(105) Unexplained feelings (3)
After much experimentation, Isaac and Cyrus discovered that helon flowers were not suitable for perfume. Isaac said.
"It might be okay once or twice, but if you use it consistently, you might cough a lot and develop severe hives or blisters. So why perfume all of a sudden? Are you trying to start a perfume business?"
“I suddenly became curious.”
Cyrus sat on a wooden chair in the corner of the lab and crossed his legs.
'How do you know?'
This wasn't something you could figure out simply by being clever and wise. Ariana spoke of the perfume of the helon flower with certainty, as if she'd seen the future.
What was even stranger was that her words didn't raise any questions. If someone else had said something like that, he would have just laughed it off and let it slide.
But what Ariana said was not easy to ignore.
“Isaac. Do you believe there is such a thing as precognitive powers?”
Isaac noticed that Cyrus seemed strange today.
He suddenly came to him and asked about making perfume from helon flowers, and he talked about the power of foresight.
Cyrus was the type of person who neither believed nor thought in absurd things.
“Precognitive abilities... um. Something like oracles?”
“All in all.”
"Hasn't the oracle vanished a long time ago? The recent claims of priests receiving oracles are all fabrications."
Long ago, in the age of magic, there may have been genuine oracles, but not anymore. They were used as a means by which the temple and the imperial court colluded to manipulate the people more easily.
"As for the ability to foresee... I don't know. They say it definitely existed in the old days. It's even written about in history books. But I don't think there's been a single person since the founding of the Camellia Empire. Everyone who claimed to have the ability to foresee has turned out to be a fake, right?"
Even though there are still many scammers who deceive people by claiming to have precognitive abilities, there are only a handful of people who actually believe they have such abilities.
Precognitive abilities are a thing of legend, and now believing in them is ridiculed.
'But since the ability to consume hearts and steal their powers, as well as ice magic, remains, there might be someone with the power of prophecy somewhere. That person could be Ariana.'
But the strange thing about that thought is that Ariana didn't seem to fully grasp the dangers she faced. She been in life-threatening situations several times, and if she been unlucky, she would have died.
'You may not be able to see every future. Maybe you can't see your own future.'
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't help but think Ariana possessed some unknown power. He been convinced of that ever since Ariana said the perfume factory would fail.
The reason he didn't ask was that he thought she didn't want to talk.
'If Ariana had precognitive powers, it would be very useful to me.'
Maybe that's why.
The reason he doesn't mind giving to Ariana at all. The reason he wants to do something more.
It must be because the unknown power she possesses will surely become a great strength in the future.
Otherwise, there would be no reason to be so desperate to see her smile.
Victoria will soon arrive at Maho Castle.
Ariana thought she would see Victoria again in the Empire after three years, but she saw her again before the new year.
If that's the case, then Victoria's thoughts should be full in her head.
‘But why am I...’
Are I thinking of Cyrus?
It had already been over a week since Cyrus and Ariana had gone to the city to ask for cufflinks to be sent to the Eastern Lord.
She received cufflinks with Ariana's face engraved on them and wrote a letter to her father.
"The Northern Lords have invested heavily in Count Gabion's perfume business. Father, why don't you consider it? From what I've heard, the future seems very bright. I heard the Northern Lords have invested more than half of the national treasury. They say there are many investors, so it would be a good idea to look into it before it's too late."
It was only a few days ago that she had enclosed a letter with cufflinks and entrusted them to Catherine, and had intercepted the letter heading to the East and replaced it with a letter she had prepared separately.
She took Catherine and Sjini to see a play, and also enjoyed a small tea party with the noble ladies of the Northern Territory.
Langster praised Shini for learning very quickly, and Shini showed off the disguise skills she had learned from Louis.
She toured the greenhouse where herbs were grown with Isaac and received the skin of a white fox that Andrei had hunted as a gift.
So many things had happened. Ariana been on the move nonstop, but when she returned to her room and was alone, she inevitably recalled the events of that day in the carriage.
His breath touching the tip of jer nose, his fingers brushing her lips, his cold hand wrapped around her wrist.
Even though she tried not to think about it, it would pop up, and her mind would become agitated. No matter how hard she tried to think about something else, once it started, it wouldn't go away.
So Ariana avoided Cyrus.
When she looks at his face, she feels like something she doesn't want to name will burst out.
Ariana stared intently at the lime-green teddy bear she'd brought all the way to the North. The teddy bear, the first gift she'd received from her father, Russell, sat beautifully on Ariana's bed.
'Shall we go back to the East?'
However, the Duke of Obelius's problem remained unresolved. Though he had left it in the hands of Geor, it was questionable whether he could truly remain detached from his family's affairs.
