“We made a reservation a few days ago to rent a boat for boating and a carriage to enjoy the scenery here at Naphier Park. However, upon arrival today, we were told by these individuals claiming to be the Duke’s knights that the Duke has reserved the entire park and that we should leave. We did not receive any notification regarding this.”
“What?”
The Duke glared at his knights with a cold expression. The look in his eyes seemed to question why they couldn’t handle such a simple matter, causing the knights to flinch.
“…That’s unfortunate. However, as I mentioned earlier, we have reserved the park for today. We wanted to have a quiet time boating as a family.”
“But Duke, according to regulations, the park cannot be fully reserved without prior cancellation and compensation procedures for all reservation holders. This is the park’s exclusive reservation policy.”
“For your information, the cancellation window has already passed. Our reserved time has already begun.”
At Ezkhiel’s words, Ariette glanced at Letticia with a troubled expression.
“Does this mean Lady Sharon had to make a fruitless trip to the park because of us? What should we do…?”
“…It seems that our contacting the park management this morning caused some inconvenience. We apologize for the trouble caused due to our family circumstances.”
“It’s alright. However, it would be better if, in the future, you consider the time of others when making reservations.”
When Alexander apologized, Lenard accepted it, thinking the matter had been settled.
With this, it seemed that the Duke’s heir had sought understanding, and Letticia’s party was about to withdraw. Letticia also thought it would be best to leave, as she didn’t want to be further entangled with the Duke of Averil.
“Father!”
However, unexpected situations always occur, and today, that unexpected variable was Ariette Averil.
“Why don’t we just let Lady Sharon and her party join us? They made an early reservation, and it feels wrong to make them leave because of us.”
‘HEY, ARIETTE!!!’
Letticia was exasperated by the female lead’s excessive interference.
She mentally screamed at Ariette, but there was nothing she could do now that the words had been spoken.
There was no way the Duke would refuse Ariette’s request.
“Are you sure, Arie? Today was supposed to be just for the family.”
“I’m fine. I’d feel more uncomfortable if we made them leave because of us.”
“…What do you think, Lord Sharon?”
The Duke of Averil asked Lenard in a heavy tone.
It was unclear whether he wanted Lenard to accept or decline.
“It would be impolite to reject the Lady’s kindness outright. I’ll graciously accept her offer.”
Lenard nodded slightly, accepting Ariette’s suggestion.
Letticia felt a surge of frustration, barely holding herself together.
***
Alexander Averil was in a very bad mood.
He had worked hard for several days to arrange this boating trip with his family, taking time off work when Achilles and Ariette’s vacations coincided.
However, opinions on what to do had diverged, and it wasn’t until breakfast that morning that they decided on boating.
To avoid any interruptions, he had ordered the butler to reserve the entire park, but there were still people stubbornly refusing to leave at the entrance.
‘If only it weren’t for the people from the Sharon Count’s household…’
Alexander discreetly glanced at Letticia.
Five years ago, something happened at the Academy that made Ariette feel guilty towards the Sharon family.
The Duke even went as far as to ask for an introduction letter to the Marquess of Brie when delivering Elrey Freesia to the Sharon Count.
‘Our Arie is too kind-hearted for her own good.’
It was true that Letticia hadn’t done anything particularly bad to Ariette, but whether she didn’t intend to or just hadn’t had the opportunity yet was unknown.
Given her personality, as evidenced by elbowing Achilles with a hardcover book when he grabbed her shoulder, she was definitely much tougher and wilder than any other noble ladies.
‘I need to keep a close watch to make sure she doesn’t pull any tricks on Arie.’
However, he didn’t want to ruin Ariette’s belief that the world was full of good people, so Alexander refrained from revealing Letticia’s true nature to her.
‘I just hope that woman continues to put on a nice act. I can’t let Arie get hurt.’
Alexander was quietly observing Letticia, who was holding her cousin’s arm and walking away. He stopped paying attention when they reached the lakeshore to launch the boat.
Or rather, he couldn’t pay attention anymore.
The battle for the seat next to Ariette, which had been brewing since the boating plan was announced, was about to begin.
“I will sit next to Arie.”
“No, I will!”
“Are you defying your father?”
Alexander, Achilles, and the Duke glared at each other.
Securing the seat next to Ariette in the two-person boat was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that could not be missed.
Even for father and son, it was not something to yield.
“Father, you should be the one to concede a little.”
