“?”
from?
I?
"What's that stupid look on your face?
Didn't you hear me?
I'm telling you to lower your head now!"
She was screaming at me.
"Aren't you the one who entered someone else's house without permission?
This is nonsense."
“Banji, stop it.
You shouldn’t insult her in front of everyone.”
At that time, the woman named Adeline shouted at the maid.
“Sorry, miss, my thoughts were short.”
“As expected of Miss Adeline…..!”
It was ridiculous to see them playing drums for her among themselves.
“Excuse me, my maid.
My maid made a small mistake, okay?”
Adeline, who took my hand casually, smiled.
“It's not okay, please apologise.”
(I am the one who spoke)*
“What?”
Adeline paused.
“What kind of behavior is this?”
(And here are the words of Adeline’s drum)*
“I'm surprised.
Is this Dale's wife?
If he's been kidnapped, we should help him.”
Adeline looked around and smiled.
She smiled and lowered her eyes.
“I will apologize on her behalf, I am sorry.”
“…….”
“She must have offended you.
Did she hurt your feelings?”
Adeline had an innocent expression on her face.
“It's a bit strange, isn't it?”
As the whisper grew louder, Adeline put on a sad expression.
She waved her hands and looked at me.
“Actually, because you are my new neighbor, I came here to greet you, but this is what happened.”
Her neighbor?
We're not technically neighbors if she's from Kielland.
Kydland's feudalism extended far beyond the dividing line.
"Ah.
I suppose Miss Anne doesn't know because she's a foreigner?"
Adeline smiled shyly.
‘Oh…….’
It's been a while since I've been in social circles that I forgot about it for a while.
My devoted maid Emma told me many stories, one of which was about...
What is called rotation in conversation.
‘You don’t know because you’re weird, right?’ was the phrase that turned me off.
Adeline pulled her angelic blonde hair back.
“Grünewald and Kydland are very close fiefdoms and I like the nature of this part of Grunwald so much that I stay in the palace.”
“Adeline, you and Lord Grunwald are close.
You are almost like his granddaughter.”
Her maid, Panji, or Banda, added additional explanation.
“Miss Anne is a foreigner, but she will live here from now on……?”
I thought I heard teeth grinding.
Did I hear him wrong?
“So, Miss Anne...”
Adeline closed her mouth and pursed her lips.
Then she smiled again.
“I would like to invite you to a tea party.
I know it will not be easy for you to adapt, but I will help you because you are a foreigner.”
Adeline laughed softly.
She certainly looked like a beautiful and friendly aristocratic young miss.
But every time she spoke, the word “foreign or strange” followed her.
'Adeline Kydland.'
كيدلاند، كيدلاند.
I looked at her thinking.
“Is this perhaps too much?”
Adeline's voice brought me back to reality.
Behind her, Adeline's followers were laughing.
“Her manners are nothing compared to your impeccable manners, Miss Adeline.”
Adeline Kydland.
She said she lives in a mansion now.
'If it's a palace, isn't it Lord Grunwald's palace?'
The one with the high access wall because it was said that the master was under an unidentified curse.
“If my invitation to Miss Anne is too much for you, perhaps——.”
“I'll go.”
I nodded gently.
“Oh really?”
She narrowed her eyes and then smiled happily, her green eyes sparkling.
“Thank you for inviting me, I think I will learn a lot.”
I smiled and accepted the invitation.
I made sure to tell her that.
“Dear Dale is a stranger too.”
“…….”
* * *
Adeline got out of the cart and kicked the cart with her feet.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Boom!
The wheels of the carriage creaked loudly under its kicks.
Adeline stood, holding her swollen foot.
“This is disgusting!
I am so upset!”
“Miss!”
“This is the girl that Dale chose.
I must be wrong, right, Dale?!”
Anger replaced the smile on Adeline's face.
The calm that had previously prevailed was gone, and all that was left was a woman screaming like a beast.
Adeline bit her nails
“Dale must have gone crazy!”
“Miss, calm down.”
“I'll calm down, just shut up!”
"my dear?
Ha, she said dear!”
"my sister!"
A woman approached Adeline.
She was thin, with brown hair.
She looked like she was in her twenties or teens, so it was hard to tell.
“Are you back?”
“Ah, yes.”
Yorta, the lord's aide, frowned, but Adeline didn't care.
She threw the fan away.
“Don't worry, I'll pick it up.”
The brown-haired woman quickly ran over and picked up the fan.
“I need to throw a proper party.”
“Ah……, yes, yes, yes, I will make sure it is as good as you said.”
Then the woman looked at Adeline, a little disturbed.
“But where are you going...”
The woman fiddled with the ends of her hair shyly, hesitating, afraid of offending Adeline.
“Sister, I hope I am not in the palace, my grandfather is very ill.”
"What?"
“You know, sister.
Why don't we go out?
Maybe on a walk or…….”
“What are you talking about?”
Adeline pushed the woman away.
“Why us?
Did you think I would do this to you?”
"no?"
“Ha ha…….
Don't be silly!
“I want to have a tea party here, I never said I wanted to spend time with you.”
“Ha, but…….”
“Don't be silly and open the only greenhouse here, Sofia!”
“Oh, no, not the greenhouse, sister.
The greenhouse has been taken care of for my grandfather’s treatment…….”
At this time, Sophia, who received Adeline's harsh gaze, hurriedly lowered her head.
“Forgive me, I’m sorry, but I can’t have a party when my grandfather is bedridden due to illness, can’t you, sister, understand me?
Instead, I will give you my mother’s earrings that my sister wanted…….”
“I don't need them!”
Jingle!
Adeline accidentally slapped the girl's cheek.
“……!”
“Oh…….”
“Well, I didn't mean that.
No. ……Do you want to make me look bad?!”
Adeline was rather rude.
Sophia held back her tears.
"What do you do?"
Yorta, Adeline interrupted.
“Lord is sick.
Please don’t make a fuss.”
“Who's making a fuss?”
Adeline frowned.
“You're telling me that I'm like your big sister, and you can't do me a favor?
Did I ask for your surname?
Did I ask for money?
I asked to have a party in this boring place, and you won't let me do that?”
“Ah, sister…….”
“Are you going to disappoint me?
How much I cared about you!
But can’t you fulfill even one request like that?!”
“Well, that's not it...”
"Did I ask you to do something difficult?
It's a favor!
I gave you my dress, told you all about how to be discreet, and you didn't even tell me that Dale got married!"
“He only talks to my grandfather and his assistants...”
“Shut up!”
Adeline screamed, and Sophia lowered her head.
“Okay…….I will do whatever you want, sister.”
Adeline relaxed, her face like a cat that had just gotten what it wanted.
The venomous look from earlier faded, replaced by a smile that could only be described as angelic.
“Thank you.
I knew that.”
Adeline stroked Sofia's brown hair, stared at Yurta, and then entered the palace.
“Banji, you know what day it is, right?”
"You mean the day of the tea party?
Of course I know that.
It's a very important day, isn't it?"
“Woo hoo, it is.”
Adeline chewed her nails, remembering the face of the woman named Anne she had seen earlier.
“It's beautiful, but annoying.”
“You're prettier, though.”
"I know."
Adeline was always called the most beautiful.
“I invited a group of people to the tea party.
Only women who can compliment me.”
"Show."
Adeline smiled evilly as she walked up the stairs.
She was in a very good mood.
“I'll make her kneel for me.”