As the days passed, the May Festival was approaching

Ito Castle is full of joy both inside and outside the city, and people are actively preparing for the upcoming festival

The roads are cleaned, and there are special personnel who patrol them every morning, noon and evening to prevent anyone from soiling the ground

The facades of the houses on both sides of the street have been washed and partially repainted, and many families have placed beautiful flower pots on the windowsills to add a touch of beauty to the houses

In the open space of the Heroes Square in front of the palace, workers are erecting tall wooden poles, hanging colorful flags on them, and the statues of heroes of the past are cleaned, and tens of thousands of pots of flowers are placed around them, forming various patterns

People inside and outside the city, rich and poor, poured into the shops, large and small, and the nobles and the rich naturally bought beautiful and expensive things for the festival, and the poor would add a new cloth or two to their homes, and buy a little meat and wine

Young girls frantically search for information on the most fashionable dresses, shoes and accessories, and then do their best to dress up their young men, who seem to be calm, but in fact are secretly practicing a trick or two, intending to show off at the festival and attract the attention of their sweethearts

This madness swept through the city, and even the Rose Garden did not escape

Winnie had been on Dora's orders and had been in the city's tailor shops and ready-to-wear shops for four days to inquire about the styles of dresses that had been popular in aristocratic circles lately; Marcy went directly to her brothers, collected information from the Xiao family's beauty shop, and when they were finally satisfied, they returned with the tailors they had selected and the latest fashion catalogs, and Jenny, who planned to make new clothes for Minna, also joined the discussion with great interest

Jenny has been living a rich life for as long as she can remember, except for a few days ago when she was called by Lilith to be a maid, she really didn't suffer much, and now she went to the Rose Garden, took off her maid uniform, put on her original long dress, her hair was tied with a ribbon and a bow, pretty and lovely, more like a rich lady than Minna, her interest in dressing up was as strong as other young girls

The more they talked, the more excited they became, and Mr. Seamstress cowered pitifully in a corner, having been completely ignored by the ladies after the thirteenth suggestion had been rejected

Minna couldn't stand it a little, and saw that they were talking happily, so she quietly moved her steps and planned to sneak out unconsciously, but she only took two steps before Winnie found her: "Miss Minna! Where are you going?! ”

Minna stiffened, turned her head and smiled dryly, "I'm going to read the Magic Book, I don't seem to have studied my homework today..."

Jenny rolled her eyes: "Oh, Minna, it's Mayday, everyone is on holiday, who would be revising their homework at such a time?" And hasn't the academy already replied? After May, they will be preparing for their final exams, and they won't admit new students until the fall when school starts, so you don't need to be so diligent now, throw away your books, and enjoy the festival with ease! ”

She just wants to enjoy the festival easily before she escapes, okay?

Winnie, however, glared at her with disapproval: "When Miss Minna left Merton, Miss Dora told her that you must attend the May Festival Ball!" She also wrote to me to ask me to prepare a few more sets of beautiful clothes for you, which is very important, and you must not escape! ”

She rushed to the door, closed the door vigorously, turned around, and looked at Minna with unparalleled momentum, Minna couldn't reach such enthusiasm, so she had to shrink back to the sofa: "I didn't actually want to escape... It's just—" She suddenly heard the clanging sound outside the window and hurriedly said, "I'm just thinking about the secret tunnel renovation project."

"You can't help if you go, there's someone from the Security Department there, so you can concentrate on choosing your prom clothes!" Winnie "snapped" and spread out several large catalogs on the tea table in front of her, "Pick one!" Pick one you like, don't choose red se, red se is not popular now, and you have enough red se skirts! ”

Minna glanced at the various color pictures of dresses on the catalogue, a little discouraged: "Why is it so troublesome? It's just that I wear it to play, but in fact, my own clothes are very good" These gorgeous and cumbersome clothes are really not her cup of tea...

