CH 10.1

Lila sat on the couch, nibbling on a grape, staring at the table.

Jessie was smiling broadly, stacking gift boxes one on top of the other.

“You still have more?”

“Yes. The Duke must be deeply in love with the lady, judging by the number of gifts he sent you.”

“Hmm… Is that so?”

“Really? Even after seeing this evidence, you still want to say that?”

Jessie exclaimed, throwing her arms up in the air, even more excited than she was. Lila studied Jessie’s beaming face and then dropped her gaze.

The boxes ranged from elaborately crafted wooden boxes to paper ones.

“So, do you want to open them?”

“Yes!”

At her words, Jessie began to open the boxes one by one. The wooden boxes contained an assortment of jewelry, and the paper boxes contained a variety of accessories, starting with a bonnet.

The largest box was filled to the brim with alluring hydrangea flowers.

“My lady, look at these hydrangeas. He have sent so many hydrangea flowers, which only the royalty can obtain. It’s incredibly beautiful.”

“…Yes.”

The blue hydrangeas were even more luxurious and deeply colored than the ones she’d seen in Korea.

“Do you want me to get a vase for them?”

“…Yes.”

“I’ll be right back!”

Jessie grabbed the hem of her skirt and ran out. She should have told the maid not to run, but Lila didn’t mind.

She liked Jessie’s exuberance.

After staring at Jessie’s back for a moment, Lila looked back at the table.

“He has good taste.”

He didn’t just send her a gift, he sent her gifts to her liking like a ghost1in the manner of being amazingly precise and accurate in action or guessing..

“Mmm…”

She set the grapes she was holding on her plate and reached out. Lila placed a single hydrangea in her hand and inhaled the scent.

The rich scent hit her nostrils and she scratched her head.

“I wonder if hydrangeas were originally a fragrant variety…”

She thought about it for a moment, since it didn’t seem to be the case when she was Yoon Seol, but then eventually agreed.

“I’m sure it’s the same there as it is here. It’s a different world in the first place.”

The hydrangeas that filled her hands were not only nice to look at, but they also smelled good. She couldn’t help but smile.

Knock knock.

“Come in.”

She assumed it was Jessie, but at the sound of the voice, Lila looked up.

“Lila!”

“Michael-nim!”

Lila quickly put down the hydrangea to hug Michael, who came in running with a big smile on his face.

Lila rubbed his cheeks together, loving the way he squirmed in her arms.

“How did you do in class?”

“Don’t you ever get bored of asking me that?”

“It’s not boring.”

He stared at her for a moment, smiling as she spoke, then said.

“Let’s have tea in the hydrangea garden.”

“Why not?”

“It’s at its most beautiful now.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

“Okay.”

Michael took the magic bell from his pocket. A moment later, Henry came in.

“I need you to set up a tea table in the hydrangea garden.”

“Yes, I understand, young master.”

“Ah, butler Henry. Come here for a moment.”

Catching Henry as he was about to leave, Lila went to the bedroom and came out, holding out a tub of cosmetics.

“Madam?”

To Henry’s puzzled look, Lila explained.

“Put this on before you go to bed, then this when you wake up. And make sure you apply this cream thoroughly before you go outside.”

“What is this…”

Michael said to Henry, who looked baffled and unable to accept the cosmetics.

“The beauty cream that Lila gave me is effective. You’re like me, we have a lot of freckles. If you apply it, it will disappear little by little. Is that right?”

Michael asked, turning to Lila, who gave him a small smile.

“That’s right, Michael-nim.”

Then she looked at Henry and said.

“It’s not going to go away that fast. It’s good if you apply it every day for a long time.”

“…Madam.”

He looked at her with a grateful face, then bowed his head deeply.

“Thank you so much, my lady. I will never forget this favor.”

“Don’t return the favor to me, I want you to return it to Michael, because it was actually a gift from him.”

Henry looked at her for a moment as she spoke in a joking tone, then bowed his head again.

“I will never forget your grace, my lady and young master.”

Lila chuckled at his overreaction to a mere gift of cosmetics.

After Henry left the room, Michael said.

“The cream you gave me seems to be working really well. The massages I’ve gotten have been rather itchy and stinging, and they don’t seem to be doing much good.”

