Chapter 10. Freya’s Appearance and Sharon’s Awareness
“Carol, did you sleep well?”
“Yeah…"
The awkwardly smiling Carol was dressed more elaborately than ever. Her light yellow dress matched her rose corsage.
White pearls were placed on her gray hair. Carol looked much more lovely than usual with an application of milky-white powder and pink lips.
And the dark green emerald necklace, which appeared to match her green eyes, doubled Carol’s beauty.
The pendant, which was larger than Carol’s eyes, hung on a simple platinum chain and shone brightly on her neck.
Our Carol was so pretty.
“Don’t be too nervous about today. You’ll do well.”
"Of course."
Finally, the day Carol and Julien would become engaged had dawned.
I felt like I was sending my dear daughter off to get married. The emotion was bittersweet.
It wasn’t like it was the real marriage yet, so why was I like this?
Marriage…?
My heart dropped for no reason.
Ah, really. I was being silly.
I soothed my empty heart by hugging Carol.
I sighed. Carol, you need to live a good life.
“…Can you stop looking at me like that? It’s awkward!”
“What, is our little puppy rebelling?!"
I placed a tiara on Carol’s head as she pouted.
"You’re so pretty, Carol. The prince will fall in love with you all over again."
"Him? With me?"
Carol snorted. That kid didn’t know the truth yet.
She was so beautiful today.
Furthermore, she was wearing the tiara that Julien had brought over.
He wouldn’t be able to help himself from falling again.
“Now, shall we go?”
Heart pounding, I held Carol’s hand.
Today, I would finally meet the real heroine, whom I had pushed out from the plot.
***
Because Duke Gratoni was escorting Carol for the engagement ceremony, they were riding in the same carriage.
An uncomfortable air filled the space between them.
The atmosphere was so heavy that Carol could feel it pressing on her shoulders.
Though the relationship between her and her father was improving, it had been years since they had turned their backs on each other.
They couldn’t completely fix their relationship
right away.
Duke Gratoni opened his mouth.
"Will you be all right?"
“……?”
Carol silently turned to him with a puzzled expression.
She didn’t know what he was suddenly talking about.
“The engagement, that is. You said you didn’t want it.”
Carol puffed up her cheeks.
“We can’t take back what’s already happened. Yes, I’ll be fine. I’ve already made a promise with Julien, and engagement and marriage is the most obvious connection to make. ”
Despite her treacherous inner thoughts, Carol replied to her father nicely. Duke Gratoni’s gaze turned to her.
"But, I can’t go through with marriage, Father."
"Marriage?"
"Yes, marriage. I am not going to marry Julien. I told you. We want different things.”
“…Do as you will.”
“And Sharon, too.”
Carol continued, eyes twinkling, “If Sharon wants to marry Julien, you have to allow it.”
“…I am her uncle and guardian. It is natural that I will.”
“You have to send her off so that she can live comfortably.”
Duke Gratoni was silent for a moment. Sharon’s wealth, which continued to grow, was already tremendous without his support.
But the duke only agreed with Carol instead of bringing that up.
"All right. I’ll do what you say.”
Carol smiled brightly like a flower.
Duke Gratoni thought for a moment that he would do anything for Carol’s smile.
This short period now had been the happiest for him other than when Carol was born.
Duke Gratoni’s heart squeezed. He became silent.
His eyes pricked.
* * *
It was pretentious.
Julien and Carol’s engagement celebration was packed with people just because the emperor was here.
I wasn’t used to this sort of situation.
"You’re Lady Sharon, right?"
Some noble ladies approached me, and others were eyeing us.
But what was even harder to accept was the crown prince’s half brothers who pretended to be close with him.
Gross.
It was ridiculous how they were sucking up to Julien because the emperor was paying attention to him.
“That’s right. This is Sharon.”
Carol bristled and answered the ladies.
How cute of her.
She was like a well-trained guard dog.
There was a reason that Carol was responding so temperamentally.
All the noble ladies who had sidled up to me had asked me the same thing.
’…Excuse me, may I ask you something? What is your relationship with His Highness, the Crown Prince?‘
Their repertoire was really repetitive.
What use was it if they said, 'excuse me’?
It was blatantly clear that the people of this world ran on interest.
Furthermore, the ladies’ gazed bounced between me and Carol.
This particular lady did not seem any different from the others.
Look here, ma'am. Your eyes are gonna roll away.
“Lady Sharen, I was wondering about something…”
"There is no relation."
The lady’s eyes widened as I cut off her words.
Her expression seemed to ask how I knew what she was going to ask.
“…He only danced with me because I am unfamiliar with high society, and my
cousin Carol asked him to do so.”
The lady nodded without much conviction at my excuse.
Even though it had been a while since then, I guess the ladies didn’t forget since they had nothing better to do.
Julien couldn’t even spare an hour to talk with me on his birthday, so he probably wouldn’t have time today, either. He seemed to be a big target.
That day, I had eaten food in some corner of the room, let time pass by while hanging out on the terrace, and returned home.
Besides, today was Carol and Julien’s engagement ceremony, so people would be even more excited.
“Now, can you stop taking up space here? Sharon and I were speaking in private!”
