#Chapter 7. Ariel of High Society

“Dad?”

It was when Damian had passed about half of the garden. Lucy, sitting under the canopy, spotted Damian first.

“Dad!”

“I greet Your Majesty the Empress of the Empire.”

“Duke Zenova.”

The empress’s eyes widened round, then she quickly smiled brightly.

Between her prettily folded eyes, she held Lucy’s hand tightly, clearly showing she had taken a liking to Lucy.

She had captivated the empress of the empire…… It wouldn’t have been easy to make the empress her ally.

It seemed his daughter had quite a few hidden aspects.

Like the aspects only visible to Damian, she had something different somewhere.

Of course, if only Ariel was happy, Damian also thought there was no need to tell her every detail about Lucy’s such aspects.

Perhaps it would be better for Ariel to live her whole life without knowing.

“I wonder if Lucy is causing trouble for Your Majesty the Empress.”

“Not at all. The duchess isn’t someone who would teach her that way. Really, I want to adopt her as my daughter.”

“…… Dad, where’s Mom?”

Lucy urgently asked while pulling on Damian’s sleeve.

Some fear and terror rose in her eyes. Damian frowned.

“What’s wrong?”

“Don’t tell me you left Mom alone there? …… What if Dad leaves Mom alone!”

The child’s eyes, welling up with tears, scolded Damian.

“I told Mom to play with Dad, but what if Dad comes to me!”

At the child’s raised voice, the empress looked at Lucy in surprise.

Tears were welling up in the child’s eyes, so the empress carefully bent her knees.

Damian was more surprised by the empress adjusting her eye level for such a child than by the child suddenly getting angry.

This didn’t seem like just taking a liking to her.

“Lucy. Shouldn’t you leave Mom alone there?”

At the empress’s question, Lucy flinched and moved her lips.

“That’s…… That place is……”

“It’s okay to talk about it. Tell me.”

“…… It’s dangerous. Mom…… shouldn’t be alone in such a place.”

Lucy glanced at Damian and frowned.

“That’s why I told Mom to play with Dad.”

At those words, the empress smiled and took Lucy’s hand.

“Oh my. We should show our Lucy the duchess’s true nature. Duke. You should come along too.”

“…… Mom’s true nature?”

When Lucy tilted her head, the empress nodded.

“Duke, have you ever seen the duchess in high society?”

“Yes. I saw her often before marriage. Since I frequently went to war, I haven’t seen her recently.”

Ah, come to think of it, just now…… she tapped the back of my hand very gently.

It was a gesture that seemed as elusive as clouds floating in the sky.

Even though it was clearly a touch moving on Damian’s hand, it felt like something that couldn’t be caught somewhere.

That ticklish feeling only felt from Ariel.

Damian rubbed the back of his hand while thinking of Ariel.

Ariel’s gently curved gaze carried an irresistible compulsion.

Additionally, that rhetoric that captivated the other party. But the strange words that never wielded power.

When Ariel’s lips opened, everyone would pause for a moment, and she herself knew this fact best, yet Ariel didn’t become conceited about such things.

That was clearly felt in her attitude and speech.

When her upright green eyes clearly looked at Damian, even Damian paused.

But that fact rather made the other party relax even more.

Because she didn’t wield power, everyone could let their guard down around Ariel.

That’s how everyone entered Ariel’s palm. Of course, Damian was no exception.

“Lucy, your mother was called the flower of high society.”

The empress rolled her eyes as if reminiscing about the past for a moment.

Her lips rising with joy were like the face of someone recalling a man she once had feelings for before marriage.

“If she was called the flower of high society just for being beautiful, Ariel’s name wouldn’t still be talked about. It would be good to see what weapon your beautiful mother truly possesses.”

Damian and Lucy moved to where the empress led them.

The empress, standing in front of a large door, smiled and gave Lucy a hint.

“Especially here, you mustn’t shout loudly. Lucy. Understood?”

“Yes. I’ll go shh-.”

Lucy quietly pointed her finger above her lips and showed Damian the shushing gesture with her finger too.

At times like this, it seemed like glimpses of Ariel could be seen.

Damian, who entered through the door, looked at the empress and chuckled.

…… So that was it.

The place the empress led them to was none other than the second floor of the hall.

This was a place where imperial people came when they stepped back from banquets to observe the nobles.

It was structured so that looking up from below wouldn’t reveal them, allowing secret observation of the nobles.

He knew she had taken a liking to Lucy, but he didn’t expect it to be to this extent.

