Everyone turned their heads toward me as if they had been waiting.
Wow, no pressure.
"It's fine, it's fine."
Even back when I was a librarian, I did my job well.
Most importantly, in this world, there are no complaint boxes!
"Everyone, is this your first hunting competition? Any first-timers? …And for those here for the second time? I see."
Most of the participants at the tea party raised their hands within two attempts.
As expected, rookies.
Though, I'm also a first-timer at hunting competitions!
Hahaha.
But in the service industry, you can't act like a rookie. Customers may tolerate beginners, but they're also more likely to question, "Did I receive proper service?"
So, with a confident tone as if I had participated a hundred times, I asked,
"First-timers might feel both anxious and excited. Let me ask—have you all given your hunter a gift?"
Young ladies with fresh faces began to respond one by one.
"I was too shy to give one…"
"They refused it."
"I want to give it to someone who brings me even a single rabbit, but I don't know who to choose!"
In their varied stories, people looked at one another, sharing mutual empathy or sympathy with expressions like "You too? Me too!"
Watching them, I reorganized the commonalities of this group in my head:
Around twenty years old.
Their goal is to find a husband during this social season.
But few have concrete ideas about marriage or romance.
So, what kind of program would they find intriguing?
Let's throw out some bait first.
"Not everything goes as planned, but imagination is free. What would you like to receive today?"
"Um…"
"Be honest, and forget about the title of 'Queen of the Hunting Competition.' I'd love to receive a live rabbit. I'd give it a little kiss on its soft fur and then set it free."
Perhaps they had been imagining deer or wolves as hunting prizes. My mention of a live rabbit seemed to catch them off guard.
Only Maria immediately nodded.
"True. I don't actually want to receive a dead animal. I'd be happy to be gifted meat, but… it would be hard to feel joy with a deer carcass in front of me."
"I get that feeling. Even if it's contradictory, it's unavoidable," someone nodded in agreement.
"If I were to receive something, I'd want deer antlers. They're so beautiful, after all."
"I like feathers! Why do they only release four-legged animals at hunting grounds?"
"I've thought about it, but I'd prefer a bouquet of flowers. I'm honestly not interested in animals…"
"You like flowers? Did you see them earlier? There's lavender blooming in the outer garden."
The atmosphere shifted drastically from earlier, when the only topic of conversation was mocking others.
Now that everyone was revealing their preferences, they started exchanging glances to find others with similar tastes. The mood was gradually warming up.
Seizing the opportunity, I gave a maid an errand.
The maid looked flustered.
"The main office? Should I just hand this over?"
"Say it's from Tristan's fiancée and use my name. Tell them it's for the participants' entertainment and that I'll submit a business proposal draft if needed."
"A… business proposal, miss?"
"Hmm… Just ask for it. And on your way, find out where my sister and the countess are."
"Understood!"
The maid dashed toward the main office.
In the meantime, I spoke to another maid, rearranging the tables.
"Place the tea food on both sides and in the center. Leave this side empty, and add more chairs over there."
The maids, though puzzled, moved as I instructed.
Soon, the maid I sent returned with the items.
"I'm back, miss! They handed it over willingly since there's plenty."
From the box she brought, I pulled out stationery, writing utensils, and colorful chalk.
I figured the hunting competition organizers would have prepared plenty of supplies to record the types, quantities, and rankings of the hunters' trophies.
I also anticipated they'd have surplus supplies.
It's a royal event, after all, so the budget would have been allocated generously to avoid any embarrassment.
That said, it was also crucial for annual events to avoid leaving too much of the budget unused—otherwise, next year's funding might get cut.
Thus, organizers tend to spend leftover funds on items that won't raise eyebrows.
No way they ordered just a handful of pens for an event of this scale.
Now that I had the supplies, the maid reported the most important news.
"Lady Natalie pulled the countess to another tea table, and they got into a fight there. It seems they won't return for quite some time."
"…I see. Thank you."
My sister never fails to exceed expectations.
