After laughing heartily for a while, Lyudmila lay down as if crouching and spoke, still with her youthful laughter.
“But when I see all the paintings in the house sold for my medicine, it’s a little bit hard to rebel against my parents.”
If someone else had heard it, they might have swallowed their saliva nervously, but Natalya didn’t care.
“It’s not Lyudmila’s fault that you were sick.”
“But there were people who struggled. Even if it wasn’t anyone’s fault.”
Even Natalya was momentarily silent at that remark. It seemed to remind her of the fire at Lake Bishti.
“…Paintings are just for show. Would you die just for not seeing them?”
Natalya still added as if she didn’t want to lose the argument with Lyudmila. Lyudmila opened her eyes wide as if she hadn’t imagined such a comment. The look on her face made Natalya feel triumphant.
“But if Lyudmila was not here, your parents would probably want to die. If you think about it that way, selling unnecessary paintings is not that difficult.”
Lyudmila had her mouth shut. There were many things she wanted to say, and there were many things she could say. Even if the paintings her parents sold were not just paintings, even if they were only paintings, what those paintings meant was not just the paintings themselves.
It was a collection of the family’s pride and dignity, things like the nobility that the family could never forsake. The fact that there was another choice, being a younger sister, and yet her parents did not give up on her…
However, not all of them came out, but something else came out instead.
“…Would they have?”
“Of course!”
Natalya answered with full confidence. Lyudmila, seeming to find that answer fascinating, listened for a while and then rolled over, burying her face in her arms.
“Is that really so…”
“Lyudmila, you’re quite a fool.”
“What did you say?”
Asha sipped milk tea as she watched Natalya and Lyudmila toss and turn. In the meantime, a new shape emerged thickly from the bead on the end of Asha’s nightcap ribbon.
<Are there three peas in a pod? All bustling around.>
‘Go with two beans. Like soybeans.’
<The smallest one…>
“Be quiet.”
The bead shook slightly.
<Hmmm. Prasti seems to be getting purified quite well.>
It seemed like Phoebe was trying to change the subject, but Asha decided to move on.
‘Prasti in Lyuda’s case won’t be solved right away, right?’
<It hasn’t been long since you saw Prasti. But this time could be helpful. It won’t be meaningless. Why don’t you go there quickly and roll around together?>
Asha put down the milk tea she had been drinking gracefully, and dived energetically between the two girls.
“Eek! Yo, Your Highness! How can you do this so violently!”
“While tumbling on someone else’s guest room carpet?”
“Natalya, you shouldn’t treat a guest of your house like this… No, then my nightgown will be overturned!”
“Eek! Look at this! Even if you wear a nightcap, it comes off!”
“I’ll put it on again for you.”
“But that’s my face, not the back of my head, Lyudmila.”
“Lyu… Lyuda should wear her nightcap again.”
“I’ll put that on for her, too. Asha, stay still.”
“Yes, the nightcap is, um… It wraps around your hair. You both know that, right? Do you know that? It doesn’t cover your face… No, my nightgown! Natasha, wait a moment! Then the ribbon will come loose!”
“You fall out of bed if you sleep like this.”
“I usually don’t have Asha when I sleep.”
“I’d be in trouble if I usually…”
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
Asha, Lyudmila, and Natalya all welcomed the morning sun on the carpet. The maids who came to wake them up seemed to be already familiar with Natalya, as they didn’t bat an eye while collecting the three discarded nightcaps, making Lyudmila even more embarrassed.
After washing with warm water, she had nothing to wear. Lyudmila hesitated for a while, holding Natalya’s childhood clothes. Though made of high-quality fabric, it was just a light shirt and pants.
The maids seemed to have struggled hard to find long pants for Lyudmila. It seemed that few of the long pants Natalya wore during her growth period had survived because the lower hem had been torn or worn.
But Lyudmila reluctantly accepted the pants that Natalya had struggled to obtain for her. Natalya was wearing shorts herself.
“I should ask Joel to make me some pants too. What do you think?”
“It really suits you! It might not be fun when you’re spinning though.”
“Don’t do it for fun. Lyuda, it’ll look great on you too.”
“R,really?”
Lyudmila fiddled with the sleeve of her shirt in awkwardness. Asha nodded and sat Lyudmila down, finely combing her hair and tying it high.
“This one’s for you, Lyuda. It’s my favorite ribbon.”
Asha, who tied a sky-blue ribbon around her tied-up hair, smiled brightly. Lyudmila felt strange and empty with her exposed neck, but she didn’t attempt to untie it.
After finishing breakfast with warm soup and freshly baked bread, the girls quietly strolled through the back garden of the mansion.
The garden in the backyard was more of a forest than a garden, so Lyudmila understood why Natalya didn’t have any long pants that survived among the pants she wore as a child.
