Evander and Vella know of a café that isn't far from the performance area. It's a place that has a magic tool that keeps ice cold even on the hottest days, meaning they can serve refreshingly chilled drinks. When events like the festival are going on, it becomes a haven for attendees to take a break, have something to drink, and decide what they want to do next without the intensity of a crowd around them.
Before long, Lenore is at a table with Alaric and her siblings, waiting for drinks that are ordered on their behalf.
"You two seem like regulars," Lenore says, watching Vella order drinks with the occasional input from Evander.
"Well, the viscounty might not be as prestigious as a duchy, but Dad sometimes has work that requires visiting the imperial palace. Not always to talk to the emperor, but usually to meet with the emperor's advisors about one topic or another. Update them on events in our territory and request assistance or resources if there's a disaster. I've been coming to the capital in his place for the past few years, sparing him from having to make the trip himself. He says it hurts his knees now to sit in a carriage that long. But because of that, I've learned about the area," Evander says.
Vella shakes her head. "You could've kept it simple and said we have to come here for work." She turns her attention to Lenore. "I have to come visit the main Tower on behalf of the Tower in Rowanhart. It's easy to borrow a room at an inn here and learn about local restaurants and cafés."
Their drinks are brought on a silver tray by a waiter. Lenore has an iced herbal tea that's deep red and has the faint smell of fruit. The flavor is light with a touch of citrus. While she's not used to having iced tea, she already understands how it makes this café a popular stop during events and even just days that are a little too warm to be comfortable.
Lenore is content to sip her tea and listen to her brother and sister talk. A glance at Alaric shows that he doesn't seem to mind it either, but it's difficult to tell when he keeps his face so neutral.
Evander, she notices, has a habit of explaining things in more detail than they require. She doesn't know when or why he picked up this habit, but she also can't remember if maybe it's just something he's always done. He talks about the viscounty and his trips to the capital to handle work on behalf of their dad. He mentions that they're lucky to care for a smaller territory, as there haven't been as many issues that need to be addressed with an urgency that can take innocent lives if it's ignored. They've been focusing on maintenance and taking measures to prevent disasters, or to at least keep them contained to limit their impact. So far, the data shows that it's working and saving the viscounty money overall.
"Could that be done everywhere?" Lenore asks. The unpredictable nature of disasters makes them feel like unavoidable obstacles, but maybe there's a way to change that.
Evander tilts his head, giving the question a fair bit of thought before he answers. "In theory, yes. In practice, well, it's not likely."
"Why not?" Lenore doesn't know what running a territory actually looks like. It's not something she's had to do or even learn about. However, she assumes that keeping the people who live in that territory safe would be a priority. So, why does it seem like she's being told that's not the case?
This time, Alaric answers. "Greed."
Lenore turns her attention to him.
"Consider Claude Rowanhart," he continues. "Do you think that he's willing to invest money in projects in his territory that might not be used, even if they promise that the money could save lives if a hypothetical event did happen? No, he'll invest in himself instead and deal with anything that comes up later."
"More nobles are like him instead of us?" Lenore looks between Alaric and her siblings, already knowing the answer from their expressions before they speak.
"Unfortunately, yes," Evander says.
The conversation dies down after that until Vella starts filling it in with more light-hearted topics to wash away the bitter taste of reality. She talks about her research and tells stories about other mages, especially ones who had bizarre and unexpected results while experimenting. By the time they leave the café, Lenore feels a little better.
-:-
They end up back in the performance area with the intention to watch a show this time, Lenore sitting tucked between Alaric and Vella on the bench. They settled on watching the puppet show, and now that Lenore is able to pay attention to it from the start instead of hearing a few lines in the middle when they were looking for a place to talk, she vaguely recognizes the story. It's a fairy tale that she's heard in the past, even if she doesn't remember all the details.
Instead, she prefers not knowing the details. It makes the moment feel more magical, and part of that comes from being in the company of people who care about her. So, when the hero embarrasses himself in front of the princess and the puppet panics with a flurry of strings controlling him, Lenore laughs alongside the audience.
Somehow, the day feels both too long and too short, and Lenore returns to the townhouse as the sun dips past the horizon with a bag of food from the various stalls they tried. She hands it to Vella to give to their parents, a gesture she hopes will make them feel like they were part of the outing, too. Vella takes it with a nod, likely feeling as tired as Lenore after being in a place filled with excitement and energy for so long.
Lenore parts ways with Alaric when they reach the door of their shared room, as he simply says he'll be heading to bed after washing up in another bathroom so she can use the one next to their room.
She's quick to prepare for bed, and when she lies down, it doesn't take long for sleep to pull at her.
In her dreams, the taste of every new food and drink she tried lingers on her tongue, and she realizes that this might have been the happiest day of her life.
So far, at least.