Chapter 109. The Future Different From The Past, Part XV
Translator: Khan
Editor Group: Liber Reverie
It was a subtly sharp tone. This was why there were so many emotions mixed up. There was also a feeling of blame. In an unfriendly response, Asher smiled and approached Aria.
"I don't know, actually. I haven't seen you in a long time. I thought I'd have to meet you... Also, I couldn't hold a meeting for some reason."
"... what?"
Surprised by his overly straightforward way of talking, Aria stepped back. However, the wall touched her back because she had already reached its limit. Asher, approaching her stride, stopped at a distance. It was only because it was Aria's room.
Aria could not help but blush as she pondered what he had said during the course of the stillness. 'Is there a woman who won't be blushed at the man's remark that he came to see her?' Any cold-blooded woman would blush for a moment.
"I was also worried that you would have no trouble eating."
But a moment later, the words from Asher's mouth were enough to make Aria's hot face cold in a flash. 'Trouble eating? Do you mean the thing you gave to Mielle as a present?' She wondered if he visited her while he gave that sugar as a gift to Mielle.
"... is it not Mielle, who you are worried?"
'Isn't it Mielle who received the gift?' When she asked him why he said that to her, Asher asked with a puzzled look,
"No way, don't misunderstand."
"Misunderstanding?"
"The sugar I gave Lady Mielle was just to meet you. That way, I can buy time, like this."
Perhaps because of the embarrassment of misunderstanding, Aria's face turned red again, and Asher's mouth was going up slowly.
"Did it bother you? Because I sent the sugar to Lady Mielle?"
"That's..."
It would be a lie to say that it didn't bother her. His connection with Mielle had started from misunderstanding, but Aria was still concerned about why he still sent Mielle a gift. It was all the more so to think that it was Asher.
"... yeah."
Aria answered frankly. 'It seems to be jealous if I deny it, isn't it?' But it was also strange to say that it was nerve-wracking. It was over if she thought that there was a reason or that he was no longer interested in Mielle.
But she was nervous. In addition, there was even a slight irritation about Asher. It was like Mielle watching her who had received Oscar's gift.
'Why on earth?' She had met him only a few times. He had made her experience something as strange as today whenever he had met him. 'But why?' Unlike Aria, whose shyness reached the limit of her incomprehensible emotions, the corners of Asher's mouth were drawn good all the time.
"... Ha-ha, I see."
The tone of Asher's speech was very soft. He also looked more friendly than any other expression she had ever seen.
He kept his face for a moment and examined Aria's complexion. It was as if she was new to his eyes because he had not seen her for a long time. So, as they spent a quiet time, Lane's voice came from outside the door. It was an urging voice.
"... it seems that time is up. The next meeting will take some time. Unfortunately, I have a little bit of a problem. It's hard to get out like this. I'll contact you as soon as I have a schedule."
"... I see."
After finishing his speech, he examined Aria's face for a while, but when Lane said there was no time, he left his regret behind and finally disappeared. 'Did you really miss me? Why did you want to see me? Is it just because you haven't seen me for a long time?'
While agonizing alone for a long time, Jessie knocked on the door. When she made an indication, Jessie came in with a teapot in her hand. It was not her job anymore. Nevertheless, Jessie put it on the table with a very bright face.
"I brought it because I heard sugar came in. You like sweet tea. They are making a cake now, and I'll bring it as soon as it's finished."
She had to feel bad because Mielle had been given the gift, but it made her feel better, thinking that it had been actually a way to meet her. She wondered if she could feel better so easily.
"Oh my, miss! What's this big box?"
When Jessie noticed the box in the corner, she asked in surprise.
"Uh? Ah. I got a present."
Come to think of it, she had been embarrassed, so she didn't even open the gift yet. Jessie unpacked the box, to her discretion.
"Oh, my God...! What are all these?"
When Aria checked inside beside Jessie, who was so frightened that she couldn't shut up, there were colorful dresses and ornaments that she had never seen before. 'Where the hell am I going to wear this fancy dress?' She would surely attract the attention of people at once, everywhere she went.
'And at the same time, I'll be a target with such envy and jealousy.'
Unless she was a member of the imperial family or was at the pinnacle of power, such a colorful and conspicuous dress would be poisonous.
Nevertheless, laughter came out. She thought it might be an atonement for discriminating against Mielle. A soft smile hung on Aria's lips.
The gift from Asher was kept in the dressing room as a box. She didn't think she'd be able to wear it anywhere else, and she was afraid that it would be ruined when she took it out and kept it exposed. His luxurious gifts were kept so quietly like that.
The evil Mielle baked cakes and cookies with the sugar she had received and handed them out to Aria, as if it was mercy, and said at every meal, "I'm glad the food tastes so good." The count and the countess were delighted to hear her words and answered with an appropriate response,
"By the way, who in the world is Mr. Lane's master? I can't believe he got this much sugar."
"Well... I don't know, either. At least I don't think there's anyone among the people I know."
If the count had known him, this sugar would have been first handed down to the family of the Duke of Frederick, not to the family of the Count of Roscent. For them, the first priority was the dukes. Although she did not participate in the conversation, Aria also imagined the identity of Asher with them.
"Well, if that's the case... Is he a close aide of the Crown Prince?"
It was a pretty sharp guess. If he had this much money and connections, he would not be a normal figure, but if the count of the Aristocratic Party did not know, he was more likely to be a close aide of the Crown Prince.
Of course, even so, the broad-footed count would know all the Crown Prince's close aides, but it was fair to think that he was not a member of a group with close ties to the count anyway. The count replied in agreement with that,
"I think it's most likely, but... Maybe not."
However, because the Roscent family belongs to the Aristocratic Party, there was no way that a close aide to the Crown Prince would continue to send gifts to Mielle.
"Is it so, aren't I? I guess I've had too much speculation."
In the end, measuring the identity of Asher, as Aria had done, failed. Had it been easy to see, it was clear that Aria who had encountered him several times would have noticed it first.
'I must ask who he is the next time I meet him.'
Asher had known her identity in advance and sent a man, but until several times she had met him, she only didn't know his identity. Apart from her good feeling to him, she should have grasped his identity. That was what she once thought of as the most, who had experienced the past once. She made herself a promise that the next time she met him, she would find out who he was, even if she turned over the hourglass or follow him.
* * *
Time passed quickly, summer ended, and autumn was in full swing. In a little more time, severe winter would come. In the meantime, luxuries dispensed by the lower aristocrat in Pinonua province were supplied to the market. Other aristocrats were still waiting for customs procedures, so he went on to monopolize.
Because Aria had unleashed sugar only in the Flower Mountain, there was panic buying, on the fear that the goods that had come in might disappear at any time. Thanks to this, a large number of luxury goods, including sugar, began to be accumulated in the mansions of the majority of the nobility. It was a little different from the past.