Why Did I Become the Villainess?

I was busy brewing tea for the tea ceremony. I am training the proper way to do a tea ceremony for today when someone knocks on the door. I look up and see Leander holding a box. What is he doing here?

Leander scratches his nape and smiles awkwardly at me. He then looks at the teapot. "I hope I'm not interrupting your training."

I look at the tea and put it aside. "May I know what I can do for you, Senior?"

What is he doing here? After the meeting we had yesterday, I didn't get the chance to talk to him and say sorry. Because of what happened to Rufus, Prince Fraser decided to finish explaining the strategy to us before he dismissed everyone. We will have another meeting after we settle everything with the Wrezatia Kingdom. By then, we will talk about the unattended issues we need to face.

Leander sigh. "Can I talk to you? If you won't mind, of course."

I nod my head at him. "Sure, come in." I gestured my hand to an empty seat. He then walks towards me and hands me the box. I raised my eyebrow at him. "What's that?"

Leander looks at the box and scratches his nape again. "I heard from Prince Rufus that you love Prinsesstårta, so I brought one for you. It's a good thing they sell something like this in this Kingdom."

I look at the box of Prinsesstårta and frown. Why would he give me Prinsesstårta? Don't tell me he's pursuing me again? When will this brother give up? 

I sigh. "Senior, you don't need to give me a box of Prinsesstårta. You shouldn't have bothered."

Leander sigh and look at the box of the Prinsesstårta disappointedly. "I thought it would be rude of me not to bring anything. Also, it's a way of me saying sorry for what happened the other day and yesterday."

The other day? Is he talking about the time I walk out on them, Rufus and him? Because of what happened with the Ouqeaseon representatives. I even forgot about it now. 

I sigh and take the box of Prinsesstårta from Leander. "Thank you for this. I really appreciate it. Also, please sit. Let's talk about this while eating the Prinsesstårta. Do you want some tea? I'm in the middle of my tea ceremony. Do you want to see it? Maybe you can give me some advice."

Leander smiled at me. "It will be my pleasure to see you doing tea ceremony and to even taste it."

I smile shyly at Leander before staring at the teapot. I sigh. It's better to start right from the scratch so he can make a full comment about it. 

"Please excuse me, senior, but I will be starting from the scratch. So you can see everything." 

I put the used tea set on a tray. "If you'll excuse me. I'll put this aside first, and I'll bring a new set."

Leander just nods his head at me. I immediately take the tray to a connected room. The tea sets and the tea leaves are stores in this room.

I put the used tea set down and look around to search for a porcelain tea set. The porcelain tea set is used for green tea. While the purple sand set is used for red tea. 

I heard from Rufus that Leander loves green tea, so I will be preparing green tea for him. I took the porcelain tea set out of the room. 

Tea ceremony is not just simply brewing the tea and drinking it. Everything is supposed to be made in a detailed and carefully planned way. Every move should be delicate. It's the reason why in the real world, tea ceremony in the Asian countries is taken seriously.

The first thing to do in a tea ceremony is to greet the guest. I bow my head at Leander and greet him. I place the utensils down on a designated area of the utensil-matting-division where I will prepare the tea later. After all, utensils have been carried in, I walk towards the door and close it. 

All of this is part of the tea ceremony. Although it's not the official start for tea ceremonies. The guests will be the first ones who will enter the tea room. They will then start to inspect the utensils that are in display in the alcove. They will also inspect the tea preparation area. After they make sure that everything is okay, that's the only time they will take their seats. 

Tea ceremonies are usually held in a small groups. Four to five guests maximum only. 

After the guests had taken their seats, that is the only time that I should enter the room. However, since it's not formal, this will do. 

After the greetings, the first step that a host of the tea ceremony needs to do is to cleanse the utensils in front of the guest. 

Cleansing is actually made even before the tea ceremony started. However, cleansing the tea set in front of the guest is a token of care and respect towards the guests. Cleansing it in front of the guests is just for the joy and appreciation of them. Through this, I can express my indirect care and attention to their presence. 

Cleansing it also intended to show to the guest that everything was taken in an outmost care. And that each and every single object employed is presented in the purest state possible. It also assures that the guest is not only left to 'assume' that everything is ready. It actually allows them to confirm together with the host that nothing is amiss.

The first thing to do is to rinse the teapots and teacup with heated water. I place the teapot and the teacups in a bowl. I then pour the heated water over them to warm up the tea set. After a few minutes, I remove the teapot and the cups. Since the teacups are too hot to handle, I used a tong to take them out of the bowl. Rinsing the tea sets with heated water can help fully release the fragrance of the tea.

