, I asked them, “Why are you coming with me?”

To my question, they both answered, “It would be a waste if we don’t drink after you open the bottles.”

At that time, I had only told them that I had been summoned by the head maid, but they knew exactly what I was going to do.

(I thought I had only told them a long time ago that I was going to help a few for practice. …I think Liddy and Beatrice are starting to have a sense of smell as good as the dwarves… No, that’s not the case. Oh well…) (Zack)

For a moment, Liddy and Beatrice looked like they were overlapping with the dwarves’ silhouette. With a small shake of my head, I shook that thought off.

At that moment, there were five regular bottles of sparkling wine opened for practice. The corks were popped, and the pouring was practiced with empty bottles filled with magically created sparkling water.

Furthermore, I did not intend to drink all of the sparkling wine I opened. At first, except for one bottle for tasting, I intended to cork it again, though not recork it—but replacing the old cork with a new one. Even after opening it, storing it in a storage magic inventory that slowed the progression of time would prevent deterioration and would have little effect on my personal drinking. No, I was expecting Liddy to say, “You have to drink it soon because it will stop tasting good” before it would affect me.

Since it was a practice run, it was possible that the bubbles might overflow due to a wrong opening. In that case, I intended to let the cooks as well as the waiters drink it so that they would learn the taste.

However, I noticed that even the bottles that had not failed were gone before I knew it. The culprits, of course, were obvious. There were only two people I could think of.

There was no room for complacency.

I couldn’t help but be reminded of the appearance of the dwarves.

No, it is rude to say this to the dwarves. They look like they really want to drink, but they would never drink without my permission.

Well, the sparkling wine they have now originally belonged to Liddy, so they don’t need my permission.