[V9EX3] Bergamot Flavor

This had happened back when Elliott was in his second year of Serendia Academy.

In the student council room after school, Cyril stood up from his desk and said, “I’ll brew some tea.”

A few of the student council officers had their servants prepare tea when they were thirsty. One example being Elliott, who believed that brewing tea was the job of servants. However, Cyril preferred to brew it himself.

At first, Elliott assumed this was another of Cyril’s desperate attempts to wag his tail for his beloved prince, and internally scoffed whenever he saw it. Eventually though, he came to realize that Cyril simply enjoyed the act of brewing tea.

Perhaps it could be considered a small hobby of his. Cyril was knowledgeable about tea leaves and occasionally even created his own blends.

If his tea had been awful, Elliott would have gladly made a sarcastic comment or two, but Cyril hadn’t failed yet.

“What kind of tea will we be having today?” the prince asked Cyril, pausing the document he was working on it.

Simply being addressed by ‘His Highness’ made Cyril visibly happy.

“I’ve just acquired some Rodan-Garf tea leaves, so I will be using them today.”

Before Elliott realized the meaning of this and opened his mouth to interject, the prince put on a troubled smile and spoke first.

“Sorry, Cyril, but could you make it a different tea? I prefer the blend you made for me last time.”

Hearing those words caused Elliott’s eyes to go wide.

＊　＊　＊

Back when Elliott was still young, he was once served Rodan-Garf tea when visiting Duke Crockford’s mansion.

Rodan-Garf tea was a type of black tea known for having the strong scent of bergamot oranges. However, Elliott hated this unique smell and hardly touched it.

A while later, Elliott visited Prince Felix again, where he saw that servant offering him tea with a completely composed expression.

“I have prepared Rodan-Garf tea today.”

He had gone out of his way to prepare the tea that Elliott hated so much.

But at that moment, Elliott’s father was nearby, so he was unable to complain. If he did, his father would likely scold him by saying something like, “How dare you criticize the tea served at Duke Crockford’s mansion! Such impudence!” and give him a slap on the cheek.

Elliott could do nothing but glare resentfully at the servant, until Prince Felix pulled on the hem of the servant’s clothes and whispered softly.

“Isaac, I want to have a different tea today. How about the spring blend from Lianmule?”

“…Understood.”

The servant hesitated for a moment, looking like he wanted to say something. But ultimately, he smiled with a bow, then went off to prepare a different tea.

＊　＊　＊

That servant took every possible opportunity to brew bergamot tea for Elliott or sneak cinnamon into his sweets, with full knowledge that he hated them.

But once the kind prince noticed this, he offered to swap sweets and asked the servant to make Elliott’s favorite tea.

And now, sitting in the Student Council President seat, ‘His Highness’ was looking at Elliott with a slightly troubled smile.

“What’s the matter, Elliott?”

What’s the matter, Elliott?

His smile overlapped with the face of the young prince in Elliott’s memories. Of course it did, because they had the same face.

He noticed Elliott’s dislikes and put on a troubled smile as he swapped them out… as the splitting image of Prince Felix.

This felt utterly disgusting to Elliott.

(Ugh…)

Don’t say the same things as His Highness. Don’t smile the same way as His Highness. Don’t do the same things as His Highness.

Or else, you’ll give me the illusion that the kind prince is still alive!

“Elliott?”

“It’s nothing,” Elliott answered.

Coincidentally, Elliott had also responded “It’s nothing” to the kind prince as well. Feeling even more annoyed at this fact, Elliott turned away in irritation.

He needed to avert his eyes from the perfect prince in front of him.

＊　＊　＊

“Please enjoy another cup of tea.”

Saying that, the man who claimed to be the Silent Witch’s disciple took away the finished plate of apple tart and poured tea into Elliott’s empty cup.

Elliott had insulted the man right in front of Monica, but he remained completely calm, as if it didn’t bother him one bit.

(To think I’d bump into you when I came to ask the Little Squirrel for a magical dedication…)

In any case, Elliott knew what he had to do: explain to Monica just how nasty this servant was.

This would be a long and thorough explanation, so Elliott decided to take a drink first. However, one sip of the tea caused him to start coughing violently.

“Cough cough… Damn you…! This is…!”

“H-Howard-sama!? What’s wrong!? Ike, what did you put in the tea!?”

To the flustered Monica, the servant casually replied, “Nothing? It’s just regular tea… Rodan-Garf tea, that is.”

Only now did Elliott notice the rich fragrance of bergamot coming from the teacup.

He had deliberately brewed two different teas, serving a normal one for the first cup to make Elliott drop his guard, then bringing out this trap on the second.

(You damn good-for-nothing servant…!)

The servant twisted the face of the kind prince into a wicked smile.

The face was so infuriating that Elliott wanted nothing more than to punch him. However, there was also another thought that popped up a corner of Elliott’s mind.

——At least it’s better than the perfectly replicated smile of Prince Felix.

Of course, he had no intention of saying this out loud.

This nasty good-for-nothing servant would surely be a lifelong nemesis for Elliott Howard.

“Shall I prepare cinnamon tea instead, esteemed guest?”

“Don’t even bring those cinnamon sticks near me! See this, Little Squirrel. What is this if not malicious?”

“Um, well, erm…”

“I am deeply offended by that accusation. I only wanted to serve my master a delicious cup of tea.”

“Ike, coffee! Let’s have coffee instead! I want to drink coffee today…!”

This exchange allowed Elliott to notice something.

Whenever he referred to Monica as ‘Little Squirrel’, the servant radiated a slight air of irritation.

Elliott swore to continue using this nickname in the future as he replied, “It better not be cinnamon coffee.”

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