‘Of all things, why did I sleep there!’
As soon as the next morning came, Dalia has been tearing her hair out.
‘Just how ridiculous she looked like when Hikan saw her?’
She had no choice but to win over his mind, hoping that it would bring a little laugh in Hikan’s busy life.
‘…….But now my brother has changed, right?’
Dalia was convinced because of yesterday’s incident.
He is different from the final villain in <The Labyrinth of Ouroboros>. She doesn’t know what’s going to happen after the magic blooming, but anyway, that’s what happened now.
The nanny, whom she thought would scold her for disappearing without a word, said nothing unexpectedly.
She felt sorry, so she thought she should be better towards nanny next time.
The butler informed her of the schedule for tomorrow’s tea party during breakfast.
Even though the Pesteros sent the invitation yesterday, all the recipients expressed their intention to attend.
Adrisha came to visit after hearing the news.
Dalia managed to convince Adrisha and brought her to her room. It has been three weeks since they met, and it was hard to meet at the garden in a dress every time she came here.
The two rolled back in bed together wearing the indoor clothes lent by Dalia.
Adrisha even untied her carefully tied hair. She said she was comfortable in her dress no matter where she was, but it was funny when she straightened her posture. (*t/n: sorry, I’m not sure with the second sentence -.-)
Dalia lay down on Adrisha’s belly and looked through the attendance list.
“They’re all coming with their mother.”
“That’s usually the case. The ladies from high society don’t want their children to get along with just anyone.”
It was Adrisha’s sharp analysis. However, when she lay down and loosen her hair and said that, for some reason it felt somewhat less convincing. Dalia giggled.
The only person on the attendance list who did not bring her mother was Adrisha. Naturally she could not bring her.
Perhaps the real Viscountess Beniter is living happily in the manor that she received in return of having a fake daughter.
Adrisha taught Dalia several things about the ladies whose names were on the attendance list.
Whose child has close age to Dalia, how close are the children with their mothers, who has the upper hand and who has a good relationship with who and vice versa.
Adrisha sat up in bed, pointing to Dalia one of the names in the lists.
“This lady wanted to send her daughter as Dalia’s maid of honor. I heard that she appealed strongly to the Duke.”
“Really? I didn’t know.”
“Everyone would want to send their daughter to be the maid of honor to the Pesteros family. Among the 4 ducal families, they are the closest to the Emperor and have a lot of money.”
“Hmm.”
Dalia recalled Hikan, whose all his property was confiscated and was sentenced to death by the Emperor himself in the original story.
‘…… Power is a fleeting thing.’
“But in the end, I became the maid of honor.”
“That’s right. I like Adrisha the best.”
Of course. I don’t even know the rest of them, but one of them is my favorite person in the original.
However, Adrisha must have been so touched, she hugged Dalia tightly and lay down on the bed.
“No one else but Dalia would think so.”
“Think what?”
“Because everyone else doesn’t like me. They would ask me how I was lucky enough to get the position.”
“Then bring them to me. I’ll scold them.”
“I like Dalia the best too.”
Adrisha rubbed against Dalia.
‘She’s like a puppy.’
Dalia honestly didn’t care about Adrisha’s reputation. It was natural that she, the main character, shines the most, but it was a pity that she didn’t.
The two of them ate bear-shaped jelly together on the bed while having a silly chat for the rest of the time. Then she got caught by the nanny and got scolded.
On the day of the tea party.
The remaining preparations were made by the employees, and all Dalia had to do was drink tea and chat while eating something sweet.
Since it was a simple occasion held within the mansion, so she settled on the dress and accessories that she had.
Likewise, Adrisha came to the mansion in a similar manner as she normally does.
In line with them, the attendees also came in clothes that did not stand out.
As she learned, Dalia calmly expressed her gratitude and greeted those who attend the tea party.
“Hello, Madam Patricia, Miss Rose. Thank you for coming.”
“Goodness. Rose, thank the lady. She knows your name!”
“Ah, hello, Miss Dalia.”
She did not forget to memorize their name and face in advance, as Adrisha advised.
If Dalia does that during their first meeting, she said that the lower subordinates who are hungry for power will feel impressed.
She was a little worried about dealing with the ladies that are older than her previous life, but all the attendees were kind, probably because of the Pesteros name behind Dalia. As a result, Dalia was able to proceed with the gathering comfortably. Adrisha also helped her from time to time.
Of course, there were people who wanted to look as good as anywhere else.
It was Mrs. Hanley whom Adrisha mentioned yesterday. The one who tried to send her daughter to Dalia as the maid of honor.
According to Adrisha yesterday, she was quite close to the late Duchess Pesteros.
