By luck, Vaan didn’t mean he made a mistake in flirting with Lady Solana. Vaan knew Lady Solana was a Senior Witch thanks to his Magic Vision.
Furthermore, Vaan was adept at reading people’s expressions and subtle body movements, allowing him to understand when a person is open or closed to more intimate interactions.
And from their short interaction, Vaan had learned that Lady Solana was open to flirting but closed to everything else beyond that.
Nevertheless, Vaan didn’t always need to flirt with the intention of bedding a woman.
Vaan could also flirt to improve his impression and approachability, thereby building a closer relationship and engaging in topics that wouldn’t be privy to strangers normally.
In other words, collect information.
Of course, the prerequisite is knowing when a person is open to flirting or not. Otherwise, it will have the opposite effect.
Lady Solana was someone who sashays her plump rear when she walked.
That’s how Vaan knew he could flirt with her.
…
A short while later, Lady Solana brought back a tray holding three mugs of mead before placing the drink on the table in front of each person.
Then, Lady Solana held the empty tray with both hands and stood at the side.
“Please take a seat, Lady Solana. It’ll be easier for us to chat that way,” Vaan gestured to the empty seats on the opposite of the table.
“Then, I will take you up on that offer, Handsome,” Lady Solana replied with a smile and took her seat. Then, she mentioned, “I see you have already learned my name, dear customers.”
“Thanks to that gentleman over there,” Vaan raised his mug to the beer-bellied man seated two tables away from them.
The beer-bellied man returned the gesture with his own mug.
“Haha, your welcome, Little Brother. Just don’t start saying anything weird about me to Lady Solana and getting me in trouble,” the beer-bellied man chuckled and no longer bothered them.
…
“Wow, this is tasty!” Lillias exclaimed after taking a sip of the mead.
“The food is delicious, and the drink is tasty. No wonder this place is the best in town,” Linetta confirmed with her own drink before sighing, “However, it’s a pity that not many people visit Sunpeak Town. Otherwise, the business would be blooming.”
“Shall we talk more about this curse, Lady Solana? Can you tell us all about it?” Vaan brought up the topic of their interest.
“Of course,” Lady Solana agreed with a calm nod.
Shortly after, Lady Solana took a moment to gather her thoughts.
“It started a few years ago, when my daughter, Aeliana, the Lord of Sunpeak Town, was still alive. There was no curse back then—”
The two Delarosa Sisters quickly understood why Lady Solana could enjoy such respect in Sunpeak Town despite just being an innkeeper who cannot use magic.
Lady Solana was the mother of the Lord of Sunpeak Town. In other words, Lady Solana was also the previous Lord of Sunpeak before she stepped down for her daughter.
Many people who frequent Golden Peacock Inn are Lady Solana’s old friends, customers, and people loyal to her.
“Sorry about my little sister’s interruption,” Linetta apologized in Lillias’s stead before requesting Lady Solana to continue, “Please continue, Lady Solana.”
Lady Solana nodded.
“As you all know, there’s a big mountain between Sunpeak Town and Redpine City by the name Red Goblin Mountain. Besides goblins and hobgoblins, the mountain also had a goblin shaman.”
“This goblin shaman managed to cultivate a magic flower that was rumored to be capable of greatly enhancing a witch’s mana capacity. As such, both my daughter and Lord Helia of Redpine City were both attracted by the rumor.”
“However, the goblins of Red Goblin Mountain have always been a problem for both Sunpeak Town and Redpine City. No matter how many goblins and hobgoblins are killed, their numbers are seemingly endless.”
“Most people won’t know this since there are only stragglers outside the mountain from time to time. However, deep inside Red Goblin Mountain is a dungeon that no one knows the extent of. It’s a bottomless pit of the unknown, waiting for people to explore.”
“Although the danger was equally great, this didn’t stop my daughter and Lord Helia from trying their luck.”
“And you didn’t try to stop Lord Aeliana from going, Lady Solana?” Lillias wondered with doubt.
“At the time, I didn’t think much about the danger of Red Goblin Mountain. After all, the magic flower was reportedly cultivated in the outermost regions of the goblin dungeon,” Lady Solana replied with a sigh.
“Furthermore, my daughter and Lord Helia led countless True Witches and Aura Masters to sweep the mountain for the magic flower, and they even succeeded. They found the magic flower and slew the goblin shaman for it.”
“Of course, there was only one magic flower but two competitors. Thus, my daughter and Lord Helia competed for it. In the end, my daughter won and brought the magic flower back…”
Lady Solana fell silent upon reaching this point in the story.
“And then?” Lillias asked, eagerly anticipating what happened next.
Lillias found it strange that no one recorded such a big event down in a book to spread the tale. Unless they visited the town and heard from a local, they wouldn’t have known about such an event.
“And that’s when everything started to go wrong,” Lady Solana stated with a sad look.
“My daughter showed me the magic flower, and I even confirmed the rich mana concentrated inside the magic flower. I was so proud of her back then. Who knew that everything would be turned upside down overnight…”
“What happened?” Linetta asked.
“My daughter was impatient with success. She didn’t wait for a specialist to review the magic flower and consumed it directly. The magic flower indeed increased her mana capacity. However, she couldn’t control it.”
“Her mana went berserk and transformed her into a plant-type abomination that looked like a big purple rose. The pollen my poor Aeliana spread across Sunpeak Town that day is the source of our curse today.”
“As such, we call it the Curse of the Purple Umbala,” Lady Solana said with a sad look as she reminisced the memories.
“And what became of Lady Aeliana in the end?” Linetta asked shortly after.
However, Lady Solana didn’t answer.