Chapter 126

'What?'

There was no time to say anything.

The Lady, who had only said what she had to say, quickly turned her back and disappeared.

Aria stared at her back as she left. She was sure the Lady was insulting her, but she didn't respond.

'A nobody.'

She kind of think that way. It was for the same reason as Sir Anjou.

Aria would have said a word if the Lady had stood still, but she didn't have the motivation to pursue her to the end.

'I must have seen her somewhere....'

If the Lady comes from an influential family or has been noticed in the social world, Aria would have recognized her immediately.

But neither was it.

Aria doesn't have to pay attention to it.

"Ah, here you are! We moved all our luggage to our assigned room… Ah!"

But it was then.

Just when Marronnier approached the end of the hallway, waving her hand, she bumped into the Lady. It was a slight bump in the shoulder.

But then the Lady grimly contorted her face and shoved Marronnier.

"Kyaak!"

"You're crazy. You're not getting down on the floor and begging for forgiveness right now, what are you doing?"

Aria, who had only regarded the Lady as an annoyance until earlier, changed her gaze in an instant.

Do you dare touch my people?

Marronnier staggered for a moment as she was strongly shoved.

But, as if she had never been, she stood still, without any sign of pain, and looked up at the Lady with a blank look. A native of Grand Duchy Valentine, she was gifted with a strong body and excellent sense of balance.

"Ah...."

Marronnier made a stupid sound. It was because there was a look of embarrassment on the Lady's face.

"Oh my God!"

Suddenly, Marronnier fell to the floor with a very clumsy scream.

"Wait a minute. You just pretended to fall…"

"I have committed a deadly sin, huhuu!"

"Do you think I'll be deceived? You…"

"Please forgive me! It's all my fault!"

Marronnier pretended to apologize and cut off all the Lady's words.

'You look fine.'

Aria was relieved that Marronnier wasn't seriously hurt, but she was still upset. Anyway, it was the same fact that the Lady touched Marronnier.

Aria moved on without hesitation.

"Kyaak!"

And pushed the Lady.

– Lady is the crazy one.

"What, what?"

– You should lie flat down but you're talking nonsense while looking up and down at the Grand Princess even though you didn't even introduce yourself.

Did you not even learn manners? Aria raised Marronnier up and hid her behind her, sarcastically speaking the message.

– Besides, seeing that you even touched the child I brought with me, it seems that you want to create a conflict with me.

"…!"

– Of course, you must have been determined to take responsibility for your own recklessness.

It was a soft voice.

So Aria raised her voice and it sounded more gloomy than a rampage.

'What....'

The Lady was perplexed.

Because she had only heard rumors that the Grand Princess couldn't talk, and assumed that she would naturally be timid and weak. And the fact that the Lady was negligent was also partly because Valentine was determined and hiding Aria's origin and identity.

In the Empire, unless they were from orphans, they would not be adopted by other nobles.

Of course, the Lady had no choice but to view Aria lowly. But whatever she came from, Aria was a woman in a position to be Valentine's mistress.

"I'm, I'm sorry. I didn't recognize the Grand Princess."

So, with a pale, weary face, the Lady had no choice but to bow down.

– Apologize.

"What?"

– I asked you to apologize.

Marronnier, who was hiding behind Aria, muttered with a moved voice.

"Young Madam…"

Aria was so cute and adorable when she was young, when did she grow up to be so strong and reliable! She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and took the time to watch the dazzling growth of her Young Madam.

The Lady, who had been staring at Marronnier dumbfoundedly, barely opened her mouth.

"…are you saying that I should apologize to that maid?"

– This is my handmaid.

"Handmaid? So, you're saying she's from a noble family?"

Unlike maids who did chores, handmaids were often from lower nobles or fallen nobles.

It was a precedent that stemmed from the noble sense of choice, that expensive items such as dresses and accessories could not be left to the common people.

– Whether she is a commoner or not, an insult to this child is the same as an insult to me because she belongs to me now.

"That, that!"

– Of course, you should not think you'll be fine after insulting me.

This is my last warning, Lady. Aria added in a very friendly way.

Then the Lady opened and closed her lips a few times, and apologized in a crawling voice, as if she had nothing to say.

And as she ran away, she left the place.

"Young Madame, you're the best!"

Marronnier laughed and jumped and hugged Aria tightly. Aria hugged her, and watched the Lady's back as she disappeared in an instant.

Her clenched fists were trembling.

The next day.

"Young Madame, I'm going to give it to you first…"

Marronnier held out a rose-sealed letter. With a very uncomfortable look.

