“Yes?”
Erin’s eyes widened involuntarily, and her voice revealed her confusion. It was an unexpected and out-of-place response.
In that situation, the person who seemed the weakest and most pitiable was undoubtedly Julia herself. However, it was incomprehensible who seemed weak.
“Everyone there seemed fragile and delicate, with thin wrists. They all seemed too frail to have any strength, as if they had never run properly.”
Julia said seriously, her eyes widening in surprise.
“I’m afraid something terrible might happen if there were any physical confrontation. I am too fragile to engage physically, a little push and I might fall. How can you say such a thing?”
“….”
“We shouldn’t torment the weak.”
This time, it was for a different reason; a reason that was unimaginable.
How could she have thought about this in such a situation? Moreover, she was talking about engaging physically. She was capable of connecting physical confrontation directly to solving the problem.
However, when Erin saw Julia’s face, she could see that she was sincere.
For Julia, it was a very natural thing.
“When I was young, I used to fight with my siblings over even a piece of food. But no one could beat me since then.”
Even after saying this, Julia seemed worried, and she added another remark, as if worrying about explaining it strangely.
She seemed even more bewildered by her strange explanation.
Erin remembered what she said.
In the original story, Erin and Julia had several physical confrontations.
Erin had always been the one to run at Julia recklessly, and at first, Julia had been defenseless.
But at some point, Julia never took a single hit from Erin.
Even when trying to slap her, Julia would catch her hand, and no matter how much Erin struggled, she couldn’t break free from her grip. This kind of thing happened several times.
Unlike the ladies born and raised as nobles, Julia Chart had physical strength.
Whether it was innate or developed while growing up at an orphanage, fending for herself, it was uncertain. However, she possessed enough physical strength to be called formidable.
She was truly a unique and amazing person.
So Erin found herself chuckling without realizing it. Julia, who was watching Erin’s reaction with an embarrassed expression, burst into laughter together. She was definitely of a nature that didn’t fit in with high society.
Erin even thought that perhaps the other ladies and noble women were more standoffish toward Julia as well.
“What should I do? I quite like her.”
Erin had a hunch that she would get along well with Julia for some reason.
Putting aside the thought of keeping a distance from Julia Chart, Erin looked at her with an interested gaze.
“But from now on, don’t just quietly laugh. The more you do that, the more I’ll think it’s okay and act even more aggressively.”
“I’ll do that. Thanks to you, I’ve learned a lot today.” Julia replied sharply.
Actually, Erin found Julia’s bright face even more worrisome, but she nodded slightly.
Erin liked Julia’s current state. She wondered if she really needed to change herself to fit into high society. If Erin supported her, could she not overcome anything in her current state?
Erin hoped for that.
Moreover, now that this had happened, Erin had already made up her mind to actively help Julia.
Before she knew it, the carriage stopped in front of Count Chart.
Before Julia got off the carriage, she greeted Erin.
“Thank you for today. It was a pleasure.”
“Likewise.”
Julia seemed to have already forgotten about the events at the reception. Ever since a little while ago, she had been smiling at Erin.
“I’ll be off then.”
Just as the carriage door opened and Julia was about to leave, she hesitated for a moment, then turned around holding her fists tightly and said to Erin, “Can I call you ‘Unni’ (older sister)?”
“Um…?”
Erin’s eyes blinked rapidly at Julia’s sudden confession.
Julia spoke honestly, as if she didn’t know how to beat around the bush.
“I want us to be close from now on.”
“……”
Julia’s eyes were sparkling, and Erin couldn’t bring herself to refuse while looking at her face.
“Yes. Let’s get along well.”
“Wow…! I’m so happy.”
Julia expressed her joy with a bright smile.
It seemed that Erin had become completely entangled with Julia.
Seeing Julia’s lively response to her words, Erin found herself involuntarily smiling.
“Shall we have tea together tomorrow?”
Erin impulsively suggested first.
“Yes, I’d love to!”
Erin was a beat late in realizing her own words, but Julia immediately nodded enthusiastically without giving her a chance to retract her offer.
As they rode the carriage back to Lienster, Erin was lost in thought.
“Can I call you ‘Unni’ (older sister)?”
Though Erin didn’t show it on the outside, she was secretly surprised by Julia’s forceful demeanor.
Indeed, this was the confident Julia Charte from the original work that Erin knew.
In the original work, Erin had tried to reject Julia in this manner. It was natural.
