Bon Appétit

It didn’t take long for Luana to make a decision. No matter how much she thought about it, it was a lot of pressure to carry the kingdom on her back. It was better not to have anything to do with the kingdom until the end. So, of course, she had to choose another way.

“I want to go in as an adopted daughter.”

“All right, let’s get in touch with the Rusti family.”

A few days after Legion said that, a woman from the Rusti family arrived. She was a stern middle-aged woman in a dark-colored dress that fitted her body perfectly. She said she was here to help Luana.

“I’ll help you because you’re still not good at many things. I’m Safia. Please call me Madam Safia.”

It was true that Luana was still not good at many things, but it made her feel strange to hear it openly. However, she thought she was a person who came to help and thought she felt sensitive since it was their first time meeting; but as time passed, she realized the feeling she felt in their first meeting was not only what she thought.

“A person who is a princess can’t even do this?”

Of course, Luana wasn’t just losing either. She smiled gracefully and confronted her.

“You must put the word ‘abandoned’ before the word princess.”

“But the princess is a princess. That’s not something to brag about, is it?”

“It’s not a brag, but it’s not wrong either.”

Why should she have to deal with what the king has to do with her? Luana answered calmly. And then Madam Safia frowned. She always acted as if she wanted to find fault with Luana. Not only that, but she gave her difficult tasks from time to time to time.

Grit

Luana clenched her teeth and did the task given by Madam Safia.

[ In high society, words are spoken with fan. ]

‘No, why are you talking with a fan when you have a mouth? What strange people.’

If the tasks given to her are difficult, she would say she couldn’t do them well. She couldn’t do that because she only gave her things that she had to do correctly.

Vyan sneaked closer to Luana, who was studying while she grabbed her hair out of stress. Vyan was called to the duke’s mansion to teach about love, but he did nothing. He said he couldn’t just play and eat, so he was looking for something to do. But every time she studied hard, he didn’t have much to help.

“Madam Safia is too harsh.”

He was just talking to her during the break.

“Do you know each other?”

“There is no woman in the social world who I don’t know.”

Vyan straightened his back, stroking his beard that didn’t even exist.

“Madam Safia is Sir Albert’s wife.”

“Oh?”

‘They have a relationship?’

Luana’s eyes widened in surprise at her belated finding. Every time she saw Madam Safia, she felt like she had seen her somewhere! Of course, both wife and husband looked completely different, but they had similar personalities. They both have a character that makes people angry while keeping their composure. They were both calm and seemed harsh.

“Then is she harassing me in revenge?”

“What revenge? Oh, because Sir Albert was dismissed for failing to protect His Majesty? But that has nothing to do with Miss Luana, does it?”

“That’s right.”

She could have been overthinking. Although Albert suspected Luana of the emperor’s murder, he may not have said it to his wife. But if not, she had no clue why she was acting like this. Vyan whispered to Luana, who was groaning because she was worried.

“Madam Safia is not a bully. She’s just a person who does what she’s supposed to do. She does this towards people she cares about, so it’s a family thing.”

“Family?”

“She takes great pride in her family and will do anything to bring it back to life. And as far as I know, until recently, the family pushed for Lady Seriel as an empress candidate. And just as that was about to go forward, Miss Ingrid showed up. But-!”

Ingrid disappeared again in the middle. The seat next to the emperor was empty again. Furthermore, the Rusti family eagerly sought the throne of the empress, but this time the emperor died. And then the duke took the position of the next emperor.

“But it can’t be! Isn’t there someone who will become the Duke’s spouse? Because of Sir Albert, who could not protect His Majesty, he was put in a corner and adopted you as the family’s adopted daughter, but his other desires must not have disappeared.”

“It’s complicated.”

“It’s a complicated story. But isn’t life history mostly like that? It’s intertwined like a thread.”

Vyan said and nodded his head.

“Then you want me to give up everything because it’s hard for me?”

“That’s true, though. That’s a bit odd, too. Who gives up the Empress’ seat for this much? Besides, doesn’t Miss Luana love the duke? Nothing is stronger than love.”

