She told Susan that it was better this way, but Ariel felt the same way.
"I wish I had been born as a La Carte from the beginning."
When she becomes an adult, she will have to divorce Lucian then she"ll also have to leave this place.
"That means I will also break up with Susan when the time comes."
"If I were the daughter of the Grand Duke, I would never have to get married."
She would"ve lived her whole life with Mathius, Lucian, Allen, Woods, and Susan without breaking up with anyone.
"That means I"ll also be together with Lucian as his sister, right?"
Unlike his brother Jerome, who used to hit and torment her day after day, Lucian was a little capricious, but he didn"t do anything bad to her.
"I wish I had a family like this…."
Ariel thought so, burying her face into Mathius", inhaling his somewhat musky and cool scent.
*chirp* *chirp*
The sound of a bird was heard coming from the branch in front of the window.
The buds formed on the branches also fluttered cutely.
Winter, which seemed to never end, has pa.s.sed, and spring has come to the Empire.
A warm air blows in the La Carte mansion and the flowers in the garden that can be seen from the window of Ariel"s room are in full bloom.
And Ariel is into eating strawberries these days.
“Nyam”
Strawberries were red, sweet, sour, and juicy.
The freshness of the strawberry spreads on her mouth as she ate them one by one.
"When I lived at a Marquis, I only ate the crushed ones left on Jerome"s leftover birthday cake."
But now, all the fresh strawberries here were Ariel"s.
Ariel ate strawberries, even dipping them in fresh cream. She also drank what Susan juiced and mixed it with milk.
When Ariel, who eats most of the food, was particularly addicted to strawberries, Susan and the maids found how cute it is and did not know what to do.
Then one day, Susan acquired a huge amount of strawberries with the maids and made it all into a strawberry syrup.
“This way, you"ll be able to taste the strawberries even after spring pa.s.ses.”
After cutting strawberry pulp beautifully to show the cross-section, a strawberry syrup made with sugar and strawberries on top is said to be eaten as a hot tea and poured into pancakes instead of maple syrup.
Ariel liked anything made of strawberries, so she looked happily at the bottles of red strawberry with some blueberries and mint leaves.
When Mathius heard that Ariel liked strawberries, he bought the largest strawberry plantation in the empire without showing much concern.
“Tell them to send only the best products here.”
From then on, coa.r.s.e, sweet, and sour strawberries with preservation magic began to enter the Grand Duke"s estate throughout the four seasons.
Ariel"s body, which had only bones, gained weight little by little during the winter.
As her thin body became fatter, her snow-white skin also became milder and softer.
Her hollow cheeks, which did not look like a child"s back then, also looked s.h.i.+ny and rounded with cute curves now.
The nights where she wakes up from nightmares are slowly decreasing as well, and thanks to eating well and sleeping well, she also grew a little bit taller.
She doesn"t look like a regular 10 years old yet, but when she put on the clothes she wore when she first came into the Duke"s, her wrists were slightly exposed.
Ariel was regretful of the smaller clothes, but Susan was very pleased that her clothes had become smaller and she gave her applause.
“Young Madam, you need some new clothes!”
Susan trembled in excitement saying that it would be better to go to the tailor shop and match her clothes because she is now a 10-year-old girl.
“Girls your age need to know what suits you and what style you like.”
Ariel, who had lived without shortages with the clothes Susan prepared for her, used to feel that it was difficult to go to the tailor shop and match her clothes herself.
But she"s not the same girl, who was always crouching because of her appearance, anymore.
Ariel was now looking forward to matching her red hair with clothes that would go well with white skin like snow.
There was another change as spring came. Mathius a.s.signed an etiquette teacher for Ariel.
The new etiquette teacher for Ariel was the elegant Marchioness Lancel, who"s a Count"s daughter turned Marchioness when she got married last year.
There was no risk of leaking any story about Ariel because the Lancel House was involved in the mining project that"s currently under the support of the Grand Duke.
Marchioness Lancel also did not socialize at all during Ariel"s teaching and everything that happens in the mansion strictly confidential to outsiders.
Ariel began to learn table manners, speech, tea ceremony, and embroidery under Marchioness Lancel.
She also learned some popular poems in society.
The Marchioness soon fell in love with Ariel and became attached to her very much.
What kind of teacher wouldn"t fall in love with a young girl who works hard in learning with her eyes s.h.i.+ning like a ruby?
When Marchioness Lancel who taught her manners for the day left, Ariel chatted about what she had learned in cla.s.s while eating snacks prepared by Susan.
“Susan, Susan. Look at this. I walk well with a bowl on my head now, right?”
“After this embroidery, I"m going to learn how to embroider the La Carte family crest!”