They were rivals, after all. However, the current situation was the exact opposite.
“……” It’s strange how people’s relationships work. Despite trying not to get involved, a new connection had emerged instead.
Perhaps keeping their distance was an impossible task from the start.
“Moreover… for some reason, our personalities seem to match well.”
Furthermore, having a mutual relationship with Julia might be a good thing for everyone in the long run. It was an unexpected development, but this kind of relationship didn’t seem bad at all.
A faint smile appeared on Erin’s lips.
When they arrived at Lienster, Aiden was waiting for them as they got off the carriage.
“Why were you so late?” It was clear that he had been waiting since he heard the news of Erin’s departure from the banquet hall.
Erin’s face lit up for a moment.
“Did you wait for a long time?”
“I missed you,” Aiden said, embracing Erin’s face.
They both burst into laughter just by looking deeply into each other’s faces. The familiar employees discreetly backed away from the two of them.
“Let’s go inside.”
Erin and Aiden walked inside, holding each other tightly. When she saw Aiden, all the fatigue from attending the banquet suddenly overwhelmed her.
The thoughts that had been troubling her just a moment ago vanished. She wanted to lean on Aiden and relax.
Erin naturally leaned her body against Aiden. Sensing this, Aiden firmly supported Erin.
This moment was pure happiness for both of them. Erin raised her head and kissed Aiden’s face a little firmly.
“This is going to be a problem…”
“Hmm?”
“We still have quite a way to go to get to the bedroom.”
At Aiden’s serious words, Erin let out a soft laugh.
Erin naturally slipped her arms from around Aiden and took a few steps back. Then, as if it were obvious, she hopped onto Aiden’s back. Leaning close to Aiden’s ear, Erin whispered, “Let’s hurry.”
***
As soon as Erin opened her eyes, she received reports about the events that had taken place overnight.
During a short period of time, rumors had been spreading quickly.
The morning briefings roughly outlined the following: news had rapidly spread that Erin had valiantly come to the rescue of Julia Charte.
The accurate details were not known— it was said that Erin had intervened to help Julia when she was being harassed by the ladies of high society during the reception.
The story morphed from what actually occurred during the brief disturbance at the reception where the Duchess of Lienster had taken the side of Charte’s daughter.
It was a comical rumor, twisted from real events.
The ladies were unlikely to have intentionally spread misinformation due to their own wrongdoing, but it was inevitable that not every mouth could be shut in perfect order to prevent the entire truth from leaking out.
So, the story that came out was of the kind where they only packaged their own mistakes well.
“If you don’t want me to spit in your face, you can’t spread the truth as it is,” Erin chuckled, raising one corner of her mouth.
With such rumors, there was nothing that could tarnish Erin’s reputation.
“After all, there were many people who saw it happen.”
Furthermore, another rumor that arose because of this was that there was something special about Erin and Julia’s relationship.
As Erin had already made up her mind to become Julia’s strong supporter, this rumor didn’t bother her.
While getting ready, Erin told Mona, “Julia Charte will be coming today.”
“What’s the occasion for her visit?”
“Nothing special, just decided to have a cup of tea together.”
Mona’s eyes widened at Erin’s nonchalant reply. Then she stared at Erin.
“Have you two become that close?” Mona asked with a surprised expression.
“Is it that surprising?” Erin responded as if Mona’s reaction was unexpected.
Until now, there hadn’t been any particular interaction with Julia. Is it really such a big deal to react like that?
“Well… Madam has never personally invited me before.”
Mona replied as if it was obvious. Mona was more surprised by the fact that Erin had invited someone without any apparent reason than by Julia Charte herself.
“I heard about what happened at the reception but I didn’t know you would invite her separately.”
“Is that so?”
As it wasn’t something Erin had deeply thought about, she shrugged.
Then Mona smiled knowingly and spoke.
“It’s nice to see. It feels like our Madam has made a close friend.”
“That’s not it…”
Erin’s face reddened.
She hadn’t been conscious of it at all, but hearing such words from Mona made her feel embarrassed for no reason.
Until now, Erin had only focused on Aiden.
Other than that, she had built relationships and connections as a matter of duty.
Naturally, their relationship had been formed out of necessity, and a certain distance had been maintained.
There had been no one who could be considered a close friend with whom Erin opened her heart and got close.
But perhaps…
The thought that Julia could become a friend crossed her mind.