“Sometimes Vyan’s way of speaking is too cheesy.”

Vyan shrugged and replied.

“It’s not cheesy; it’s poetic. I was once a minstrel. A lot of women used to fall for my sense of poetry.”

“Oh, I see.”

Luana moved her gaze back to the book with a sour expression. He wasn’t bad, but she was tired of talking for a long time.

‘Then Madam Safia’s behavior is simply grumpy. Should I say it like that?’

She originally thought she wasn’t a kind person, but it was difficult to go through things by hearing what Madam Safia said. Besides, Vyan said she did things this way out of care, but could Luana believe that? It seemed that she would be better off understanding it appropriately.

Luana sighed and turned the book’s page.

***

Mrs. Safia looked in the mirror and brushed her dark brown hair. She sighed because her hair became dry since she didn’t have much time to pay attention to her beauty. She didn’t want to do anything now because something was bothering her.

“I trust you, Safia.”

One day, her brother, Marquis Rusti, who is also the head of the family, suddenly called Safia. She was exhausted at the time when she was running here and there to save her husband, Albert, but she couldn’t refuse the head of the family’s order. So she visited him and heard an unexpected story.

“Safia. We decided to have an adopted daughter in our family this time.”

It was a common story to adopt adopted daughters to gain benefits from relationships with other families. But then, why did he even call her? Safia thought so as she was tired.

“She is the beloved of the current duke and the princess of a fallen kingdom.”

Just hearing that, Safia understood everything. He seemed to have put the princess of the fallen kingdom by his side and ended up dotted with her. As pitiful Seriel was, this fact was already unavoidable. So, she wondered if he called her here to comfort Seriel because Safia was her close relative. However, the talk went on a different subject.

“Can you help the princess learn?”

“It’s not a hard request.”

She couldn’t have Seriel as the empress, so she wondered if it was the next best thing to get the princess’ favor. However, Marquis Rusti’s gaze at Safia nodding her head was strange.

“Safia, I intend to put the princess away.”

“What?”

Safia looked around in surprise. Fortunately, there were only her and her brother in the room.

“What do you mean?”

She lowered her volume.

“How much effort has been put in by our family so far? Do we have to lose that position to the princess of a fallen kingdom?”

‘But how in the world are you going to get rid of the princess? Don’t tell me you’re going to kill her?’

As if he had noticed Safia’s anxiety, Marquis Rusti chuckled.

“What the hell were you thinking? No matter who it was, I didn’t do anything cruel. I’m just going to get the princess out of place on her own.”

“But how?”

“I got good stuff.”

“What?”

Marquis Rusti took a small pocket out of his arms and handed it to Safia.

“All you have to do is spray it on the duke. And you just have to say a sentence, ‘You don’t love Luana.’”

At those words, Safia’s hand holding her pocket trembled. Are you out of your mind, brother? What in the world is this? She wanted to say that. But the way he spoke so seriously didn’t seem like a lie. After hesitating for a while, she finally uttered a single sentence.

“There is no magic powder in the world that can move a person’s heart.”

Marquis Rusti laughed out loud at those words.

“No, there is. Yes! I’ve experienced it myself! Magic exists in the world.”

“Brother?”

“Well, you don’t need to know until then. You just have to do what you can. I’ll take care of the rest. You can do it, right? Safia?

She has dedicated her life to the family but has never done anything like this herself. She didn’t want to do it but couldn’t bring herself to say it.

“As for Sir Albert, I will help you.”

Then, because of the words that came out of her brother’s mouth, she immediately agreed. He said he would help her husband, who had decided to give up. How can she refuse?

“I’ll try.”

Safia answered and grabbed the pouch. Seeing this, Marquis Rusti mumbled in happiness, with a proud look on his face. She left the room as if she were running away out of scare. After coming out, she hoped everything was a fantasy, but the pouch in her hand was there.

It was a little while before she came to the duke’s mansion.

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TL/N: Thank you for a ko-fi suppoerter who supported me on ko-fi! <3