“Really?”

“Yes, and so did the other creams, even if they weren’t made with cucumber. How the hell do you make beauty creams like that, Lila? Are you an alchemist?”

“No.”

Returning to Michael’s side, Lila gently stroked his chocolate-colored curly hair.

“Is that’s a secret too? Then I won’t ask anymore.”

Clever Michael noticed Lila’s confused expression and replied. At his answer, Lila smiled.

“Thank you as always. Michael.”

Michael smiled back as he wrapped his arms around her head and hugged her.

“Thank you, too, Lila.”

A moment later, they emerged into the hydrangea garden and were escorted by Henry and Jessie to their table.

Michael was the first to pull out a chair for Lila.

“Thank you.”

Sitting down, Lila removed her bonnet. There was no need to wear it here, with only Michael, Jessie, and Henry, who had only recently discovered her true face.

The servants she encountered while coming down the stairs paid little attention to her wearing her bonnet.

Rather, everyone’s expressions were bright, probably because they felt relieved that they didn’t have to see her ugly face. To the point where it feels a bit blatant.

Michael made a face at their behavior, but Lila quietly led them into the garden.

The hydrangea garden, which they had visited before the flowers were in bloom, had a completely different atmosphere.

The hydrangeas, with their large clusters of flowers, looked brighter in the light.

“Which would you like between iced tea and warm tea, madam.”

Jessie asked.

“I’ll have iced tea. Which would you prefer, Michael-nim?”

“Iced tea, too. And for dessert, strawberry jam, scones, and a green grape tart.”

“Take care of Michael’s share first. I…”

Scanning the desserts on the trolley, Lila spotted a tart with a purple cream filling.

“Is that a cream tart with grapes?”

Jessie answered her question.

“No, it’s a tart made with purple lemon, a specialty that can only be found deep in the mountains of the north.”

“Purple lemon?”

“Yes. It has a grape-like flavor and combines the sweetness of red grapes with the tartness of lemon. We don’t grow much of it, so this is the first tart we’re introducing.”

“What, was that a purple lemon tart? I thought it was made with blueberries… Then I’ll have that one.”

Jessie and Henry cut up a nice slice of the purple lemon tart and put it on a plate. Taking just enough to satisfy their appetites, they enjoyed their iced tea and sweet dessert.

“Mmm, this is really good, Michael.”

“Yeah, it’s really good.”

They were under the intense summer sun, but the abundance of hydrangeas provided some shade.

The sunlight falling on the table made the desserts look even more delicious, and the cool shade kept them comfortable.

As they enjoyed their tea and dessert and admired the hydrangeas, Lila murmured.

“Hydrangeas are the prettiest when it rains…”

She remembered the hydrangeas she had seen in the middle of summer in Korea. The hydrangeas on the wall in the countryside where they were filming were holding up their heads in the cool rain.

The blue hydrangeas, covered in raindrops as if they were enjoying the rain, made even the busiest of feet stop in their tracks.

Lila was lost in thought as she recalled the memory.

‘Come to think of it, I’ve lost a lot of my memories as Yeon Sool.’

She couldn’t even remember some of the details of the novel. The only thing she remembered correctly was makeup, and maybe a few memories of her late parents.

She couldn’t remember any of her friends’ names or her coworkers’ names. As she stared at the hydrangeas, lost in thought, Michael’s voice reached her ear.

“You two should go home now. I’ll ring the magic bell if I need to.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Yes, young master.”

Lila heard their footsteps disappear and turned her gaze from the hydrangeas to Michael.

Michael was looking at her with a twinkle in his eye.

“If you want me to, I’ll do it.”

With those words, gold flashed in Michael’s pink eyes. Lila’s eyes widened at the mystical sight.

Droplets of water quickly formed around him. The droplets grew larger and larger, expanding into a circle.

Above their heads, the droplets grew in size, seemingly without end, and Lila looked up, her mouth open.

The stinging sunlight penetrated the water droplets and landed on her face. The appearance of the wave was fully reflected.

The sunlight through the water rippled over Lila’s white face.

The water droplets that had swelled above their heads burst at once. The water trickled down like rain.