“That’s right, Father! You always sit across from Arie at every meal.”
“You two should yield to your father! You’ve been with Arie every day since you came to the capital!”
“And since we came to the capital, you’ve been spending all your time with Arie!”
Over the past few days, between work, being intercepted by their father and Achilles, Alexander had only managed to spend 2 hours and 31 minutes with Ariette.
Despite this, his family was acting shamelessly. It was clear that everyone in the family was a rival when it came to Ariette.
“…It seems the Duke’s family will take some time to decide on seating. Can we board first?”
“I apologize, but we only have one rower available….”
Lenard Sharon’s voice was faintly heard as he spoke to the staff. However, the staff declined awkwardly.
“What do you mean there’s only one rower? There are so many boats here. Who’s supposed to row them?”
“Today, the Duke’s family has reserved the entire park, so all the other rowers have left for the day. We have prepared an 8-person boat…”
Alexander frowned at the mention of an 8-person boat.
This meant they would have to ride together with the people from the Sharon Count’s household, including Ezkhiel Bright.
‘It’s bad enough having other people intrude, but sharing the boat is just too much.’
Alexander quickly put on a polite smile and made a suggestion to Lenard.
“How about we take turns instead? We’ll let you go first.”
“Shall we do that then? Please switch to a 4-person boat.”
Lenard was about to agree when Ariette, who had already seen the boats by the lakeshore, ran over there.
Letticia, who had been looking at the boats, was also there.
“Lady Sharon! If you don’t mind, would you like to ride with me?”
At that moment, the three people who had been glaring at each other in silent rivalry screamed and ran towards Ariette.
“Arie!!!”
“Arie, what are you saying?!”
“Arie, you said you’d ride with me!”
Despite her father and brothers’ pleas, Ariette firmly shook her head.
“You were all fighting over who would sit with me! I’ve told you many times to get along, but you never listen to me!”
“But Arie!”
“I’ll ride with someone else until you all make up and get along!”
Ariette smiled brightly at Letticia as she said this.
“Lady, how about we sit in the front? The left side seems to have the best view. You go ahead and take your seat first.”
“No, Lady Averil, you should sit first.”
Letticia tried to smile politely and yield her seat, but Ariette did not retract her offer once she had made up her mind.
Despite feeling she should be touched by such innocence, Letticia remained expressionless as she sat on the left. When Ariette sat next to her, the boat shifted slightly due to the change in weight balance.
“Arie, are you okay?”
“Arie, did the water splash on you?”
“Arie!”
Alexander hurriedly ran over to Ariette.
Fortunately, it didn’t seem like any water had splashed on her, but she looked somewhat startled.
Furious, Alexander shouted at the rower.
“What were you doing without balancing the boat properly! Arie nearly got splashed!”
“Young Lord, it wasn’t enough water to really—”
“Right! What if Arie got soaked and caught a cold?”
Achilles shouted, as if he was about to grab the rower by the collar. Luckily, he seemed to understand that actually grabbing him would cause the boat to tip over.
Watching his sons’ commotion, the Duke grimly warned the rower.
“If even a drop of water touches Arie, you’ll lose your head.”
“Yes, yes! I understand!”
The frightened rower trembled, and Ariette let out a sigh.
Wow..that family is still horrible, including the little miss. She doesn’t even realise that she just interrupted a date. 😤 Even if she doesn’t mean any harm, she’s still arrogant.
Thanks so much for the updates!
My hate bar with the Averilla family is going 80%.
Wow… I am super happy it got uploaded, but even more that I resisted the urge to buy this chapter. Whenever the Averil’s are involved the story becomes crazily annoying and my impatience rise to dangerous levels…
Poor Letty (and her whole party truly), her hope on spending quality time with her crush is sinking way too fast. And it is so hard for them to get time to meet… 😢
Anyway, THANK YOU Louyve! 💝
Even I who translated the part when the Averil family appeared sometimes had to wait for a while so that my mood would not break and I could quickly finish each chapter so that it could be uploaded immediately, their behavior really tested my patience… 😆🥲
The way they treat people is utterly ridiculous and disgusting. Infuriating men!!!!
I thought the Duke and Achilles had gotten a little more of (common) sense, but they still have a long way to go. Although… it seems Alexander is much worse than them and will take nearly a miracle for this double faced evil fox (sorry foxes!) to get redemption (at least from me). I hope he gets knocked down from his high horse more than once and much worse than Achilles was!!!!!