On the desk were gold candlesticks covered with porcelain and small cherub-shaped decorations made of white plaster.
“I feel like I"m dreaming.”
Ariel"s words brought a low laugh to Susan.
The room was wide enough to run around it freely. The sofa was made of pink-toned velvet and the table was covered with a carefully woven lace cover.
The day bed, where she can take a nap, had a cozy tent-shaped canopy, so she could easily fall asleep during the day when the sun was still s.h.i.+ning.
Next to it, the round chair, which was lined from the ceiling, looked lovely and comfortable.
But the most surprising thing was the window. As Ariel approached the window, she stepped up and opened it.
“Woooow! “
Outside the 4th-floor gla.s.s window, a view of the garden can be clearly seen.
Ariel always wanted a room with such a big window.
It fills the room with warm suns.h.i.+ne and a sweet floral scent from the wind…
The attic where she was confined by the Marquis was full of dust and was always dim, and there were only palm-sized windows that could not be opened inside.
"This feels so unreal."
Ariel"s pale cheeks, who grew up with little sunlight, were stained with the sun and wind pouring through the window.
Ariel looked around the room one more time, enchanted.
This place was very different from the attic where Ariel lived until she was nine years old.
The attic was hot in summer and cold in winter.
It was particularly really hard for her whenever it"s winter, like this.
She had to spend a whole winter"s night cowering, s.h.i.+vering in the cold while only wearing old clothes that almost look like rags and without any warm blanket or even bed.
If Ariel could not keep warm by magic, she would have frozen to death already.
Ariel"s room, which Susan showed and prepared for her, was such a nice room that looks like she had been in the imperial palace.
“I"m really…. happy. “
Ariel spoke sincerely.
She couldn"t believe to be in such a pretty room.
Susan looked mournful when she heard Ariel.
It was obvious that the little girl in front of her had never experienced anything like this.
Besides, she was abused by her biological father.
Susan felt proud of Ariel, who grew up so lovingly in such a place.
“Did you like it?”
Ariel stretched out his arms into the sky and cried out in a circle.
“Yes! Very, very.”
When living in the Marquis, Ariel didn"t own anything for herself.
Even the lowest maids have their own clothes, and Jerome"s hounds have their own rice bowls, but Ariel didn"t.
She received only the leftovers of the servants" rations or the clothes of the small maids that were to be discarded.
It was an unimaginable treatment for the young lady of a Marquis.
Even the attic, where she lived, was originally a place to put away books that took up unnecessary s.p.a.ce.
But it was different in the Grand Duke.
Clothes prepared only for her, food that is only meant to be eaten by her, s.p.a.ce only for her.
Rather than the pretty decorations and a room that looks like it belongs to a princess, Ariel was more moved that all this was only for her.
Perhaps she would be already glad to have a simple bed and a desk in a room.
But this room was so pretty.
“There"s a lot of ….pink.”
Ariel thought pink was the most beautiful color in the world.
The mere sight of pink made her feel good.
It"s a color that"s never found in anything old or dirty.
She also likes soft and fluffy things.
To Ariel, who had never experienced her mother"s embrace, it reminded her of something warm and cozy.
Ariel thought the soft slippers were warm to her when she wore them.
She thinks lying on a fluffy bed feels warm and cozy.
This house is warm to her. This fire is also cozy for her.
Ariel really liked the warm and cozy things.
This room is all pink and fluffy things, and Susan is gently stroking her hair…
Susan explained kindly.
“The room right next door is my room. Pull that rope over there and I"ll come running. If you need anything, feel free to call me. You got it, right?
“Okay, Susan.”
When she saw a cute red-haired girl looking at her with confidence, Susan swallowed a small sigh.
"How can you be so lovely?"
She patted Ariel"s hair.
“Then shall we finish up our next schedule?”
Ariel opened her round eyes and asked.
“What is it?”
“My next job is to walk you around the house and introduce you to the other servants so why don"t we dress you up a little bit more?”
Susan, who said so, called in a hairdressing maid dedicated to the Grand Duke to trim Ariel"s hair.
Her scarlet red hair down to her hips was very pretty, but it was a little c.u.mbersome because it was too long.
The maid cut off her hair near Ariel"s waist.
Susan made it stop because she thought it was a perfect length.
“Any hairstyle would be cute at this length.”
After sending the maid off, Susan put Ariel in a small chair and styled her hair.
It was all pretty to tie a ribbon low and tie it high, leaving only some baby hairs.
It"ll be cute in half up-do, half twisted bun, or even plain straight!
After decades of not taking care of a girl, Susan smiled merrily, recalling dozens of different hairstyles in her head.
Lucian was the only young child in this house, but Lucian was a formidable master who never had a cute side even from the beginning.
