Chapter 68

“Have you been well, Young Master Ash?”

“Yes, I have been well. Have you been well, my lady?”

“I’ve been well, as Grand Duke Theodore always takes good care of me.”

At those words, Ash awkwardly took a step back.

“Young Lady Diana, your dress is beautiful today as well.”

Diana was not pleased with the situation. She had practically starved herself for a week, drinking only water and thin soup to maintain her slender waist. Why had she gone to such lengths? It was all for a sweet first greeting and a tender meeting with Theodore, but she couldn’t even greet him because of Meia, who was in the way.

All she could think about was somehow getting Meia out of the way as soon as possible.

Meia looked at Diana, who couldn’t manage her expression and was frowning one moment and smiling the next, with interest.

The attire should vary according to the situation and place. Depending on whether it’s a banquet hall, a meal, a light walk, or an outing, one should dress accordingly. How one dresses determines how people perceive them.

Meia looked at Young Lady Nordic and thought. The dress she wore was similar to the one she wore last time, with a corset to make her waist slender and a design that made the hip area very full. The dress was adorned with lace and expensive jewels. She had dressed as if she were attending a banquet, not visiting as a retainer to greet the Grand Ducal residence.

Diana thought it was more important to dress beautifully than to greet as a retainer family. It was obvious that Lady Nordic and Diana were focused on catching Theodore’s eye with their sparkling gaze.

“Your Grace, Grand Duke?”

“……”

“Your Grace, Grand Duke!”

Theodore was smiling as he looked at Meia. But the moment Lady Nordic called out to him, his smile vanished, and he turned his gaze to Lady Nordic.

“Your Grace, Grand Duke Theodore, this is my son Ash next to me. And the child next to him is my daughter, Diana.”

“Hello. I am Diana of the Nordic family.”

“Hello. I am Ash of the Nordic family, Your Grace.”

After greeting, Ash took a step back and glanced at Meia with a fascinated look. Theodore suppressed his irritation and glared at Ash as he spoke.

“Young Master Ash.”

“Yes, Your Grace the Grand Duke.”

“It’s rude to keep sneaking glances at a lady.”

Caught sneaking glances, Ash blushed and apologized.

“I’m sorry. The lady is so beautiful that I couldn’t help but look.”

“If you know it’s something to apologize for, then don’t sneak glances anymore.”

“……Understood.”

Theodore suppressed his rising jealousy and turned to Lady Nordic.

“Are you well, Lady Nordic?”

“Yes, thanks to your concern, I’m perfectly well. I came up because I was so worried about the household of the Grand Duke. If you entrust it to me again, I will work hard.”

Theodore did not respond to Lady Nordic’s declaration of hard work and instead looked at Diana.

“Your dress is so splendid it catches the eye, young lady.”

It was by no means a compliment.

“Thank you, Grand Duke Theodore!”

But Diana took it as a compliment. She looked at Meia with a triumphant expression.

Meia was wearing a very simple navy-colored dress. It had a slight pearl pattern, but it was plain compared to hers. Meia slightly lifted the corners of her mouth and spoke.

“Young Lady Nordic, your dress, perhaps a work by Designer Clairira?”

At Meia’s words, Diana was startled. What she was wearing was a new dress by Designer Clairira. She had bought it with a lot of extra money before it was released to the public.

“How did you know?”

“Of course, I know. The skill of zigzag stitching on the waistline is one of Designer Clairira’s most confident dress patterns. I occasionally wear the dresses she sends me, but since they’re not my style, I put them up for auction.”

To wear Clairira’s new items, one must pay a lot of money. Just wearing her new dress garners envious glances from people. And to think she puts such expensive dresses up for auction without wearing them much.

“Even though you’re a lady from another country, you put designer Clairira’s dresses up for auction without wearing them properly. You’re quite extravagant.”

Meia smiled and spoke.

“Are you speaking without knowing the meaning of extravagance?”

“Pardon?”

“No one can call it ‘extravagance’ if I buy ten or a hundred dresses every day, which someone can barely buy one of with their annual salary. But if you, Young Lady Diana, buys dresses like I do, that’s what they call ‘extravagance’.”

Lady Nordic poked Diana’s side.

“It’s a dress I bought for my daughter’s coming-of-age ceremony. I used up all the money I had saved, but it felt good.”

“You’re a really wonderful mother. To buy a dress more expensive than a year’s salary saved without spending a penny.”

“When you have money, you want to do anything for your children. That’s a parent’s heart.”

“If you dress her in the dress bought for her coming-of-age ceremony and bring her to greet Grand Duke Theodore, you must have wanted to make a good impression.”

Lady Nordic flinched at Meia’s words. In her cold blue eyes, which saw through her intentions, there was no atmosphere or thought to be read. She was so nervous about what she might say next that her legs felt weak.