Having a 'real family' has made her realize how vulnerable she can be when it comes to family matters.
'I have to think about something else. For example... Victoria, who will arrive in a few days.'
They decided not to tell Victoria that Ariana was at Maho Castle. She also kept a tight lid on the castle's vassals and employees.
Victoria would be staying in the guest villa at Maho Castle. The villa was quite a distance from the main palace where Ariana resided, so unless Ariana went outside, they wouldn't have any chance of meeting.
'Come to think of it, why am I staying at the main palace?'
Not only did she stay in the main palace, but she even lived next door to Cyrus.
A King's bedroom is not provided for a guest. The only room that can be located next to the King's bedroom is that of his consort.
Although the Northerners jokingly called Ariana "Princess Consort," Cyrus couldn't figure out why Ariana's bedroom wasn't next to his own.
'You're thinking about the Northern Lord again.'
Ariana swallowed a sigh, and Catherine informed her.
“Princess, the Northern Lord has invited us to dinner.”
As a guest, she couldn't refuse the host's invitation.
“Tell them I’ll do it.”
The thought of sitting across from Cyrus and having a meal made her heart ache.
Ariana swallowed another sigh and headed to her dressing room. In addition to the clothes she'd brought from the East, the room was filled with dresses she'd received as gifts after arriving in the North.
Most of them were sent by Andrei or Duke Hern, and there were also a few received from the nobles of the Northern Territory.
Ariana, while choosing a dress, found herself wondering what would look good on Cyrus, so she fled from the dressing room. After accepting Cyrus's dinner invitation, she asked Catherine, who had returned, to help her choose the dress. She sat down neatly on the living room sofa and picked up her embroidery hoop.
Ariana hated embroidery, but she was quite skilled at it. She was often required to sew clothes at Bronte Manor, and after marrying Viscount Alfreich, she was tasked with personally embroidering dresses for her mother-in-law and sister-in-law.
'People with a lot of money are really stingy.'
The Third Prince instructed Ariana to learn "the manners a woman should possess," including embroidery, dancing, and playing a musical instrument. Despite her reluctance, Ariana, fearing disapproval, persevered.
The embroidery she started to do every time she came to the North to collect her thoughts is not even half finished yet.
'Can we finish this before leaving the North?'
While Ariana was working on her stitches, Catherine brought out a few dresses she had chosen.
“Princess, since it’s been a while since we’ve had dinner together, I chose something a little extravagant.”
As Catherine said, the dress she had chosen was gorgeous enough to wear to a party.
“I think this would be the best.”
What Catherine was pointing to was a dress made of white velvet and decorated with elaborate gold thread embroidery, a dress that the East had prepared.
“It’s too much. It looks like the dress is on me.”
"Of course not. It may look flashy, but it'll look calming against your sky-blue hair. Just try it on."
Catherine was good at looking at dresses.
When Ariana tried on the dress as she suggested, it didn't feel as glamorous as it did when she first saw it. The only thing was that the skirt and sleeves were a little short.
"Oh my. You must've grown a lot. It was a little long when you first got it fitted."
Ariana checked her reflection in the mirror.
Thanks to eating and resting well in the East and the North, Ariana had grown taller and gained some weight. Her once childish face was slowly regaining its age, and her neck and shoulders were rounding out.
“That’s true. I’m growing up, too.”
In the past, that wasn't possible.
Neither at the Bronte household nor at the Alfreich household after her marriage did Ariana eat properly. Until the day she died, she remained a small, thin girl.
The girl with the vibrant cheeks reflected in the mirror looked unfamiliar.
'I'm growing up too. Now I can be an adult too.'
She died without ever reaching adulthood, both physically and mentally, simply yearning for affection and constantly minding others. Even before her death, Ariana remained a child, yearning to be loved and unable to accept the hatred she felt.
"I'll quickly choose another dress. I'll have to call a tailor tomorrow and get a new dress made."
Catherine went to the dressing room and quickly picked out a few more dresses. They were a little too big for Ariana, considering she was still growing.
The dark blue dress with silver embroidery had a homey feel, but when Ariana wore it, it matched with her sky blue hair and created a mature and refreshing atmosphere.
Her hair was tied back halfway, and she wore a hairpin studded with white pearls. She also wore a pearl bracelet on her slender wrist, glimpsed through her long sleeves.
Ariana put on her now familiar shoes and headed to the dinner venue.
The restaurant door opened with the servant's announcement.
Ariana, who was standing with both hands clasped in front of her, walked lightly into the restaurant.
Cyrus couldn't take his eyes off Ariana.
