Eda really had gotten somewhat drunk that night, which was why she had done a number of strange things and acted rather foolishly. That was also why she didn't get out of bed until noon the next day and looked completely listless.
Naturally, Eda's somewhat haggard appearance attracted Vinda's attention. Just as Eda was preparing to make up a lie to brush it off, Laura Fournier silently walked past her.
Getting drunk wasn't scary, and embarrassing yourself after getting drunk wasn't scary either. What was truly scary was someone helping you remember all those embarrassing moments after you sobered up. Eda was the drunk person, and Laura's appearance was there precisely to help her remember.
The lie Eda had prepared was instantly swallowed back down. She honestly admitted that she had drunk a bit too much the night before, which caused Grandmother Vinda to fly into a rage and issue a ban.
Eda was forbidden from touching any alcoholic beverages before turning seventeen—including butterbeer.
Pulling up one radish brings out the mud attached to it. Excluding the house-elves, there had only been three living people in Rose Manor last night, so naturally Laura couldn't escape either. Sharp-eyed Vinda dragged her out as well.
Thus, on this day, the house-elves were given a holiday. Although they disliked holidays, they would never disobey their mistress's orders. For the entire day, every task in the manor was to be completed by Laura and Eda. If they couldn't finish, they weren't allowed to sleep!
Fortunately, Rose Manor only somewhat resembled Versailles Palace. It didn't have such an enormous area, nor did it contain so many rooms. there were no embedded chamber pots, and the washrooms and dressing rooms were more than sufficient.
What a blessing. Thank heavens!
Eda and Laura put on aprons and hats, carrying buckets and rags as they busied themselves running in and out, cleaning inside and out without pause. Every time the two of them tried to rest or slack off a little, Vinda would silently appear behind them…
Even the donkeys in a production brigade weren't worked this hard!
That day's work exhausted Eda completely. The soreness in her body only eased three or four days later.
Still, the mountain of housework hadn't been for nothing. Eda ended up visiting every room in the manor. Rose Manor was huge, and its decorating style and furnishings displayed luxury everywhere. Everything about this place was wonderful—
except that it didn't feel like a home.
Eda didn't understand why Vinda had brought her back here to live. Aside from being larger and emptier, she didn't feel Rose Manor was any better than the house on the Champs-Élysées.
Even now, France still felt unfamiliar to Eda. The only reason she had returned to France for summer vacation was because Vinda was here. As for where she lived, it didn't matter much—whether it was a luxurious manor or a ramshackle wooden cabin made no difference to her.
The emptiness of Rose Manor always reminded Eda of the equally empty Nurmengard. Once September came and she returned to Hogwarts, would Vinda become as lonely as Grindelwald? Feeling a little unwilling to accept that, Eda decided to do something about it.
The people at the top only had to move their mouths, while those below ran their legs off. Eda wanted to do something, but poor Sergei and Daniel suffered for it. Aside from Laura, the remaining nine people were run ragged by Eda's orders.
Eda didn't need them to gather intelligence, keep watch, or commit murder and arson. Instead, she split them into two groups—one group was responsible for buying small animals, while the other bought flower seeds and saplings.
By mid-July, Rose Manor was no longer Rose Manor. It ought to have been renamed the Rosier Zoo. Small animals could be seen everywhere in the gardens and courtyards, and two dovecotes had even been built on the estate.
From then on, cats and dogs could often be seen chasing each other through the building. Opening a window revealed lambs and deer running carefree across the grass. The magically created waterways now had waterbirds floating upon them, and looking up, flocks of pigeons could be seen flying above the manor.
Thanks to Eda's constant meddling, Rose Manor became livelier and livelier. Vinda simply let Eda do as she pleased, allowing her granddaughter to turn the manor into a disorderly mess and ruin its solemn atmosphere.
Guests occasionally visited the manor as well. During this period, Eda finally came to recognize every member of the Rosier family, though the only ones who truly left an impression on her were still the same few as before.
Those so-called relatives performed so terribly that, not to mention Alain, they were not even comparable to Vincent.
Because they feared Vinda, these Rosiers acted extremely affectionate toward Eda in front of her, but behind her back they looked down on her immensely. They wanted to drive Eda out of here and take back the inheritance rights in her hands.
