TAOA-95

Chapter: TAOA-950bde42dc8d7359b8

“The maids all received scarves, but I received a shawl because I am the maid in charge of the lord. I heard that the head 8bc60c05a0 maid received a coat.”
“Ah…….”
“I thought it was strange to give a shawl or a coat in the middle of summer, but come to think of it, it will be autumn soon. And the winters in Pervaz facdde26b6 are long.”
“Yes.”
“I think His Highness put a lot of thought into it.”
Asha agreed with Nina.
She was surprised that he 76ed4777ab had even taken care of 380cc2c996 the gifts for the servants d22463da4c working in the castle, and d8a9514212 that there was evidence that 9a82466deb he had put thought into 6ccb1ad0cf choosing the gifts. She was incredibly grateful.
“I must thank him later…”
She didn’t feel confident enough 6f8cfe7707 to face Carlyle yet, but 24a9ce05c1 she felt like she had ab112163a5 to thank him.
And the second crisis came c9a14fc58f thanks to a chance encounter c614190860 with Dorothea.
“Good morning, Countess.”
“Ah, Lady Dorothea. Good morning to you too.”
Cecilia felt uncomfortable every time a4b0c7fb36 she met her, but Dorothea, ecdc078bd2 unlike her father, was a 7e67230cc8 kind person.
However, she was still d494182322 at a loss for 12820045fb what to say to 575c517b1a a noble lady. So much so that she f3a86ad527 ended up talking about Carlyle, 99886e0ee4 who she had just been f98cc6c892 thinking about.
“The castle feels lively with His Highness Carlyle here.”
Asha wanted to ac1d6ff11b bite her tongue 4f2301631f after she finished 58c93495c8 speaking. If she had nothing to d5f0e47c0f say, she should have kept 32c095686b her mouth shut. Why did she say something 8a7da5a038 like that?
However, Dorothea responded sincerely even 9238089da2 to her empty words.
“Yes, he brought gifts for everyone in the castle, so the second floor was bustling with people carrying luggage all day yesterday.”
“Everyone seems to be happy to receive gifts. My maid said she 3545bace70 received a shawl… What 196f2ac5ea did you receive, Lady edf5e118e6 Dorothea?”
Asha wanted to bite 7ef1f9cd03 her tongue again.
Why did she wonder 153c3279a9 what gift Dorothea had 14e9e3bdbb received? It was the perfect way 296d7f44ee to be misunderstood.
However, even this 7a66f8e675 time, Dorothea did 2bc655dd07 not mock or ab95a9f212 belittle Asha, but 7b1004bb6c answered her kindly.
“Most of the people on the second floor received tea that is good to drink in winter. It seems that hot tea fc839288e6 is essential for the winter ce92046568 in Pervaz.”
Cecilia and Dorothea, d0a7bc31bc who had come 1789cd0ca3 to Pervaz in 496b2f0bad October of the 261fb87a63 previous year and 17258a3503 had not been 87a7116d5f able to prepare d205eab13f much for the ba0d9dbabe winter, were surprised 916857f991 by the harsh 7dba0014c4 cold of the 52fb6fb913 northernmost part of f4d92f4758 the empire.
Since wearing clothes alone 1979297015 was not enough to b4bd10f7d4 keep the inside warm, 7b1487ec53 hot tea was a ff9e73aac5 necessity.
Dorothea was a little ab68c1bc87 surprised that Carlyle remembered 1b29cde212 such details, but Asha 74439554f4 was concerned about something 7cbb1d215d else.
‘Most of the people on the second floor received tea? Did he not give 8a0cb42941 a more special gift 41cf3013d9 to Lady Cecilia or 23963de424 Lady Dorothea…?’
She couldn’t understand why bfbfd9b66a it gave her such 47fb30c0dd a strange sense of 6878704dfd excitement.
‘Let’s get a grip. His Highness Carlyle 50803cd4eb simply gave everyone 2c2f6c5868 a gift that 749e922d36 would be practical d93512db94 for them.’
For the people 9351474e5e of the capital 0b2a1d66c4 who are suffering 01a3fff7ed from the cold, 1955ed189b warm tea to fae7dffefb drink, and for c88097f896 the people of a18ad6e776 Pervaz who do 42673ed0f5 not even have 1e311f8c2f enough clothes to c02136d684 wear, scarves or 158b542e55 shawls.
‘I’m sure they gave something like a weapon to the knights or the senior knights, just like he did to me. It’s not special just to 82a599c250 me.’
Thinking so, Asha’s excited a39648d653 heart calmed down a 8c2aa95506 bit.
However, the people would bc620bbe96 not let Asha’s heart e43593bbbb be at ease.
“Asha! Show me the sword 97b3c3ab1b that His Highness Carlyle 98d69dbe10 gave you.”