After much experimentation, Isaac and Cyrus discovered that helon flowers were not suitable for perfume. Isaac said.
"It might be okay once or twice, but if you use it consistently, you might cough a lot and develop severe hives or blisters. So why perfume all of a sudden? Are you trying to start a perfume business?"
“I suddenly became curious.”
Cyrus sat on a wooden chair in the corner of the lab and crossed his legs.
'How do you know?'
This wasn't something you could figure out simply by being clever and wise. Ariana spoke of the perfume of the helon flower with certainty, as if she'd seen the future.
What was even stranger was that her words didn't raise any questions. If someone else had said something like that, he would have just laughed it off and let it slide.
But what Ariana said was not easy to ignore.
“Isaac. Do you believe there is such a thing as precognitive powers?”
Isaac noticed that Cyrus seemed strange today.
He suddenly came to him and asked about making perfume from helon flowers, and he talked about the power of foresight.
Cyrus was the type of person who neither believed nor thought in absurd things.
“Precognitive abilities... um. Something like oracles?”
“All in all.”
"Hasn't the oracle vanished a long time ago? The recent claims of priests receiving oracles are all fabrications."
Long ago, in the age of magic, there may have been genuine oracles, but not anymore. They were used as a means by which the temple and the imperial court colluded to manipulate the people more easily.
"As for the ability to foresee... I don't know. They say it definitely existed in the old days. It's even written about in history books. But I don't think there's been a single person since the founding of the Camellia Empire. Everyone who claimed to have the ability to foresee has turned out to be a fake, right?"
Even though there are still many scammers who deceive people by claiming to have precognitive abilities, there are only a handful of people who actually believe they have such abilities.
Precognitive abilities are a thing of legend, and now believing in them is ridiculed.
'But since the ability to consume hearts and steal their powers, as well as ice magic, remains, there might be someone with the power of prophecy somewhere. That person could be Ariana.'
But the strange thing about that thought is that Ariana didn't seem to fully grasp the dangers she faced. She been in life-threatening situations several times, and if she been unlucky, she would have died.
'You may not be able to see every future. Maybe you can't see your own future.'
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't help but think Ariana possessed some unknown power. He been convinced of that ever since Ariana said the perfume factory would fail.
The reason he didn't ask was that he thought she didn't want to talk.
'If Ariana had precognitive powers, it would be very useful to me.'
Maybe that's why.
The reason he doesn't mind giving to Ariana at all. The reason he wants to do something more.
It must be because the unknown power she possesses will surely become a great strength in the future.
Otherwise, there would be no reason to be so desperate to see her smile.
***
Victoria will soon arrive at Maho Castle.
Ariana thought she would see Victoria again in the Empire after three years, but she saw her again before the new year.
If that's the case, then Victoria's thoughts should be full in her head.
‘But why am I...’
Are I thinking of Cyrus?
It had already been over a week since Cyrus and Ariana had gone to the city to ask for cufflinks to be sent to the Eastern Lord.
She received cufflinks with Ariana's face engraved on them and wrote a letter to her father.
"The Northern Lords have invested heavily in Count Gabion's perfume business. Father, why don't you consider it? From what I've heard, the future seems very bright. I heard the Northern Lords have invested more than half of the national treasury. They say there are many investors, so it would be a good idea to look into it before it's too late."
It was only a few days ago that she had enclosed a letter with cufflinks and entrusted them to Catherine, and had intercepted the letter heading to the East and replaced it with a letter she had prepared separately.
She took Catherine and Sjini to see a play, and also enjoyed a small tea party with the noble ladies of the Northern Territory.
Langster praised Shini for learning very quickly, and Shini showed off the disguise skills she had learned from Louis.
She toured the greenhouse where herbs were grown with Isaac and received the skin of a white fox that Andrei had hunted as a gift.
So many things had happened. Ariana been on the move nonstop, but when she returned to her room and was alone, she inevitably recalled the events of that day in the carriage.
His breath touching the tip of jer nose, his fingers brushing her lips, his cold hand wrapped around her wrist.
Even though she tried not to think about it, it would pop up, and her mind would become agitated. No matter how hard she tried to think about something else, once it started, it wouldn't go away.
So Ariana avoided Cyrus.
When she looks at his face, she feels like something she doesn't want to name will burst out.
Ariana stared intently at the lime-green teddy bear she'd brought all the way to the North. The teddy bear, the first gift she'd received from her father, Russell, sat beautifully on Ariana's bed.
'Shall we go back to the East?'
However, the Duke of Obelius's problem remained unresolved. Though he had left it in the hands of Geor, it was questionable whether he could truly remain detached from his family's affairs.
