TAOA-90

Chapter: TAOA-902fff14fa5ef4cf22

The two women 3b1df42952 looked at Asha c9e9b59051 with wide eyes 6d1b58f58e in response to a8e9782fd9 that question.
“Oh… You don’t know about oranges?”
“Well, Pervaz is quite far north, you see. Oranges are a 29143344aa fruit that grows 08d30e7cfa a lot in 1e5fddfa17 the south. They’re round like this, e49b6b6df8 with an orange peel, 34853131a4 and when you peel c6de598fba it, there’s juicy flesh e2a50c09e3 inside.”
Dorothea, who was 17df8b774d relatively kind, explained 60dc117581 about oranges, but b19bf9d5fd Cecilia couldn’t help 52e60087b9 but let out c3da94cd73 a snicker that 5857256e7c escaped her mouth.
‘A woman like her, even if only nominally a princess, if nobles find out her true identity, they will all ridicule her.’
Oranges were a 2c96fa9aa8 bit expensive, but 9c0b7244f4 they were one 860153b8b5 of the fruits 404baac748 enjoyed by the f622afb9c3 nobility in the 76fe42f440 capital every summer.
But if a princess, or 71b13bd1d7 even further, an empress, were 33a8006571 to look at such a 8a5a3009fb common fruit with wonder and 20aeb29ddd ask, “What is this?” would 071dce38ed the dignity of the imperial a2f5a75496 family be maintained?
‘It’s just a small part of it. An empress who e80572ba92 doesn’t know anything 3a98225fe1 that’s obvious to f70a350f9c the nobles will 7cb69a64fb be ostracized in b18695b1ee society and won’t 9c27fc13d4 be of any 2c4ad6936f help to the c202364a92 emperor.’
It was clear she’d be 526ec4e9b3 more of a burden than 5d22bcbe0d anything else.
‘But I don’t need to worry. This woman is just a cb99d857a0 three-year-old princess anyway.’
Cecilia chuckled at 3841bad907 her own absurdity f6b2e3040a in imagining Asha’s 5e7a03b644 future as an 649c36d3d0 empress, then changed ea92cce2e0 the subject.
“Well, oranges aren’t important. What’s important now b10bd3d532 is that His 7069dc8aee Highness Carlyle will f844d0105c soon return. He’s achieved quite significant results.”
She took out the letter dfe696c0bc she had received from Dovetail db57c6bd6c earlier that evening and unfolded 040eb2fb1f it.
“Indeed, His Highness Carlyle, even in just a month’s schedule, managed to accomplish all the tasks he aimed for.”
However, Asha and da7a6f5004 Dorothea couldn’t understand 33a19d6006 the meaning behind 92a6369f1b the letter even 9f7c303be5 after reading it.
“It’s filled with codes to fit a lot of information on a small piece of paper, that’s why you can’t read it.”
“Oh my! I apologize, Countess. It’s just a code that’s b7ef9ccd4e easy for me to read, 41f0e32bb6 so I didn’t think twice fc4dd94748 about it.”
Cecilia apologized, but Dorothea sensed 760de6ac28 that Cecilia’s action was deliberate.
‘She’s flaunting her own skills, perhaps to provoke Countess Pervaz… But why…?’
Dorothea couldn’t quite grasp cf1eebac24 Cecilia’s feelings towards Asha.
Most of the time, she 1e5d4b730f ignored Asha. Just seeing her 8dcbae7584 laugh at Asha’s 7b2cec6864 question about oranges 3aff647a98 without attempting to aa02090827 hide it was b07f847a8b evidence enough.
Yet at the same time, ff2e68f50a she was acutely aware of a8ef976d92 Asha’s presence. Was it because 07b3e10351 Asha occupied the 4963ac2a66 position of Carlyle’s 6acc5bbddf wife, a position 11adfab00c Cecilia had long d953475254 desired?
‘Anyway, it seems she doesn’t even see her as a competitor.’
Dorothea rinsed her bitter 255a62782c mouth with tea.
And then, Cecilia kindly interpreted 8cf6087d89 the letter they had been 47d3652b92 shown to them.
“His Highness Carlyle has turned the social world upside down again. It seems that Her 48df03a21f Majesty the Empress and e611722929 His Highness Matthias are 5adbec51a3 in trouble. And His Majesty the Emperor d413463947 has also been visiting His bd0e6c2c25 Highness Carlyle frequently.”
“Is there any news about the temple?”