"Should I rip it off too?"

Marronnier acted like Tristan when he saw the letter from the imperial palace.

Aria fully understood her feelings.

A white rose pattern. This was because it was a sign to call for a gathering to which the Ladies who were still unmarried belonged.

The content of the letter was formal.

Since she was not yet familiar with the social world, it was to make friends through tea time.

"It must have been the Lady earlier! There won't be anything good."

– I'll go.

"Yes? Why?"

– Maybe Marronnier can get a decent guy.

Aria smiled softly, stroking Marronnier's hair gently.

The squirrel squirmed, puffing her cheeks, but quickly succumbed to Aria's sweet whisper and nodded her head.

"Well, why would she protect a commoner handmaid so hard? Anyone who sees it would think they're from the same commoner."

Burst of laughter.

Aria stopped her steps when she heard the voice of the Lady whom she had encountered in her hallway a while ago.

The sound was coming from the common room reserved for nobles visiting the Imperial Palace. It was the place where Aria was invited to tea time.

'The tea time hasn't even started yet.'

She was already involved in this? A sigh came out.

Aria was unaware that she was the center of the topic since the gutter rat case.

'Well, in fact, I could have guessed enough if I had paid a little attention.'

But she wasn't even interested.

'Because I didn't even feel the need to.'

So she just found out now. Some nobles were busy making fun of her.

"Then which side will Lady Willis bet on? There are quite a few people taking part in the bets now."

"Oh, then, where did you bet on, Lady Leshan?"

"I'm with the gutter. I think the decisive evidence is that the gutter was suddenly cleared in the year they got married."

"Then I'll bet a thousand chars there."

"Hoho, you're playing big! You don't even know if it's wrong, right?"

Hahahoho. The loud laughter passed by.

Aria leaned against the wall and listened silently to their conversation.

'It looks like they're making a bet to guess where the Grand Princess came from.'

The instigator of this bet was the Lady she met earlier in the hallway.

'Why are you so interested in me?'

Aria remembered who she was.

Lady Leshan. When talking about the Valentine's rumors, the Lady never fell out.

'I should have made more threats.'

She didn't know that Lady Leshan could be so unreasonable.

The nobles participated in the bet lightly without any objection. This is because if things go wrong, all they have to do is put the blame on the instigator and escape.

'Then what is the purpose of that Lady?'

Did she want attention?

There were sometimes such people. It's about putting a celebrity who gets everyone's attention on the board to join the influential crowd in the social world.

The nobility, who always wanted interesting topics even after life was boring, took the bait.

Aria never did it because it was stupid. The desire to be noticed.

'Usually that interest won't last long.'

If so, it would have been destroyed by itself even if she didn't care.

Aria again tried to pass it by without paying much attention to it.

"As everyone in this room knows, it's easy to tell if she's from nobles like us or not."

Until the instigator, Lady Leshan, said these words.

"I have prepared several tests for the Grand Princess."

"Test?"

"Yes, the Grand Princess' answer to the test is a hint for this bet. After the test is over, the second bet will start."

"In other words, before the end of this hunting competition, do you mean to guess the origin of the Grand Princess?"

A Lady asked in a playful tone.

"Right."

"You are thoroughly prepared!"

The Ladies burst into laughter.

'This is another story.'

So, she meant to publicly humiliate Aria.

If they had been arguing behind her back, Aria would have just ignored it. However, being disgraced in the social world is directly related to Valentine's prestige.

So she decided to play with the Ladies' trickeries, even in the midst of her busy schedule.

Knock, knock-

She went straight into the room without hesitation.

"Oh! Right on time."

"We were talking about the Grand Princess."

"That's right. I was so surprised when I first saw you. I couldn't take my eyes off you because you were so beautiful like you weren't from this world."

"We are amazed at how much it will be seen in the eyes of the Grand Prince, hoho."

The girls, who changed their attitude in an instant, smiled kindly and did not spare compliments.

'You covered your mouth with a fan to hide the ridicule.'

Aria, who was quick to the ecology of the nobles, did not respond much and took a seat in the seat they guided.

At that time, Lady Leshan pointed to a piece of paper with a butterfly drawing on it and whispered to the Lady sitting next to her.

She whispered while covering her mouth with her fan as well, got up from her seat with a picture of a butterfly and approached Aria.

"Oh, did you know that? The Imperial Palace chef even prepared a special teatime menu for us."

Please choose, Lady.

And turned the butterfly picture upside down.

The types of tea and the names of desserts were written in a foreign language.