I Reincarnated as a Noble Girl Villainess But Why Did It Turn Out This Way?

Chapter 22 - Earl Terejia's social circle

Chapter 22 – Earl Terejia's social circle

The sunlight was streaming down at the end of spring, on a neatly arranged assortment of sweets on the garden table, but I only listened to the female noble in front of me while occasionally responding to her.

Sitting across from me, chattering away for the last hour was Senior Viscountess Daniela Felhi-Berendorf, aunt to Senior Baron Felhi, a financial minister of the palace, and she was a domain lord from the Artsbelf region northwest of the royal palace.

"Anyways, that knight really couldn't read the mood! Choosing something like earrings to give a woman, he really lacks consideration!"

Since Earl Terejia was currently boating on the pond with the other male nobles, and other than the servants, only this woman was left with me, but her topics weren't really something that would be meant for a six year old. I wonder if she's actually saying all this to Kamil standing behind me who was being so still all this time like a statue.

At nineteen years old, she was actually younger than her nephew Baron Felhi, she had gotten married at sixteen and became a widow last year when her husband passed away, and she was only interested in the romance gossip between men and women at the royal palace.

Since her husband had passed away, she inherited his position and became the Viscountess of a small domain near the royal capital, but she left its management almost entirely up to her head steward, and it seems that she lives here in the royal capital instead.

Having her dumped on me as my conversation partner without taking into consideration the difference between our ages, of course this had to be an episode from my entrance into the florid noble society. She started from which young noblemen were nice and handsome, and continued with who seemed to getting along with each other and who danced with who. And currently, she's getting heated up after she reached the topic of recalling about various unfortunate men.

"Ahh...... Is it that bad to give women earrings as a present?"

"It's common sense for western nobles. Earrings should given from a woman to the man they love. For men, they usually only gift them to other men as a sign of true friendship."

"I understand, so that's how it was."

What's with this custom. A man giving another man an accessory as a sign of true friendship, seems like such a mysterious custom to me, so I replied reflexively with a perfunctory answer.

"It's a venerable tradition. In the ancient story about Ugaria's knights, two men who shared an earring each would protect each other's backs on the battlefield."

What's with this, I wonder if this was a roundabout way of expressing homosexuality back in the day for them?

Two men sending accessories to each other, no matter how I look at it, I can't see it as simply declaring true friendship to each other. When I nonchalantly checked Kamil's expression as he stood behind me, he seemed slightly uncomfortable, and he didn't really seem convinced either. It seems that my sense was most likely accurate.

However, if there really are records of the country that came before the Holy Ar Xia Kingdom, Ugaria, then it does make sense that such a custom is present in western Arxia.

Western Arxia has a strong sense for preserving traditions and customs from the Ugarian era. Since the Jugfena region has its own customs left by ancient times, probably the entirety of Arxia is like that as well.

"That's why, for a man to give a woman earrings as a present, is like declaring he doesn't see her as a woman. If only he had ever been to the royal capital, of course he should have known!"