CH 41

Livia let out a small laugh at the feel of the brush tickling her cheek.

Then she heard a stern voice.

“You must not move.”

“I’m sorry, but it tickles me so much…….”

“I understand that the sensation of a thin brush can tickle the skin, but if you move even slightly, it will ruin all the makeup.”

“Yes, I won’t move anymore.”

Livia clenched her fist in determination and tensed my body.

The soft brush tickled her cheek again, so Livia immersed herself in other thoughts to forget the ticklish sensation.

‘Honestly, I was surprised.’

Livia woke up early in the morning to prepare for going out. After showering and changing into her clothes, Chelsea knocked on the door.

It was earlier than usual, so Livia was curious when she opened the door. Chelsea was holding a bunch of cosmetics and accessories in her arms.

‘Chelsea? Is this…….’

‘I borrowed it from the other maids, and I’m here to help you get ready for your outing.’

‘Huh?’

Chelsea neatly pushed past Livia, helped her with her hair, and then applied her makeup. 

Livia hadn’t expected Chelsea to help with her makeup, so she still couldn’t quite believe the situation.

‘The smell of cosmetics; it’s been a while…….’

Truthfully, Livia didn’t wear makeup very often. In fact, she could count on one hand the number of times she’d worn makeup in her whole life.

‘Did I wear it once at the academy graduation party?’

Maybe that’s why the sensation of the brush gliding over her face felt so unfamiliar.

‘What if it doesn’t suit me?’

Livia was lost in the worry.

Chelsea was putting in a lot of effort to do her makeup, but what if it didn’t suit me?

Livia was worried that she’d disappoint her kind friend.

Lost in her thoughts, Livia continued to be caught up in unnecessary worries until–

“It’s done.”

“Ah…….” Livia hesitated, frozen in the spot as unfamiliar fear washed over her.

~ Translations by Lurelia | Editing by Valpal | Read only at moonlightnovels.com ~

“I’ve learned makeup techniques in a hurry, so I’m still a bit inexperienced. If you don’t like it….,” Chelsea’s voice piped up from beside her. 

“No, no!”

‘What are you talking about, Chelsea?!’

Livia had shouted out her denial abruptly, startling Chelsea enough that she looked back at her in surprise.

Livia turned back to her reflection in the mirror.

To be fair, it wasn’t a fancy makeup look. Rather, it was a simple makeup look that stuck to the basics.

‘But that’s what makes it suit me better.’

Livia stared blankly at her subtly different face, as if it were someone else’s.

She could become this beautiful. Livia Pellington was pretty to begin with, but with Chelsea’s makeup, she was even more striking.

Livia sincerely admired Chelsea and turned to her.

“Thank you, Chelsea. I look so beautiful,” Livia said with a wide smile, and Chelsea looked at her for a moment before nodding.

“I’m glad you think so.”

“I’ll be careful not to smudge it.”

Livia really meant it. Chelsea’s efforts had made a special day feel even more special.

With an excited heart, she stood up from her seat.

Livia stood in front of the full-length mirror one last time to check her appearance.

She had neatly combed her usually half-tied dark, curly hair and let it loose. She also wore a wine-colored dress that she’d bought especially for the occasion.

Since the weather was chilly, Livia put on a dark brown coat over it and wore comfortable boots.

‘Good.’

With a pocket full of money, Livia turned to Chelsea.

“How does it look?”

“It suits you well,” Chelsea nodded.

“Hehe, thank you,” Livia said as she smiled with satisfaction and glanced at the time. 9 o’clock.

It was about time.

Livia looked back at Chelsea, her heart pounding with anticipation.

“Bye then, Chelsea, I’ll give you a present when I get back.”

“Have a good time.”

Before leaving the room, Livia turned to Chelsea again. A little shyly.

“Thank you so much for helping today. Thanks to you, it’s going to be a special day.”

Upon hearing those words, Chelsea looked at her for a moment, then nodded with a faint smile.

“Then, have a wonderful time!”

“Yes.”

With that, Livia left the room and headed straight for Vincent’s room. On the way, she checked out the window and her expression darkened a little.

It was cloudy.

Until yesterday, the sky was clear, and she was relieved. But this morning, dark clouds started to gather rapidly.

‘It’s not going to rain, right?’

“Oh, don’t jinx it,” she muttered to herself.

She resolved not to think about ominous things. Livia immediately shook her head to get rid of the uneasiness.

Meanwhile, she arrived in front of Vincent’s room.

“Phew.”

Livia took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

“Vincent, I…….”

She barely started her sentence, when with a loud bang, the door flew open.