After cleansing the tea set, it is a sign that to start preparing the tea. The first thing to do in preparing the tea is to heat the water. Springwater is the best choice for making tea. It's a good thing that the Saiven Kingdom has spring water in here. At least I don't have to worry about that, unlike in the flower arrangement.

After boiling the spring water, I take the tea scoop. It is where you put your leaves. A tea scoop is a bamboo cut into half. It is used to measure how much tea leaves I need to put inside the teapot. Before putting the tea leaves inside, I take the tea scoop closer to my nose and sniffs it. Sniffing is an act of appreciation for the dried tea leaves. After a few minutes, I take a tea chopstick. Chopsticks are used to move tea leaves into the teapot. The tea leaves should occupy one-third of the teapot. 

After putting the tea leaves on the teapot, I pour the boiled hot water into the teapot. I let the boiled water remain in the teapot for a few seconds before I poured the water out quickly from the teapot. The first brew is actually dump out to remove dust or some impurities on the surface of tea leaves.

After dumping the first brew, that is when the actual brewing starts. I refill the teapot with boiled water and cover it. This time the water will remain inside the teapot for a few minutes to preserve the aroma of the tea.

After brewing the tea, the second thing to do is the pouring the tea into teacups. Everything in the tea ceremony is executed in a specific way. The height of the teapot from the teacup when pouring also needs to be considered. The flow of the tea also needs to be controlled. It needs to be slow and concise. 

There's actually a saying that you cannot do a tea ceremony if you always rush because a tea ceremony takes time. You cannot rush it. 

I started to pour the tea into a larger fair cup. I shake the cup before pouring the tea into a smaller teacup. 

The only thing left to do is to serve the tea to the guest. Serving tea is also not simply giving the cup and viola, it's done. There are also rules that are needed to consider when offering the tea to someone.

I need to make sure that I am holding the teacup with both hands while bowing my head a little. Both hands are needed to hold the teacup as a sign of respect to the guest. 

Leander takes the cup and bows his head at me too. "Thank you, Lady Csillle. It's a pleasure for me to accept this."

I smile at him and sigh. Tea ceremony might look simple on the surface, but it requires a lot of patience and calmness. You cannot do tea ceremony if your emotions are not stable, for it will affect the tea itself. There's also a lot of rules to consider when doing the whole process of the tea ceremony. 

What I have done just now is the more casual way of tea ceremony. There is a traditional tea ceremony that has a more detailed procedure. There is also tea ceremony from the western region of this world. It is the tea ceremony that has been passed through generations and is now considering one of the traditional tea ceremonies in this world.

I sit on the chair in front of Leander and wait for him to finish the tea. Even the way of drinking the tea is not rush. You cannot just drink the tea in one gulp. It needs to be appreciated because tea is an art and not just a simple drink.

Leander is sniffing the tea now. Appreciating the beautiful aroma of the green tea. He then looks at me and smiles. "It smells good. I'm sure you will ace the Etiquette category with this." 

I just smile at him and open the box of Prinsesstårta. I cut it into slices and offer him a piece of it. "Here, Prinsesstårta tastes better when paired with green tea."

Leander takes a sip of the tea and closes his eyes to enjoy the taste of the green tea. He then put the tea down. "Lady Csille, I'm sorry for bothering you, but I just want to apologize for what happened the other day and yesterday. I didn't mean to blame you for what happened with the Ouqeaseon representatives. I realize that you're right. If we wouldn't fight back, I'm sure they will continue to tarnish the reputation of our Kingdom."

I shake my head at him. "You don't need to be sorry. I also know I have done something wrong too, and I'm not angry with you because of that. I admit I got frustrated because of what happened. But at the end of the day, I realized that I had done something wrong too. So, you don't need to be sorry. It is immature of me to just walk out the two of you."

Leander takes another sip of the tea before answering me. "I guess we both made mistakes. So, are you forgiving me about what happened that time?"

I smile at him. "That's already in the past. As I said, I'm not mad at you or at Rufus. Didn't we agreed to be a team now?"

Leander sigh and takes another sip of the tea. "I also need to say sorry about what happened yesterday. I was-"

I shake my head at him, and I also wave my hands. "You don't need to say sorry to me. Actually, I should be the one saying sorry to you. I emphasized the disparities between the royalties and you. That is definitely an indirect insult, and I didn't mean that. I hope you can forgive me."

Leander state at me for a couple of minutes before he sighs. He then offered his hand to me. He is asking for a shake hand. I accept it. "Let's forgot what happened. We are in the same team after all."

Leander nods his head, and we continue to enjoy our tea and the Prinsesstårta. I sigh. I wish the days are always like this. Calm and peaceful.