The lady looked embarrassed by Carol’s words.
“They’re so impolite.”
Carol snapped back at my unenthusiastic statement.
“You shouldn’t have danced with Julien, then!”
“Are you jealous?”
I asked casually, but strangely, I felt nervous.
"No!!"
Thank goodness.
…Wait, why was I happy about that? Why was I like this recently? I didn’t know, myself.
“If not, why are you yelling?”
I concealed my emotions and appeased Carol.
“Carol, don’t worry about what other people say. They’ll back off as soon as they find something else interesting."
“That’s true, but… I don’t want to hear them speak poorly of you! That poopy asshole prince!”
…Ha ha ha ha ha.
Did I teach her something like that…?
I needed to reflect and repent.
“But how come you’ve left Julien behind? It’s your engagement day.”
“The main part is already over, so what? He’s probably buried somewhere there; we won’t be able to see him.”
We could see no hide nor hair of the prince among the throng of people congratulating him.
He must be very tired, too.
It was the same for Duke Gratoni. Carol, who should have been with her father to socialize, was beside me, but Duke Gratoni was doing well on his own.
"Why don’t you head there for a bit, hmm? There are probably many people who want to talk to you. Also, people are staring at me more because I’m with you.”
The combination of Carol and me was attention-grabbing.
"No! I’m going to stick with you, Sharon. You’re nice, so you won’t be able to tell off those old ladies. You won’t be able to chase them off.”
“I can’t do it because you keep doing it… I’m not nice.”
“…In my eyes, you’re an angel, Sharon.”
Carol clung to my arm like a puppy.
"Oh, my little puppy."
Carol’s face relaxed into a smile when I pat her cheek.
Wasn’t this child too simple?
It made me a little worried.
I glanced at Carol uneasily and opened my mouth.
“Carol, I can’t eat because of all the staring. Do you want to eat together on the terrace?”
"Sure!"
Carol’s face brightened at my suggestion.
Actually, I had planned to go
to the terrace from a while ago.
I felt sorry I was taking advantage of this child’s pure heart, but I had to manipulate things to meet with Freya.
In the novel, Freya met the prince for the first time at the first terrace of Rabica Hall.
If Freya didn’t show up today…
Would that be good?
Nevermind. That hasn’t happened yet, so if needed I’ll think about that later.
I purposely took Carol to the first terrace, which was currently vacant.
“Wait here for a moment. I’ll ask someone to bring us food.”
"Should I do it?"
"It’s fine."
If she did, all my plans would be ruined.
I firmly closed the curtains of the terrace and stepped out. I had to calculate the time and act accordingly.
Prince Julien and Freya originally met in the middle of the night.
Fortunately, I spotted a maid briskly walking about and working.
"Over here."
The maid turned. She bowed her head and greeted me.
"Yes, did you need something?"
"Ah, I did. I want to eat out on the terrace there. Would it be possible for someone to prepare it for me?"
“I can prepare you some food and drinks. Are there any foods you need or would like to avoid?”
"Just make sure there are no olives or jalapenos."
The young Carol couldn’t handle those foods yet.
"Understood. It will be ready soon.”
"Ah! By any chance, is a maid named Freya working in the hall tonight?”
I didn’t not know the exact time when Freya and Julien would have met.
Thus, I decided to call her before she could meet him. Julien had been busy in the crowd till now, so they should not have met yet.
The maid responded with a puzzled expression. "Yes, she is. Did she do something wrong?”
“That isn’t it. I just wanted to ask her to prepare the food. Could you please arrange that?”
I smiled as nicely as I could.
Hey… Why was the maid blushing?
"Yes."
I could clearly hear the maid mutter to herself after she went on her way.
"I must be crazy! Why is my face getting hot? Is she really human? She’s so pretty.”
Huhuhu. Huhuhuhu.
I wasn’t someone to refuse compliments. I knew I was pretty.
I returned to Carol.
"Carol? What are you doing?"
Carol had been quietly waiting. Maybe it had been uncomfortable, because she had tossed off her shoes and placed her bare feet on the marble floor.
"Hmm? My feet hurt a little. It’s probably because the shoes are new.”
I went in front of Carol and sank down to the .
"Huh? Sharon! The floor is cold!”
“I’ll stand up soon, so stay still.”
I stopped Carol from getting up.
The terrace was surrounded by thick curtains because it was winter, so it wasn’t too cold. The air was warm since the servants changed the heated stones on the edge of the terrace every hour.
"What? Your feet has scrapes. What did you order for the size?”
“What I had before."
Oh… This wasn’t because the shoes were new. It was because Carol was growing, since kids get bigger quickly. Her feet had hurt because the shoes were tight.
“Let’s call the shoemaker tomorrow to measure your feet again.”
"Oh? Really?"
"Yup. Your feet grew a little."
I roughly placed her shoes in order and stood back up.
“When the maid comes in with food, we should ask for new shoes, too.”
"Yup, yup. Sounds good. Hehehe. Sharen, look at me. I’m taller, right?”
“I guess?”
"Sharon. Then, you’ll keep the promise?"
I became anxious. What else did I promise her?
"W-what promise."
Drat. I stuttered.