37話 簪の意味
「釣りはいらん、貰っておけ」
「ありがとうございます」
そのまま支払いが完了してしまい、しかも「釣りはいらない」などと金持ち発言が飛び出す始末。
様、飴玉で私を買収する気でも?」
ジトリとした視線を送る
確かにどこかの上級妃嬪付きでもない、掃除係の宮女を買収しても、あまりうま味はないだろう。
どうやらなにかの交換条件ではないようだ。
ということは、純粋に立彬に飴を買ってもらったということで。
「じゃあ、買ってくださりありがとうございます、美味しく食べます」
雨妹は自分のものとなった飴が入った瓶を抱えて、ホクホク顔で礼を言う。
いつまでも露店の前に立っているのも邪魔なので、雨妹は立彬とその場を離れると、改めて飴の瓶を眺める。
「うふふ、綺麗だなぁ」
鑑賞できて美味しく食べられるなんて、最高ではないか。
そんなことを考えてニマニマする雨妹を見た立彬が言った。
「買い物なら他にも、装飾品を選べばいいだろう」
そして視線を装飾品が並ぶ場所にいる他の宮女たちへ向ける。
彼女たちは余り物であっても少しでもマシなものを買おうと、目を凝らして一つ一つの品物を見ているのだが。
――私にアレに混じれってか。
立彬は親切心からの助言だろうが、生憎雨妹にそんなものを買う気はない。
「興味ないですもん、掃除の邪魔になって普段使いもできないですし」
そうバッサリと言い切る雨妹に、立彬が眉をひそめる。
「全く、殿下が心配した通りだな」
そう告げてため息を吐いた立彬が、懐から布の包を取り出した。
掌くらいの長さの細い包で、それをこちらに差し出す。
「やるから、開けてみろ」
訝しがる雨妹に、立彬は包みを強引に押し付ける。
――なんか、詐欺っぽく見えるんだけど。
後で高額な支払いを請求されまいか、という考えが脳裏を過ぎったが。
「早くしろ」
急かす立彬の視線の圧に負けた雨妹は、飴の入った瓶を地面に置くと、渋々包みを開けた。
すると、中にあったのは。
「......簪?」
そう、小ぶりな赤い花の飾りが可愛らしい、若い女向けの意匠の簪だった。
――何故に簪?
雨妹は立彬から簪を手渡される意味が分からない。
雨妹は心底不思議そうに立彬を見上げると、ため息が降って来た。
「女だったら普通、ここは喜ぶべきだろう」
立彬はそうぼやくが、喜べないのはくれた相手の態度にもよると思うのだが。
雨妹だって普通男が女に贈り物をすることの意味くらい、ちゃんと知っている。
装飾品を渡して告白するのは、前世のドラマでもよく使われていたのだから。
しかし、今目の前にいる渋い顔をしている男が、そういった用途で簪を差し出しているかと言えば、答えは否だろう。
告白をしてくるような会話ではなかったし、そう言った雰囲気も見られず。立彬が照れ隠しをしているようにも全く見えない。
――私が鈍いみたいな言い方、やめて欲しいんだけど。
釈然としない気持ちな雨妹に、立彬が真面目な顔で言った。
「もうじき花の宴だろう。
花の宴と簪の有無に、一体どんな関係があるというのか。
というか、花の宴は全員参加なのか。
「私は正直、外から来る皇子なんてどうでもいいんですが」
雨妹は当日どこかでご馳走の残りでも手に入れて、隅っこでまったりしていようと思っていたのだが。
この目論見に対して、しかし立彬は首を横に振る。
「大々的な宴だからな、サボりなんぞ許可されるはずがないだろう。
立彬曰く花の宴とは、宮女も含めた後宮の女全てで盛り上げなければいけない催しらしい。
だから末端の宮女であっても、それなりの格好をしていろということだろう。
――面倒くさいな、後宮の花見って!?
雨妹がそんな風に思っていると、さらに問題点を追加する。
「誰かに聞いているだろうが、花の宴は招待された公主や皇子なども出席される。
だとすると、皇子たちの目に留まろうと懸命になっている宮女たちの買い物が、全くの無駄ということになるのだが。
雨妹の疑問に、立彬が眉を寄せる。
簪を贈る者もおらず、買う金もないのだから、なにをしても揉み消すのが容易だと思われるということだ」
――なるほど、悪戯対象に選ばれやすいのか。
できれば避けたい目の付けられ方である。
Chapter 37
"No need for change, keep it."
"Thank you very much."
And so, the purchase was completed just like that; moreover, it ended with the rich's lines of 'No need for change'.
"Libin, are you bribing me with the candy, perhaps?"
