Episode 106

Before departing, I contacted them in advance, and upon arriving at the Anais Duke’s residence, my mother came out to greet me.

“Mother!”

“Ayla!”

As soon as I got off the carriage, I embraced my mother.

“I’m here, Mother.”

“Welcome, dear.”

My mother and I hugged each other tightly, exchanging greetings.

“It’s hot, let’s go inside quickly.”

“Yes, Mother.”

Entering the mansion with my mother, I looked around and spoke.

“But where is Father? And my brothers?”

“Your father and brothers are all out.”

It was disappointing that my father wasn’t there when I had come to see him.

However, it was my fault for coming in a rush without informing them first.

Thinking about it, I realized I had often forgotten to visit just to see my family, not just for specific purposes.

“Since I’m here, I’ll spend time with Mother today,” I decided.

With this thought, I apologized to my mother.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I should have informed you in advance.”

“They’ve been so busy lately, leaving early and returning late, so even if you had contacted us, you might not have seen them.”

“Oh, really? Then, are you alone in the mansion all day?”

“It’s fine. You visit from time to time.”

My mother reassured me with a small smile when she saw my worried face.

“I’ll visit more often from now on.”

“That would be wonderful. I’d love to see your face more often.”

“I promise I will.”

“Since it’s just the two of us today, shall we have tea on the second-floor balcony?”

“Yes, let’s go there.”

My mother and I immediately climbed the stairs and headed to the balcony on the second floor.

On the balcony, there was a small tea table and chairs where my mother and I used to spend time when I lived at the Anais Duke’s residence.

Soon, the table was filled with tea and various desserts.

We settled down and enjoyed the view while savoring the tea.

“It’s lovely.”

Though it was summer and the sun was bright, a gentle breeze made it feel pleasant.

“Ayla, try this.”

My mother handed me a piece of chocolate chip cookie.

I took a bite of the cookie.

The sweet yet slightly bitter taste of chocolate spread through my mouth, just the way I liked it.

“It’s delicious.”

“Isn’t it? I made plenty, so take some with you when you leave.”

“Thank you.”

I finished the cookie in one bite and responded.

“By the way, when is Noah coming back?”

While chatting with my mother after a long time, I suddenly became curious about my second brother, who was traveling, and asked my mother.

“He doesn’t seem to have any plans to return yet. He writes to us periodically, but… come to think of it, we haven’t heard from him in a few months.”

“He must be in a place where it’s hard to contact us.”

“Probably. Oh, I have something to tell you.”

“To me?”

I looked at my mother curiously and asked.

“I received an invitation today.”

“From which family?”

“It’s not a noble family, but the imperial family.”

“The imperial family?”

I looked at my mother, a bit surprised, and she continued.

“Yes. Do you remember Princess Daina?”

“Yes, I do. We greeted each other briefly at the last banquet.”

“That’s good. Princess Daina invited me to the palace, and I was wondering if you’d like to come with me.”

“Princess Daina invited you, Mother?”

“Yes.”

“Did you know Princess Daina well?”

“No. I met her a few times when she was young, but this was the first time in a long while.”

It seemed my mother wasn’t particularly close to the princess.

‘Then why did the princess invite my mother?’

Could it be because of my brother, Jade?

Despite acting as if they barely knew each other at the banquet, my brother had firmly denied it when I asked him.

Well, whether it’s the imperial family or the nobility, inviting and being invited isn’t unusual, so I might be wrong, but my thoughts were leaning strongly in that direction.

“Do you have time?”

“When is it?”

“A week from now in the afternoon.”

“I think I can make it. But will Princess Daina be okay with me coming along?”

“The invitation said you could come too.”

“Really?”

“Yes. So let’s go together.”

“Alright.”

Mother and I promised to go to the imperial palace together next week to meet Princess Daina.

“I think I should get going now.”

While talking with my mother, the sun had already begun to set, painting the sky red.

“Is it that late already? Why don’t you stay for dinner?”

“I promised the Duke I would have dinner with him.”

“I see. Then it can’t be helped.”

My mother’s face briefly showed disappointment before it quickly disappeared.

“I’ll stay for dinner next time. Please prepare lots of delicious food then.”

I deliberately said something my mother would like to hear to ease her disappointment.

“Alright. I’ll prepare all your favorite dishes.”

Fortunately, my mother’s mood seemed to improve, and I stood up feeling relieved.

“Okay. I’ll be going now. No need to see me off.”

“No, I need to see you leave to feel at ease.”

“Alright, let’s go down together.”

Holding hands with my mother, I walked outside the mansion.

“I’ll be going now. See you soon.”

“Take care. Next time, let’s spend time with your father, Jade, and Luke too.”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

After exchanging goodbyes with my mother, I got into the carriage.

As the carriage started moving, I opened the window and waved to my mother.

Just as the carriage was passing through the garden and nearing the front gate, another carriage suddenly came in.

‘Huh? Who could it be?’

I leaned out the window, curious to see who was in the approaching carriage.

‘Is it Father? Or my brothers?’

“Stop for a moment.”

Whoever it was, it felt right to greet them briefly, so I instructed the coachman to stop.

My carriage stopped, and the other carriage also stopped in front of us.

Someone got out of the carriage first and called out to me as they approached.

“Ayla?”

“Oh? Jade, it’s you.”

I answered with a bright smile towards my brother Jade.

“Are you leaving?”

“Yes, I was with Mother and now I’m heading back.”

“I see. If I’d known you were coming, I would’ve returned sooner.”

“Mother said you all have been very busy. It’s enough to see you like this.”

“True. It’s nice to see you, even for a moment. Oh, do you need to leave right away?”

“Well, I need to be back before dinner.”

I didn’t have much time, but a brief moment would be fine.

More than anything, I had been planning to talk with my brother before leaving, so it felt disappointing to just go.

“Then shall we take a walk in the garden? It’s rare to have time alone like this, we shouldn’t waste it.”

My brothers, who had cherished me since childhood, always tried to spend time alone with me whenever they could.

Sometimes they would even fight over who got to spend time with me, so I had to come up with a solution.

We divided the time so that each of them had a designated period to spend with me.

My brothers’ excessive attention and affection were sometimes bothersome.

But I understood that it was because I had been ill, which made them even more protective.

Thinking about those times brought a smile to my lips, and I nodded.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

After telling the coachman to wait, we headed to the garden together.

“Did you come from the palace?”

“Yes. Everyone has been very busy since the banquet.”

“It’s because of Princess Daina, isn’t it?”

I saw this as an opportunity and deliberately brought up Princess Daina.

“Oh? Yes, that’s right.”

Jade seemed slightly flustered when I mentioned Princess Daina, but he quickly masked his expression.

“Mother received an invitation today.”

“An invitation? From which family?”

“Not a noble family, but the imperial family.”

“The imperial family?”

“Yes. Princess Daina invited Mother to the palace.”

“Princess Daina?”

“Yes. She said I could come along too, so I’m going with Mother next week.”

“Oh… I see.”

While talking, I carefully observed my brother’s expression.

If my intuition was right, there was definitely something between the two of them.

“Brother.”

“Hmm?”

“Do you have any idea why? Mother said she doesn’t have much connection with Princess Daina, and I’m not particularly close to her either. So why would she invite us?”

“Well… I don’t really know.”

Just like before, it seemed my brother had no intention of telling me anything.