Chapter 13 - La Grande Wilde Mansion Tour

The Wilde Mansion was impressive. It screamed of old and rich history. The building was very well-maintained and Scarlet didn't think there would be such buildings in Malaysia. The mansion looked straight out from a picture somewhere in Europe with the beautiful french windows and carved pillars. The girl almost forgot about being in the same country the moment the black sedan passed through the iron gates.

The gardens were beautiful and the arrangement was completely out of this world. Scarlet wasn't a fan of flowers but she knew the basics. Imagine seeing not just one tulip but a field of them growing in the garden as they drove to the porch. The half-genius could only guess the amount of labour and money poured into maintaining a garden as large as this. If she didn't experience coming through the main gates herself or knew that this was Alex's home, Scarlet would have thought that she was in Holland.

"How do you maintain a garden this huge? Do you sell the flowers or something? Why do you have tulips or every colour available... and roses and peonies and is that a lotus?"

Alex giggled at Scarlet's monologue. Jasper got out as soon as the car stopped, already used to the grandiose sight. His father spent hours every day ensuring that the garden would impress people so Scarlet's reaction was expected.

Jenna who held the car door open was bemused by the new friend's train of thought. As per tradition, the butler offered Scarlet a tour of the mansion while instructing some maids to prepare some snacks.

Mrs Wilde watched Alex and her friends from the third floor, hiding behind a curtain. She was even more interested in the girl with lopsided hair now ever since her arrival. Jenna doesn't usually smile with her heart but one comment from the new girl had the stiff butler grinning widely. If given the choice, Mrs Wilde would've run downstairs to greet them herself. Unfortunately, there was etiquette to be followed by people of a certain status. Jenna would have a heart attack if she saw Mrs Wilde acting on impulse so the lady of the house could only wait patiently.

Inside the mansion, Scarlet enjoyed the blast of cold air, a vast contrast to the brief heat they experienced outside when they alighted from the car. From the outside, the building was huge. From the inside, the building was humongous!

Although Scarlet wasn't very tasteful in art, she could appreciate the strategically placed sculptures and potted plants as they walked passed them. The paintings, on the other hand, weren't something Scarlet took interest in. If anything, she thought that it might be better to add some of Alex's scribbles as a child. Then again, the small girl paused. Did Alex ever do such normal things as a child? Judging from the wealth of this house, Alex might have been sent for art lessons before even she knew how to spell 'purple'.

Jenna introduced a little of the mansion's history as they were shown the sitting room, the fireplace, the dining, washrooms and guest rooms. Just before they moved to the gardens outside, Scarlet asked if there was a library.

Jenna blinked. "The Wilde Family owns a private library but it is back in America. We only have a small collection of books in the study that tutors will use when teaching the young mistress."

Alex blushed under the intense stare of Scarlet.

"You're lucky," the girl commented, surprising the young heiress.

Nobody commented on it but the butler was intrigued. Rich ten-year-olds would normally never willingly pick up books. They preferred running outdoors or hanging out with friends to play games. Alex would prefer a paintbrush or oil pastel over a book any good day while Jasper just loved to take naps under the sun in the garden. If Mrs Wilde knew that there was one kid in the world who adored books just as much as her, there would be no doubting her adoration for Scarlet.

The garden was just as Scarlet imagined it to be even under the unbearable heat. Yet again she surprised the butler by asking if they ever thought about utilising the land space to farm vegetables instead of they weren't going to sell the flowers.

"Some vegetables have very pretty leaves and flowers. Imagine if the bushes were replaced with tea... you could impress the guests by brewing home-grown tea! You could even try having some trees grown here. I know it might ruin the European fantasy but palm trees will make it look very pretty over by that pond. It feels more tropical but in this sweltering heat, it might give an illusion of an oasis spot."

Jenna nodded. Although Scarlet didn't have conventional ideas, they were interesting and practical.

"Thank you for the suggestion, Miss Scarlet. I shall inform the head gardener about them. It would indeed be interesting to see some of our guests reacting to drinking home-grown tea."

The underlying amus.e.m.e.nt and malice were lost on Scarlet who was too busy fighting the praise she received. That intention was not lost on the other two children who knew of some guests that the Wilde Family had bad blood with. Jenny's smile no longer reached her eyes for the rest of the house tour.

As promised, there were three cups of hot cocoa and an assortment of cookies waiting for the children after the walk outside. Scarlet also noticed a beautiful lady sitting by the low table with the steaming mugs.

"Hello, mother."

After hearing Alex's greeting, the lady frowned. Scarlet half-expected the lady to turn cold and become stern with Alex just like what her parents would have done. To her surprise, the lady rebuked Alex for being too 'stiff and formal' in front of her mother. The girl became squirmish when Mrs Wilde demanded a hug, a kiss and being called 'mommy' in that exact order. For a ten-year-old who was in that awkward stage of puberty, the open display of affection towards their parents in front of their friends became a little too much for poor Alex. Scarlet just watched them interact with envy gnawing at her heart. She felt ugly all of a sudden and it wasn't because of her disastrous hairstyle.

Mrs Wilde was quick to notice the odd expression in Scarlet's eyes and decided to give Alex a break. She then told the children to wash their hands before tea and nobody defied her. Alex was the first to run, quick to escape her mother's embarrassing antics in front of her friends.

Mrs Wilde took the chance to ask Jenna a few questions about the odd girl when the children were out of earshot.

"Have you done a background check on Scarlet?"

Jenna nodded and passed the heiress a folder that was delivered by a footman earlier. the lady of the house took the chance to excuse herself.

"Treat her with the utmost hospitality. I'm interested in her."

Jenna bowed with a hand over her heart. "Yes, my lady."