Mrs. Hanley is said to have worked very hard to get acquainted with the Duchess, who doesn’t like to appear in high society.
Eventually, she succeeded, and she was very excited to be connected to one of the four great ducal families.
However, the Duchess died before she could make good use of the network. So Mrs. Hanley wants to have a little reward for her efforts.
Originally, she was going to take charge of Dalia and raise her, but the Duchess Blueport came forward for Dalia first.
In any case, it was regrettable for her that she could not take place as Dalia’s maid of honor, but she kept talking openly to Dalia to look good.
She was also seen poking her timid-looking daughter to make her talk to Dalia.
‘I don’t like this.’
Dalia thought to herself, not letting it show on her face.
And finally, the tea party is halfway through. It was the most anticipated time for Dalia. It’s time to eat the dessert, which is the pride of Pesteros.
The chef showed his artistic soul to the fullest during the dessert party.
From non-sweet healthy vegetable biscuits for adults, chocolate-coated snacks with whipped cream inside, strawberry Montclair, and more.
The ladies all took a bite and covered their mouths with their eyes wide open.
“Oh my, it’s really delicious.”
“The chef’s skills are really good.”
Since I wanted to show you this, that’s why I invited you all the way here. Of course it’s good.
Dalia’s nose got high because she was proud. The ladies smiled happily, as if it were obvious.
The children had forgotten their duty and were competitively eating the desserts.
It was a happy time for Dalia as well because she ate a lot of sweets after a long time.
Finally, the tea came out to rinse their mouths. Now everyone talked comfortably. What do you usually learn from your tutor these days, and was it difficult. There was a talk about the play that can be enjoyed every season.
“Miss Dalia, if you have time next time, let’s go to the lake and go boating together.”
“It will be fun to team up and play croquet among us.”
The children all made various suggestions with excited expressions. It all seemed to be fun.
‘It would be nice if brother Hikan can join us.’
Of course, if it’s games, Dalia will go to all of it.
Then Mrs. Hanley suddenly spoke.
“I used to go boating with the late Duchess Pesteros.”
In an instant, the surrounding area became quiet.
The story of Dalia’s late mother was not a topic to be brought out in such a place. It wasn’t the appropriate place to show off her friendship with the late Duchess.
“The late Duchess said then that if she had a daughter, the four of us would definitely meet and play……”
But Mrs. Hanley ended her speech as if she were grieving.
“But someone else prevented me from doing that.”
It didn’t matter if that was true or not.
Anyone with a normal sense could see that she was blaming Adrisha for taking her daughter’s place.
The atmosphere was further subdued by the untimely attack.
“Wait, something urgent came up. I need to go.”
Adrisha still stood up with a smile.
She was trying to leave Dalia’s seat so that it is not uncomfortable. Dalia took Adrisha’s hand as she was leaving.
But she said ‘It’s okay.’ then smiled and went away.
Adrisha left, and the other ladies were whispering among them.
Surprisingly, it was not Mrs. Hanley, but other ladies who brought girls of Dalia’s age.
“No matter what, it’s the lady of the Pesteros family, the Beniter family……I’m a little disappointed.”
“I hear that His Majesty the Emperor will grant any of your favor. Perhaps, if Miss Dalia talked about it.”
She can’t believe that they brought this up the moment Adrisha was gone.
When she saw the other ladies talking about this, she could see what everyone thought of Adrisha.
Dalia suddenly got angry while thinking about what Adrisha said yesterday.
She smiled and looked straight at the face of the lady who had spoken first, and replied.
“But she was the one that His Majesty himself has chosen, so I’m always grateful for his decision.”
“……”
“His, His Majesty the Emperor?”
Mrs. Hanley interrupted in surprise. Not only her but also everyone else looked bewildered.
‘This must have been something that no one knew?’ Dalia thought to herself. She was still a little angry.
Everyone knows Adrisha is working under the emperor, but they probably didn’t know that the relationship between the two was deep enough to designate her as the maid of honor of a Duke family. So there must be a rumor in the high society that Adrisha is flirting with the Emperor.
These people ignore Adrisha because they think she has nothing. The Beniter were only a small local lord whose name was barely on the noble list.
“Yes. My mother passed away without saying anything about my maid. So my brother asked for recommendations from the Emperor. Miss Adrisha, who was recommended, came to me.”
Mrs. Hanley’s face turned red.
The other lady, who noticed that Dalia had become uncomfortable, spoke quickly.
“I didn’t know that the Beniter family had such a close relationship with His Majesty the Emperor.”
“Yes, and now they have a connection with the Pesteros family.”
The meaning was clear. Everyone shut their mouths and looked at Dalia.
“I had a good time today. It would be better for us to part now.”
Dalia cut off the conversation with determination.
