Evangeline, now becoming a strict teacher, tasted the tea.

“Hmm, you’ve really improved a lot. Now you won’t be lacking if you serve tea to others directly.”

“Phew, I’m relieved. The practice was worthwhile.”

Even in the midst of busyness, I felt reassured that the tea practice we did in between was not in vain. He got incredibly angry when I accidentally touched his hand back then. But now that it’s over, it has become a memory.
Evangeline looked at me and smiled meaningfully.

“But it seems Lady Muselle still hasn’t reached the point of enjoying tea.”

“Yes? Oh…”

Surprised, how did she know?

“Hehe, I saw Lady Muselle’s expression when she drinks tea. It’s like facing a difficult task.”

She hit the nail on the head.

I guess I simply preferred the rich taste of coffee.

No matter how much I practiced, I couldn’t overcome the barrier beyond refinement.

“In fact, there’s no correct answer to the taste of tea. Making tea delicious means understanding the drinker’s preferences accurately. Therefore, even if someone says it’s fragrant and tasty tea, for someone else, it might become a tea with an excessively strong bitterness.”

“Then how can you understand those preferences?”

“By meeting frequently and enjoying tea together. That’s the fastest and most accurate method.”

Evangeline smiled brightly.

“I’ll make it once for Lady Muselle. Please try it and see if it suits your taste.”

Without hesitation, she brewed the tea with a flowing movement, then added a bit of milk.

Evangeline handed me the tea cup with a slight smile, and I lifted it with a bewildered feeling.

“Oh…”

“How is it, Lady Muselle?”

I didn’t hide my admiration at Evangeline’s question.

“Even though it’s not scented tea, it tastes very good. I’m actually curious. How did you make this?”

“Hehe, I knew it would be like that. Lady Muselle seemed to prefer the taste with a hint of nuttiness rather than the original aroma of tea leaves.”

“Exactly.”

I was genuinely surprised. Evangeline’s skill exceeded my expectations.

“I haven’t openly talked about my tea preferences while facing Evangeline until now. Yet, how did you know?”

“I know that Lady Muselle likes coffee. I just tried to make it as similar to that as possible.”

Evangeline said with a slightly lifted chin.

“I guess I’m not on the outskirts of high society anymore, right? I even figured out Lady Muselle’s preferences.”

“You don’t necessarily have to go out of your way to figure that out.”

I said with an embarrassed smile. Since we were on the topic of social circles, I continued the conversation.

“By the way, Count Foyerbah didn’t receive an invitation to Lady Elfriede’s party, did he? He went to the party with Prince Hwang to pay his respects, but I hear she wasn’t there.”

“Ugh, my head hurts just thinking about it.”

Evangeline shook her head vigorously as soon as Lumi’s party was mentioned.

“I honestly don’t understand why our family is treated so poorly. Ah, there was an incident where Lady Elfriede stepped on and ruined my dress at another party in the past.”

This is referring to an event where Lumi intercepted Evangeline’s event in the early part of the novel.
At that time, Lumi interfered with Evangeline’s entrance to the party, successfully pouring wine for Klaus instead of Evangeline.

“But the lady properly apologized and compensated at that time, and since then, I haven’t had any conflicts with her. Just to be sure, I asked my parents, but both of them said they don’t remember.”

From Evangeline’s perspective, it was naturally bewildering.

There hadn’t been any particular clash with the Mecklinger Duke’s family, and such snubbing of a central noble family in the capital was uncommon.

Of course, there were factions among the nobles.

However, it hadn’t escalated to the point where they fought tooth and nail at state meetings, and it wasn’t severe enough to warrant not inviting each other to parties.