"What do you say?!" Jenny sat next to her with wide eyes, "May Day Ai May Day!" Don't you know what the prom of May Day is all about? Whether it is a nobleman or a commoner, it is a carnival festival! Men and women who love each other can get together generously, and no one will laugh at them, so how can you not go to the ball on May Day? How can you go to the prom without wearing a nice new outfit?! How can you charm a man without wearing beautiful new clothes?! Don't tell me you're not going to dance with Mr. Alex! He's so noble and handsome, if you don't dress up a little more charmingly, beware that other girls will seduce him! ”

Minna was stunned: "What does this have to do with Alex?" Why should I go dancing with him? ”

"Of course it does!" Jenny slapped the armrest of the couch vigorously, "Are you going to jump with someone else?" Frankly, Minna, you don't know any good men in Ito, do you? Do you have any other options but Mr. Alex?! ”

It's a bit of a strange thing to say, but it seems to make sense, if you really want to find a dance partner, it's Alex

Wait... That's not the point, is it? The point is, why did she go to the prom with Alex! She didn't plan to go at all! Moreover, why did she dress up in order not to let others seduce Alex? Isn't that what lovers do?!

On the other side, Jenny was already sighing: "A good object like Mr. Alex, where to find Ao, not to mention that he is handsome, tall, and capable and noble, when he came over that night, he was still wearing pajamas, which were actually customized in 'Valenwallen'!" In addition to the royal family, that shop only does the business of the old family, I remember last autumn, the Chrissy of the Tuya family showed off all over the world that she was going to marry a nobleman, and said that she would go to 'Valen-Wallen' to customize a wedding dress, but people ignored her at all, which was really cool! ”

She suddenly covered her mouth, quickly glanced at her aunt with a serious expression, and coughed a few times a little uncomfortably: "Sorry, I forgot for a while, but Mr. Alex is really nice, he will greet me politely, he is very simple, but he will never forget to use incense!" It's not the cheesy stuff that the aristocracy is used to, the fragrance is mysterious and a little fresh, it's really noble and elegant..."

The corners of Minna's mouth twitched, and she hesitated whether to tell her that it was actually her own incense, which had a remarkable mosquito repellent effect...

"I remember that you seem to have a sweetheart..."Could it be that Jenny empathized and looked at it instead

Calendar?

Jenny winked at her: "Something else, my good cousin, I love Henry, I don't plan to rob your lover"

Minna is a little weak: he's not her lover, this kind of thing, let his real lover go...

As soon as this thought came to her, she suddenly felt a little uncomfortable, what was the matter with that depressed mood?

Winnie's words interrupted her thoughts: "Speaking of which, when I sent the cake to the Green House yesterday, it seemed that I saw Master Alex sorting out a dark blue dress, which was a big dress, not a division!" ”

Jenny clapped her hands: "That must have been prepared by him for the May Festival!" ”

"But," Winnie hesitated, "it seems a little too formal, and if it was worn at the ball, it would be too serious."

"Oh, Winnie, that's not serious, that's noble and solemn!" Jenny quickly rummaged through the catalog, "I'll see... Pregnant! How about this fresh blue se? It matches Mr. Alex's dress, and it has the most popular square neck... It's the kind that shows off the collarbone, and the irregular slit on the skirt... I remember last month the Marquise de Kirtas wore a long pink dress with an irregular slit to a nobleman's birthday ball, and everyone was fascinated by the dress..."

Minna: "How do you know?" ”

Jenny replied quickly, "Lady Lilith was also in the superego at the time, and I heard from the other maids of the Kado, and it is said that Lady Lilith dropped six vases that night because no one paid attention to her specially made new dress"

Minna quietly wiped a drop of sweat from her forehead

"If we really want to pick this dress, we'd better make a little more changes...", Marcie, who had not spoken, suddenly interjected, "This kind of catalog can be received by every customer, maybe someone will choose the same one with us"

Mr. Seamstress finally found an opportunity to speak: "We only make each dress for one customer..."

But his voice was quickly overshadowed by Winnie's: "I remember that Miss Manda had a skirt made of several layers of tulle to make a bottom skirt, and it was a little longer than the outer skirt, and it was layered on top of each other, and it was very beautiful, why don't you do the same with this skirt?" With the yarn of the light blue se? ”

"Soft yarn is better, three layers are enough" Marcie turned to look at Minna, "How about changing the skirt to gray and blue?" I think this face is more flattering to your skin."

