Somehow I felt a bit excited. So, I personally took care to prepare for tea time. I purposely brought dessert from “Angela,” and set up a separate space for the reception.
Not long after lunch, as scheduled, Julia Charte visited.
“I really came.”
“Welcome.”
Erin replied, welcoming her. As Julia tried to take a seat at the arranged place, she suddenly hesitated and looked at Erin.
“Um… well…”
Then she kept opening and closing her lips, seeming unsure of what to say. It seemed like there was something she found difficult to express.
“Why are you like that?”
Erin asked Julia with concern. Then Julia took a deep breath, clenched her fist, and with a determined face, opened her lips.
“…Unni (older sister). I’m so happy that you invited me today.”
Julia hesitated to speak the word ‘Unni.’ Though she had boldly said it yesterday, it seemed embarrassing to say it again.
“Um…?” Erin blinked slowly, momentarily at a loss for words. Even when she first heard the term ‘Unni,’ she felt awkward and flustered by this new title she hadn’t heard in 10 years.
She tried to casually react, but seeing Julia’s embarrassment, Erin felt herself blushing as well.
“What’s wrong, really?” Erin glanced away. Julia half-covered her face with her hands, her eyes forming half-moons as she smiled.
Seeing this, Erin chuckled and turned her head to gaze at the sky. In truth, just the title ‘Unni’ made Erin feel remarkably close to Julia. Erin smiled and turned to face Julia.
“By any chance, do you have a favorite type of tea?”
“I can eat or drink anything you give me. There hasn’t been anything I didn’t like so far.” Julia’s candid remark made Erin burst into laughter.
In no time, tea had been prepared in front of the two of them.
“Actually, I don’t discriminate and drink just about any kind of tea. Today, I’ve prepared tea leaves that are grown in the western region.”
She was like a tea leaf grown in the place she came from.
Julia truly enjoyed both tea and desserts without any reservation, unlike the typical noble ladies who only took a small taste for the sake of appearances.
Julia genuinely savored the flavors and ate heartily. Seeing her, Erin found herself gazing at Julia with a satisfied expression, feEring as though she had gained an unexpectedly cute little sister.
Subconsciously, it also made Erin curious. “These days, how do you usually spend your time?” she asked.
“I’m learning various things. Fundamentally, it involves learning about history, culture, and etiquette that one should know,” Julia replied.
Erin remembered that Julia was not particularly adept in noble etiquette.
In the original story, Erin even tried to embarrass Julia with this knowledge.
“How is it?” Erin inquired.
“It’s difficult, but interesting. However, the etiquette feels a bit suffocating,” Julia admitted.
“Don’t think of it as too difficult. The most important thing is your attitude.
Even if you make mistakes, if you’re confident, surprisingly, it works out quite well,” Erin advised.
“Phew, that’s a relief. Honestly, I found the etiquette quite daunting,” Julia confessed with a sigh of relief, then burst into laughter.
Julia, who had been laughing brightly with abandon, suddenly straightened her back and looked at Erin with a confident expression.
It was the first time she had followed Erin’s advice, and eventually, Erin also burst into laughter. Julia and Erin got along quite well.
The conversation continued without interruption, and Erin felt a rapidly growing intimacy with Julia. She was starting to like Julia Charte more and more.
Julia had a more interesting personality than Erin had initially thought. Before she knew it, time had flown by. The sun was slowly setting in the west, and the sky was turning a little red.
“Time has flown by so quickly. I should be heading back now,” Julia said.
“Yes. Come and visit again next time.”
“Really? Is it okay?”
“Of course. Anytime.” Erin nodded her head.
“Next time, I’ll invite you. Mother also wants to greet the older sister.”
“That sounds good too.”
As Erin and Julia warmly exchanged farewells, a person with a strong presence was approaching with resolute footsteps from a distance.
Aiden paused in front of Erin and Julia.
Erin and Julia were surprised in different ways by Aiden’s sudden appearance.
Erin was surprised by the sudden meeting of Aiden and Julia, while Julia was uncomfortable and awkward at the unexpected appearance of the Duke of Lienster, which was still too difficult.
“Why are you here so early?” Before inviting Julia, Erin had checked Aiden’s schedule.
Aiden was supposed to return only late in the evening today.
“My schedule was canceled, so I came a little earlier.” Aiden said affectionately, looking at Erin.
