They said that she had a terribly eccentric personality and was busy cutting out any policy or proposal, no matter how good it was, if it did not meet her standards. Not only that, but he vaguely knew that he was nicknamed the God of Death because he ran around the battlefield like a head of the Berdian family. He heard that she had a close relationship with her grandfather… In fact, it was a long story. He thought it was just a rumor because she was from the Ajstain family with no close relationship with the warriors families, but after hearing the story of Duke Sapelldrick a while ago, he thought a little differently.
It would be no wonder that she knew Molind of the Berdian family, as long as he had educated the heir of the Duke of Sapelldric, the greatest family of his day. With his eyes narrowed, he escaped from his thoughts and opened his mouth again.
“Where is the statue?”
The more high-ranking he was, the more monogamous he was, and he considered all but mistresses as concubines. There were many people who argued about the meaning of monogamy when they had a concubine, but the result of a famous trial that said that a concubine was not a wife suddenly became that way. Marriages between aristocrats were usually businesslike because they were marriages of convenience, so it was common for both the wife and the husband to have mistresses. In the meantime, it was a romantic story because it was said that Molind poured his love into only one wife without a railroad. A statue made by such a person… He missed her quite a bit.
“If you go up the northern hill, there is a Berdian family estate at the top, and it must have been enshrined there. It is not open all the time, but during a certain period, the estate is open to the public to enjoy the festival with people, and you can take a look at it then.”
‘It’s a northern hill…’
“Ah! Come to think of it, the Grand Duke told me to prepare for going out tomorrow. Did you hear about it?”
“I think I’m going to go out for a while because of the deal with the Pierrot Merchant. I heard it before.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Patricia put her hand to her cheek and tilted her head. The way she looked was cute, looking at her through her mirror and smiling at her, she shook her head as if she wasn’t Patricia.
“Do you know where you’re going?”
“No. Isn’t it around here?”
Hmmm, Patricia let out her moan, and she knew, she said again.
“In case you don’t know, I’ll prepare a lunch box. Is there anything else you need?”
“Nothing like that. It’s just a normal outing.”
Patricia sighed as she ran her comb through her hair.
“I’m sorry. If this was Lady Lawrence’s room and had a dress room, she would have been able to put on and decorate it with a little prettier accessories. There are many such things in the lady’s castle, right?”
Were there many? She thought for a moment. It wasn’t much, but it was only during her coming-of-age ceremony that she wore a dress at the utmost luxury. Rumors spread that it was an unconventional design at the time, and I heard that Sir Darrell, who had tailored my dress, was very popular in the capital these days. In a letter received not too long ago, Sir Daryl said that he was very grateful and thanked me again, and he said that he would come with another design. Seeing as there has been no news even though it has been more than two months since the story happened, he must have been very busy.
“Well. Not as much as you thought. I’m not really interested in that.”
“Is that so? It’s a waste.”
“What?”
“This black hair!”
She lifted my dull black hair as if regretting it and licked her lips. Was my hair color a bit dull? The black hair of the Ajstain family was a bit unique. Since the empire was a country founded by a mixture of people from various regions, people’s eyes and hair colors were diverse. There were many colorful and shiny hairs that made my eyes hurt, but strangely, black hair was rare. Sometimes it was difficult to attract attention because of this hair color. Have you seen one or three people with black hair in your life? Most were commoners.
Contrary to my thoughts, Patricia’s eyes shone. It was strange. Well, that might be surprising. Black hair wasn’t that common. Even dyeing was almost impossible.
“You are curious about my hair.”
“It’s so beautiful rather than miraculous.”
“This?”
I was confused because I had never been told that my hair was beautiful or pretty in my life. She thought this hair color was pretty? I looked at her, wondering if she was saying anything, but it didn’t look like she was telling a lie. Patricia was holding her head and her eyes shining with her sincerity.
“Yes! How can it be so silky… Do you take care of it separately? I admire how shiny it is every time I brush it!”
“…shine? Silks?
Was my head like that? I scratched my head at the compliment I had never heard before. In time with the movement of her fingers, her hair tumbled and patted her ears and cheeks. Um, was it? Certainly, whenever I saw Ersia, I thought that her hair, unlike mine, was very pretty. At the time, I couldn’t manage my hair, so I couldn’t bear to do anything with my completely frizzy and split hair. Ersia, on the other hand, did her best to take care of her appearance. Maybe that’s why I still think that my hair was not that different from before. I didn’t know when my hair started to hurt, so I didn’t pay much attention.
“The young lady’s skin is fair and white, and her hair is as beautiful and soft as ebony, so it goes well with anything she wears. Have you ever heard of such a thing?”
“I’ve never heard such a compliment.”
I’ve heard of sexually harassing remarks from perverted aristocrats. It was the first time I had been blindly praised like Patricia. I was somehow ashamed. Kind, sincere, honest. I have heard these kinds of compliments, but not that my hair was pretty. Pretty! It was my first time hearing something like this, so my immunity was low.
“If possible, I would like to try on all sorts of accessories and change dresses to find the one that suits the lady the best. Oh, I heard that the dress she wore at her coming-of-age ceremony is so popular right now? I heard that it was very unconventional. How was your hair? How did you do your hair? What about the jewelry?!”
