Randall, who had returned home as he rarely did, handed Sophia an envelope with an invitation to a tea party, and Sophia braced herself, thinking, “It’s finally here!”
However, she had never met the sender, Duke Levord, and could not recall his face.
It seemed that Sophia had a puzzled look on her face, and Randall told her that the elderly Duke of Levord, who had been recuperating in his territory until recently, and his wife was the sender of the invitation. Apparently the Duke’s back was feeling better, so he had returned to the royal capital.
Upon hearing that the Duchess was eager to meet Sophia, although she herself found it increasingly strange, they were talking about a Duke family. There was no harm in getting close to them. Moreover, the Duchess was apparently 55 this year, and unlike the young ladies of the same age who were under Keira’s control, she should not be too harsh towards Sophia.
Randall handed Sophia the envelope and quickly returned to the castle, saying that he would come to pick her up at the tea party in five days.
Although Sophia felt a little lonely as Randall left quickly after finishing his business, she had no time to become sentimental as Isolte, her maid, who heard about the tea party was eager and quickly started looking for a dress to wear on the day. While Sophia was still dumbfounded, Hohannes, the butler, was called in to schedule lessons thoroughly so that she wouldn’t embarrass herself at the tea party in five days. The teacher was Rebbecca, Johannes’ son’s wife, who was also a maid.
(The weather is nice today. isn’t it?)
Sophia, who was nervous about her first tea party, but feeling confident because she had practiced diligently, was shocked to see the rain beginning to drizzle on the day of the tea party. The sky was cloudy. It was not a good day at all!
(What should I say on a rainy day…?)
As Sophia groaned because she hadn’t practiced on rainy days, Orion sighed in exasperation, “There’s no rule that says you have to talk about the weather.”
“Really?”
“Well, obviously. First of all, you don’t have tea parties in the garden on rainy days. It will be inside the mansion. Of course it’s the salon. If you’re going to praise something, praise the salon.”
“What should I praise about it?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never been to the Duke of Levord mansion or entered a salon. Look at it and think about it.”
Sophia suddenly became anxious.
If she failed today, she didn’t know what Randall would say. The plan of becoming a lovely-dovey couple would be further away! She couldn’t afford to fail.
“Don’t be too hard on yourself, Madame. I’m sure you’ll be fine!”
Isolte, who highly valued Sophia, said with a humming tone while curling her madams’ hair. Sophia’s golden hair was naturally loose and wavy, but today it was curled tighter than usual and tied up with a pearl hair accessory. Isolte said, “Today’s theme is the luster of a married woman!” but Sophia has no idea what “luster” meant.
The dress she wore was a calm dark green with gold thread, and her gloves were white lace. Her makeup was light overall, but she used a rose-colored lipstick for a glossy finish. She also wore small pearl earrings on her earlobes.
Just as Isolte exclaimed, “Today’s madam is the best in the world!”, Johannes came to tell them that Randall had come to pick her up.
As Sophia descends the mansion’s grand staircase, Randall was waiting at the entrance. Sensing Sophia coming down, he raised his head, and his eyes widened slightly.
Isolte, who was descending the stairs with Sophia, was very pleased with the expression on Randall’s face. To her, Sophia was always beautiful, but today she was exceptionally stunning. It was good to be deeply moved.
Isolte was very dissatisfied with Randall, who seemed to be neglecting his wife. Perhaps this would be a chance for him to change his mind a little.
“Have a nice trip!”
As the light rain fell, Sophia was seen off by Isolte and the others and got into the carriage with Randall.
Rosa, Duchess of Levord, was a refined woman with a gentle smile. She had her platinum blonde hair tied up in a ponytail and was wearing a dark gray dress with a vibrant red accent that reminded her of a pomegranate.
After a brief introduction of the Levord Duke’s family, Randall, the Duke and his son Kyle left, leaving Sophia alone with the Duchess in the salon.
“What a lovely salon.”
Recalling Arena’s teaching that “praise first!”, when Sophia spoke, the Duchess laughed like a young girl.
“Do you think so? I’m glad. It’s autumn, so I redecorated it with more muted colors. My son doesn’t like it because it seems too muted for young people, but I like this red color like autumn leaves.”
“Oh, I understand! I like the color of autumn leaves too.”
“Oh really? Hehe, I thought you resembled her, but you’re just like your mother in that way too.”
Sophia was surprised. She never expected the lady to talk about her mother.
“Do you know my mother?”
“Rizelte? Yes, I know her. I was the one who introduced her as a maid at the castle.”
“Is that so?!”
Sophia stood up and hurriedly straightened up. She had to act as a lady. If she made a careless mistake, Randall would get angry. The goal of being a loving couple was already far away. She couldn’t get any further away.
(But I never thought my mother would have a connection with the Duchess…)
Her mother never mentioned the name of the Duke and Duchess of Levord. In fact, she never heard her talk about her family. Her mother always said that she was “all alone in the world” until she died.
Sophia wondered if she should pry into the things her mother didn’t want to talk about. She wanted to ask, but she also felt like she shouldn’t.
The Duchess called the maid and had them brought in a small portrait. The faded portrait looked like her mother, but also a little different.
mée”This is a picture of your grandmother, Anne. She was my best friend.”
The Duchess handed the portrait to Sophia and narrowed her eyes as if she was reminiscing about the past.
“Anne was born into a count’s family, a distant relatives of mine, and we had a lot of fun together until she was 17 and married off to a foreign country. At 17, Anne married off to a marquis’s family, and at 25, she was divorced and returned to this country. But by that time, Anne’s father had passed away, and her brother had inherited the count’s title. Apparently, they didn’t welcome Anne into the household, saying that a divorced sister was a disgrace to the family. Anne lived quietly in the town and raised your mother, Rizelte. I didn’t know about this until just before Anne died of illness – I would have helped her as much as I could if she had asked for my help…”
The Duchess’ eyelashes trembled sadly.
“I’m sorry. I called you here because I wanted to meet you and because I wanted you to listen to a few old stories. Also, there’s one thing I need to apologize to you for.”
“An apology, you say…?”
Sophia couldn’t think of anything for which Madame Rose would apologize to her for.
Tilting her head, she offered Sophia some baked goods, then smiled and asked her to listen to some more old stories first.
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
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