Have fun while you're at it.
I stepped in front of the group just as the gift-related chatter began to die down, recalling a not-so-distant memory of hosting a program for child guardians.
"I believe everyone had an exciting conversation about gifts. But wouldn't it be a shame if it ended with just imagining them?"
Sliding a blank sheet of paper across the table, I continued, "Why not imagine what comes after receiving the gift?"
"Huh?"
"For example, earlier someone mentioned wanting deer antlers. What would you do with them?"
The lady in question paused to think before responding,
"I'd… arrange them as a centerpiece with flowers on the table in the parlor."
"That sounds perfect. Do you have a specific flower in mind?"
"Pink peonies! I'd love big, gorgeous flowers that guests would admire at first sight."
"Just imagining it makes the parlor look amazing. I bet you've already chosen the tablecloth color too."
The lady nodded, and I smiled before stepping back.
"Today, the person giving us a gift may very well be our future spouse. Of course, we should reflect on whether they're the right one for us, but I also think it's important to ask ourselves what kind of future we envision with them."
"Oh…"
"And then, we can gift our imagined scene to our hunter in a letter, asking, 'Could you love this world too?'"
The eyes of several ladies sparkled with interest.
"For those of you who haven't given your gifts yet, consider including a letter. It might help you discover whether you're truly compatible with them."
"Wow, yes!"
"Of course, you're welcome to keep it as a personal memento of self-reflection too. Now, let's borrow the remaining afternoon sunlight to capture some memories."
I handed out paper to everyone and placed a variety of writing tools within easy reach in the center of the table.
The ladies hesitated with their pens at first, but soon the soft scratch of writing filled the air like a soothing ASMR track. They poured themselves into letters or sketches, each doing what they could.
Watching this scene, I exhaled in relief.
It seems like I managed to smooth things over.
The memory of the children's reading room came back to me.
Most of the guardians who visited the library were women in their 40s, primarily caregivers interested in their children's reading education.
It would have been easy to plan a program like
"Parental Workshops on Children's Reading Education" but…
That would've only created pressure for everyone.
The guardians would feel compelled to "learn properly for their children," and the lecturers would feel burdened by the evaluations.
What I wanted was for everyone to feel at ease.
So, what we prepared instead was time for them to express their own tastes.
"What kind of books did you enjoy reading in school?"
At first, people were cautious, mentioning classic literature or bestsellers.
That's when I'd casually bring up something widely known:
"I used to love this book. Anyone else know it?"
Gradually, people would start nodding and opening up.
"I liked Julia Quinn" or "I secretly read *Flowers in the Attic", or "For me, it was The Silence of the Lambs…"
People love talking about the things they enjoy.
And if you push a little further—
They want to share it with others.
Now, the ladies here were imagining their future husbands and filling their papers with the things they loved. Just an hour ago, their faces were tense, but now many were visibly relaxed, some even smiling. Watching them was enough to make me feel happy too.
Maria approached and whispered, "Amazing, Dory. How did you come up with this?"
"I just didn't want things to revert to a hostile atmosphere, so I brainstormed something."
Thinking on your feet and executing it—that's the librarian way!
People often think librarians only manage book loans and organize shelves.
But we handle everything. You could compare us to employees at small companies.
We're pressured to keep book loan statistics up, plan events to attract visitors, coordinate with lecturers, or even deliver the lectures ourselves. Budgeting? Of course. And designing promotional posters? That too.
Though my posters were just plain white backgrounds with text.
At least I no longer have to wrestle with illustration programs.
…Then, it suddenly hit me: I had something to do.
Letters. Gifts.
Should I write a letter to Tristan, too?
I couldn't just hand over a plain white handkerchief.
Though a letter felt equally cliché…
But what else could I do? Embroider the handkerchief on the spot? Steal someone else's gift?
This will have to do.
I could recycle some common letter phrases, right?
But as soon as I picked up the pen—
…What do I even write?
The weight of the task started pressing down on me.