Editor Group: Liber Reverie
“… ha.”
Lane, who had been stiff for a while, suddenly threw up his vain smile. The eyes were still fixed on Aria. Mielle’s shadow, which he had intended to get, had suddenly disappeared. Instead, there was a new shadow on his face, tired of a private conversation.
Lane, who had been looking at Aria as if he had been deprived of his soul for some time, touched his face once with his big palms, and then burst out laughing as if he had lost his mind. Because of this, Mielle, wearing a mask, straightened her face and called his name,
“… Mr. Lane?”
But the place where his answer was directed at was Aria, not Mielle.
“Oh, my God, I’ve learned a lot.”
“What do you mean?”
Lane’s laughter grew thick when Aria pretended not to know.
“The idea of a Casino. I didn’t think we had to shut it down, but I was impressed by the new view.”
“Really? I think it’s a simple hypothesis that anyone can think of.”
Of course, Mielle wouldn’t have been able to think of it. Lane burst out laughing again at her humble but never humble way of speaking.
“If I don’t excuse you, please let me know. What kind of study is Lady Aria doing every day, and how do you have such deep thoughts?”
‘Isn’t that the question you asked Mielle? What if Mielle cried?’
Swallowing a smile, Aria replied, “There’s nothing special.”
“What is it, for example?”
“Well…”
‘Would you believe they are a newspaper that is mixed with all kinds of gossip, the experience of being decapitated, the hourglass? It’s true, but you’ll never believe it. You will mock, saying that the wicked woman is finally out of her mind.’
“I’m similar to Mielle. I’m taught by the wives, I read books, and sometimes I read newspapers. Oh, and…”
There was one more important source of information.
“It’s very helpful to listen to my father and Mielle’s conversation. They tell me a lot of information that I don’t know. That’s why I listen very carefully.”
In particular, Mielle had given Aria a good idea of when and how to release the information. It had been only once that Aria had given information to the count, but it had been helpful in many ways. ‘Isn’t that right now?’ Mielle had given her a chance to shame her by gnawing at her own flesh.
“Today’s conversation was also very informative.”
“Was that so?”
At first glance, Aria seemed to praise Mielle, but in the end, it meant that she often got the chance to show off her knowledge based on Mielle’s clumsy knowledge. If it were as naive and flat as Sarah, she wouldn’t know, Lane and Mielle must have noticed it.
“… really? That’s a surprise. That’s what I do sometimes.”
‘That’s why you make such a transparent attack now. Do you want to argue that this shameful situation is not one-sided? You’ve just had a look on your face that people can’t think of as a noblewoman’s. Ah, yes, you might have been all the way in the past.’
However, Aria had stolen everything that Mielle had always shown off only a few months ago.
‘Did you hate the dumb, wicked bitch who boasted of simple poetry at all?’
In retrospect, it was a time when she was always hidden in the shadows like weeds withering in a noble light. The feeling that had always dominated her in the past rose from the depths of her stomach. ‘From now on, I’ll make you taste such a bitter pain.’
“You know what? I’m very grateful. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be here either.”
“Really? That’s a good thing.”
It was no use pretending to be lofty now. It would have been nice to see Mielle running out of the lounge, throwing things at her like she had done in the past.
But Mielle was a noble noblewoman from the beginning. It was easier to laugh than to get angry, and rather than throwing things, she was used to covering her mouth with a fan.
“Please give me a favor in the future, Miele.”
“So do I, sister.”
The smiling sisters, wearing a pretense on their faces, looked friendly to anyone. Because it was Mielle’s specialty to bully and afflict Aria beyond anyone else’s knowledge, and now Aria was imitating it.
Sarah and Lane went back because the sun went down during the conversation. The gaze, which had always been on Mielle, sometimes headed to Aria and left some remnants after saying good-bye.
‘Was he trying to fill his disappointment of Mielle? Or did he realize that the count’s proud daughter was not Mielle?’ Whatever it was, it wasn’t a bad situation because the attention towards Mielle had been reduced a little.
* * *
Aria, who went back to her room after using the hourglass in a long time, slept all day and could not wake up until the next evening. Jessie hurriedly brought her honey as she rubbed her stiff eyes and got up.
Jessie had called in a doctor to check her master’s health and experienced the same thing several times, so she no longer caused any more noise. She was just a little worried.
“Well, miss. I found out where they sell the bouquet you said.”
“Oh, you mean the tulip? You got to know pretty quickly.”
Aria remembered having her come to know just before she had fallen asleep. Jessie had carried out with a bouquet of flowers since Aria had not ordered her to do anything except cleaning, and she seemed to have been bored and liked it.
“So, where do they sell it?”
“I think the flower shop near the Imperial Castle is the most likely one.”
“Near the Imperial Castle?”
“Yes, I’ve been to flower shops that deal with the finest flowers, in the Empire, and they said in a voice that there is the only place that deals with such fine flowers. And I went there and found out that there were a lot of similar tulips.”
Near the Imperial Castle. There were a lot of noblemen’s mansions there, and it made sense. In particular, there were many mansions of high-ranking nobles who worked at the Imperial Castle. ‘Then, is it one of the nobles?’ She thought she could quickly find out who he was if she investigated the flower shops, but it seemed to be a miscalculation.
“Good job.”
“Oh, by the way, they said that the tulips they handle are provided from the Imperial Castle. I heard that they can handle the finest tulips in the Empire. It’s also a tulip that doesn’t wither well using unique medicine. Look. It’s still fresh, isn’t it? It also smells great.”
Tulips really, as she said, were fresh and seemed to have just picked them up. It was worth it because it was near the Imperial Castle and a flower shop favored by aristocrats.
“I heard it’s fresh for a month even after it’s cut off. It’s really amazing.”
“If you like it so much, you can take it.”
“Miss. But it’s a flower you got as a present…”
Jessie’s face turned red even as she said so. ‘Does she like flowers so much? As time passes, they wither and become ugly. They can only be put on display and are not helpful in life.’
In the past, she had thought it would be better to look in the mirror than to look at flowers, so she didn’t like them very much. When she said, “I don’t need it,” Jessie held a bouquet of flowers in her arms as if she was forced. It was a very natural attitude because she knew Aria would no longer be angry for nearly a year.
“Oh, I almost forgot! The letter from Oscar has arrived.”
“That’s very good news.”
Jessie took out a letter with no pattern. Oscar’s letter only contained his initial, not his full name, so no one knew yet that he and Aria were exchanging letters.
It was the same when they wrote each other’s names in the text. He decided not to write their full names, Oscar or Aria, but just their initials. They agreed with each other to avoid any misunderstanding, but if she thought about it, there was a risk of appearing as lovers who exchanged secret letters.
Rather, it would be easier to make excuses if they wrote their full names when someone noticed each other’s names. They were exchanging letters with initials… If they were caught, any excuses would be hard to understand.
‘Well, I’m not even a lover yet, and it is Mielle’s unrequited love, so I don’t have to say that it’s misconduct.’
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