Susan brought more reliable snacks than ever for Ariel, who is taking cla.s.ses.
Like today"s thick salmon sandwich with cream cheese.
“Hmmm~”
Ariel nibbled sullenly, biting the soft smoked salmon sandwich.
“The tea ceremony is fun, but I"m not sure about the black tea"s taste.”
“It"s still too bitter for the young lady"s mouth, right?”
“Yes, it"s delicious if I put in plenty of sugar, but at a gathering of ladies, it"s not formal if I drink it that way.”
Susan said with a spiteful smile.
“Those ladies also drink three or four pieces of sugar in their house, you know?”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
She couldn"t confirm whether the words were true, but Ariel felt a little at ease.
From the day Ariel began to drink tea, Susan often served tea instead of milk that she had been serving with snacks.
Of course, it wasn"t just black tea or green tea. Susan made milk tea in consideration of little Ariel.
Black tea is bitter for a young girl"s tastes, but the milk softens the taste, so Ariel could enjoy the taste of fragrant black tea.
And on a particularly warm spring day.
Ariel climbed onto the outing carriage gifted to her by Mathius.
No one could see Ariel from the outside since the blinds are lowered, but anyone who saw the girlish carriage with white awnings bearing the La Carte"s family crest knew that the young wife of the Young Lord had gone out.
Ariel rode out in the carriage to order her spring clothes.
Originally, it was customary for young ladies and women with higher status than the latter to call their designers home without visiting the atelier in person.
The boutiques and dressing rooms of the capital, when called by the n.o.bles, packed their precious fabrics, jewelry, and samples of fas.h.i.+onable dresses, for ladies.
This was because the profits that high n.o.bles pay when they order clothes were enormous.
As big money came and went, most of the high ranking n.o.bles made and traded to regular boutiques.
By opening deals with exclusive boutiques, you can prioritize reservations, preempt rare fabrics, and get information on social trends.
Therefore, even when they needed clothes of different styles, the n.o.bles did not use several boutiques and made requests to other boutiques through their own exclusive boutiques.
Ariel was also about to choose her own tailor shop.
Of course, she didn"t go out simply to decide it. When Mathius heard from Susan that Ariel needed clothes, he ordered the servant to bring the best tailor shop owners together.
“Get all the best tailor shop owners in the capital. Among them, Ariel will choose.”
The treasurer, Dalton was amazed by his master, who cares about the young lady"s clothes.
Of course, doing such a thing was as easy as breathing for the Grand Duke but it"s a different case for him to be interested in it.
Before Dalton could answer, however, Ariel, who had been silent, opened her mouth.
“Sir Mathius, can I go and see for myself?”
“That"ll be troublesome,”
Mathius replied bluntly, frowning.
But now Ariel was getting used to the way Mathius spoke.
"I know that he doesn"t mean that I"m troublesome. He"s just worried about me."
“I want to go. I"ve never been on the streets of the capital after all.”
After hearing Ariel"s words that she had never visited the capital city even though she was supposed to be the Marquis"s esteemed daughter, Dalton and Susan began to cheer for Ariel"s outing with one heart.
Dalton, who doesn"t express himself in front of the Grand Dukes, carefully spoke out.
“Milady, Let me a.s.sist you. If we added a few blue lion knights as your escort, there wouldn"t be any problem for your safety,”
Susan added cautiously.
“Or maybe we can send her out with Marchioness Lancel.”
Mathius still looked uncomfortable.
Dalton nervously widened his eyes. Mathius reclining in his chair, suddenly exclaimed.
“I don"t like it all. I"ll go with her myself.”
“W-what?!”
Dalton inadvertently shouted out loud in surprise but closed he immediately closed his mouth when he saw Mathius fierce eyes.
"Who is this person?!"
The new young lady is interested to go shopping for her clothes, and the Grand Duke wants to go and accompany her himself.
Grand Duke Mathius, whom Dalton has been serving for quite a while now, was never such a man.
His master was as sensitive, cold, and lethargic as a beast before hibernation.
He doesn"t do anything unless it is necessary. If anything bothers him, he executes them without making any sound. Whoever bothers the La Carte will have to pay, whoever it was.
Mathius hated going out of the mansion or caring about the little things in the house. He hated change, so everyone in the mansion struggled to keep the environment the same…
Dalton, who entered the house shortly after the birth of the Young Lord Lucian, did not know what Mathius was like before. But what is certain is that what he is seeing these days is not what he has seen in the last 14 years.
"He eats with the young lady every day, puts toy requests to the finest craftsmen from time to time, and ignores the royal message since he has to play with the young lady…and now, he"s saying that he"ll accompany the young lady in her shopping?"