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Chapter 12
“Miss, are you feeling a little better?”
Minuet opened her eyes in her own bed on the morning after the ball. The more she tried to remember how she had returned home, the more her head throbbed as if it would split apart.
“You’re not even fully recovered yet, and you drank alcohol you can’t even handle like that.”
Rena placed a breakfast tray on the bed and looked at her with worry.
“When the Imperial carriage suddenly arrived, everyone was so shocked.”
“Imperial carriage?”
“Yes. Who did you ride with? His Majesty the Emperor? Or His Highness the Crown Prince?”
An Imperial carriage.
Minuet’s last memory was only of walking forward to avoid the young nobles who were looking at her with pity. How much had she drunk to remember nothing?
The words Imperial carriage suddenly filled her with fear of the memories she could not recall.
“I… don’t know. I didn’t make a mistake, did I?”
“Oh my goodness, Miss. You drank until your memory blacked out?”
Seeing her young lady nod awkwardly, Rena let out a heavy sigh through her nose.
“Miss, you’re too fearless. The world is dangerous. How could you just get into a carriage without knowing whose it was? It’s a good thing it was an Imperial carriage. What if it had been a stranger’s?”
Unlike Rena, who thought it was lucky, Minuet felt even more frightened because it had been an Imperial carriage.
It would have been better to be carried home by a stranger.
“Sister! What happened yesterday?”
A sudden voice from behind made both Minuet and Rena turn toward the door in surprise.
“You suddenly disappeared from the ballroom and scared everyone! And then you came home in an Imperial carriage!”
Despite the early hour, Lilliane was perfectly dressed. She dropped onto the end of Minuet’s bed and picked up the newspaper from the tray. Though her voice sounded shocked, her face showed excitement, as if she expected something interesting.
“Let’s see. Considering how many reporters were at the debutante ball, there should be at least one line explaining your ridiculous adventure last night…”
As she unfolded the newspaper, her expression suddenly brightened.
“There’s something even more interesting than your story.”
In her hand was not news about Minuet, but about another young lady of the LeVine family, decorating the front page.
<This Year’s Undisputed Queen: Lilliane LeVine!>
After Lilliane left the room in excitement, Minuet finally found peace. She let Rena brush her hair. Unlike Minuet, who was still suffering from a hangover, Rena worked skillfully, brushing her hair neatly and braiding it loosely. She tied a pink silk ribbon at the end and clapped her hands.
“It’s all done!”
Proudly admiring her work, Rena put down the brush. Minuet, however, turned her gaze toward the window, where noisy voices could be heard outside.
“Why is it so loud outside?”
As Rena grumbled, Minuet opened the window slightly and peeked out.
“Oh my!”
She quickly shut the window again, staring at Rena in shock.
“Why? What is it?”
Rena, who had been in the room all morning, flung the window open wide. Noise poured in.
The garden was filled with gift bundles, and unfamiliar men were standing around holding things in both hands.
“Line up! In a line!”
Minuet and Rena saw Selly, Lilliane’s maid, looking proud. She was running around like a sheepdog, lining up the servants holding gifts. When her eyes met Rena’s, she raised her voice even louder.
“There! You there!”
A gentleman with neatly styled blond hair pointed at himself as if asking if she meant him. Selly spoke louder.
“Yes, you! You’re Young Master Hunt’s servant, right? Stop glancing up at the second floor. You should know better. You’re making our Miss Minuet uncomfortable!”
Her voice echoed proudly through the garden. The men all turned their eyes to the second-floor window where Minuet stood. Startled, she quickly shut it and looked at Rena.
“What is going on?”
“Well, they must be servants of young masters who are desperate to meet Miss Lilliane. Look at all those flowers and letters. Just thinking about cleaning that up tonight—ugh.”
Rena shuddered in sympathy for the maids who would suffer.
“Please deliver this letter and gift to Miss Lilliane. Tell her my master truly wishes to meet her.”
“I will deliver it, of course, but there are sooo many letters for my lady already.”
“That’s why I brought you a gift too, Selly. Take this and move my master’s letter closer to the front.”
“Oh… Well, giving me this won’t change much—”
“Come on. We’ve known each other since we ran around the market streets as children. I’m counting on you. For my master.”
Hearing Selly’s voice through the window, Rena felt irritated.
“That Selly, honestly. Now that her lady became queen, her nose is higher than the ceiling. No, it’s touching the sky.”
“So all of this is to ask Lilliane to meet them?”
“Of course. I’ve only heard about it before, but when someone becomes the Queen of the Debutante, this happens sometimes. If everyone praises her as the queen, then those young masters think, ‘She must be the best bride,’ and they line up with their number tickets.”
If those gifts had been for Miss Minuet, Rena would have happily cleaned all night. But since they were for Miss Lilliane, she felt her stomach twist again at the thought of Selly’s proud face.
No matter how she thought about it, Minuet was a hundred times more worthy of being queen. But the moment had already passed.
