When I returned home, the butler informed me that my mother had gone to the imperial palace at the Empress’s summons. Thanks to her naive daughter, the Empress herself had to step in and clean up the mess.
As I nodded and was about to go to my room, he called out to me again.
“Oh, and a letter addressed to you was delivered from the post office. It’s on your desk.”
“Oh, really? Thank you. Who is it from?”
The elderly butler smiled gently.
“You’ll see when you read it.”
Hmm, what could it be? That mysterious smile…?
It was as if he was thinking, ‘I too was once young and in love.’
In a hurry, I returned to my room and looked at my desk. Sure enough, it was a letter from Ares!
I finally understood why the butler had grinned when he delivered the news.
…How embarrassing. Ugh.
With a fluttering heart, I read the letter. The content wasn’t anything extraordinary. It asked if I had slept well, if I had rested, and invited me to go horseback riding to the mountains on the outskirts of the capital this coming weekend.
Why would I refuse? Right then and there, I wrote a letter of acceptance and handed it to the butler to send.
A horseback outing with Ares. There are plenty of good mountains for riding around the capital. Moreover, it’s late spring and early summer, a beautiful season, so the scenery should be lovely. Well, the stream water will still be cold, so swimming is out. I like playing in the water, but I’ll have to give that up.
Ah, if the scenery is good, it might be nice to bring some drawing tools along.
With that thought, I got up and headed to my study.
It felt a bit much to be preparing for an outing days in advance, but when the time came, I might be so excited that I’d forget all about my drawing tools!
As I found the charcoal and paper in the study and was about to leave, I felt a twinge of regret. Since I had the drawing tools in my hands after so long, why not draw something before I go?
I sat down in front of the canvas on the easel in the study. Holding the charcoal, I let my hand move as thoughts came to mind.
As the charcoal passed over the paper, Ares’s sharp yet smooth jawline appeared. His always neat but extraordinarily radiant blonde hair emerged as well. I carefully drew the beautiful curve from his forehead to his nose. I didn’t forget the ear that was always half-covered by his golden hair.
I drew the eyes, which I always thought were the most beautiful part of him, and now it was time to fill in the jewel-like golden-brown irises.
But then I paused for a moment.
Where should he be looking? I was drawing him slightly turned to the side, but making him look directly at me felt unnatural. After a moment of deliberation, I decided to draw his eyes looking in the same direction as his face, so our gazes would not meet.
Wow, even though it was just a rough sketch with charcoal, I was quite pleased with how well it captured Ares’s essence.
I worried that if I left it out, the servants might come in to clean the room and laugh at it, so I carefully rolled up the drawing of Ares and tucked it into a corner of the bookshelf in the study.
After spending quite a while drawing, I noticed that the sun was setting. I heard my mother returning from the imperial palace, so I went to the front door.
“Welcome back.”
My mother, elegantly dressed, nodded and said,
“You went out early in the morning, and it looks like you came back quickly.”
“I came back before lunch. Did you meet with the Empress?”
My mother chuckled.
“If you had caused such a problem, you would have been banished from the capital immediately.”
As I followed my mother, I asked, “What did Her Majesty the Empress say?”
“Princess Ariel, having become an adult, was very excited to host her first grand banquet. She said the lack of an invitation was the Princess’s ‘mistake,’ and the Empress apologized, saying she hadn’t been thorough in checking the guest list.”
Oh, she definitely wouldn’t admit that she had done it on purpose. Well, she couldn’t openly confess in front of my mother that she used our family to teach her daughter a lesson.
It seemed my mother didn’t take the Empress’s words at face value either. Still, receiving an apology from the imperial family was significant. It was best for everyone to save face and end the matter gracefully.
In any case, the real conflict with Princess Ariel was just beginning. Given my opponent, I had to prepare myself thoroughly.
However, before diving into a fierce battle, a trip with Ares seemed like a good way to take a final rest.
＊ ＊ ＊
On the day I was to go out with Ares, I was nervous and restless from the morning.
How should I dress?
At the imperial banquet, it seemed Ares didn’t particularly like me dressing up too extravagantly. When I asked him outside the banquet hall what he liked, he said he preferred it when I didn’t dress up at all.
How frustrating!
What if I really didn’t dress up at all and ended up feeling embarrassed like the last time he showed up unexpectedly? Who would be responsible then? It’s a difficult question—how can I avoid feeling embarrassed while still satisfying Ares?
I eventually decided to ask Miranda for help.
“How can I look like I’m not dressed up, but still be dressed up?”
Miranda replied in her usual nonchalant tone.
“Just don’t dress up at all, then.”
“How can I go on a date like that!”
“You’ve been taking good care of your skin, haven’t you? What’s there to worry about?”
“Ugh!”
