Chapter 88. Couldn’t She Just Look in the Mirror?

“Hello, Your Highness the Grand Duchess. I was resting well thanks to you.”

“Ah… I’m not disturbing you, am I?”

“Not at all, Your Highness. Would you like to come in?”

Letitia guided Yuelina into the room with practiced courtesy.

She was the lady of the principality.

Letitia absolutely couldn’t show anything that could be criticized.

“It’s nothing much, but I thought this would help you sleep better. It’s a leaf that helps with sleep.”

“Ah…”

“It’s called ‘Yas leaf’ and it warms your body.”

Yuelina put the Yas leaves she had brought into the teapot in Letitia’s room and steeped them.

Her movements were as light as a feather, giving Letitia no chance to stop her.

Letitia glanced at Yuelina’s back.

Her abundant white hair swayed with every movement.

Letitia couldn’t take her eyes off Yuelina who was carefully brewing the tea.

She had noticed it since dinner, but Yuelina was very beautiful.

Calling her an ‘angel’ had been sincere.

Even now, as she poured tea in front of her, she appeared just as she had during dinner.

Even without makeup after her bath, she glowed beautifully.

The room had been quiet and eerie, but with Yuelina there, it somehow became warm and gentle.

“Would you like to try it?”

Yuelina held out the steaming tea to Letitia.

“Yes, thank you very much.”

Letitia took a sip after expressing her gratitude.

The first taste was sweet, with a nutty finish.

Whether from the hot tea or the leaf’s quick effects, Letitia felt warmth spreading inside her.

“As you said, I can feel my body warming up.”

“Right? I’m glad.”

Yuelina smiled brightly, relieved at Letitia’s words.

“When I first came to the principality, I couldn’t sleep either.”

“……”

“It was so hard to sleep in an unfamiliar place… I tossed and turned. And the principality was so cold it was even scary.”

Letitia nodded at Yuelina’s gentle voice.

Yuelina’s words echoed what Letitia had been thinking just moments ago.

So the Grand Duchess also found it strange and scary when she first came.

Somehow, Letitia felt her overwhelming fears starting to fade a little.

“…Thank you for your consideration, Your Highness.”

“But are you sure you don’t want to change the bedding?”

“Pardon?”

“It might be better with brighter bedding. The mansion has such warm wool blankets.”

“Ah…”

“The fluffy texture feels really nice too.”

Letitia finally smiled at Yuelina’s playful expression.

Yuelina almost unconsciously reached out to pinch Letitia’s rising cheeks.

Her smiling face was unmistakably that of an eleven-year-old child.

“Then, if I may be so bold, could I ask for that?”

“Feel free to ask. You’re His Highness the Grand Duke’s guest, which makes you my guest too.”

“But Your Highness, I have nothing to give you in return…”

Letitia lowered her head and fiddled with her teacup.

The princess had no way to repay Yuelina’s consideration and kindness.

So she felt burdened accepting Yuelina’s goodwill.

“Then would you like to tend the garden with me tomorrow?”

“The garden?”

“Yes. The weeds keep growing, so we need to pull them out in the morning.”

Was the Grand Duchess saying she tended the garden herself?

Usually, noble ladies of mansions would only give orders to servants or gardeners rather than managing it themselves.

Letitia nodded with a bewildered expression.

“Ah… if I can be of help.”

“Just having Letitia with me would be helpful. And there are quite a few interesting things in the garden!”

Yuelina unknowingly called Letitia by name instead of princess, in a friendly tone.

Realizing this, she looked at Letitia with an awkward smile.

“I’m sorry. I called your name without thinking.”

“No need to apologize. Please speak comfortably.”

“But…”

“Your Highness doesn’t need to be formal with me. As I said at dinner, it doesn’t look good to others.”

Yuelina was the Grand Duchess of the Phaenyx Principality. That is, the wife of the Grand Duke, Theo.

Theo already spoke informally to all the royal family of Esolin, including herself.

No one objected or got angry at Theo’s natural way of speaking.

After all, the kingdom was nothing compared to the principality under the Bios Empire.

In Letitia’s view, it was rather wrong that Yuelina had been formal with her, calling her princess and speaking respectfully.

Meanwhile, Yuelina didn’t want to speak informally to Letitia.

But when she looked at Letitia, she was reminded of the children in the village, and she found herself naturally calling her name or speaking casually.

After contemplating, Yuelina carefully spoke.

“How about we be like sisters instead?”

“What…? Me, with Your Highness?”

“If it’s too burdensome, we don’t have to. But I want to be close with you, Letitia. Because you’re so… cute.”

Letitia blushed at Yuelina’s words.

No one except family had ever called her cute before.

Not her nanny, nor her teachers in the empire. They emphasized propriety to Letitia instead.

“If we’re like sisters, I can speak comfortably and call your name easily.”

Perhaps because of this, Letitia found it difficult to accept at face value Yuelina’s wish to be sisters just to speak informally with her.

But if Letitia didn’t agree, Yuelina might feel awkward.

Letitia barely managed to say she understood.

“Your Highness. You may think of me as a sister. But for me to dare call Your Highness sister…”

Letitia clutched her nightgown dress from the pressure.

Yuelina reached out and patted Letitia’s shoulder.

“I’m not forcing you. Everyone takes different amounts of time to get close.”

“That’s not it…”

“Call me sister when you feel comfortable with me. Okay?”

Yuelina smiled softly.

“Then from now on, I’ll call you Letitia. Because I want to be close with Letitia!”

Letitia couldn’t hide her smile at Yuelina’s cheerful voice.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Yuelina hugged the brightly smiling Letitia tightly.

“Oh my, how can you be so lovable when you smile?”

“Y-Your Highness…”

“Sorry! Was I too rude? But you’re just so cute… I’ve only seen cats being cute in the mansion.”

Letitia was bewildered by Yuelina’s words.

Couldn’t she just look in the mirror?

If there was anything cute in the mansion, it would be Yuelina.

However, she couldn’t say such an impudent thing to the Grand Duchess, so Letitia just smiled awkwardly.

“I’ll change the wool blanket tomorrow. It’s too late now, and the servants should sleep too.”

“Yes, I’m fine, Your Highness.”

“But it is too dreary, isn’t it?”

Yuelina looked around the room with her hands on her hips, then untied the belt of her robe.

Letitia tilted her head at Yuelina’s actions.

“A doll would help you sleep better.”

Yuelina held out her hand to Letitia. After hesitating, Letitia took her hand and went to the bed.

Sitting next to Letitia on the bed, Yuelina pulled over a fluffy pillow.

She carefully tied the middle of the pillow with her robe belt.

This made the middle sink in while the top and bottom puffed out.

“Do you have a pen?”

“Ah, just a moment.”

Letitia handed Yuelina the fountain pen she had used to write her diary.

With a very serious expression, Yuelina opened the pen cap and started drawing on the pillow as if it were paper.

Under Yuelina’s nimble fingertips, eyes and a mouth soon appeared on the pillow’s surface.

Though crude, it quite resembled a doll.

“How is it?”

Yuelina turned the pen-drawn front of the pillow toward Letitia.

It had two round, large eyes, and an even larger nose in the center.

“It looks just like a Snow Person.”

Letitia answered with a smile.

But Yuelina had never seen a Snow Person, so she couldn’t readily agree.

“So, a Snow Person means a person made of snow?”

Letitia drew a question mark in her mind at Yuelina’s question.