Chapter 26

Eckart quietly looked down at her wet eyes. Her eyebrows, which seemed large, became smaller and hid completely under her rich eyelashes.

“Anyway, there are no more terrible things that that….”

She murmured as if she was whispering to herself and then fell asleep.

It was the next morning when she woke up.

She woke up refreshed. She felt refreshed like a woman who woke up from deep slumber in a glacier for one hundred years. She had a long dream. Although her dream was vivid, she felt refreshed rather than tired.

Cordelli cried while holding her. When she woke up, she made a big fuss, saying she would call for the doctor. The doctor, who had been terrified for the last few days, went out after checking her condition. Mrs. Charlotte then brought in a warm cup of tea.

“You haven’t woken up for three days. Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m very fine. I think I can get up right now and eat three plates of steak.”

“What a relief! Then I wonder if you could do something about the loyal dog first? ”

“Dog?”

At her question, Mrs. Charlotte put the tea tray down and walked to the bed.

When she looked over the door which was not yet closed, she saw Iric pacing up and down.

“Are you saying now Iric is the dog?”

“Yes, he almost skipped meals for three days, pacing up and down around the door. He was like a dog waiting for her master. If you don’t stroke it quickly, your dog might die out of too much anxiety.”

Marianne burst into laughter at her remarks. She thought Mrs. Charlotte might have teased him so much as to compare him to a dog. In fact, Iric’s behavior actually looked like a big dog.

“Iric!”

Iric was surprised and looked around when she called him and checked out the atmosphere inside the room.

“Come in, Iric. It’s ok.”

Despite her approval, Iric couldn’t step in easily.

“Iric, won’t you come in? Shall I come to you?”

When she said as far as that, Iric came inside quickly.

She laughed again as he looked like a dog that lowered its tail.

“I’m sorry, Lady.”

“Why are you sorry, Iric? I should be grateful. Is your arm okay?”

“I’m alright. I’m fine now. ”

As if he was embarrassed by her concern about the cut on his arm, he touched a long scar on his face several times. If Mrs. Charlotte had not cut in, he would have been standing beside her all day.

“I’m sorry to interrupt you, but can I ask when it is my turn to talk with you?”

“Do you have anything to tell me?” Marianne asked, opening her eyes wide.

Mrs. Charlotte took a red envelope from her small pocket and passed it to her.

“I received an invitation from Marquise Chester this morning.”

“Marquise Chester?” Mariane muttered, dumbfounded.

“Is there any new nobleman named Chester in the capital? Or the marquis wrongly spelled it…”

Suddenly she thought of Hugo. When she said she was going to the capital without letting her father know, he asked her if there was a salon named Capital. When she confirmed it was the capital of Aslan, citing the Lucio Imperial Palace and the Frei family, she clearly remembered his eyes were trembling nervously.

“No way. Marquise Chester is the wife of the Chester family that you know. She is staying in the capital instead of his territory. Should I spell it? C, H, E…”

“No, you don’t have to. I just asked to double-check.”

Feeling a sense of guilt, Marianne opened the envelope. The red seal, engraved with the Chester family’s crest, was torn quickly.

The small card had a few lines in neat handwriting. She said she welcomed the new owner of the Elior Mansion, and hoped that she could participate in the time-honored tea party as a new member of the social circles in the capital.

“Is Marquise Chester’s tea party an important ritual in the capital?”

Mrs. Charlotte slightly twisted her eyebrows.

“Have you never heard of it?”

“Well, I think I’ve heard it once, but I don’t know much about it.”

It was natural that she replied like that. She was a daughter of Duke Kling who had been raised like a baby bird over 20 years. She was treated like a princess of a small kingdom and basked in the awe and love of all the people at the rare social events hosted by the northern social circles. That alone was enough to make this naive lady’s life affluent and happy.

Mrs. Charlotte brightened her face and smiled again. One of her specialties was that she knew how to judge a situation calmly. Although she wasn’t disappointed and hadn’t lost interest in this cute lady, she felt it would be better for her to not have any expectations.

She wanted to confirm one thing, though.

“If you don’t mind, I would like to explain to you about the social circles in Milan.”

“Please. That’s what I wanted to know.”

Fortunately, Marianne was very determined to learn and accept something new. Just because she was a daughter of a duke, she didn’t want to pretend she knew something she didn’t know. Neither would she throw a tantrum, complaining about the complicated situation before her.

“You had better listen to me too, Iric and Cordelli. You both should know the social events in order to accompany her.”

At Mrs. Charlotte’s advice, Iric brought two chairs into one side of the room. Cordelli and Ms. Charlotte sat next to the bed side by side and Iric stood with his sword at the foot of the bed.

“Do you know the two wives who represent the Milan socialite right now?”

“Well… I think I heard they were Marquise Chester and Duchess Lamont.”

“Yes, that’s right. You know well. Do you know that Duchess Lamont is the emperor’s aunt?”

“Ah yes. I know that. I saw it in a book called The History of the Frey Family. Empress Kathrin was born as Frei V’s youngest daughter, and she later got married to Justice Minister Duke Lamont and live in the capital. I heard they have a daughter.”

“I heard that you completed homeschooling through a tutor instead of completing the academy. It looks like your tutor used the latest version of the textbook.”

“Julia was a bit picky. She couldn’t stand being left behind. ”

“I have not met her, but she seems to be a good fit for me.”

While joking, Mrs. Charlotte put the teapot on the tray. The smell of the fragrant flower tea softened the air in the room.

“If you want to know the reason why the social circles in the capital have been blatantly divided into two groups as it is today, you have to go back to our predecessors.”

Marianne received the teacup offered by Mrs. Charlotte.

“Aren’t the two wives on good terms?”

“Nope. Their family roots are very different. The salon of Duchess Lamont inherits the salon of the late Empress Blair. If you go back further, it includes even the late grand empress’s salon.”

Based on her description, the duchess’s salon looked equal to the salon of the imperial family.

It was no wonder that the present emperor did not have a wife even after he was crowned as the emperor. Besides, he had no sister. In the end, the duchess, who was born as a daughter of the late empress, was succeeding the lineage of the imperial salon.

“On the other hand, Marquise Chester’s salon succeeds Duchess Hubble’s salon. Empress Fredi was born in the Hubble family, so the two families were friendly during their great great grandparents’ days.”

“If that’s the case, the two salons have been estranged since the late Empress Blair.”

“Yes. There is quite a complicated situation involved.”

Mrs. Charlotte paused for a moment and took a breath. Even before Marianne asked about it, she quickly resumed talking.

“Anyway, Marquise Chester was the late emperor’s concubine, but she is not close to the imperial family today.”

“That’s why she sent me an invitation?”

“In my judgment, yes. You are the only daughter of the Kling family as one of the three duke families in Aslan, who lived outside the capital. Besides, you’re the emperor’s fiancée.”

“It sounds like I’m a very important person.”

“Sure. Everybody will think of you as a decisive weight that can blow away one side of this scale completely. Of course, even now the Marquise’s salon still tilts closer to the floor.”

At a glance, it seemed simple to include the daughter of the duke, the future empress, as a member of the salon, but it was more political and complicated than normal. The two salons in the capital were very different from the one Marianne used to run at Lennox. It was not the type of salon where she invited close friends and artists for tea and entertainment.