He faced Ariel with a serious expression.
“Do you really want to know what happened, my Lady?”
“Yes, it"s about me after all.”
“I"ll tell you.”
Dalton began to explain the impact of Lucian"s rumors little by little.
Of course, the part that Lucian was actually the one who ordered to spread the rumors was neatly filtered out.
“The first ones that surfaced were the old rumors about the Little Lady.”
“If it"s the old rumors….”
He probably meant about the rumor that Ariel is sick or that the Marquis does not show her because of her ugly appearance.
“However, when the people witnessed all of the Lady"s expensive belongings being sent away by carriage by the Marquis himself, they began to spread that you are probably loved by the marquis.”
“Ah…. “
The rumor has been constantly on the rise.
The rumor says that Ariel was actually a beautiful child that everyone could easily fall in love with, that"s why she was raised secretly since she was young to not exposed her to the outside world.
Moreover, Dalton, the treasurer of the Grand Duke of La Carte, was the one who secretly worked on the plan to spread it, that"s why the rumors easily spread like wildfire.
As the empire"s most powerful and wealthiest family, it was only natural that the attention surrounding the marriage of Lucian, the heir to the Grand Duke, was gaining huge attention.
Among them, Ariel, whose face is unknown, is the main character of the rumors.
“The fact that the Marquis of Lucillion kept silent about the Lady"s engagement contributed to the swelling of the rumor as well.”
In fact, the latter kept quiet because of Lucian"s threats.
“In the meantime, the society"s interest sored up even more when it became known that the wedding gift was a sapphire mine in Hilton.”
Dalton paused for a minute and then continued.
“That"s why the people became curious about the ident.i.ty of the Lady who became so precious to the Lord.”
Ariel got a little lost in though.t
“That"s why my paintings become so expensive? Because of people"s curiosity?”
Dalton shook his head.
“At this point in time, that could be a factor. But that"s not the only reason. Raising the price of goods is only a piece of cake for the Grand Duke.”
“How? “
“The Grand Duke can increase the price by monopolizing resources with his power, and sometimes the Grand Duke directly invests and raises the worth of an object.”
People are attracted like ants to investment with money and power.
Ariel still didn"t know how her painting became worth 50 million, but she understood the principles.
“I understand now. Thank you, Dalton.”
Ariel left Dalton"s room with a lighter heart.
She ate the snacks given by him one by one as she crossed the hall on her way back.
On the way, she pa.s.sed by the maid Sally and Anna who smiled and greeted her.
“h.e.l.lo, Little Lady. Oh my, your ribbon is hanging loosely.”
“Ai. How cute.”
The people of the mansion have spoken to Ariel like this ever since she got formally introduced recently.
Before, when she went around with Allen, they only bowed their heads and said h.e.l.lo.
Ariel was shy but also happy for getting attention, so she would smile at them.
Ariel was currently pa.s.sing by the windows when the quiet gardener, Woods, who was tr.i.m.m.i.n.g the ornamental plants in the garden, gave her something.
It was a branch of a tree bearing a dainty red fruit.
The round and small red fruits were all over the place, and the branch was well-kept without thorns.
“Woods?”
Ariel called with a puzzled expression when she received the branch, but Woods only pressed his hat down and hurried away from the window.
She decided to show Susan the branch, and she smiled warmly at her.
“Did Woods gave it to you? “
“Yes, but he didn"t tell me what is it. “
Susan fixed the ribbon on Ariel"s hair, which was almost untangled,
“It"s a winterberry branch.”
“Is it edible?”
“No, it"s for ornamental purposes. Isn"t it pretty?”
“Yeah.”
Susan patted Ariel gently on the head.
“There"s a saying that the lady who"ll receive the first winterberry branch in February will have good luck.”
Uwaa…
Ariel looked into the branch filled with pretty red fruits.
“So Woods gave me this for good luck!”
“You think so, right?”
Ariel carefully inserted the branch into a vase and jumped out of the chair.
“I"ll go to Woods and say thank you!”
Susan shouted behind Ariel as she ran out.
“Don"t run! You"ll fall!”
Ariel saw Woods tr.i.m.m.i.n.g a tree quite far from the window earlier.
She opened the window with a frown and frantically waved at Woods.
Woods slowly pulled back the brim of his hat and looked at her.
“Thank you for the good luck, Woods!”
Ariel shouted with all her might.
She was worried that her voice wouldn"t reach him, but Woods bowed his head in acknowledgment.
Ariel smiled brightly.
As if the good luck has taken effect already, her empty heart started getting filled with warmth.
