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"Congratulations on being the first man to dance the third waltz with me, Ez."
As soon as the music began, Letticia made the teasing remark with a soft laugh. Ezkhiel averted his eyes slightly and apologized.
"Sorry, Letty. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."
"What's there to be sorry about? If someone asks me to waltz in front of my boyfriend, of course I'd turn them down."
"…"
"And I'm sure it already bothered you when I danced with Lord Carmen earlier. If I'd danced another waltz with someone else, that would've just been shameless of me."
Ezkhiel lowered his eyes at her words and spoke with a gloomy expression.
"No… it's my fault for being so jealous and narrow-minded. It's only natural for you to dance with others, but when it comes to dances done one-on-one… I can't help but wish you wouldn't."
"That just makes me like it even more, you know? It means you really care about me. And it's not like you're glaring at every man who asks me to dance or swearing to kill them."
"Why do your standards have to be so extreme…? That would be totally insane."
It was Ezkhiel's commentary on his own hidden potential to become an obsessive male lead. Letticia only laughed and moved on to the next step.
"Well, you're not that kind of crazy guy, so it's fine. You're not saying you hate it all, just the one-on-one dances or dancing with past suitors. That's reasonable. Even my father never allowed my mother to waltz with other men."
"…"
"But since I have to maintain connections in society and handle business matters, I'll probably end up dancing at least a polka or two. Not because they have feelings for me, like Lord Carmen or Count Selburne, but because they're using it as a business gesture or as a cover."
"…Then, can I be selfish just once?"
As they spun around and returned to their spot, Ezkhiel spoke with a mixture of embarrassment and firm resolve.
"I won't say anything about the past suitors, but… I'd really like it if you only danced the waltz with me. I can endure the polka, but the waltz…"
"Because it's too close, right?"
"W-when you say it so bluntly like that… it's a bit… though you're not wrong."
At his flustered expression, Letticia beamed and nodded.
"Of course I'll only dance it with you, Ez. I do like dancing, but to be honest, I don't want to waltz with anyone else but you. Some guys even asked me to sneak out to the garden at night during a dance, so I stomped on their foot."
"Someone actually did that?!"
Ezkhiel nearly missed a step. Letticia quickly grabbed his hand and continued the dance as best she could, but his stiff expression showed no sign of relaxing.
"Letty, who did something that disrespectful?"
"I forgot who it was. I told Brother Ken and my mother about it, so I'm sure they handled it well."
"Even if it's not a waltz, if anyone ever says something like that again, you have to tell me. How dare they make such a shameful proposal to you…"
As Ezkhiel growled in a low voice with an angry expression, Letticia only smiled as if it was no big deal.
"Well, now that I have you, unless they're complete idiots, they probably won't make such suggestions anymore. I mean, no one wants to end up humiliated like Lord Jarvis, right?"
"…If we show people we're dating more openly, do you think it'll keep guys from bothering you? I wouldn't like it if someone like Lord Jarvis showed up again and even more than that, I know you'd hate it."
Hearing his words, so considerate of her, Letticia felt like kissing his cheek then and there, if only they weren't in the middle of a waltz. She also made a mental note to tell Lenard to ride back home in their parents' carriage later.
"Then you have to contact me every time you're free, okay? You'll be much less busy than in the spring, so let's bring the cookies we made together and go on a picnic, go horseback riding or take a boat ride or whatever."
"They're not really picnic-worthy… Just lumpy, amateur-made cookies."
"Who cares? The point is eating cookies made by a couple together on a picnic. Anyone who complains about that clearly knows nothing about romance. Oh! Should we turn baking into a new couple-date trend? I bet if we tell the PR team, they'll come up with a whole campaign strategy."
"Letty…"
As Letticia excitedly shared her idea, Ezkhiel gave a slightly helpless smile, then gently placed his hand on her waist as they moved into the final steps of the dance.
Once the music ended and everyone began clearing the dance floor, Ezkhiel glanced around cautiously and leaned in to whisper softly in Letticia's ear.
"I… I know I said I'd only ask for one thing, and it's kind of unfair to bring up something else now, but…"
"What is it?"
"…Would it be okay if you didn't wear dresses that show your shoulders too often?"
