Chapter 102 - Standing Out Too Much (II)

“Then why don’t you get a new product from Angelica’s family when it comes out,” suggested Tiana, to which Alexandra replied, “Oh my, that’s great. I heard that your family’s new product is supposed to be a good one.”

“I think it’ll be a good payback rather than a reimbursement. How about it, Angelica?” Tiana asked.

“Uh…” Angelica, who exclaimed at Tiana’s words, looked at her for a moment and nodded. “Sure… The new product is a really good one. I will deliver it right away when it’s released.”

“I can’t wait.”

“If it’s all right, I’d like to send one to you, too, Grand Duchess Tiana. Will that be okay?” asked Angelica.

“To me? I can buy it when it’s released,” Tiana replied.

“But I really want to give it to you.”

“Umm… that’s fine. Thank you. I, too, can’t wait.”

“Yes!”

Angelica, smiling brightly and nodding her head with a bright face that Tiana had not seen earlier, almost captivated her heart. What a beauty, Tiana thought. Before she knew it, she looked at Tiana with a pleasant feeling, and she was proud that she had made a good opportunity to be close to Angelica.

*

Drinking a new cup of tea, Tiana continued a brief conversation with Viscountess Garnett. Perhaps the charming viscountess, who was more attractive than she’d expected, was impressed by what had happened earlier, she praised Tiana the whole time they talked.

The viscountess was very impressive and easy to get along with. She also hinted about Evett, saying in a quiet voice that she had received word from Alexandra and that she would try to connect him with Tiana.

“I was told he is having a lot of trouble expanding his business. With your help, even the children will be ecstatic.”

“That would be nice! Thank you.”

“You’re welcome! Just leave it to me.”

Thanks to her kindness, Tiana was able to finish the friendly conversation with no worries.

After some time had passed, she felt relaxed and came out of the garden into the hallway. Having talked for such a long time, she felt a stinging feeling in her lips while leaning against a wall and relaxing her face. It was even hard to smile or speak.

Taking a seat on a nearby sofa, she decided that she’d go back after resting for a bit. She relaxed her stiffened body from tension and leaned back and stared blankly at the ceiling when she heard a familiar cry from afar.

“Huh? Rose?”

Rose, sticking out of the thicket at the end of the hallway, purred and approached Tiana after discovering her. Tiana smiled at the sight of her after a long time and said, hugging her who had come to her feet, “Oh, Rose. How have you been? You’re still as pretty as ever. Were you roaming all alone? There are leaves all over you.”

Meow!

Tiana carefully picked off the tiny pieces of leaves from Rose’s fur, wondering where she’d been wandering. Perhaps Tiana’s touch made her feel good, Rose wiggled in her lap and purred softly. What should I do with this lovely cat? she thought.

Unable to hide her affection, she petted Rose’s soft fur and became blanketed with happiness. If only it weren’t Rael’s pet, she would take her and raise her herself. She was envious. How could such a cute cat like this exist? Tiana had no cat to call her own. It’d be good to raise one since Lucius liked cats, but she still wanted to enjoy her life as a newlywed. I’ll have to consider it after some time goes by, she thought.

Meow!

“What’s wrong, Rose?”

Rose pricked her ears before jumping down from Tiana’s lap. The cat, looking toward the grass, tilted her head a few times, came to Tiana, and clung to the hem of her dress.

Meow, meow!

“What’s wrong? Rose? Is there something over there? All right, all right. Let’s go.”

Tiana couldn’t hear anything, but Rose, who was probably sensing something, tugged her dress and pulled her toward the thicket. Seeing the cat behaving like they had to go that way right now, she stood up against her will and followed behind her.

With Rose leading the way into the grass, a small side path appeared. Wondering why there was a path like this in the grass, she followed Rose carefully as she continued to move forward. As it was a side path, it looked like they’d get lost if they made one mistake, but Rose moved on without hesitation, knowing the way well.

“ Have we arrived? Here?”

Arriving someplace a little further up, Rose stopped, looked at Tiana, and purred. Looking around, it was a smaller garden than the one at the palace; it felt more like a yard than a garden. While looking around the piece of land between the surrounding thicket, she saw Rose come up and hit her leg.

“Oh, Rose. What in the world is here to make you act like this?”

Meow!

“Over there? Oh, hold on…”

Embarrassed by Rose, who was pulling on the hem of her dress once again, she had no choice but to go in that direction. How powerful the cat’s pull was. Tiana wondered how she kept doing it as if there was something she absolutely had to see. As she walked in the direction of Rose’s pull, she could see another yard over the small thicket. In this place that looked bigger than the last one, there was a person, and upon looking closely, Tiana realized that it was Angelica.

“What is Angelica—”

Meow!

“Oh, wait…!”