Side Story 22. In the Flower Cart
The Prince drank well, and the maid piled well.
Other than that, Erna felt like no other words could describe the sight before her eyes.
The Schwerin Palace servants stared at the stage with faces filled with shock. They couldn't understand why they had to go to such lengths, but Prince Bjorn and Lisa Brill were truly committed to the competition. The most absurd thing was that they were performing so well.
"Oh my God..."
Erna looked at her husband with a sigh of horror.
The simple rule was that when the husband emptied his glass, the wife would stack it high. However, the glasses varied in size and shape, and stacking them haphazardly often resulted in collapse. Several teams' glasses had already swayed precariously and collapsed. However, Bjorn and Lisa worked in perfect coordination to build a tower of glasses.
Bjorn began by drinking from the largest, strongest, and most stable cup. It likely contained the strongest liquor. Without batting an eyelid, he emptied the cup in one gulp and handed it to Lisa.
Can a baby see this?
Amidst the onlookers who were beginning to rave about the young man's progress from abroad, Erna pondered the matter quite seriously. Naturally, the child in her womb wouldn't see this spectacle, but perhaps she could sense it through her senses.
As she stared blankly at the stage, unable to come up with a definitive answer, a deafening roar erupted. This time, it was a cheer directed at his wife's replacement, a young man from out of town.
When the glasses piled so high that it became difficult to place a glass on top, Lisa climbed onto the table. And then, steadily, she piled the glasses that Bjorn emptied, and handed them to her, higher and higher. The intricately shaped glasses, intended to increase the difficulty, became docile in Lisa's hands. Erna finally remembered that, back when she was a low-ranking maid in the Hardy household, Lisa's primary job had been kitchen work.
The game became increasingly heated.
As the wives of the competing teams, spurred on by Lisa, climbed onto the table, the onlookers went wild. Everyone began chanting for their respective teams, but it seemed the out-of-towners were the most popular.
Instead of closing her eyes, Erna covered her stomach with both hands. It wasn't exactly a good example for her child, but she couldn't ignore her husband's struggles to secure the flower cart, so she found a suitable balance.
With the collapse of one of the three teams that were locked in a close battle, the match has now narrowed down to a one-on-one match.
Erna studied the opposing team with nervous eyes. A middle-aged man, as tall as an oak barrel, was practically gulping down his drink, half of it spilling out of his mouth and soaking his clothes. Bjorn, on the other hand, emptied his glass cleanly. And yet, at a similar pace. It was a sight that made one wonder how the numerous antler trophies in the Schwerin Palace display case, the spoils of a bachelor's party, had come to belong to Bjorn Dneister.
“But that young man, isn’t he the Prince? The twin Princes.”
Erna, who had been quite intently focused on the game without realizing it, turned her head in surprise at the whispers coming from behind her. A drunkard, his face flushed red, was scrutinizing Bjorn with a serious look.
"You sound like a Prince. No matter how much you drink during the day, you should keep your eyes wide open."
Although the group laughed heartily, the drunkard did not change his opinion.
“No. No matter how I look at it, it’s the Prince I saw in the newspaper.”
“Why would a Prince do something like that at a festival in this remote village, just for the sake of alcohol?”
“The older of those twins married this lady, Buford. B... yes, Prince Bjorn!”
A man who was drunk but still very conscious was gradually closing in on the surrounding area.
"I heard the Prince and his wife were here a while ago! My wife saw them. A splendid carriage bearing the royal coat of arms raced down Burford."
“I’m sure. I said I’m sure. Just wait!”
He, who was arguing, suddenly turned and disappeared. Meanwhile, the match was nearing its end. As the announcer began counting the number, the crowd followed suit. The match was a close one. Nothing could have been predicted.
"three!"
When the number had narrowed to that point, Bjorn emptied the small glass. But Lisa didn't have enough time to reach out and grab it.
"two!"
At that moment, Bjorn and Lisa exchanged glances. The moment they counted, it became clear what they were conspiring to do.
"one!"