Letticia looked up in surprise and saw her boyfriend's cheeks and ears turning red, just like they always did when he happened to glance at her bare shoulders.
Touched by how cute his jealousy was, Letticia leaned in closer against Ezkhiel's arm and burst into laughter.
Ezkhiel, now thoroughly flustered and embarrassed, couldn't bring himself to say anything more, but at least the anxiety that she might get angry or grow distant because of his comment no longer lingered in his eyes.
***
After the National Foundation Ball, the spring social season finally came to an end.
In the capital's social scene, summer and winter were considered off-seasons, rest periods between the active spring and autumn seasons and usually began about two weeks earlier than the actual start of those seasons.
Thus, couples who become engaged during the spring or autumn social seasons typically hold their weddings at the beginning of the summer season or the start of the winter season.
If a wedding is held during the peak of the social season, many guests can't attend due to schedule conflicts with other events. On the other hand, if it's held too late, the provincial nobles who had come to the capital would have already returned to their estates.
In contrast, people who aren't planning to get married usually spend this time leisurely, hosting small gatherings to strengthen relationships built during the active season, or retreating to their villas in other regions to escape the summer heat or winter chill.
Letticia, too, had plenty of free time aside from attending weddings and social gatherings with friends. She used that time productively by traveling to Faymont to work on recipe development and discuss the second branch of the store.
And her efforts bore fruit, within just a week of starting recipe consultations, she had successfully created a brand-new dessert.
The next day, Letticia invited Ariette over and had her try a test batch made by Chelsea.
"These are the éclairs you mentioned with fruit cream, milady. We used orange and lemon marmalade, as well as strawberry and apple jam."
"They're delicious! Are you sure these are made exactly the way I suggested?"
Ariette couldn't stop praising them as she sampled the four éclairs that Chelsea had personally plated. Letticia found them good as well, but not significantly better than the original éclairs. Ariette's dramatic enthusiasm was rather intriguing.
"The lady clearly has a fondness for fruity flavors. Personally, I still prefer the classic custard cream."
"Th-then… do you think it might be hard for it to succeed? If it doesn't match Lady Sharon's taste…"
Ariette asked nervously as she took another bite of the strawberry éclair. Chelsea, who had just returned with the next batch, responded gently.
"Even if it doesn't suit Lady Sharon's taste, that doesn't mean it won't succeed in the market. For example, Western-style pound cakes or Eastern-style chocolate cakes with apricot jam, which she doesn't really like, are still selling very well."
"Oh… so she's not fond of Eastern-style chocolate cake?"
"No. I'm not really a fan of apricot. I'd eat it if it were topped with marmalade instead of apricot jam."
"As I've mentioned several times, if we did that, it wouldn't be considered traditional Eastern-style. I could make it for you personally, but we can't sell it in the store that way."
Chelsea's strengths lay not just in her ability to visualize recipes or her precise hands that bring them to life. Her greatest talent was her intuition, knowing whether a dish would sell well and whether it would be profitable.
That's why Letticia never insisted when Chelsea said something wouldn't work. She understood all too well that she couldn't just charge in with half-baked knowledge from the original novel and expect things to go smoothly.
"Then Chelsea, what do you think about this éclair? Actually, not just the éclair, but the whole line of desserts using fruit cream and fresh fruit?"
Ariette looked at Chelsea anxiously. Chelsea set down the éclair for a moment and responded thoughtfully.
"There will definitely be demand for fruit cream. Strawberries and lemons are among the most popular fruits, and if we use jam in the cream, it won't make it too watery. As for cakes with fresh fruit, we can offer those as seasonal specials. Lemon, orange, and apple could be made into sorbets as well, there's no issue adding them to the menu right away."
Letticia was startled by the high praise. For Chelsea, who was so strict when it came to business, to say that meant she genuinely believed they would sell well.
'Maybe I should bring Ariette along for future recipe developments too… She could help cover areas beyond my personal preferences.'
Just as Letticia was considering asking Ariette to collaborate in future product planning, Chelsea brought up a potential risk.
"The problem is that once we start offering them, other shops will quickly copy the idea. So we need to get ahead of the trend and lead it ourselves. But if we add all of them to the menu right now, the variety will be overwhelming."
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