That night, Ariel came back to her room after taking a bath and drank the hot milk sprinkled with the powdered sugar that Susan handed over to her.
“It"s sweet. It"s delicious.”
“Hoo-hoo. Sweet things are the best to children your age.”
"Actually, I"m already seventeen…"
It seems that her tastes and preferences also adjusted into her body which is a child right now.
Also, the fact that she had never tasted anything good in her past life contributed to Ariel"s love of sweetness.
She was barely living with burnt oat porridge while she was at the Marquis, but after joining the group of wizards, her body got damaged so she could not eat well.
The only thing she could eat was soup.
That"s why everything that she has been given right now, when she started living here in the Grand Duke"s was the first delicious food she had ever tasted before.
Susan dried Ariel"s wet hair with a fluffy, thick towel that made her feel warm.
Susan"s voice, which seemed to be singing, tickled her ears affectionately.
“Your hair color is so pretty. Every single thing about you is beautiful.”
Ariel, who was sipping and drinking milk, listened to it and clenched the cup with her small hands.
She had been getting compliments from the people in this house these days, and it tickles her heart every time I hear it, but…
She wasn"t happy this time.
“Um…Susan.”
“Yes.”
“I really like Susan, so whatever you say won"t hurt my feelings.”
“My Lady….? “
Susan, who was drying her hair, stopped moving. Ariel added hurriedly.
“and I know Susan likes me. I didn"t believe it at first, but now I do. That"s why…, I….want to believe everything Susan says.”
“Lady Ariel.”
Susan called out to Ariel in a low voice.
Ariel was not confident to turn around and face Susan.
She has no idea what kind of facial expression she"s showing right now.
"But I had to say it."
Ariel closed her eyes tightly.
The voice that came out trembled.
“I know my hair color is unusual and strange. My face looks ugly, too. I know that, but…Susan, Sally and Becky… all of you look at me saying I"m pretty. I don"t like it when people I like lies to me.”
Susan sighed behind her.
She managed to pluck up her courage to say what she wanted but the sigh scared her.
"It"ll be bad if Susan got disappointed in me, right?"
Susan gently turned Ariel around.
Ariel bowed her head, unable to make eye contact with her.
Susan pulled the little girl"s shoulders into her arms.
Ariel hesitated but she put her arms around her as well.
“Young Lady. Who told you that you looked ugly?”
Ariel mumbled, burrowing into Susan"s arms like a baby in her mother"s arms.
“…father. And my brother.”
Susan sighed again.
“That"s why you thought it was weird whenever other people told you you were pretty or cute?”
“Eung.”
"How does Susan know my mind so well?"
When Susan understood her feelings, Ariel began to stammer out what she had been holding back.
“At first I thought you were just saying that because I"m the lady of this house. It made me feel sad.”
She choked up while talking.
“But Susan is such a good person… You"re generous and very nice to me. That"s why I know that Susan is not trying to deceive me on purpose, but you see me like that because the eyes of your heart are beautiful…”
No matter how much she thought so, the heaviness in her heart did not disappear.
“But everybody else besides Susan calls me pretty when they see me. That can"t be true. Everyone"s so weird. It"s so strange.”
Tears dripped down from Ariel"s eyes and wet Susan"s clothes.
“I"m afraid I couldn"t believe in what Susan says.”
“I see… “
Susan patted Ariel on the back.
Ariel sobbed and wept as she burst into her tears.
Susan kept sweeping her back the whole time Ariel cried.
Ariel"s tears slowly died down due to Susan"s regular patting.
Susan slowly began to talk.
“You know? I was actually surprised to hear that Lucian was getting married to the Little Lady.”
“Because…I look like this?”
“No.”
Susan brushed Ariel"s forehead that became sweaty from crying.
As Ariel raised her head, Susan continued.
“Look at my eyes. Can you see yourself in them?
“I can.”
“What does it look like?”
Ariel described herself as best she could.
“Red hair… The eyes are red too. The skin is as white as plaster…”
“Alright. Stop. “
Susan, who gently stopped Ariel"s words, pointed to the Winter berry branch that Woods gave her earlier.
The red berries in the winterberry branch have neatly adorned the vases.
“What"s the color of that fruit, Lady?”
“Red.”
“Is it pretty?”
“Yes, it"s very pretty.”
Susan smiled at the honest answer.
“Your hair color is more beautiful than the color of those fruits. It"s scarlet red.”
“Scarlet… red?”
“Yes, it"s the name of the most beautiful shade of red. “