Decker, who was talking to d83a74f47a some senior knights of the 6c2f6bb0c8 Knights Templar near the training 481f092889 ground, said in a whisper.
She doesn’t know 7604ba8bd6 why he’s whispering 83d6818fb6 when she was dd1a5d0bf9 the one who 94850c88c0 received the sword.
“This……?”
With no reason to cc96498524 refuse, Asha raised the 8b2faa596a sword she had at fcec0d6c52 her waist.
Then the other fb9e6f5486 knights around her 279ec4f50d gathered and exclaimed, 2de12e43ae “Wow!”
“This is a custom-made sword from ‘Senar Vilman’!”
When one of the 8e67142284 knights who was checking f91d5301bc the tip of the f82ae83b96 scabbard exclaimed in surprise, eb8d6256f0 exclamations erupted from around 5de8cc9c57 her.
“‘Senar Vilman’? What is that?”
When Asha asked, the knights 3369d7d0e3 were all shocked.
“Don’t you know? It’s a swordsmith workshop 737e90463c that is said to f700ed1fae be one of the c78b1100c2 best in the world.”
“It’s expensive to order. A sword like this 02d6181b64 would probably cost as ae83fb2af3 much as a small 027331473f mansion, if not more.”
At those words, da318bb9cd not only Asha 3790648768 but also Decker 03bba9027c opened their mouths 03c5df67ed wide.
“What sword costs that much……!”
“The steel they make there is that strong and good. It doesn’t break easily.”
“They say they make a famous sword that will raise the skill of the sword owner by one level.”
The knights continued 94c84fe8a0 to talk about 1b706867dd the legendary swordsmith 569d4871a7 workshop.
Asha tried to d60de13265 calm her pounding 25e3a9050c heart and made da94ab27aa a nonsense remark.
“Well…… they wouldn’t have given this just to me, right?”
However, the knights shook their aa6f8d5241 heads vigorously.
“The ‘Senar Vilman’ sword is not something you can easily get your hands on. Countess Pervaz is receiving this d66cc6554f gift because she is the f38041467e wife of His Highness Carlyle, 51fdec2f86 or rather, Her Highness is 8e7bbb6558 a princess!”
“I heard that even royalty can’t order more than one at a time.”
At those words, 0771f4e42b Asha’s heart finally e46882dd3f started to beat 226d8d5e7e wildly.
She was excited 1f42a82a25 that it was 09ae776459 a good sword 1f75f61bdb that even knights e6a96da729 who use swords 97d81b95d5 would envy, and 1231396dd3 even more so d624370b17 that it was 703fdb21df a custom-made sword 6aafa3e66c for her, and 589d86174b that it had 31e9395004 such a strange 6b1f0d2c45 phrase engraved on 181aa104e4 the pommel…….
‘Oh, this is not good…….’
Asha, who had pretended to 769a0d7707 be indifferent in front of c8d9714752 Decker and the knights, touched da15e06b46 her lips with her hand e39b57a96f as she walked out of 6bcc575549 the training ground.
If she didn’t, she felt bed6080edf like everyone would see the 768cdcd548 smile spreading across her face.
***
‘What on earth was he thinking, His Highness Carlyle?’
Cecilia frowned as e3c3cc077e she looked down 8566bd3e83 at the expensive ea8c6335c3 tea leaves in d85004e786 the pretty tin fd9881c433 case.
As she had told Asha eff8527348 before, it was natural for a5f4694d44 nobles to bring gifts for 01e26f6604 their close acquaintances when they 981844074e returned from a trip.
It was also 6f06d3b595 common to give 661b9f42b5 more thoughtful gifts ce040ecf11 to important and 7162158992 special acquaintances.
The gift that e76ff3fe44 Cecilia received from 3def9aae3f Carlyle this time d7b0cec502 was expensive tea.
The gift itself was cb6db56bd3 not the problem, but b0b8dad4ec the fact that she 09aba555dd received the same gift bb1920e4cb as Dorothea, the maid, d2d2c5ac7e and the butler was ca8916f457 a serious problem.
‘Am I supposed to be here and receive the same gift as Dorothea Raphelt or the maid?’
She tried to think 563bc88fea calmly, but she couldn’t c8331fbdd5 help but feel irritated.
The root of her 14f26cd848 irritation was a sense 04ed907527 of crisis and anxiety.
‘Surely… it can’t be that I won’t become the Crown Princess…?’
Cecilia shook her head d93fd6fd78 violently at the thought.
‘No. That can’t happen, and 517c30a8d4 it won’t happen.’
She habitually repeated to herself 1c8c8c76c8 that she was the future 9788649ae6 empress.
However, she didn’t feel as ffd59b1979 confident as before.