While the two were talking, Julia, who had been rolling her eyes awkwardly, cautiously spoke up.
“Hello. Julia, the daughter of the Charte Viscount, greets the Duke of Lienster.” Julia greeted Aiden politely.
“It’s been a long time.” Aiden glanced briefly at Julia and greeted her.
It was somewhat insincere, but slow and courteous.
Then, silence fell between the two. It was when Erin was about to speak up, unable to let it continue like this.
“I’m going to leave now,” Julia said as she got up from her seat.
“No, you could stay a little longer…”
“I had a great time today. Let’s talk more next time.”
Though flustered by the situation of Aiden meeting Julia, Erin couldn’t just send her off as a guest.
Just as Erin was about to ask her to stay a little longer, Aiden intercepted her words from right beside her.
“Take care,” Aiden said directly to Julia. His response was noticeably faster than when they greeted each other earlier.
Even someone who knew nothing could clearly feel that Julia was hoping to leave quickly.
Despite Erin poking Aiden’s side with her elbow to hint that she was seeing Julia off, Aiden didn’t even flinch.
Instead, as Erin tried to escort Julia, she keenly felt Aiden’s gaze right beside her.
“It’s okay. I’ll go now,” Julia decided not to delay any longer and quickly walked away.
In the end, Erin gestured, and one of her employees followed Julia to guide her. Only then did Aiden sit back in satisfaction, looking at Erin with a slight upward curl of his lips.
“It looks like Erin has gotten close to Julia.”
“Yeah. Somehow we got close.”
Erin didn’t think Aiden would know what happened at the tea party last time.
Still, she felt flustered.
When she invited Julia to the mansion today, there were some preparations she had in mind.
Stop expecting the two of them to have no contact at all.
Don’t be conscious if Julia and Aiden come face to face.
“But I hoped they wouldn’t meet today.”
But ultimately, they did.
So she couldn’t casually explain to Aiden in response to his question.
Erin didn’t want to talk about Julia with Aiden.
“I see.”
Aiden didn’t probe further.
But he was staring at Erin as if he could see through her.
“Should we have a light drink here before going in?”
Erin said, trying to change the subject.
But there was no immediate response.
When Erin saw Aiden, she noticed that his face was lost in another thought.
“…Aiden? What are you thinking?”
As Erin waved her hand in front of Aiden’s face and called him, their gazes met.
“No, nothing.”
Aiden flashed a sweet smile at Erin.
But his response was vague.
Erin narrowed her eyes as she looked at Aiden.
She knew that Aiden thought something was off.
Still, she pretended not to know. It couldn’t be helped.
Erin didn’t want to lay out the story about Julia to Aiden with her own mouth.
Since then, Julia didn’t come up as a topic between the two of them.
Erin deliberately avoided any topics that could bring up her name, and Aiden didn’t bring up any other topics either.
Apart from that, they had a lot to say to each other just by looking at each other’s faces.
Before they knew it, Aiden relaxed his ambiguous expression and looked at Erin with eyes full of affection.
As they poured more wine, both of them became immersed in a joyful mood.
Erin and Aiden embraced each other and hummed along while dancing on the nearby grass.
Erin and Aiden looked at each other and sang a song harmonizing together, spending a quiet and intimate time.
***
And not long after, as Julia had mentioned, the Countess Charte extended an invitation.
Erin graciously accepted the invitation to visit Count Charte. It was a private visit without Aiden, and Count Charte himself made way for her. Therefore, the Countess Charte, Julia, and Erin had the dinner table to themselves.
“I really wanted to arrange a gathering like this today.”
“I am grateful for your invitation.”
“Lately, Julia has been talking about the Lady of the Manor a lot.”
“Is that so?”
The Countess Charte appeared quite different from what Erin had known so far. It seemed she had a lot to say upon meeting Erin, and the conversation flowed continuously.
“Come to think of it, Julia called you her older sister.”
“Yes. She’s like a younger sister to me.”
Erin enthusiastically engaged with the Countess Charte.
“To think she gained a ‘sister’ like a Lady of the Manor as soon as she came to the capital. Julia seems really lucky.”
The Countess Charte seemed genuinely delighted after meeting Erin.
Erin was pleased to think that she and Julia had become close and was deeply moved by the fact that Julia was adapting well.
The Countess Charte, who was happily chatting, spoke somewhat seriously: “To be honest, at first, I was very worried about whether she would adapt well.”