Having a 'real family' has made her realize how vulnerable she can be when it comes to family matters.
'I have to think about something else. For example... Victoria, who will arrive in a few days.'
They decided not to tell Victoria that Ariana was at Maho Castle. She also kept a tight lid on the castle's vassals and employees.
Victoria would be staying in the guest villa at Maho Castle. The villa was quite a distance from the main palace where Ariana resided, so unless Ariana went outside, they wouldn't have any chance of meeting.
'Come to think of it, why am I staying at the main palace?'
Not only did she stay in the main palace, but she even lived next door to Cyrus.
A King's bedroom is not provided for a guest. The only room that can be located next to the King's bedroom is that of his consort.
Although the Northerners jokingly called Ariana "Princess Consort," Cyrus couldn't figure out why Ariana's bedroom wasn't next to his own.
'You're thinking about the Northern Lord again.'
Ariana swallowed a sigh, and Catherine informed her.
“Princess, the Northern Lord has invited us to dinner.”
As a guest, she couldn't refuse the host's invitation.
“Tell them I’ll do it.”
The thought of sitting across from Cyrus and having a meal made her heart ache.
Ariana swallowed another sigh and headed to her dressing room. In addition to the clothes she'd brought from the East, the room was filled with dresses she'd received as gifts after arriving in the North.
Most of them were sent by Andrei or Duke Hern, and there were also a few received from the nobles of the Northern Territory.
Ariana, while choosing a dress, found herself wondering what would look good on Cyrus, so she fled from the dressing room. After accepting Cyrus's dinner invitation, she asked Catherine, who had returned, to help her choose the dress. She sat down neatly on the living room sofa and picked up her embroidery hoop.
Ariana hated embroidery, but she was quite skilled at it. She was often required to sew clothes at Bronte Manor, and after marrying Viscount Alfreich, she was tasked with personally embroidering dresses for her mother-in-law and sister-in-law.
'People with a lot of money are really stingy.'
The Third Prince instructed Ariana to learn "the manners a woman should possess," including embroidery, dancing, and playing a musical instrument. Despite her reluctance, Ariana, fearing disapproval, persevered.
The embroidery she started to do every time she came to the North to collect her thoughts is not even half finished yet.
'Can we finish this before leaving the North?'
While Ariana was working on her stitches, Catherine brought out a few dresses she had chosen.
“Princess, since it’s been a while since we’ve had dinner together, I chose something a little extravagant.”
As Catherine said, the dress she had chosen was gorgeous enough to wear to a party.
“I think this would be the best.”
What Catherine was pointing to was a dress made of white velvet and decorated with elaborate gold thread embroidery, a dress that the East had prepared.
“It’s too much. It looks like the dress is on me.”
"Of course not. It may look flashy, but it'll look calming against your sky-blue hair. Just try it on."
Catherine was good at looking at dresses.
When Ariana tried on the dress as she suggested, it didn't feel as glamorous as it did when she first saw it. The only thing was that the skirt and sleeves were a little short.
"Oh my. You must've grown a lot. It was a little long when you first got it fitted."
Ariana checked her reflection in the mirror.
Thanks to eating and resting well in the East and the North, Ariana had grown taller and gained some weight. Her once childish face was slowly regaining its age, and her neck and shoulders were rounding out.
“That’s true. I’m growing up, too.”
In the past, that wasn't possible.
Neither at the Bronte household nor at the Alfreich household after her marriage did Ariana eat properly. Until the day she died, she remained a small, thin girl.
The girl with the vibrant cheeks reflected in the mirror looked unfamiliar.
'I'm growing up too. Now I can be an adult too.'
She died without ever reaching adulthood, both physically and mentally, simply yearning for affection and constantly minding others. Even before her death, Ariana remained a child, yearning to be loved and unable to accept the hatred she felt.
"I'll quickly choose another dress. I'll have to call a tailor tomorrow and get a new dress made."
Catherine went to the dressing room and quickly picked out a few more dresses. They were a little too big for Ariana, considering she was still growing.
The dark blue dress with silver embroidery had a homey feel, but when Ariana wore it, it matched with her sky blue hair and created a mature and refreshing atmosphere.
Her hair was tied back halfway, and she wore a hairpin studded with white pearls. She also wore a pearl bracelet on her slender wrist, glimpsed through her long sleeves.
Ariana put on her now familiar shoes and headed to the dinner venue.
***
“The Princess Consort is here.”
Ariana, who was standing with both hands clasped in front of her, walked lightly into the restaurant.
Cyrus couldn't take his eyes off Ariana.
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