Translator: Khan
Editor Group: Liber Reverie
“But you can’t meet Baron Burboom in the meantime, can you?”
No matter how short the trip would be, it was clear that it would take at least a month to cross the border.
At Aria’s words, Annie raised her voice, dropping her eyebrows as if she were very disappointed.
“Miss…! How can you say that? I like you better than Baron Burboom!”
“… OK. OK, let’s go quietly.”
Despite Aria’s seemingly annoying reply, Annie had been talking about Asher for a while. Aria had given her several cold warnings but they were of no use.
Moreover, two days later, it was turned into a praise for Aria, who would soon become the Crown Princess and a daughter of the Marquis family, so that the intolerable Aria eventually moved to Carin’s carriage.
It took more than a week to arrive in Croa because unlike the two, Asher and she, had moved, his ability was not available and there were also many people. Then as soon as they arrived at the mansion of the family of Marquis Piast, Chloe, who had come to meet them, welcomed Carin first, who got out of the carriage.
“Carin! You had a hard time coming all the way. I’m so sorry I couldn’t pick you up in person.”
“What are you talking about? You must have a lot of things to prepare for. How could you have traveled all the way back and forth?”
Carin, who answered Chloe with a bright face, pretended to be calm but swallowed her saliva as she watched the grand mansion spread out behind him.
It was the same for Aria, who followed Carin from the carriage. ‘How can the family of the Marquis of a kingdom not even an empire own such a magnificent mansion?’ Its status was comparable to that of the mansion of the former Duke of Frederick.
“Come here, please. I’ve been waiting for you.” While Aria and Carin swallowed their words in admiration of the mansion, Marquis Piast and his wife, Violet walked slowly from behind Chloe.
“She’s… Aria. Chloe’s child…”
Violet, who first met Aria, looked as if she were crying, unlike Marquis Piast, who had already met Aria once. It didn’t match for an elegant, fine woman who had been once a member of the imperial family.
And so it was. Aria stared at Violet without a moment’s surprise that the man whom she had met as an acquaintance of Vika was Marquis Piast.
‘Why is she showing such a mournful and emotional look towards me?’ It was a very unfamiliar face to Aria.
“If you don’t mind… May… May I hold your hands…?”
Violet, who came close to Aria, asked very carefully, ‘What’s so important about holding hands?’
“Yes, madame.”
As Aria nodded calmly, Violet held out her faint trembling hands and took Aria’s hands.
“How smooth… I had such a beautiful granddaughter but I’ve been completely unaware of her… how could such a thing…?!”
Then, Violet put her hands on her cheek and cried, and Aria couldn’t speak with a faint frown on Violet’s crying face, at the very strange feeling she ever felt for the first time in her life.
“Do you want me to show the mansion around?” Violet, who had held Aria’s hands for a while, stopped crying and asked Aria with high expectations.
If she could, she would introduce not only the mansion but the entire Kingdom of Croa. But because of encountering her unexpected emotion, Aria did not want to be with Violet anymore.
“… No, I want to rest.”
So when she shook her head and refused, Violet began to panic, saying she was too inconsiderate. “Oh, my God. You’ve come all this way, and I didn’t think about it. You need to rest and recover your strength before you look around the mansion…”
“Madam, you don’t have to worry about it too much. She’s just arrived. Why don’t you show her to the room you’ve prepared for Lady Aria?”
“I’d better do that. Can I do that?” But thanks to the Marquis of Piast, who relieved Violet. Next to her, Violet asked Aria in a faintly red-faced pink cheek,
“… please.”
There was no need to refuse, so when she answered to ask for it this time, Violet’s face turned bright. ‘What is the joy of guiding a room at the most?’
Not only Violet but also the Marquis of Piast seemed quite satisfied. Chloe and Carin, who shared the joy of the reunion, were also staring at Violet and Aria with a soft smile.
“It’s a room with a good outlook. There’s a lot of warm sunshine. I hope you like it.”
Violet, who said that, looked very excited. It seemed as if she had been waiting for today for a very long time. Aria was drawn to the room by the hands of Violet who held her hands again before she knew it, and she was in a state of great embarrassment.
Passing through a huge door that seemed impossible to open without the help of the servants, the antique decorated interior came into her eyes at a glance. There were no ornaments made of gold or jewels, but each one was filled with luxuries beyond recognition.
Passing them up the stairs, she could reach the room Violet had prepared. The room she had prepared for Aria was on the third floor, the uppermost floor of the mansion. As she said, the scenery around the mansion was beautiful, and she could overlook the surroundings.
The large room, which now looked twice as large as the room being used in the empire, was neatly arranged with furniture of soft colors and curves that girls might like.
Of course, her ages inside and outside were different and it was not her taste, but the room was filled with sincerity and hard work of the decorator, so she watched it in silence.
Violet noticed that Aria liked the room she had decorated, and she said with a bright smile, “I’ll send a maid when the meal is ready. Until then, take a rest.”
“Yes.”
Still, Violet, who was hesitating to leave and stared at Aria even after she had told Aria to rest, closed the door and disappeared with the Marquis of Piast, who had gently held her hand.
“Oh, my God! Miss…! I’ve never seen such a beautiful room!”
As soon as the door was closed and blocked from the outside, Annie screamed and made a fuss. It was natural because the room Violet had prepared for Aria was much wider and more luxurious than any of the masters she had ever attended. It was so much more amazing than today’s Aria’s room, which had been praised for its beauty thousands of times, and Jessie also looked around the room with admiration.
“Miss, Miss! Are all the nobles of Croa living in such a great mansion?”
“Well…”
‘No. I don’t think so.’ She would have said yes if she had been in the past that she hadn’t known anything. However, as she was supporting entrepreneurs and became proficient in the flow of money and the market, she could see that the mansion was far beyond the average level of nobility.
Aria turned her eyes out of the window. Although the garden was already perfectly organized, she could see gardeners busily moving around and grooming it. She couldn’t take her eyes away from it for a long time, as it seemed like their decree will not show a blemish to the family from afar.
* * *
The mansion of the Marquis of Piast was a little uncomfortable for Aria, unlike what they had prepared with sincerity. The mansion itself was not uncomfortable. It was the people of the Marquis of Piast who were uncomfortable.
“Do you like dessert?”
Especially Violet was uncomfortable to her.
“… Yes.” When asked how many times already, Aria replied with a small sigh.
Violet asked if Aria was okay or pleased with whenever she did something. Even though she was now familiar with the interests and favors of the people around, she was so burdened that she did not want to leave the room.
“Do you like seafood?”
“… Yes.”
“Then, I’d like to have seafood for dinner. Come to think of it, do you like cake?”
“… I like it.”
“Then I’ll have to prepare the sweetest and softest cake in Croa, too. For the cake, milk tea is matched the most. Is milk tea okay?”
“… Yes.”
She was so talkative and asked many questions that she couldn’t be seen as the Marquess. Of course, it was limited to Aria. However, to Carin who had visited the mansion together, Violet maintained an elegant and noble attitude that was gentle but no different from any other nobles. She literally acted, not crossing the line. Therefore, she realized that Violet’s original personality was not like that, so Aria felt so much more burdened that she was in the room to avoid her.