She clearly intended to bring Lucy into the imperial family.

And she didn’t hide this from Damian either.

Perhaps she didn’t hide it because it was in front of Damian. Ariel wouldn’t intend to make Lucy an imperial person.

“There she is. How is it that the duchess is so visible even when viewed from here?”

With the empress’s words, Lucy’s gaze moved. Damian, who was already looking at Ariel, observed his wife in the hall after a long time.

Light brown hair and a snow-white face. Green eyes positioned above them.

When people called someone the flower of high society, they usually compared them to roses, but surprisingly, Ariel was often compared to delicate things like deer or magnolias.

Damian, who bent his upper body a bit more, captured Ariel’s appearance in his eyes.

Sometimes at banquets, nobles would suggest to Damian that he go deer hunting.

However, Damian always declined those suggestions. There was no need to go far for hunting.

There was a beautiful deer at home, so why bother? Moreover, hunting at home was much more pleasurable.

Hmm, prayer and hunting.

Even in metaphors, Ariel was compared to prayer. Damian unknowingly smiled.

“Mom……”

Lucy blinked.

When Ariel’s figure talking with the marchioness became visible, the empress’s eyes folded gently.

“How does it look from up here? Does the duchess look dangerous?”

Lucy’s eyes spread sadly. Her head shaking sideways without an answer was powerless.

However, when Bruno approached Ariel’s side, Lucy jumped up from her seat.

“No! Dad, Dad!”

Lucy, who grabbed and pulled Damian’s sleeve, urgently whispered in a small voice.

Damian’s eyebrows, who was looking down below, also twitched.

Just as the father and daughter seemed about to rush out of the place, the empress stopped both of them.

“Didn’t we decide to see the duchess’s true nature?”

The empress, who sighed deeply and looked down below, told them to wait and see.

Though they couldn’t hear exactly what was being said, Ariel conversed briefly with Bruno with a consistently smiling face.

After just a few minutes, Bruno left his spot.

“See. The duchess handled it herself……”

However, despite the empress’s words, the father and daughter’s gazes were fixed on Bruno’s back as he walked away.

The eyebrows of the two people, twitching as if displeased, were identical.

The empress shook her head alone.

“Ariel will have a hard time.”

*

“I heard the duchess taught Lucy history.”

As soon as Ariel heard the marchioness’s subtle question, she hid a triumphant smile behind her fan.

“To be precise, I didn’t teach her, Lucy read it herself.”

“The lady did it herself? Does a child read such boring books by herself?”

“Well, I read books to her little by little every night before bed, and that might have been the opportunity for the child to become close to books.”

“Do you personally read to her every time, Duchess?”

The marchioness’s eyes widened.

“Yes. I read to her every day.”

“That’s amazing. Since you spend a lot of time with the child, books must have become a kind of extension for building rapport. I end up leaving such things entirely to the tutor. Because of that, the child keeps trying to distance himself from academics.”

The marchioness frowned as if frustrated.

“It’s because he’s being taught in a stifling environment. Children want to run around and play freely.”

“Exactly. As expected, unlike Benjamin, perhaps because she’s a lady, she’s been different since childhood.”

“Not at all. Madam.”

Ariel lowered her fan and took the marchioness’s hand.

Ariel’s gently grasping hand carried warmth along with a strange power that couldn’t be refused.

“While Lucy particularly follows me well, there’s nothing wrong with children wanting to run around and play. Benjamin is growing up very strong and healthy.”

At Ariel’s warm words, the marchioness’s eyes glistened.

“That’s right. Our Benjamin is growing up well. I must have been too hasty.”

“Hmm…… How about having him play with Lucy instead of a tutor? Sometimes give light problems, and give snacks to the child who gets them right. While it’s not good to incite competitive psychology, a little competitive spirit is a good means to help children develop.”

“You mean taking lessons in the same space?”

“No, no.”

Ariel shook her head.

“Going out to play together. Not lessons.”

Ariel, who smiled brightly, corrected the marchioness’s words.

“So you should come along too, Marchioness.”

“…… To play? I’d love that.”

This time the marchioness grabbed Ariel’s hand.

“Playing with the lady while learning too. It would be good for the children’s emotional development.”

“Of course.”

Ariel smiled brightly at the marchioness.

She had been worried about how to connect with the marchioness who dominated high society, but Lucy had become a good bridge.

Since it had been quite a while since she showed her face in high society due to war, it felt a bit unfamiliar, but fortunately.

“Lady Ariel.”

It was then. Bruno approached and called Ariel once again.