“Tutor Via!” Vincent greeted her with a wide smile, hugging her tightly.

“Vincent!”

In a sudden impulse, Livia hugged Vincent and chuckled as she looked at him looking up at her.

Oh my… How was this even possible? 

He was just so…

‘He is so adorable!!’ Livia squealed inwardly.

Vincent was unbelievably cute today.

The wine-colored beret, the equally wine-colored shirt, the shorts that came to his knees, the long white socks, and the black shoes.

Not even a doll could be as adorable as this. Even his fluffy silver hair peeking out through the beret was perfectly adorable.

Unknowingly, Livia murmured, “Vincent, you’re so cute.”

Hearing that, Vincent’s eyes sparkled, and he looked up at her, asking, “Really?”

Nodding vigorously, Livia replied, “Yes, absolutely!”

Vincent blushed, giggled, and exclaimed, “Tutor Via is the most beautiful in the world.”

“Really?”

“Yes! I mean it, really!”

As if to emphasize his sincerity, Vincent spread his arms wide.

“I don’t lie.”

“Yeah, Vincent never tells lies.”

Even when filtered through a child’s ‘my mom is the prettiest thing in the world’ filter, Livia decided to take his word for it. 

‘Because he’s cute.’

And today, with Chelsea’s make-up and new style, Livia felt even prettier than usual, so she happily accepted Vincent’s compliments.

By the way…

“Who made you look so cute?”

Today’s Vincent was so cute, Livia couldn’t help but ask.

The answer came from the other side of the door.

“It was me, tutor.”

“Eh?”

The door swung open, and an unexpected figure stepped out.

“Butler?”

It was Winston.

As he bowed his head, Vincent nodded, confirming that she was right.

As Livia stood there, stunned by the unexpected appearance, Winston chuckled and said, “It’s a special day for the young master, so he wanted to look pretty, and I personally styled him.”

“You, the butler?”

“Yes, me.”

Livia looked back and forth between Vincent and Winston with surprise in her eyes.

She honestly never knew Winston had such a sense of style.

Well…

‘He played the role of a nanny in the original, after all.’

Perhaps precisely because it was Winston, he was able to style Vincent so perfectly.

Livia nodded in pure admiration.

~ Translations by Lurelia | Editing by Valpal | Read only at moonlightnovels.com ~

“It really suits Vincent.”

“Thank you. And you, Tutor, look particularly beautiful today.”

Livia blushed slightly at his words.

It made her a bit embarrassed to hear such words directly from someone else.

“It’s thanks to Chelsea. She helped me a lot.”

“Chelsea, you say?” Winston’s eyes widened in surprise. “I didn’t know she had such skills.”

“Yeah, I was surprised too.”

Thinking of Chelsea at the same time, the two of them looked at each other and nodded.

After a little more conversation, they all headed towards the entrance where the carriage was waiting.

As they walked, something suddenly came to Livia’s mind.

“By the way, Butler, will we have an escort accompanying us today?”

Neither Winston nor Cardien had mentioned an escort.

‘They’re not going to let us go out on our own,’ Livia assumed.

It seemed almost inevitable that a guard would be assigned. She was almost certain of it.

And if it was a knight of the Duke of Mercedes, they should be safe.

For information on the Knights of the Duke of Mercedes, one need look no further than the original source material.

‘Those who dream of honor go to the imperial palace, those who uphold faith go to the temple, but those who dream only of the sword go to Mercedes.’

The Knights of the Duke of Mercedes were famous for their swordsmanship, to the extent that the above statement circulates widely among aspiring knights.

Moreover, the Order is commanded by Cardien himself.

While most noble families appoint a commander for their knight order and train them separately, Cardien personally takes charge of their training.

‘Now that I think about it, he’s truly remarkable,’ Livia mused.

Managing both a family and a knight order all while barely getting any sleep and suppressing a headache with sedatives.

If both were average, it wouldn’t be so remarkable, but the fact that he was at the top of the Empire in both business and military power made it all the more impressive.

‘He must reach that level to be the villainous second male lead of the story.’

While Livia was thinking to herself–

“What are you talking about?”

–A voice came out of nowhere, causing her to look over at Winston.

He replied again with a puzzled look on his face.

“Why would you need an escort?”

“Huh? What do you mean…”

Why would we need an escort? Was he really asking because he didn’t know?

Winston, who cared for Vincent more than anyone else, wouldn’t ask such a question.

As Livia was about to ask him back with doubt in her mind.

‘What?’

Just as they arrived at the mansion’s entrance and turned their heads, she was left speechless.