The Rosiers all felt that either Vinda had developed dementia in her old age, or Eda had cast some spell on her. Otherwise, there was no reason for her to acknowledge this granddaughter and even allow her to fool around, turning Rose Manor into a complete mess.
Not daring to confront things openly, they only hid behind the scenes gossiping. Such pathetic behavior really made it hard for anyone to remember them. Compared to them, Eda actually liked Vincent a little more, because Vincent was stupid in an oddly adorable way—so stupid he didn't even feel like a villain.
Naturally, Eda learned about all this gossip from Vincent himself, and Young Master Vincent had even brought it up voluntarily. There was no need for coercion or interrogation at all.
It seemed as though everything Vincent did was simply to tell Eda, to make her understand just how unwelcome she was within the Rosier family, warning her not to get any crooked ideas about the Rosiers.
His line of thinking was bizarre and his ideas unique. Knowing that force would not work, he chose such a roundabout method instead. But Eda truly had no interest in the Rosier family. If she really wanted to fight for it, Vincent would probably already be living in the family graveyard by now.
Vinda naturally knew about all this gossip as well. She showed no reaction and had no intention of reacting. A bunch of fools simply were not worth making the old lady angry.
Right now, Vinda had more important things to do. Did anyone know how exhausting it was to walk dogs and feed cats? Besides the cats and dogs, didn't the pigeons in the dovecote also need feeding? There were so many fish tanks in the house, and so many fish in those tanks—didn't they need feeding too?
Vinda was very busy. Unless Grindelwald escaped from Nurmengard and came running out, nobody should disturb the peaceful retired life of the old lady.
And Eda—Eda was just as busy, equally lacking the time to care about a bunch of idiots whispering nonsense. She was busy comforting Hector Rosier.
This cousin she had only known for half a year had recently suffered heartbreak, so he had come to Rose Manor to relax. Though, it could not really be called heartbreak, because everything had been Hector's one-sided crush. The other party had merely rejected him.
The handsome young man with red lips and white teeth, the handsome young man from an excellent family background, could only pine in secret, could only be a humble simp. This stirred up the curiosity that had been dormant in Eda for several months. Could it be that the girl's surname was Kasumigaoka?
But this was Versailles, France, and Hector had attended Beauxbatons, so naturally the girl he liked could not possibly have the surname Kasumigaoka. Her surname was Delacour. The girl's name was Fleur Delacour.
Fleur Delacour—just like her name implied, she was as beautiful as a flower. In Hector's description, Fleur was as beautiful as the moon in the sky, while Eda was merely a tiny firefly on the ground, completely incomparable.
If not for the fact that Hector had just suffered heartbreak and clearly was not in his right mind, Eda would definitely have let this cousin of hers know that fireflies could also be very dazzling!
The Delacour family was a very famous family in the French wizarding world. As a newly initiated little drunkard, Eda knew that this family owned an extremely famous winery in the magical world.
Just like the "von" in German names and the "van" in Dutch names, French people with "de" in their names were all nobles. If they were in the Muggle world, Fleur would probably be called "Young Lady Fleur of House Delacour," carrying an unmistakable noble aura.
As the treasured jewel of the Delacour family, it was perfectly normal for the proud Fleur to look down on boys her own age around her. How could a rich and beautiful girl be so easy to pursue?
Hector, with his fair skin and delicate looks like some pretty boy, was obviously not Fleur's type. After being rejected, Hector did not spout any dramatic nonsense, nor did he stubbornly pester her. Instead, he came to Rose Manor to recover emotionally.
After comforting her cousin for several days, Eda discovered that her comfort was completely useless. Hector still looked like someone who had lost the entire world.
Since comforting him was ineffective, Eda gave up on that idea and instead began fighting poison with poison. Gradually, Eda realized that teasing Hector was simply too entertaining.
As long as someone said the words "what a beautiful flower" near Hector, no matter what he was doing, he would immediately drop everything and look over desperately at both you and the "beautiful flower" you mentioned.
Regardless of whether the "flower" you mentioned was a rag or a chicken drumstick.
(～￣▽￣)～Read 12 Chapters ahead:
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