🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 36
The next day, Mio once again opened her eyes on the bed.
“An unconscious instinct to seek out comfortable places… really is scary.”
Maybe because it was the second time, it wasn’t that embarrassing anymore. As she said goodbye to the soft bedding and got up, Rosa—who must have come in at some point—ran over in a hurry.
“Rosa. Did you sleep well?”
“Yes. Sir Jamie said that starting today, I’m allowed to attend to you, Master.”
“I’ll be counting on you. By the way, where’s Aletheia?”
“I don’t know. When I came in, only you were here.”
Hmm. Looks like he’s an early riser. A morning person, maybe?
“Here—this is a letter.”
Rosa held out a plate with an envelope on it.
“For me?”
“Yes. Sir Simon said it arrived early this morning.”
“I can already guess who it’s from…”
There was only one person who would send a letter here just one day after she’d moved into the Moro estate.
“Caleb must have sent another banquet invitation.”
She opened the envelope, and sure enough, an invitation with a banquet date inside came out.
“Other than this, wasn’t there anything else? Like a big box sent with it?”
“A box…?”
“Yeah. Probably a box of clothes.”
“I-I’ll go look for it right now!”
Rosa rushed out of the room. But on the tray she’d left behind, there was another envelope.
“Did she accidentally bring one meant for Aletheia?”
Mio set down Caleb’s invitation and picked up the remaining envelope. Taking a closer look, she saw it was an extremely luxurious one, gilded and sealed with wax.
“It looks like something only the imperial palace would use…”
She felt a bad premonition, but her hands had already opened it. Her curiosity was already reading the words.
**[To the future Moro couple.
My dear Moro. Have you been well? Seeing that I’m the one picking up the pen first again, I suppose you aren’t ill anywhere. By the way, it’s been quite some time since I heard about your public engagement. Normally you would come to greet me first, but if I just wait, it seems we’ll never exchange greetings at all.]**
“……”
So that’s why it felt too high-grade to be ordinary.
At that moment, someone snatched the letter out of Mio’s hands. When she looked up, Aletheia was standing beside the bed.
When did he come in?
“The letters got mixed up. Looks like your maid made a mistake.”
“…Haha, she probably just isn’t used to the Moro estate yet.”
“You don’t need to worry about this.”
Aletheia said that as he crumpled both the letter and envelope together. A piece of paper that must have cost a fortune was turned into worthless trash in one second.
“His Majesty will probably wait a few months.”
Mio silently watched Aletheia’s expression. Going to the imperial palace right now would not be a good idea.
“Who knows what would happen if I went. I’d be crazy to go there.”
If the emperor said something like, “By royal command, get married immediately,” she’d go bald trying to deal with it. And going there to greet him when she wasn’t even Aletheia’s real marriage partner felt morally uncomfortable too.
Just then, Rosa—who had gone out—came back in, panting while carrying a box.
“Master, Master! The box! I brought the box!”
“Ah—yeah.”
“Here. This is it, right?”
Rosa cracked it open slightly. Inside was the pink dress Caleb had worn at the previous banquet. Aletheia, looking down at it, frowned.
“What’s this?”
“Caleb sent a banquet invitation. I guess he was worried I might forget and not attend.”
“No. I’m asking why he sent a used dress.”
“Ah, that’s…”
Only then did Mio remember that she had attended the last banquet with Aletheia—and that he had come face-to-face with Caleb. That was why he recognized the dress.
“Sigh… how do I explain this?”
She couldn’t exactly say that she had to wear Caleb’s clothes because she was playing the villainess role.
No matter how hard she thought, no good excuse came to mind. As Mio swallowed nervously, Aletheia seemed to interpret things his own way and handed the box back to Rosa.
“He didn’t send someone all this way just to take out the trash, did he? Come to think of it, didn’t he send clothes last time too?”
“……”
“You wore that one.”
Aletheia seemed to be recalling the strange reactions from people back then. Mio hurriedly opened her mouth. She absolutely did not want him thinking any further.
“H-He probably sent it because he thought I didn’t have any clothes…!”
“And you really didn’t, so you wore it?”
Aletheia asked with a look of disbelief. Mio quickly changed the subject.
“Lete. Will you be my partner for today’s banquet? If you’re not feeling well, you can refuse.”
“…Fine. I’ll go with you.”
He answered reluctantly, then added:
“It’d be better not to wear that.”
…But I really don’t have any clothes. Are you telling me to go in my pajamas?
* * *
Fortunately, Aletheia had an alternative. The custom order from Count Duon’s shop—the place where he’d bought things last time—also included clothes. So Mio headed there early.
She was resting her chin in her hand, looking very serious.
“Is this really okay…?”
Until now, she had never attended a banquet wearing anything other than Caleb’s clothes. Not even once. So there was no telling what kind of result this might bring.
Going to a banquet in her own clothes had always been one of the things she wanted to do once she made money—but now that the chance had been forced on her, she felt nothing but anxious. Maybe it was because it wasn’t actually bought with her own money.
Mio gnawed on her fingertips as she thought.
“Still, if I go with Aletheia, some kind of nullification will probably apply, right?”
Yeah. It’ll be fine.
Thus, Mio abandoned the rule she’d been following against her will—“wear the same clothes as Caleb”—for a rather absurd reason. There was no reason to insist on wearing that dress in front of Aletheia anyway. Giving up on thinking further, she ruffled her hair and shouted,
“Ah, whatever! I’ll just wear something new for once!”
If I’m quitting, I might as well try something nice first. With a big sigh of resignation, Mio relaxed. Just then, the carriage came to a stop. Rosa got out first and opened the door.
“Master! Take my hand!”
Rosa’s eyes were sparkling as if she was enjoying her new role immensely.
“Well… at least you’re having fun.”
Mio looked at Rosa with enlightened eyes and said,
“By the way, what’s Roy doing?”
“Him? He’s probably sprawled out sleeping under a bed right now.”
Rosa seemed particularly pleased at the thought of Roy being stuck in the servants’ quarters. Judging by her smug look, he must have been making a big fuss about it.
“Yeah… on a day this nice, being stuck inside would be frustrating.”
It’s not a prison, after all. Mio decided she’d take Roy for a walk when she got back and opened the shop door.
Ding—!
“Welcome—oh my goodness! Lady Mio! You finally came!”
Count Duon ran out from behind the counter, enthusiastically welcoming her. Mio replied while feeling like her head was being shaken by his energy.
“I heard there were clothes among the items I ordered last time. Can they be altered to my size right now? I need something to wear to today’s banquet.”
“Of course! Of course! Don’t I roughly know Lady Mio’s size just by looking? Once I found out you were the one receiving the gifts, I had everything altered in advance!”
“Really? Then you should’ve just sent them straight to the grand duke’s residence.”
What a waste of effort coming all this way. I could’ve been at home filming ‘The Safe Is Watching You’. As Mio answered blandly, Count Duon made a big show of it.
“Oh my! You really don’t understand my heart! I told you to come visit, didn’t I? It’s just an excuse to see your face again. And besides, remember that safe from last time? There’s another auction item from the same source! It’s basically a matching set with the safe!”