Minna opened her mouth, sighed, and spread her hands, "Please feel free..."

"How can this be casual?!" Jenny looked disapproving, then approached her aunt and showed her the booklet in her hand, "How about embroidering clouds on the dress?" It must be so beautiful that it looks like a dream."

"The clouds are too simple, I think passionflower is better" was Winnie's voice

Then came Marcie: "Do you want to add some decoration to your sleeves?" Ribbons? Bow? Or do you make small flowers out of lace? ”

The three ladies discussed on their own, Minna looked at the depressed crack in the corner of the room, sighed, quietly withdrew to the door, suddenly remembered something, and interrupted the ladies loudly: "I have only one request!" Don't be a long dress! At least it allows me to ride a horse and stride a lot, and I don't want to step on my skirt on the street! ”

"What?!"

"This is ridiculous!"

"No one has ever appeared at a noble ball in a dress that shows off their calves..."

Minna quickly closed the door, shutting out all screams behind the door before breathing a sigh of relief

The sun was shining outside the house, the dirt in the front yard had been planted with green grass, and a small cart next to it was full of small pots of flowers. Flowers just bought from the suburbs, take care of them for a few more days and they will bloom well during the May Festival"

Minna squatted down and looked left and right, and nodded again and again: "I've worked hard for you, but why don't you take a book to review like your second cousin to prepare for the exam of the Transport Department?" ”

The cousin smiled: "I'm not that kind of material, I'm more interested in planting flowers, I can plant whatever I like like to plant like this, it's the best, you look at it, there is a large piece of land in the back garden, I make sure to clean up beautifully, not inferior to the best garden in the city!" After a pause, he leaned in and whispered, "When will those people finish?" Half of our backyard has been taken up by them! ”

Minna also lowered her voice: "The half will belong to them, no way, but part of the nearby woods is ours, you can go and fight the idea there"

The cousin listened with interest: "Really? Then I'm going to plant some fruit trees, I used to be in charge of the orchard when I was in Gutenberg..."

There was a horse-drawn carriage at the front door, it was a small carriage used to go out shopping, and my cousin and another cousin stepped out of the carriage carrying a few boxes, sweating profusely, and beckoned: "Burleigh, come and help!" ”

Burleigh's cousin immediately walked over, and Minna also helped carry a box, which seemed to be quite heavy, and she caught a glimpse of more than a dozen jars in the carriage, three large bags of meat, a few potatoes, melons and vegetables, and a few bouquets of flowers in the corner, all wrapped in cardboard to avoid damage to the petals, she was a little curious: "What are these bought for?" Insert a bottle? "Seems like too much, right?

"The plug and the clothes are used to put the leftovers in the bottle," the cousin wiped his sweat, "it's all for the May Festival, Marcy, Jenny, and Jenny's sisters, cousins, and cousins, all have to make new clothes, they have to go to the ball, and we have to spend money..."

Minna folded and looked at the box in everyone's hands, and the other cousin smiled bitterly: "Satin soft satin, all kinds of tulle lace knots, as well as ribbons, fake pearls... Your box is filled with dancing shoes, and my brother went to buy the fabric for the long gloves, and our girls like to do it themselves."

Minna silently Okay, women are women after all, and in such a carnival festival, no one is willing to give up the right to dress up

The sound of carriages sounded outside the door again, and Burleigh probed to look: "Is Brother Lobby back?" ”

It was someone from the Kajia family who came, and respectfully handed over a letter: "Miss Minna, our little master is back, His Excellency the Earl said, please come over for dinner today"

Little master? Does it refer to the uncle's youngest son, Felder, who is only eleven years old?

Minna remembered that Bewen had mentioned that this cousin went to the south with her grandfather last winter to escape the cold, but she didn't expect to come back before the May Festival, and she had never seen this brother, so she didn't know what he was like?

(It's late again, sorry...) ）