She felt awkward when Patricia, who had always been calm, opened her eyes to a barrage of questions. She struggled to deal with Patricia, forcing her to smile. Suddenly, a small question popped up in the corner of her head.
“Does Ian think so too?”
For some reason, I felt my face heat up when I remembered the mischievous man looking at me and saying that my hair was beautiful.
After a little, her hair was done. What would he think? Shaking my head, I exchanged words with Patricia again.
* * *
When I signed the contract, I used to wear a suit. Aside from her practicality and comfort, she was able to clearly distinguish the seats. I wouldn’t bother to tell him why I was meeting him. It was worn with the will to avoid annoying and useless private conversations. I had to draw a line so that words would not come out later. Because of that, I’ve been told a lot that I don’t have humanity, but I don’t care. It was a world where there were far too many people who did not show humanity even if they were treated humanely. It was still cold, so I put on a light coat over my suit. Is the skirt a bit short? The one in Ajstain Castle was a little longer than this. It was a little short enough to cover my knees, so I was somewhat concerned that the knees were empty. It didn’t matter when I was inside because no one was looking at me, but I was embarrassed to wear it outside. Shall I wear different clothes? But when I signed the contract, I didn’t have clothes like this, so I thought of a long coat. These days, dresses tend to be shorter, so tunics worn indoors or chemises for sleeping were shorter than this. But such a short formal skirt… I thought about wearing pants instead. Pants are okay, but I regretted wearing a skirt just because I wanted to look good for Ian.
While I was thinking about what to do because my knees were cold from the cold wind, the coachman came up to me with a horse, looked at me, and put on a puzzled face for a moment. Why was he like that?
“So, are you going to go, young lady?”
“…Do you have any problem?”
I rolled my eyes and looked at the horse the driver was leading. He had sharp eyes, a straight mane, and a larger physique than a normal horse. Even as a stranger to horses, I could tell at a glance that it was a pretty good horse. Was he thinking of tying a carriage to a horse like this? Too bad. But where’s the wagon?
“Don’t you have a carriage?”
“·Have you not heard from the Grand Duke?”
“Hear?”
He paused at the question. He looked at me with a very troubled expression, then looked at Patricia next to him and said,
“Didn’t they told you, Patricia?”
“I was told… but I think the delivery was wrong.”
Delivery? What delivery? I tried to listen, wondering why they were having a conversation that only the two of them knew, but I couldn’t open my mouth to Ian’s voice that approached soon after.
“What are you doing together? Filson, why do you look so troubled?”
A coachman named Filson greeted Ian lightly, looked at me from the side of her eye, and spoke cautiously.
“Somehow the delivery seems to be wrong.”
“What?”
Seeing that Ian’s voice had risen, it seemed that he didn’t understand either. Ian smiled and approached me, then paused slightly. As I turned to greet him, I realized that his attire was unusual. Where do you go hunting? It was a very simple yet stylish outfit. Where did you see the clothes, where did you see them? Ian looked at me blankly and gave out a puzzled voice.
“…And then, do we go?”
“Sure?”
I didn’t know why I keep paying attention to how I dress. When I asked back, Ian took his eyes off me and looked at Patricia and Filson. Both of them shook their heads. Why…? As I looked away, Ian sighed and came over to me and held his coat as his hand.
“It seems like the delivery didn’t go well…”
From before, ‘Delivery this, delivery that’, but I didn’t know what he was talking about.
“What message? Didn’t you go to contact the Piero Corps because of the contract?”
“No.”
My mouth opened slightly as he shook his head so resolutely.
“Oh, no? Yesterday was definitely…”
Wait a moment. I thought back to yesterday’s conversation. I said something, but Ian neither denied nor affirmed. Besides, he showed a momentary bewildered face. I thought he was surprised because he liked the touch. Blinking like a stranger, Ian smiled and took the blanket Patricia was holding. Then came slowly. He was smiling something meaningful, so I took a step back and looked at it, and I was getting closer to the words before I knew it. He had nowhere else to run, hesitating. Looking at the log, Ian grinned.
“Excuse me for a minute.”
“Muh… kyaaagh!”
Ian said excuse me and in an instant put both hands on my waist, then lifted it up and put my ass on top of his chair. I tried to struggle, but realizing that there was a horse right below me, I closed my mouth tightly in Ian’s arms. It’s dangerous to provoke words. Ian’s lips curled softly as he watched to see if I was having fun. I reached out and placed both hands on Ian’s arms. I was worried that he would get into trouble because of his uncomfortable posture, but I was also afraid that I would struggle and fall.
Contrary to my worries, Ian skillfully sat me on the horse, stepped on the young boy, and lightly jumped up and sat in the saddle. He secured the lower stirrups to my feet, not my legs, and then he sat me in his arms from behind. Somehow, I felt strangely comfortable when I was held in his big, cozy arms, as if it were my own home.
I seemed to have become a person often hugged.
I was wearing a skirt, so I couldn’t sit with my legs spread, and as I squirmed uncomfortably, Ian put his arm in front of me and pressed me against his shoulder. As I naturally posed in his arms, I was somehow embarrassed, and when I slightly lifted my face, I saw a smile over his smooth stretched lips. His smile was as cool as his sharp jawline.
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Translator Note:
I will be 2 weeks out. So sorry but there won’t be any new release during those weeks. See you soon with new stories!!
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released on September, 11.
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