Under the unrelenting gaze of Yui Mei, Libin lightly sighed.
Indeed, there was no merit in bribing a housekeeping court lady who wasn't even a lady-in-waiting of a high-ranking consort.
Apparently, it was not a bargaining point for something else.
In that case, then Libin must have genuinely bought the candy for her.
"Then, thank you very much for buying it for me, I will eat it with pleasure."
Yui Mei clutched the bottle of candies and she beamed as she thanked him.
They were in the way for standing too long in front of the stall, so Yui Mei and Libin left that place. Yui Mei stared again at the bottle of candies.
"Fufufu, it's sooo beautiful."
Being able to eat with pleasure while appreciating it, isn't this the best?
Libin looked at Yui Mei grinning broadly while thinking those things, then he spoke.
"If you are shopping then you could have chosen to buy an accessory."
He then glanced at the court ladies who were gathered where the accessories were lined up.
They were scrutinizing each of the goods in the hopes of finding something better despite being left-overs.
'He's telling me to mingle with them, huh.'
It was probably Libin's kind advice; unfortunately, Yui Mei had no intention of buying those things.
"I'm not interested, and I couldn't use it everyday since it will get in the way of cleaning."
Libin scrunched his brows when he heard Yui Mei's resolute remarks.
"Good grief, it is just as the crown prince feared, huh."
After saying those with a sigh, Libin took a package wrapped in cloth from his bosom.
It was thin and roughly the size of a palm, and he held it out to her.
"You'll know, so open it."
Libin thrust it towards the suspicious Yui Mei.
'Somehow, he looks like a swindler, though.'
The thought that he might demand for a large sum afterward passed through her mind.
"Faster."
Yui Mei lost to the intensity of Libin's stare, so she placed the bottle of candies on the ground, and unwillingly opened the package.
Inside was a -
"...Hairpin?"
Indeed, it was a petite hairpin embellished with cute little red flowers suitable for young girls.
'Why a hairpin?'
Yui Mei could not understand why Libin gave her a hairpin.
Yui Mei was completely bewildered as she looked up at Libin, so he heaved another deep sigh.
"Women normally become happy with this, though."
Libin grumbled like that, but she thought unhappiness also depended on the attitude of the person who gave it.
Even Yui Mei knew exactly what it usually meant when a man gave a present to a woman.
Handing an accessory then confessing was a commonly used scene in the dramas she watched in her previous life.
However, the man standing in front of her had an austere face, and if he had that intention when he handed the hairpin, then the answer would be no.
Their conversation did not seem to be a confession, and that kind of mood was also absent.
'I wish he would stop talking to me as if I'm thickheaded, though.'
Libin talked to the wholly unsatisfied Yui Mei with a straight face.
"The Cherry Blossom Viewing Banquet is soon. It would be troublesome if you don't wear at least one hairpin,"
How on earth was the Cherry Blossom Viewing Banquet related to a hairpin?
Rather than that, was it an event where all were required to attend?
"Honestly, I do not care for the princes who are coming from the outside."
Yui Mei thought she would grab some left-over food and relax in some corner.
It was her plan, but Libin shook his head.
"It is a grand, extensive banquet, so there is no way you would be permitted to skip. You cannot wear that kerchief in that showy place."
According to Libin, the festivities were done so that all the women in the Inner Palace, including the court ladies, would be enlivened.
That was why even the lowest of all the court ladies had to be presentable.
'This Inner Palace cherry blossom viewing is that troublesome!? It would be better if they can just drink alcohol on their own and get drunk.'
Just as Yui Mei was thinking in that fashion, a problematic issue was brought up.
"You probably heard this from somebody else, but princesses and princes were invited to attend. A court lady with nary a hairpin would easily catch the eye of other people, particularly the princes."
In that case, then all the efforts of the court ladies in shopping so they could catch the fancy of a prince were all in vain, then.
Libin raised his brow at Yui Mei's doubts.
"You're a guy with a peculiar reasoning, huh. With no one to give her a hairpin, no money to buy one, they would think it would be easy to crush her."
'I see, so she'd be a target of assaults, then.'
It was a situation that must be avoided at all costs.
Housekeeper of the Hundred Blossom Palace
百花宮のお掃除係～転生した新米宮女、後宮のお悩み解決します。
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/housekeeper-of-the-hundred-blossom-palace/
Fantasy Romance Shoujo Slice of Life
Adapted to Manga Ancient China Complex Family Relationships Different Social Status Female Protagonist Imperial Harem Love Interest Falls in Love First Reincarnated in Another World Royalty
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n4104ev/
黒辺あゆみ