Still, she decided to be kind-hearted for her lady who had just recovered from illness.
“Well, if all the young noblemen in town are gathered here, the other noble ladies in Ivelia must be very jealous. They must have made a big effort to debut, yet many are probably lying in bed without receiving even one letter.”
After laughing to herself, Rena suddenly met Minuet’s eyes and quickly covered her mouth.
“Please don’t misunderstand, Miss! What I meant was…”
All the words she had just said about other noble ladies fit her own lady too well. As Rena flustered, Minuet waved her hand lightly and smiled with her eyes.
“I know. But I didn’t debut.”
She answered bravely, but her heart still hurt.
She had not gone there to debut, but she had gone to look for a husband, just like the younger girls. In truth, she might have been trying to take away the husbands meant for them.
Let’s leave this complicated place.
As if making up her mind, Minuet grabbed the door handle.
“Where are you going? Didn’t you see the people filling the garden?”
“I’ll just stay inside the estate. Don’t worry.”
She reassured Rena and hurried down the stairs.
If proving the meaning of life through marriage was a noble lady’s duty, then unlike Lilliane, who had servants lined up in the garden with letters, Minuet had clearly failed.
After walking and walking, she reached the far western end of the estate.
Between bushes at the edge of the fence, there was a small door slightly open, as if no one had touched it for a long time.
‘Miss, where are you going without fear!’
It felt as if Rena’s scolding voice already echoed in her ears, but Minuet could not ignore the small door that seemed to invite her.
Unlike the carefully managed LeVine estate, beyond the door lay wild grass, uneven ground, and an abandoned lake.
It was clearly land without an owner.
It had been abandoned for a long time. After walking in circles around what must once have been a garden, Minuet dropped onto a flat stone. Her dress became dirty. Though simple and meant for indoors, it was still a LeVine lady’s dress, embroidered and paired with silk shoes that did not suit this forgotten place. But she did not care.
“If this were cleaned up, it would be a beautiful garden. Just a little work would make it much better.”
After sitting in thought for a while, she rolled up her sleeves.
“Well, I can’t run a computer program here… Ah! This will do.”
Looking around, she picked up a long, straight stick.
“I’ll make a path here…”
Squatting on the ground, she stared at the garden and began drawing on the dirt.
“I’ll leave the lake like this…”
After drawing for a long time, she finally stood up, satisfied. The hem of her dress was a mess with dirt, but her mind felt clearer than ever.
Being too old to debut.
Having to marry a child groom.
Being compared to her sister’s debut score.
All the thoughts that had filled her mind disappeared at once.
Old habits die hard.
Though she had declared she would enjoy her life as a count’s daughter, she was once again rolling up her sleeves and drawing plans. It felt a little embarrassing. Yet she was excited about changing this space.
“Ah! I should put up a fence so no one touches this.”
She picked up stones to protect her drawing, then suddenly laughed.
This garden had not been abandoned for just a year or two. Even the old paths were barely visible. No one would erase her drawing.
Looking at the space she would change, she brushed off her hands.
“Who else would even come here besides me?”
“Alright. Today I’ll just move that stone.”
She looked at a large rock sitting in the middle of the garden.
It had seemed too big to move before.
But after nearly ten days of cleaning the abandoned garden, she felt she could trust herself a little more.
One day of excitement became two, then three, then a week. Though she had lived long as an interior designer, picking up branches and moving stones herself felt fresh and exciting.
Feeling proud, she wiped her nose with her dirty hand and rolled up her sleeves again.
‘Where are you wandering off to? If you ruin your clothes again tomorrow, I’ll follow you!’
Remembering Rena’s warning after seeing her dirt-covered dresses, Minuet carefully folded her sleeves again.
How nice it would be to wear pants.
The pretty dress that had made her feel like a true count’s daughter now only got in the way. She touched the hem.
Should I just cut it off?
Ah, no. No.
If she did that, Rena’s scolding would be ten times worse.
Besides, today she had this.
She shook off the dust from the apron she had borrowed from a kitchen maid. She could not work without clothes, and she had no work clothes.
Then she would simply cover her dress as much as possible.
Remembering the confused look of the old maid who had given her the apron, Minuet tied it tightly behind her back.
Her target was the large rock.
Can I lift it?
She spread both hands wide and tried, but it did not move at all.
Of course.
Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she looked at it again.
There’s no way I can lift something this big alone.
It was the limit of her strength.
But unwilling to give up, she shoved both hands under the rock and pushed hard again.
Then—
Huh?
The rock suddenly felt lighter. Surprised, she fell back onto the ground.
“We will… no, we shall lift this stone.”
“Who are you?”
Two women, who looked like maids, lifted the rock easily. Minuet, who had never imagined anyone else would come here, asked in shock.
“And who might you be, young lady?”
Instead of the maids, an elderly woman approached and reached out her hand to Minuet.
