Chapter 02: The Flower Festival

The Flower Festival is one of the biggest events to happen in Florence.

The people of Florence were very fond of flowers, especially women, that the vast majority of the land owned by those people living in Florence has been used to plant different kinds of flowers wherein some of those flowers nearing extinction were planted and cultivated but there are only a handful of them and some of these near extinction flowers are difficult to raise and would take a long time to mature.

Since it's held in the season of spring where most flowers would bloom, the people of Florence decided to held a festival for the flower harvest which is what we call the "Flower Festival".

Except for the locals, many people from neighbouring kingdoms would also come to visit Florence. Aside from those blooming flowers, there are also different kinds of stuff being sold at the streets like armors, clothes, and artifacts. There are many merchants who would come to Florence during this event as it is an opportunity for them to establish some connections with other people especially those who are of high rank.

The streets of Florence were bustling as a flood of people could be seen walking around. Some of them were checking out some stuff that had caught their attention, some were just there to look around. 

A carriage with the logo of a white rose entered one of the most bustling streets in Florence. They stopped outside a luxurious restaurant and as soon as their carriages stopped, a person came out from the restaurant to receive them. The person carried a polite smile and helped the people inside the carriage to get down.

The first person to come out was a woman full of white hair but still exudes the aura of magnificence. Everything around her looked so luxurious which made people around her be careful when tending to her. 

"You're still as graceful as ever, Duchess Carmen." The person who helped her praised.

The woman who was called as Duchess Carmen couldn't help but chuckle when she heard that person's words.

"And you're still a sweet talker, Anton." Carmen replied.

After she got down, a woman clad in a pastel blue dress followed suit. She was the complete opposite of the woman who got down before her. Her silky long hair was hanging behind her which made her look more attractive. Even Anton couldn't help but get mesmerized by her beauty.

Following behind her was her personal maid, Lillian.

Anton sidestepped and bowed down to the woman who came out. 

"Greetings, Miss Naomi." He said while keeping the polite smile plastered on his face.

Naomi only responded with a nod and a little smile.

Seeing her reaction, Anton didn't mind much and went back on entertaining the white-haired woman.

"It is Rosewood's great pleasure to have you here, Duchess Carmen."

The woman only smiled and didn't utter a single word of response. 

Anton led the group of three inside and the fancy interiorsbrevealed themselves. 

Rosewood was one of Florence's first-class restaurants and its reputation far exceeds those other first-class restaurants in Florence.

Seeing the fancy interiors of Rosewood, it won't be right to say that it isn't deserving of its title being first-class. 

Aside from these fancy interiors, the foods they serve were also top-notch! Rosewood appeared in Florence's news a lot of times with numerous praises showered over them. Aside from having a massive reputation Florence, their fame had also reached the other neighbouring kingdoms and many of them made a trip to Florence just to dine in Rosewood.

Carmen couldn't help but nod in satisfaction as she walked through the elegant staircase of Rosewood. Despite visiting Rosewood a lot of times, she would always come and go with satisfaction.

Rosewood consisted of four floors and are differentiated by classes. 

The first floor is open for all people. As long as you can afford to pay the high prices of the first floor's dishes, then you are allowed to dine. 

The second floor is for wealthy people. Compared to the prices of the dishes in the first floor of Rosewood, the dishes in the second floor were much more pricey.

The third floor is for nobility and the fourth floor is for the royalty. 

As you ascend the higher floors, the atmosphere and prices of the dishes also increases. 

The nobility differed in status. The nobles are ranked according to their titles: duke or duchess, marques or marchioness, earl or countess, viscount or viscountess, and baron or baroness.

The title of a duke or duchess is only two rank lower than the royalty. Leading the ranks of royalty are the king and queen followed by the prince and princess. 

As Carmen had the title of a Duchess and is cousin with the King of Florence, she's naturally given the highest privilege and benefits. 

The four of them reached the room they had booked in the third floor and stepped inside.

The interiors of the room were simple yet luxurious and the atmosphere in it was full of ambiance. 

As soon as the three of them had settled down in the dining table, Anton excused himself since as the manager, there are still some matters he needed to attend to.

"Duchess Carmen, I should excuse myself this time as I need to tend to a lot of things." Anton said politely.

"Go on, then. Actually, you needn't attend to us every time we come here for a visit. The service of the other staff here is good, too." Carmen replied with a smile. 

"It's my pleasure to attend to you, Duchess Carmen." Anton replied and quickly bowed down. 

After a while when Anton exited the room, a waitress came in and went on to entertain the people inside the room as a replacement of Anton. The waitress received their orders and excused herself to handle it.

It was only Carmen, Naomi, and Lillian inside the room.

Carmen looked at Lillian, who was standing by Naomi's side, and spoke.

"Lillian, take a seat." She ordered.

Lillian looked at her with confusion on her eyes. As Naomi's personal maid, she would always be sticking close to her and would always follow her. Today's no exception.

"Come on, there's no need for formalities within us." Sensing her confusion, Naomi urged.

"But..." Despite Naomi's urging, she was still hesitant. 

Upon sensing Carmen's gaze on her, her hesitation came to an end. 

She pulled out a chair beside Naomi and sat down on it. Still, she was somehow reserved.

While waiting for the dishes to be served, Naomi and Carmen talked to each other while Lillian remained silent and just listened.

Soon after, the food they have ordered arrived and in no time, the table was filled with dishes.

Although the food had been placed, the trio still didn't move their dining utensils as Carmen haven't told them so.

"Grandmother, can we eat?" Naomi asked while staring at the food placed in the table.

"Not yet, sweetheart. Someone's still not here." Carmen said.

"Who are we waiting for?"

Carmen was supposed to answer when the door opened and someone came in.

"Oh, he's here." A sweet smile appeared on her face.

Naomi and Lillian both turned to look at the person who entered and was shocked to see who it was.

"SECOND UNCLE!"