When the three of them came back from a walk, Lyudmila was at a loss as she looked at her pants, which had been ruined at the hem. However, Natalya was nonchalant.
“We can make another set next time. We have fabrics at our mansion, so we can make plenty.”
As Lyudmila nodded, biting her lip, some maids rushed towards them.
“Lady! Your Highness, Lady, gu,guests have arrived!”
Asha and Natalya tilted their heads side by side.
“Guests?”
“Yes, from Marquis Oleg’s estate…”
Before the sentence could finish, Lyudmila’s face turned white.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
“Shall we go in together?”
After hearing that Marquis Oleg was in the drawing room, Lyudmila seemed very embarrassed.
Despite Natalya reassuring her that there was nothing to worry about, Lyudmila’s reaction upon catching a glimpse of her parents through the reception room door was less than composed.
Holding Lyudmila’s trembling hand in the corridor outside the reception room, Asha attempted to convince her. Lyudmila finally stopped and shook her head at what Asha said.
“I… It’s my responsibility.”
“Then go in… If you need help while talking, just shout, ‘Milk tea.’ Got it?”
“Yes?”
“I’ll come to your rescue.”
“Oh, how?”
“Wouldn’t something be possible if the noble princess used force?”
“You can’t do that.”
Asha’s joke finally brought a hint of color back to Lyudmila’s face. Lyudmila looked down at the hand caught by Asha and took a deep breath.
“I’ll apologize and… I’ll do my best.”
“You can do it! It’s all right if you don’t do it well, okay? I’m the one with the villa, so you can relax and have fun.”
Lyudmila smiled and nodded at Asha’s words.
Asha and Natalya, holding their breath, watched the confrontation between Lyudmila and the marquis through the door of the drawing room.
“In truth, I’m not sure.”
Asha blinked at Natalya’s whispered words.
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t really understand why she’s so determined to obey her parents.”
Asha smiled subtly. It seemed like an issue that Natalya couldn’t quite relate to.
“But…”
Natalya clapped her lips.
“But still, having a clear conviction about something is admirable.”
It was as if Natalya had no idea. As Asha was about to respond, the commotion in the reception room grew louder.
“Lyudmila!”
“Oh… Father and Mother.”
“Leaving in the middle of a conversation with your mother and coming out like this, causing a disturbance among the guests, what kind of behavior is this!”
Asha gulped, thinking she could see where Lyudmila’s integrity came from. While Marquis Oleg continued scolding, the marchioness stood by with an expression of uncertainty, her lips pursed.
Lyudmila was bowing her head with her fingertips together. Her tied-up hair flowed down, concealing her expression.
“Why is she just standing there and listening? If she wasn’t a nuisance, just say it.”
“I think Lyuda thinks she was a nuisance… Because she didn’t even tell you in advance.”
“No one can tell you in advance the day before that they’re going to leave the house after fighting with their mother.”
The marquis’s roar continued.
“Moreover, if you came as a guest, you should behave properly. Your clothes are a mess, and what on earth…”
“That’s because of me.”
Natalya murmured frustratingly. It was Natalya who asked her to go for a walk in the forest. Asha also held back her frustrated sigh.
Marquis Oleg and his wife, who were watching Lyudmila while scolding, were emitting a deep purple atmosphere. The couple, evidently sleep-deprived, had red and swollen eyes.
“And Lyuda…”
If only Lyudmila could say something. If only she shouted, “Milk tea.” Asha entertained such thoughts. At that moment, unable to bear the weight of Asha and Natalya any longer, the door to the reception room swung wide open.
“Oh, oh my goodness!”
Asha rolled forward as Natalya sprang to her feet. The attention of the three people in the room immediately focused on them. Natalya lifted Asha, who had briefly escaped reality by sitting on the floor, back up. Asha swallowed her dry saliva and laughed awkwardly.
“Ahaha. Marquis Oleg, it’s been a while since I saw you.”
“Yo,Your Highness? What brings you here?”
Marquis Oleg looked at Asha with a bewildered expression. Asha cleared her throat shortly and spoke nonchalantly.
“I was originally planning to stay overnight at Tataricha Manor yesterday, but Lyuda… Mila reminded me of something, so I brought her along. It’s more fun with her around.”
Lyudmila looked at Asha with a puzzled face. Asha swallowed hard and chuckled awkwardly.
“But I don’t think Lyudmila should be scolded for acting that way.”
“Your Highness, your caring heart for my daughter is broader than the ocean. However…”
“Oh! Seeing the marquis reminded me!”
“What?”
“My cousin told me that he had a message. He’s curious about where you made those porcelain dolls you presented to His Majesty in the past.”
Asha said this and immediately grabbed the marquis. In the confusion of being pulled along – unable to reject the royal princess – the marquis was being dragged out. Meanwhile, the marchioness was left alone in the reception room with Lyudmila. Lyudmila, clenching both hands, nodded.