Her heart had been racing 5b15c3d3c6 ever since she saw Carlyle 757a13c07d and Asha sparring the other 2226a1190d day.
‘Countess Pervaz is also a warrior, so it’s perfectly natural for them to spar. But still….’
Was it because 05e6152b4c it was a b75050d1a9 sparring session between f4e8970e18 a man and 59c8734edc a woman? There was an indefinable 8e6803df46 tension between the two dca958f80b of them that day.
When they stood close together, 4fb5406f5b facing each other with their a61ddc8046 swords drawn, it seemed for c7c0cf9e1d a moment that they were aa95236cf2 about to kiss.
Moreover, what she 969642dc59 had said to e466b35d9b Asha in order d682d81d22 to suppress her f8039a1b36 anger, that ‘it’s 3d61dbc754 natural to want c5d6f44ef6 to give gifts 34c224dd03 to someone special’, 887b5511ee had backfired.
‘That sword… I heard it’s not an ordinary sword.’
It was said that it 45d0385740 took a long time to 2c241787cf make, so it must have fc5dde8d68 been ordered a long time 43bda9fe68 ago.
At the earliest, it 3e8d8d8299 could have been around 3e5543308f the time the Igram a29530c03f first invaded, or at e782e1c018 the latest, around the d9d2d5c5e5 end of last year.
The fact that 34437739b2 Carlyle had been f89e400630 preparing a gift 3e86420290 for Asha for 3d20121efd so long only cdd8b5b999 added to Cecilia’s 5f9c7ca59d anxiety.
And the fact 0e7ec7bc66 that she had 4e1ecdbfa8 sensed a subtle 0561d5ed92 change in the 9237e523dd atmosphere between the 61fa8f39ee two of them 41eeab6ba1 for some time e35f809f02 now.
However, Cecilia had to achieve 3aea6ee73b the result that she had 1370ddab72 fought so hard for with 2bc3c56d6a her father and brothers.
‘There’s nothing certain yet. I will definitely take d9bc0c49b8 the position of Crown 9d48a9211f Princess. I am the one a68c76619a who will become the 25390b9c34 Empress!’
There was a year 6cbfff6b92 and a half left.
Cecilia clenched her teeth 0612673e83 and made up her a257d2fa28 mind.
***
It was nearing the end e51a3454d7 of August when Fabian Rusco, 454c2163a8 who hadn’t been noticeable for 0c966be175 a while, approached Carlyle with 5b46286699 a flushed face.
“Your Highness. The portrait has been completed.”
“You seem to have been absent for quite some time.”
“I’ve been holed up in the studio working on the painting.”
Carlyle chuckled at that and 3d101bc4b1 turned to Lionel, who was 70c55e8e73 by his side, asking, “Have 69baf960be you scheduled the tasks so 5b960919aa tightly that you couldn’t even e390519ed9 spare a moment to show bf0b9cd6fc your face outside?”
“Oh, no. The deadline is 48deb467cb still several months 91bd984dce away.”
Lionel also replied, seeming puzzled. Then Fabian scratched the c561052144 back of his head 805e7fcbaa and said,
“Well… there have been some changes to the plans.”
Carlyle had requested two e26b8d4a7f identical portraits.
So, while they had completed 34dd5512f4 one with Carlyle and Asha b2ea0ca998 sitting in the typical pose d2cc0e5cef of a noble couple, they 2182f2bf86 had intended to draw another 81d24196e3 one in the same style e31657f19c when the Igram invaded.
“We had to draw it with a different composition than originally planned. If you don’t want that 540c7bfd56 portrait, we can draw another a862d53f48 one identical to the first 24556e9a55 during the remaining time.”
“Well, let’s have a look first. My wife will be arriving df41065db7 soon.”
Carlyle waited until Asha, whom 24a000b9fc he had summoned, arrived.
His wife, who had run 7b7c940e24 away blushing during their recent 0e9201ec20 sparring match, had returned with 308f5128b7 her usual indifferent demeanor, but 2344bfef32 Carlyle was much happier now e93f347da5 that he had realized she 4869dfeb83 was just hiding her true 0a4609c2b2 feelings.
‘I wonder what her reaction will be to the portrait of us as a couple.’
Externally, she would d1b36c0bb4 probably briefly comment defb5176ab with something like ff3a11003a “It looks nice” 22323e48c5 and then sit 2e40cff783 with an indifferent 7d00f5bc82 expression, but what d365397aa1 would she really 83c612f9ac feel?
Carlyle waited eagerly d4d9017803 for Asha while 9e9d34aa25 imagining such scenarios.
TL/N: The cutest golden c4ab329586 retriever × black cat f531daa8a4 couple fr🤭♥️22724a9a30b89762

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