But this cute child suddenly came in.
Susan felt like a big pretty ruby came to her heart and hugged her.
Ariel, meanwhile, closed her eyes because she liked the feeling of someone gently touching her hair.
*caress*
Small, regular noises gently combing her hair to prevent it from being messy.
And a warm touch in her back.
Ariel wished this moment would last forever.
If someone touches her hair like this all her life, she won"t need a nice room at all. She can even go back to the attic if she had this warmth with her.
At this moment, a room in Ariel"s heart that could not be seen with eyes opened.
Ariel welcomed someone in that new room in her heart.
And the person who now lives in that new room was Susan.
The next morning.
Ariel woke up from the pumpkin carriage bed and rubbed her eyes.
“Haaaam. “
She pulled herself up after a while and crawled back in the warm blanket.
When she looked at the ceiling of the bed, she could see a map of the constellation drawn in soft colors.
“Aries, snow-capped mountain constellation, Gemini….”
Ariel who stretched out her little finger and followed the map of constellations, suddenly heard her stomach growl.
Ariel rose up and carefully pulled the leash with her shaky hand.
"Is this right…?"
She looked at the rope with a nervous heart and Susan came into the room.
“You"re up.”.
Susan approached Ariel and kissed her cheek.
“Young Lady, did you sleep well?”
“I slept well. How about Susan?”
“I slept well, too.”
Susan, who spoke as if she were singing, diligently rolled up the window curtains in Ariel"s room and set Ariel at the table.
Her breakfast was cream soup with young mint leaves and bread with candied chestnuts.
When Ariel finished eating, Susan wiped the area around her mouth like a baby.
“You"re done. I"m so proud of you.”
Ariel got shy and wiggled her toes.
"All I did was eat delicious food, but I was praised."
The marquis often scolds her for leaving food behind when she"s too full, but he also often ridiculed her for finis.h.i.+ng it when she"s hungry.
Susan dressed Ariel in a sky-blue dress and tied a white silk ribbon beautifully from the back of her head to the top of her head.
The red hair and the white ribbon contrasted with each other, making them look very bright and lovely.
“Now, shall I call for Mr. Allen?”
Allen, the old butler, showed up again today with a fixed posture and a unique polite atmosphere.
Then he greeted Ariel the same as before. He bowed down with his nose almost touching the ground before he even said h.e.l.lo.
“It"s good to see you, milady. “
Although she is still not used to such polite treatment, Ariel also greeted him.
“I"ll show you around the La Carte mansion.”
Ariel looked back briefly, and Susan smiled and waved at her.
Ariel looks up at Allen slightly from time to time while they were walking.
Unlike when she walked with Susan, there was no conversation between the two.
The butler, Mr. Allen was so polite that it was difficult to act like a child in front of him, unlike with Susan.
Instead, whenever she stood in front of Allen, she felt that somehow, she really became an elegant princess.
"Still…. "
Ariel smiled shyly at Allen"s steps.
Even in polite circ.u.mstances, Allen"s pace of walking was very slow, as if he had taken into account young Ariel"s stride.
Allen, who came out of the main hall of the building, began to explain the shape of the mansion.
“This is the main hall. It leads all the way to the mansion.”
The Grand Duke of La Carte"s castle was made up of two tall buildings connected to a cross-shaped building.
“The two tall buildings that look like twins contain the office of the Grand Duke and s.p.a.ce where the people in charge of the Grand Duke work.”
Ariel recalled eagerly not to forget.
"The tall building is Sir Mathius" office. The tall building is Sir Mathius" office."
“The cross-shaped building is a living s.p.a.ce, but it has different uses in different directions.”
The servants use the North Wing, and the Grand Duke"s family uses the South Wing.
Ariel"s room was also in the south.
“That"s why the south wing is also called the main building.”
The East and West wings are rooms for guests, but they were mostly empty.
“There is a tall tower in the center of the cross-shaped building. It is also called the Ice Star Tower.”
Ariel"s eyes glistened at the word that the tower had a name.
“Why did you name it that?”
Mr. Allen explained wisely.
The old butler Allen knew the history of the mansion and family as much as he had been here for a long time.
“The Ice Star Tower is the bell tower of the Grand Duke"s residence, and in terms of height alone, it is the tallest tower in the capital. It is even higher than the Imperial Palace.”
It"s higher than the Imperial Palace.
It was surprising that such a building existed, and the most surprising thing was that it was her home from now on.
◆◈◆◈◆◈◆
All that Ariel and Susan moments are so fluffy and warm! And please, make that Marquis suffer. HE NEEDS TO SUFFEEEER.
Ah this cold rainy weather is making me sleepy and lazy…