“You must have walked around the ballroom in that coming-of-age dress.”

She couldn’t say no. The reason for purchasing the coming-of-age dress was to attend a banquet.

“Oh, yes. Well, that’s right. Hoho.”

“Since you wanted to make a good impression on Grand Duke Theodore, you must have brought her in the dress worn at the coming-of-age ball to greet him.”

When guests visit, dressing too extravagantly or making them uncomfortable is actually against etiquette. So, the host dresses simply to avoid making visiting guests uncomfortable.

The clothes Meia wore and the clothes Theodore wore were expensive, but the design was simple for that reason.

Lady Nordic only thought about making Diana look beautiful for the greeting, not about etiquette. Young Master Ash’s face showed embarrassment. He seemed to be aware of the situation, judging by his expression.

Lady Nordic looked anxious, as if she might not be entrusted with the household again, and Young Lady Diana’s eyes were full of annoyance.

Diana was clearly at the level of a leaf in the social world.

In social circles, a flower literally means a ‘representative’ figure. The stem connects the flower to the social world’s ‘network’. If the flower and stem are cut, the flower itself withers and dies, but removing one or two leaves doesn’t make the flower and stem wither.

Diana’s face, which couldn’t control her emotions at all to the point where you could see what she wanted to say, seemed like it would have a much better expression if fear or terror was instilled in her.

Of course, this was only in the context of Meia Hatzbellua.

With one word from Meia, Diana’s expensive new dress instantly became a once-worn second-hand dress.

Diana was filled with immense irritation, but she couldn’t scream in front of Theodore, whom she was trying to impress.

In her heart, she wanted to grab Meia’s hair and throw her out of the mansion. But for now, she had to endure.

“You’re right, my lady.”

Diana spoke to Meia with a cute and charming expression.

“I do want to make a good impression on Your Grace, Lady Hatzbellua.”

Diana looked at Theodore with slightly flushed cheeks and moist large eyes and spoke in a gentle voice.

“Grand Duke Theodore, could you show me around the Florence Grand Ducal residence?”

For an unmarried male noble to show his home to a guest means ‘I have feelings for you.’

And for an unmarried male noble to guide an unmarried young lady guest around his house means ‘this will be where we live together’, indicating mutual interest.

Even the servants understand when their master shows a guest around the house, it means they have an interest in that person. Currently, Diana, though a young lady of a vassal family, bravely suggested a house tour, indirectly revealing her feelings.

If Theodore agrees, it means he acknowledges his feelings for her.

Diana’s words were not lost on Meia. She felt something surge from deep within her chest.

It was an unpleasant and uncomfortable feeling she had never experienced before.

It was a feeling similar to the irritation or anger she felt when talking to her cousin Meryl, but slightly different in kind.

It was like the dirty feeling of stepping into a puddle on a rainy day, thinking only her shoes were dirty, but realizing the muddy water had seeped inside. No, it felt worse than that. Her heart ached.

At Diana’s words, Theodore spoke with displeasure.

“You’re bold, Young Lady Nordic. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”

Diana blushed and lowered her head. The shame felt like it was pounding her whole body.

“My lady, didn’t you say a guest was coming today?”

“They’ll be arriving soon.”

“I’m curious about what kind of guest it will be.”

“Do you remember Lady Marienne from before?”

“Yes.”

“She’s similar to her.”

Meia placed her hand familiarly on his and looked at Diana. She could feel the burning anger from her flushed face.

Diana must have confidently told the mice eating away at the Florence Grand Duke’s wealth that she could charm Theodore with her cute and lovely looks. The mice would be delighted and work hard to make Diana the Grand Duchess of Florence.

After greeting Theodore, saying, ‘I want to catch your eye. Please guide me around the mansion,’ is something that requires considerable boldness.

It meant she had never been rejected and had always lived confidently as a high-nosed young lady, but there was one thing she didn’t know.

Theodore had confessed his love to Meia. Just thinking about that made Meia’s slightly bad mood improve a little, but she still couldn’t escape the unpleasant feeling.

Diana would have wanted to hear ‘I’ll show you around’ by twisting her body, showing her cleavage, and asking Theodore to ‘show me around the house’ with moist eyes and a playful voice.

But since he coldly rejected her, her pride must be quite hurt now. She must be upset and want to cry.

‘But what can she do…….’

She might cry more later, but she shouldn’t be so upset over this…….

Meia tried to smile, exhaling the unpleasant feelings boiling inside her with a sigh.

The people whom young Theodore, who lost his parents at an early age, trusted and entrusted with the household affairs, said they were loyal in front but stabbed him in the back. Meia felt very sorry for Theodore, who had trusted such vassals and entrusted them with household affairs.