Bjorn threw his glass, and Lisa snatched it in one swift motion. And with a thud, the final shot rang out, and the final glass was placed atop the tower. That single glass's difference sealed the victory for the young man from out of town and the substitute.
Wow!
As the thunderous cheers erupted, Erna also got excited and jumped up from her seat.
Bjorn wiped his lips with the back of his hand and smiled. Lisa, who belatedly realized she had won, let out a scream of joy and celebrated her victory. It was then that the drunkard who had disappeared reappeared.
“Look! I told you I was right!”
His loud screams overwhelmed the commotion in the hall.
“Here! Look at this picture! That’s right, that young man! The Prince!”
He waved the newspaper he was holding in his hand as a protest to those trying to drag the rowdy drunkard out. It was the one announcing the news of the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Schwerin's pregnancy. Of course, it also included a rather unnecessarily attractive photo of the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess.
The eyes of the group who snatched the newspaper widened. It passed from hand to hand. Everyone standing where the rapidly spinning newspaper had passed soon shared the same expression, and a commotion began. The newspaper soon reached the stage and landed in the presenter's hands.
“Surely not, Prince?”
He glanced back and forth between the Prince in the newspaper and the drunkard on stage, his eyes filled with confusion. The venue, once buzzing with festive excitement, suddenly became as quiet as a mouse.
Bjorn, slowly sweeping his disheveled hair back, answered the call with a dignified bow.
“It’s clear that Prince Bjorn and his wife are having a child...”
As he checked the article's contents, his eyes suddenly drifted downstage to the pregnant wife of the young man from out of town who had sent a substitute. The other onlookers, holding their breath, soon followed suit.
Erna, who had become the center of everyone's attention for a moment, greeted them with an awkward smile. Embarrassed, she felt like running away, but with Bjorn already acknowledging her predicament, there seemed to be no way to escape.
“No, why on earth are you two here...?”
The only answer Erna could give to that question, which was so absurd, was to cover her stomach with the corners of her lips, trembling.
I hope the baby is asleep.
Praying so earnestly.
A flower cart for the main character of the autumn harvest festival stopped in the center of the square.
Erna looked at the place with a puzzled look. It would be nice if she could just turn back now, but Bjorn seemed determined to put baby Dniester on that oak flower cart.
“Yes. Let’s go, my wife.”
Bjorn extended his hand like a gentleman leading a lady into a ballroom. The cheers of the onlookers echoed high into the autumn sky.
Erna took his hand with a silent sigh. Then, with a graceful gait befitting the name of Grand Duchess of Schwerin, she walked lightly toward the platform of shame. As the Prince and Princess drew closer to the float, the cheers and laughter of the crowd grew louder.
It was Bjorn who erased the shock and bewilderment caused by the Prince and Princess suddenly appearing at a rural village festival.
Bjorn, who had calmly greeted the bewildered crowd, even added a brief congratulatory address for the Burford Village Festival. It was as if he had come to pay his respects for the occasion. This eased the tense atmosphere, and he announced his intention to gift the day's prize, Burford's liquor, to everyone in attendance. It was a moment when the Prince, who had been mercilessly plundering the goods of a country festival, suddenly became the patron saint of Burford.
Congratulations, Your Highness! Have a safe delivery, Your Highness!
Every time he heard the cheers of the crowd, Bjorn would greet them with a smile. He seemed a little drunk, a little more relaxed and leisurely than usual. Well, after participating in the competition, drinking so much, handing out prizes to the townspeople, and even celebrating once more, it was more unusual for him to remain sober.
Erna boarded the oak flower cart, escorted by the drunken Prince. She hoped once again that the child in her womb was sleeping soundly.
“Wait a minute, Erna.”
He stopped Erna from sitting down, then pulled a handkerchief from the inside pocket of the coat he was holding. Slowly, with an almost embarrassing grace, he laid it on a chair made from a halved oak barrel. From beneath the flower cart, the cheers of Burford's drinkers erupted again, like a raucous spectacle.
