32 – Sudden guest
Edgar had an early dinner and left the house with Creed.
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Leonel complained that he was bored and asked to take him and Enya with him, but he had no choice but to leave it this time.
“Today, I will briefly show you the main building. You, too, will need to know in order to meet the lady.”
“Is it okay if I go into the main building on my own?”
Even if they were tacitly allowed to stay here, in any case, all the people living there were no different from outsiders.
Judging from the appearances of Leonel and Enya a little while ago, they didn’t seem to care much about walking around outside, but wouldn’t it be a little too much to step into the main building where the grand duke’s family members live?
“Originally, it is difficult. But if I am, it will be fine.”
“It means you need a fence.”
“hahahaha, the way the young guy speaks.”
However, Creed just laughed because he wasn’t wrong.
As the boy said, he was allowed to live here, but that did not mean complete freedom.
There were lines that had to be followed, and there were some restrictions.
A typical example is to enter the residence of aristocrats without permission, such as entering a castle.
Since most of the children entering this place were from commoners, it was an unavoidable issue.
At least it wasn’t a big problem, since it was possible to enter the castle when Creed was by his side.
Except for a very few people actually living in the castle, there were many times when they welcomed the children, claiming that they were brought by Helen.
For example, there were some who distributed snacks or played with idle servants.
“By the way, the place where the lady is staying is over there. Can you see?”
“… Is that the end?”
As I moved my gaze along Creed’s fingertips, a balcony protruded from the height that I could barely see if I held my head up.
‘He lives in a fairly high place.’
I guess you could say that I realized the difference in social status.
Even if they were of the same noble family, the daughters of the grand dukes were different, if anything.
It would be a day to walk up to that level.
“It must be difficult to meet secretly like this.”
“It must be difficult except when the lady has to come out. It’s only a problem because there are few days like that.”
“Little?”
At most, it’s just coming out of the building for a while, but I wonder if there’s a reason why it’s difficult.
When Edgar stared at Creed with a curious look, he roughly stroked Edgar’s hair with a bitter smile on his face.
“It is said that if you are born into a good family, the responsibility that comes with it is heavy. You will understand what I mean.”
“… That’s what you mean.”
Edgar gave a small nod of his head as if he finally understood, and stared at the balcony he had just seen.
Although Ariel had said on her own that she hadn’t been out for three weeks, at that time I understood it to simply mean that she hadn’t been out of town.
But maybe that was simply the story of having to stay in this castle for three weeks.
‘It’s serious.’
I wonder how far the grand duke’s education policy is.
No, I thought that this was a problem with dealing with people before education policy.
Even though Helen, no one else, was standing by her side, the fact that she was in this situation must mean that strong shackles were put on her ankles.
“Mr. Creed, can I go out of the Holy Land freely?”
“yes. Did you see those little kids? They also come and go freely with a pass, so you have no problem either.”
As long as you don’t enter the main building recklessly, the rest of it seems to be quite free.
Edgar asked again when he could get the pass and if he could go right away, even today, and when he got a definite answer, he smiled.
Then, before entering the main building through the back door, I wanted to stare at the balcony I had seen a while ago, and followed Creed with a small smile.
* * * * * * *
Returning to her room after dinner, Ariel sat down in front of her desk.
Despite returning to her original home, which should have been the most peaceful, her daily life was rather busy.
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Looking at the books piled up on the desk as proof of that, I let out a sigh of relief.
But I couldn’t put it off any longer because I had work to do tomorrow after I got this done.
Resolved, she picked up a book that was six times the thickness of her hand and opened it.
It was none other than information on the leading families of the empire, and the personal information of those belonging to those families, made into a book.
After memorizing this and taking the test tomorrow, only when the test is successfully completed will you move on to the next step.
It’s not even given a chance to catch your breath. It’s just being given new things to do.
‘After this, it was magic education. What happened next?’
Perhaps it was liberal arts classes or swordsmanship training.
A 14-year-old girl might think it’s a bit early to learn, but it was a story that was applicable only to young girls from other families who grew up like flowers in a greenhouse.
One day, she had to grow up as a warrior who had to travel on the battlefield like her father and deal with the aliens in the north.
To do so, it was important to build a body capable of roaming the battlefield from an early age and develop that kind of strength.
Magic education was also one of a similar category.
“The Loktael family… As one of the leading counts in the central region, the family head… … .”
Ariel turns the book one by one, reading the written words aloud, since reading aloud is better for memorization.
