Chapter 126. Secret, Part VII
Translator: Khan
Editor Group: Liber Reverie
Mielle, who came down last, also fixed her face to Aria's beauty. She seemed to have worked hard on decoration, but when she stood next to Aria, her natural appearance was far from glamour, and her presence was clouded.
"Mielle, don't you feel uncomfortable sitting in such a corner?"
Aria asked Mielle, who was glancing out of the window on the wagon wall,
"... no, it's been a while since I've been out, so I'd like to look outside."
Mielle, a noble lily-like lady, was extremely reluctant to approach Aria's side, a rose-like lady as if sprinkled with gold dust, and kept a distance from Aria even after she arrived at the mansion of the Marquis.
"Sarah!"
In front of Sarah as usual, Aria, who imitated a child, welcomed her, hugging her waist, even though she was now about the same height.
And whether she always looked like a child in Sarah's eyes, she greeted Aria with a lovely face. The eyes staring at each other were as warm as the spring sun, which had yet to come.
"Come in, Aria. I've been waiting."
"I'm glad you're here to celebrate." The Marquis also welcomed Aria with his friendly face and speech, which was no different from the last one.
"It's a small gift. I prepared for you to be happy for a long time."
'Yeah, if possible, for the rest of your life. That way, you'll be my supporter and background for the rest of my life.'
At Aria's beckoning, Annie carefully handed him the present she had been holding.
"... oh my god! How can I get this precious thing?"
What Aria prepared was a pair of crystal birds. It was a bird known for a good relationship as a husband and a wife. The eye was studded with diamonds and the base was golden. There was an inscription that said, "I hope the future of the Marquis of Vincent and Sarah will be full of happiness."
"I've never received such a precious gift before. I can't believe there is such a big crystal."
The Marquis was also deeply impressed and carefully observed Aria's gift.
It was made specially by a jeweler, and it was difficult to even order because it was not easy to obtain large-sized crystals, even at a high price. The Marquis seemed to like it, but Sarah was so burdened that Aria added with a shy face.
"It's Sarah's engagement, my favorite friend and teacher, and I really wanted to prepare a great gift. I hope you like it."
Only then did Sarah, who read Aria's mind toward her, nod her head in tears. The ceremony had not started yet, but Sarah was already on the verge of tears, so Aria hurried to embrace her shoulder. The Count, watching the warm scene, naturally stepped in between them with his voice ringing,
"I haven't seen you in a long time, Marquis Vincent."
"Thank you for coming like this."
The Marquis's attitude toward the Count was also very polite, thanks to her father. Following the Count, the Countess greeted him with care, and then Mielle, who were a short distance away from Aria, greeted Sarah and the Marquis of Vincent.
"Congratulations. Lady Sarah has a good heart, and she must be a benevolent wife of the Marquis."
"Thank you, Lady Mielle."
Despite Mielle's sweet smile, Sarah showed only a formal smile. Then the Marquis of Vincent glanced at her with wonder.
"Now that you've trained Aria as such a graceful lady, you must be a model for everyone, right? I'd love to have tea with you and talk about a lot of things."
"... if time permits, let's do it."
"There will be many young ladies who want to talk to Lady Sarah, so I hope it will happen in the near future."
"I see."
"I hope you enjoy the banquet, then, Lady Roscent."
Feeling Sarah was uncomfortable, Marquis Vincent cut off the conversation, and as she was abruptly dismissed, Mielle had a pause for a while but disappeared with a gentle smile.
"Where do you feel uncomfortable?"
Sarah shook her head lightly at the question of the Marquis of Vincent and denied it.
"No, I guess it's because I'm nervous."
"I'm glad to hear that, but... I'm worried that... Why don't you take a break?"
Pointing to Sarah's forehead, he said with a worried look. But now that Mielle had left, Sarah shook her head again because she was really fine.
Because she even smiled with a look of improvement, the Marquis ordered his servant to bring some sweet fruit juice instead of telling her to rest. Sarah's bad feelings for Mielle, who had been talking about the origin of Aria, were gone with his kindness and affection, and again smiled heartily and took the Count's hand.
* * *
The Count introduced Aria, who had a deep friendship with Sarah, to his group. She had not yet debuted in the social world, so it was the first formal meeting with other nobles to talk.
In the past, he had only ashamed of her even after she had become an adult, and never introduced her to anyone. Therefore, with tens of thousands of feelings, she held her calm mind and kept a gentle smile.
"I heard she was a child, so I didn't know she was this beautiful lady."
"I am very sorry to meet this beautiful lady now."
It was the unmarried male nobles who expressed a favorable response from some of them. No man would not like her who was shiny, and beautifully dressed than anyone else here.
Besides, women also pretended to be relaxed, covering their faces to hide their eyes to follow the beauty of Aria. Knowing that her relationship with Mielle was not good, they were trying to neglect.
In the familiar and natural response, Aria fluttered her eyelashes and added an alluring smile. And the man who was facing Aria's face began to stutter with red cheeks and ears.
"The Count, did you decide the fiancé of Lady Aria ...?"
"Haha, well. She is still young. Slowly, I'll have to find a good mate."
Now that the Count realized that there were quite a lot of places to use Aria, he began to appreciate Aria as if he had cherished and nurtured her. There seemed to be a fairly satisfactory family among the men gathered, and the Countess also wrapped around Aria's shoulders and threw a big smile.
The young men tried to smoothly favor with the Count and showed off their family and wealth, and Aria, who was watching the boring sight, could see the appearance of a man from behind far away.
'Asher...?'
Tall; unusual height and black hair! She couldn't say for sure because she only looked at his fading back, but her intuition was that it was Asher.
'What the hell is he doing here?'
Come to think of it, it wasn't so strange. Didn't the luxury goods that had spoiled the market end up in the hands of the Marquis of Vincent? She heard that his position, which had remained neutral, was shaken once.
On the surface, he said he still stuck to neutrality, but the luxury goods were clearly part of the Crown Prince's business, so he might have visited to celebrate his engagement. He had yet to make an official appearance as he was not yet an adult, but it was highly likely that the Marquis would have made an acquaintance with the Crown Prince because of luxury goods.
"Lady Aria?"
"Lady? What's going on?"
So when she hurriedly got up from her seat and tried to get out of the crowd to chase him, the startled men called her name. The Count and Countess were the same. Their eyes asked her where she was going to at this important moment.
"I'm sorry, but I'm a little dizzy and I think I'll have to get some fresh air for a while."
"Do you want me to accompany you then?"
"How about me?"
"You'd rather be accompanied by a reliable person because it's dangerous."
Although she showed a sign that this place was uncomfortable, there was a war of nerves for men without sharp remarks. Aria refused because she did not want to put them all under her thumb as she had done in the past.
"No, I'm fine. Women sometimes need to have their own time."
Also, she had to rush to chase after the already-disappearing Asher. She didn't have time to play pun with useless men. However, Aria's expression of an answer was quite furtive, so those who were present cleared their throats or blushed and sympathized too much.
"Hmm, I see."
"Come, come back safely!"
"Come back quickly."
"I will."
After answering the Countess, Aria took a quick step toward the place where Asher had disappeared. She recognized that if anyone saw this, he would point it out, but she couldn't stop the rush.