Erna tried to maintain a composed demeanor and sat down on the oak barrel covered with Bjorn's handkerchief. The barrel, to use a less than ladylike word, was so high that her feet couldn't even touch the floor of the cart, making it look a little ridiculous.
"Lisa."
As the cart was about to depart, Bjorn stood up again. Lisa, who had been smiling proudly under the flower cart, looked up in surprise.
“You come up too.”
Bjorn gave a cool order to Lisa, who just blinked as if she didn't understand it.
“Yes? Me?”
Lisa flinched in shock, but he showed no sign of giving up. The festival spectators gave Lisa Brill a rousing round of applause, cheering her on as the winner. Erna, her face flushed and staring at the distant sky, joined in the applause, welcoming Lisa.
Lisa wiped her hot eyes and climbed onto the cart. The float carrying the Grand Duke and his wife and their faithful maid began to slowly move across the festival grounds.
“What do you think of Baby Dniester? Do you like it?”
Bjorn, who was waving leisurely to the people chasing the cart, asked, his tone like he was humming a slow song.
“...I guess so.”
Erna ended up just laughing out loud.
“You’re having a great time.”
Even though Dad was drunk and a little embarrassing was happening, it didn't hurt that the baby was awake. The blue sky and the festive scenery seen from the flower cart Bjorn and Lisa had given them were beautiful enough to make the effort worthwhile.
“Thank you, Bjorn.”
Erna greeted the Prince, who was drinking well, feeling much better.
“Thank you, Lisa.”
She didn't forget to smile for Lisa, who was doing well.
“But I don’t want to do it twice.”
Still, she decided to make that one point clear.
Following the slowly moving flower cart, people began to sing. It was a Burford folk song that Erna also knew.
Bjorn looked down at his wife's small feet, peeking out from under the hem of her dress, swaying to the song's melody. He let out a lazy laugh and kissed her cheek.
Another cheer, "Wow!", echoed across the autumn harvest festival sky. Lisa Brill's applause, more enthusiastic than anyone else's, was also heard.
The Prince drank well, and the maid piled well.
Other than that, Erna felt like no other words could describe the sight before her eyes.
The Schwerin Palace servants stared at the stage with faces filled with shock. They couldn't understand why they had to go to such lengths, but Prince Bjorn and Lisa Brill were truly committed to the competition. The most absurd thing was that they were performing so well.
"Oh my God..."
Erna looked at her husband with a sigh of horror.
The simple rule was that when the husband emptied his glass, the wife would stack it high. However, the glasses varied in size and shape, and stacking them haphazardly often resulted in collapse. Several teams' glasses had already swayed precariously and collapsed. However, Bjorn and Lisa worked in perfect coordination to build a tower of glasses.
Bjorn began by drinking from the largest, strongest, and most stable cup. It likely contained the strongest liquor. Without batting an eyelid, he emptied the cup in one gulp and handed it to Lisa.
Can a baby see this?
Amidst the onlookers who were beginning to rave about the young man's progress from abroad, Erna pondered the matter quite seriously. Naturally, the child in her womb wouldn't see this spectacle, but perhaps she could sense it through her senses.
As she stared blankly at the stage, unable to come up with a definitive answer, a deafening roar erupted. This time, it was a cheer directed at his wife's replacement, a young man from out of town.
When the glasses piled so high that it became difficult to place a glass on top, Lisa climbed onto the table. And then, steadily, she piled the glasses that Bjorn emptied, and handed them to her, higher and higher. The intricately shaped glasses, intended to increase the difficulty, became docile in Lisa's hands. Erna finally remembered that, back when she was a low-ranking maid in the Hardy household, Lisa's primary job had been kitchen work.
The game became increasingly heated.
As the wives of the competing teams, spurred on by Lisa, climbed onto the table, the onlookers went wild. Everyone began chanting for their respective teams, but it seemed the out-of-towners were the most popular.
Instead of closing her eyes, Erna covered her stomach with both hands. It wasn't exactly a good example for her child, but she couldn't ignore her husband's struggles to secure the flower cart, so she found a suitable balance.