One sheet turned into two, then ten, and eventually dozens or hundreds of sheets.
Ariel, who had finished one book and immediately moved on to the next one, began to quickly scan the letters with her eyes without even reading aloud.
I did not omit to write down in a notebook that I prepared separately for the contents that I thought it would be easy to forget.
How much time had passed like that?
Ariel sighed as if exhausted and leaned back on the chair.
Then he picked up a small bell that was sitting on the edge of the desk and waved it weakly.
“Yes, lady. Did you call me?”
The door to the room opened, and Shuri appeared with her head bowed and calmly asked about her business.
“Bring me something to drink and some snacks. I am so tired.”
“Please wait. I’ll bring it to you right away.”
Ariel usually likes a drink made by pickling or grinding fruit in honey, but when she’s focused on something, she prefers serving tea.
Of course, Shuri was well aware of this, so she headed to the kitchen, prepared tea leaves and warm water, and started brewing tea with her skillful hands.
As the fragrant aroma of tea spread throughout the room, Ariel’s expression softened.
When Ariel got up, trudged over to the bed and collapsed on her face like a corpse, a laugh formed at the corner of Shuri’s mouth as she watched.
Regardless of this or that, as someone who had been watching her from the side lately, I was acutely aware of how heavy the position of a daughter of the grand duke’s family was.
Even if you gave yourself all the gold and silver treasures in the world, you probably wouldn’t dare to do it.
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Looking at the pile of books on the desk like now, he realized what a great person his owner was.
“My lady, hurry up and have some tea and cheer up.”
“Yes… It should be.”
Ariel woke up from the bed wriggling like a caterpillar, holding a teacup in her hand on a small table next to the bed.
Tea water set to the right temperature so that it is easy to drink right away.
Smelling the delicate scent, it seemed that the fatigue of the day had gone away a little.
When I think about what I have to do right after this, it seems that the fatigue is accumulating right away, but at that time, I decided to turn my eyes away from reality.
“When did you plan to meet Prince Edgar?”
“I don’t have any plans. In the first place, I don’t even want to meet that guy.”
Shuri looked like a duck for some reason as she gulped down the tea with her mouth sticking out.
That’s an ugly duckling.
However, let’s say it’s not an ugly duckling in the sense of being ugly, but an ugly duckling in the sense of being dishonest in my heart.
Even when others see it from the side, it shows off like that, so why are they trying to hide it?
At times like this, the fact that the owner was a year younger than himself came to mind.
It was fun to watch from the side because this is cuter than his usual blunt and busy appearance.
“You can go take a break. I’m going to sleep after I’m done with that.”
“I will wait outside, so call me before going to bed. I’ll just clean up and I’ll go take a rest.”
“You don’t even listen.”
Not wanting to argue about it any longer, Ariel nodded her head to let her go, bit off a piece of cookie, and looked around the room.
The decorations are quite fancy, but it’s a bleak room with nothing to say.
Without even the common stuffed toys that girls of her age often play with, the inside filled with books and other objects even felt empty.
‘I want a doll.’
After drinking the tea, Ariel put down the teacup and lay down on the bed.
There was no doll to cuddle with, so Ariel was immersed in contemplation, hugging a large pillow the size of her body tightly.
The chilly air of the moonlit night crept in through the wide open window, but for some reason I didn’t feel like paying attention right now.
‘Should I call Shuri again?’
When I’m alone, I feel like I’m alone and I only have strange thoughts.
Since the windows had to be closed, wouldn’t it be better to call Shuri back and ask her to talk to her now? The moment I was so worried,
chin.
“Huh, I thought I was going to die.”
“!?”
Suddenly, I thought I could hear someone’s footsteps on the balcony, and I muttered to myself in a disgruntled voice.
‘How did you get to this height?’
I thought it was an assassin, so I couldn’t even hear my voice.
I need to call Shuri right now… … .
With the idea of checking the opponent’s appearance first, she stood up and slowly approached the balcony, keeping her presence as low as possible.
Soon, the figure of the opponent slowly revealed in front of her eyes.
Ariel’s mouth opened on its own, and she pointed at her opponent with trembling hands as if she had seen something she shouldn’t have seen.
“Oh, surprise me. Hey, if you have, show some signs.”
“What, what is it? How do you… … ?”
It was none other than her childhood friend who appeared with an unidentified paper bag in one hand and a stuffed toy in the other arm.