Just as I was about to lose my temper, she spoke again.
“Instead…”
She glanced sideways and said,
“Why not try what the countess did before? It’s still a way of dressing up, after all.”
I gave her a blank look, trying to remember what my mother had done. Sighing deeply in exasperation, Miranda explained.
“Dress up where it’s not visible. Like the inside of your mouth, or your ears…”
“Will that work?”
“If you want to look like you’re not dressed up, that’s the only thing that comes to mind.”
I couldn’t think of any other ideas either. I had no choice but to go along with Miranda’s suggestion.
I meticulously cleaned myself from head to toe, but I barely wore any makeup and didn’t even put on perfume. Would Ares really like this?
Sitting in my room with mixed feelings, Ares soon arrived. He came directly to my room, guided by the butler.
“Miss, Lord Jupiter is here.”
I quickly checked my appearance while sitting at my desk, then opened the door myself.
“…Ares.”
Sigh. Greeting him with a completely bare face made my voice sound unsure.
Yet, Ares greeted me with a bright smile.
“Bianca.”
I invited him into the room. Although we would leave soon, I thought it polite to give him a moment to catch his breath after having just arrived on horseback.
“Ares, as you mentioned in your letter, you brought the lunch, right?”
We had exchanged a few more letters before the outing, and I had asked Ares to prepare a simple picnic lunch.
“I did bother the chef quite a bit this morning. Haha.”
Ares nodded with a cheerful expression.
Oh, I would get to experience the cooking skills of the Jupiter family’s chef today!
I grabbed the small bag containing my drawing tools.
“Do you have a lot of baggage?”
“No, just this one bag.”
Ares offered to carry the bag, but I politely declined.
The groom brought my horse from the stable to the front entrance. It was an ordinary brown horse, but it was gentle and sturdy. I easily mounted the horse, and Ares, after watching me, mounted his own horse.
“Then, we’ll be off.”
I gave a brief farewell to the butler seeing us off, and we set off lightly on horseback from the estate.
It was a beautiful weekend in May, and the streets were bustling with people out and about. We passed through the crowded streets and headed towards the outskirts of the capital.
The mountain we were heading to was the same place where I had visited before to draw, and also where I had first embarrassed myself in front of Ares.
Ugh… Painful memories resurfaced.
We saw a few hikers ascending the mountain. I was about to follow them when Ares’s voice stopped me.
“There seem to be a lot of people there. It’d be better to take another path.”
“Oh, really?”
I only knew this route, but Ares seemed to know another way. Without a word, I followed him.
The two horses trotted up a gently sloping mountain path. The surroundings became quieter, and the only sounds were the rustling of leaves in the wind and occasional birdsong.
“I didn’t know there was such a path. It’s lovely.”
I was genuinely impressed. Even though I couldn’t hear the sound of the stream, the refreshing breeze was just as pleasant.
Ares, riding alongside me, laughed heartily at my remark.
“I’m glad you like it.”
“Ah, I really do.”
It had been a long time since I had such a peaceful moment. Lately, I had been on edge, preparing for the conflict with Princess Ariel, attending salons, and tea parties. Haha.
It felt as if Ares and I were the only ones in the entire mountain, with the sound of our horses’ hooves gently echoing through the quiet forest.
The peaceful atmosphere, the time alone with my beloved Ares—each of these moments was beautiful and precious enough to be etched into my memory. Someday, if I were left alone, I would reminisce about this time and find brief happiness.
However, there was one thing that slightly bothered me: it was eerily quiet, almost unsettlingly so. While there were many hikers, the path we were on was quite deserted, and such isolation could mean danger.
I muttered to myself.
“…It’s too quiet.”
It seemed Ares heard my muttering clearly.
“I wanted to come to a quiet place. Does it make you uncomfortable?”
At his cautious question, I smiled slightly and shook my head.
“Not uncomfortable, but uneasy. It feels like if I were to scream, there would be no one to help.”
Ares flashed a dazzlingly bright smile.
Ah, seeing him smile like that made my heart race! This could be dangerous in another sense!
“You don’t have to feel uneasy. I’m carrying my self-defense pistol today.”
Well, knowing he had a pistol did ease my worries. I just needed to make sure I stayed close to Ares. After all, he had the pistol, not me.
“Okay.”
I simply agreed with Ares and decided not to dwell on it any further.
After ascending the mountain path for a while, it seemed the forest was gradually thinning. The area of visible sky was steadily expanding.
“The forest seems to be ending.”
“Yes, a magnificent view will soon appear.”
Ares replied with a gentle smile.
Sure enough, as we completely passed through the forest, a breathtaking landscape unfolded before us. Standing on the ridge, the village below the mountain spread out beneath our feet as if we could hold it in our hands.