With the collapse of one of the three teams that were locked in a close battle, the match has now narrowed down to a one-on-one match.
Erna studied the opposing team with nervous eyes. A middle-aged man, as tall as an oak barrel, was practically gulping down his drink, half of it spilling out of his mouth and soaking his clothes. Bjorn, on the other hand, emptied his glass cleanly. And yet, at a similar pace. It was a sight that made one wonder how the numerous antler trophies in the Schwerin Palace display case, the spoils of a bachelor's party, had come to belong to Bjorn Dneister.
“But that young man, isn’t he the Prince? The twin Princes.”
Erna, who had been quite intently focused on the game without realizing it, turned her head in surprise at the whispers coming from behind her. A drunkard, his face flushed red, was scrutinizing Bjorn with a serious look.
"You sound like a Prince. No matter how much you drink during the day, you should keep your eyes wide open."
Although the group laughed heartily, the drunkard did not change his opinion.
“No. No matter how I look at it, it’s the Prince I saw in the newspaper.”
“Why would a Prince do something like that at a festival in this remote village, just for the sake of alcohol?”
“The older of those twins married this lady, Buford. B... yes, Prince Bjorn!”
A man who was drunk but still very conscious was gradually closing in on the surrounding area.
"I heard the Prince and his wife were here a while ago! My wife saw them. A splendid carriage bearing the royal coat of arms raced down Burford."
"Does her wife drink during the day, too?"
He, who was arguing, suddenly turned and disappeared. Meanwhile, the match was nearing its end. As the announcer began counting the number, the crowd followed suit. The match was a close one. Nothing could have been predicted.
"three!"
When the number had narrowed to that point, Bjorn emptied the small glass. But Lisa didn't have enough time to reach out and grab it.
"two!"
At that moment, Bjorn and Lisa exchanged glances. The moment they counted, it became clear what they were conspiring to do.
"one!"
Bjorn threw his glass, and Lisa snatched it in one swift motion. And with a thud, the final shot rang out, and the final glass was placed atop the tower. That single glass's difference sealed the victory for the young man from out of town and the substitute.
Wow!
As the thunderous cheers erupted, Erna also got excited and jumped up from her seat.
Bjorn wiped his lips with the back of his hand and smiled. Lisa, who belatedly realized she had won, let out a scream of joy and celebrated her victory. It was then that the drunkard who had disappeared reappeared.
“Look! I told you I was right!”
His loud screams overwhelmed the commotion in the hall.
“Here! Look at this picture! That’s right, that young man! The Prince!”
He waved the newspaper he was holding in his hand as a protest to those trying to drag the rowdy drunkard out. It was the one announcing the news of the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Schwerin's pregnancy. Of course, it also included a rather unnecessarily attractive photo of the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess.
The eyes of the group who snatched the newspaper widened. It passed from hand to hand. Everyone standing where the rapidly spinning newspaper had passed soon shared the same expression, and a commotion began. The newspaper soon reached the stage and landed in the presenter's hands.
“Surely not, Prince?”
He glanced back and forth between the Prince in the newspaper and the drunkard on stage, his eyes filled with confusion. The venue, once buzzing with festive excitement, suddenly became as quiet as a mouse.
Bjorn, slowly sweeping his disheveled hair back, answered the call with a dignified bow.
“It’s clear that Prince Bjorn and his wife are having a child...”
As he checked the article's contents, his eyes suddenly drifted downstage to the pregnant wife of the young man from out of town who had sent a substitute. The other onlookers, holding their breath, soon followed suit.
Erna, who had become the center of everyone's attention for a moment, greeted them with an awkward smile. Embarrassed, she felt like running away, but with Bjorn already acknowledging her predicament, there seemed to be no way to escape.
“No, why on earth are you two here...?”
The only answer Erna could give to that question, which was so absurd, was to cover her stomach with the corners of her lips, trembling.
I hope the baby is asleep.
Praying so earnestly.
***
A flower cart for the main character of the autumn harvest festival stopped in the center of the square.
Erna looked at the place with a puzzled look. It would be nice if she could just turn back now, but Bjorn seemed determined to put baby Dniester on that oak flower cart.
“Yes. Let’s go, my wife.”
Bjorn extended his hand like a gentleman leading a lady into a ballroom. The cheers of the onlookers echoed high into the autumn sky.
Erna took his hand with a silent sigh. Then, with a graceful gait befitting the name of Grand Duchess of Schwerin, she walked lightly toward the platform of shame. As the Prince and Princess drew closer to the float, the cheers and laughter of the crowd grew louder.
It was Bjorn who erased the shock and bewilderment caused by the Prince and Princess suddenly appearing at a rural village festival.
Bjorn, who had calmly greeted the bewildered crowd, even added a brief congratulatory address for the Burford Village Festival. It was as if he had come to pay his respects for the occasion. This eased the tense atmosphere, and he announced his intention to gift the day's prize, Burford's liquor, to everyone in attendance. It was a moment when the Prince, who had been mercilessly plundering the goods of a country festival, suddenly became the patron saint of Burford.
Congratulations, Your Highness! Have a safe delivery, Your Highness!
Every time he heard the cheers of the crowd, Bjorn would greet them with a smile. He seemed a little drunk, a little more relaxed and leisurely than usual. Well, after participating in the competition, drinking so much, handing out prizes to the townspeople, and even celebrating once more, it was more unusual for him to remain sober.
Erna boarded the oak flower cart, escorted by the drunken Prince. She hoped once again that the child in her womb was sleeping soundly.
“Wait a minute, Erna.”
He stopped Erna from sitting down, then pulled a handkerchief from the inside pocket of the coat he was holding. Slowly, with an almost embarrassing grace, he laid it on a chair made from a halved oak barrel. From beneath the flower cart, the cheers of Burford's drinkers erupted again, like a raucous spectacle.
Erna tried to maintain a composed demeanor and sat down on the oak barrel covered with Bjorn's handkerchief. The barrel, to use a less than ladylike word, was so high that her feet couldn't even touch the floor of the cart, making it look a little ridiculous.
"Lisa."
As the cart was about to depart, Bjorn stood up again. Lisa, who had been smiling proudly under the flower cart, looked up in surprise.
“You come up too.”
Bjorn gave a cool order to Lisa, who just blinked as if she didn't understand it.
“Yes? Me?”
Lisa flinched in shock, but he showed no sign of giving up. The festival spectators gave Lisa Brill a rousing round of applause, cheering her on as the winner. Erna, her face flushed and staring at the distant sky, joined in the applause, welcoming Lisa.
Lisa wiped her hot eyes and climbed onto the cart. The float carrying the Grand Duke and his wife and their faithful maid began to slowly move across the festival grounds.
“What do you think of Baby Dniester? Do you like it?”
Bjorn, who was waving leisurely to the people chasing the cart, asked, his tone like he was humming a slow song.
“...I guess so.”
Erna ended up just laughing out loud.
“You’re having a great time.”
Even though Dad was drunk and a little embarrassing was happening, it didn't hurt that the baby was awake. The blue sky and the festive scenery seen from the flower cart Bjorn and Lisa had given them were beautiful enough to make the effort worthwhile.
“Thank you, Bjorn.”
Erna greeted the Prince, who was drinking well, feeling much better.
“Thank you, Lisa.”
She didn't forget to smile for Lisa, who was doing well.
“But I don’t want to do it twice.”
Still, she decided to make that one point clear.
Following the slowly moving flower cart, people began to sing. It was a Burford folk song that Erna also knew.
Bjorn looked down at his wife's small feet, peeking out from under the hem of her dress, swaying to the song's melody. He let out a lazy laugh and kissed her cheek.
Another cheer, "Wow!", echoed across the autumn harvest festival sky. Lisa Brill's applause, more enthusiastic than anyone else's, was also heard.
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