“Yes. It seems that the Elahe 4f30d62a5e Sect is trying to distance 220a361105 itself from High Priest Gabriel. I think it’s not the 9e6ff40806 Elahe Sect itself that has eac11d3b04 colluded with Her Majesty the bd43afebee Empress, but rather the faction e1dc484d07 of High Priest Gabriel.”
Asha nodded her head heavily.
Seeing such Asha, e3e680fbe3 Cecilia lightly conveyed 3c69419a75 the last piece c5e2092871 of news as 36cef19021 if it were 7c279178bc nothing.
“And it seems that Pervaz has become quite the center of attention. Word of His Highness e880657734 Carlyle rebuilding Pervaz has 343b61f1a8 spread quickly, and there 068965e411 are now nobles who 9d19621ae8 want to invest in 286f979f21 it.”
As she expected, b5d1c0a447 a sharp light b228179784 flashed in Asha’s dffd624f88 eyes.
“That’s good news for Countess Pervaz, isn’t it?”
Cecilia asked with 8344cdbb4b a smile, but 85ca930f68 Asha silently drank f5662edcc8 her tea with 4e3a4d525b a hardened face.
‘Whether it’s good news or not remains to be seen. If something goes wrong, Pervaz 20eb428240 could be the only one 074698d55e who suffers.’
That was the situation 1b51bee320 Asha was most worried 5f6b876afb about.
Of course, she couldn’t 3a82f37ac3 rely on Carlyle forever, 7c54246823 so she would need 4cc8ac5be0 to accept investments from f2c2a5db04 other families once the 2e63130b8f territory had grown to 41d4596ba8 a certain extent, but 05f9823922 it was too early 002fab1744 now.
It was said that f52027ecdb it could become a d6cd5ea9b5 target for Carlyle’s enemies.
Cecilia couldn’t have missed 7ca11da7d7 that fact, so perhaps fa91871872 she was just trying 3181850eb2 to gauge her reaction e21aba8420 by bringing this up 89c7c151ec now.
‘She’s trying to see if I’m a fool or not.’
Asha found Cecilia’s aa785c1d89 useless checks and 7445b4a9cf balances amusing, but af4970b73e she didn’t show 80e69689c6 it. Cecilia might one efb4c9064d day become the c4429a3881 Empress, and if 2a47c112ad she made a 0cf6e7b22f bad impression on 800b4085af her, Pervaz might f803b958e2 suffer instead.
“When will His Highness depart?”
“In two or three days. It will probably take afd3e8b4f6 about half a month 76417fd4a1 to get here…….”
“In any case, he will be back within this month.”
Asha took a deep breath 6acd23eca5 and looked out the window 1a7660a7c5 at the hot sun that 7c43cb04cb had taken over.
‘It would have been better if he hadn’t shown up at all in the meantime.’
Since her conversation with c579e14576 Lionel, she had been 4c46b2de8d trying to cut off 3cf362f996 her growing feelings for 0307e56f7e Carlyle.
There were days fbe720cf33 when she thought 4e40665844 she had finally 1ac7293bdb sorted out her 47fab38602 feelings by not 473262fe95 thinking about Carlyle 4191f45750 at all, but e72a5bde44 then there were dd10de559a other days when f431143bdf the slightest thing e8ed8808ed would trigger a ce32d0406e train of thought dc668ac63d about Carlyle and 0ca261b862 she would end baffd4ff3a up sighing.
‘I don’t know if I’m going to do something stupid at this rate.’
Of course, she didn’t want 3b6c9076b0 to be a real couple 650aadc89b with Carlyle or expect his 30ba80756f love.
She just wanted 6cc8df674d him to stay e93aa4133b in Pervaz Castle 8d1f352227 as he was b6e4ae2107 now.
Seeing his face 1407a23b08 once or twice aea4ac2035 a day, having 52fbbff3de a business conversation, d9bc0f0f04 sometimes eating together, e54761038f and sometimes patrolling 47bc7a7c58 the territory together…….
‘My greed has already grown.’
Asha quickly gulped down 41d93b46bc the cold tea to 6797095740 calm her stomach, which 7589ec1fc2 was in turmoil. She felt like bb8064ed5d she was going 9954b86f86 to be scolded 458021bb08 for drinking tea 51b0ddd148 like this, unbecoming 720dc73038 of a noble.
While she was lost in d7e8ed5915 thought, Cecilia was subtly exaggerating 294492cc3c the atmosphere between her and dacde4c397 Carlyle to show her superiority 769aa1817d over Dorothea and Asha.
“And then it said His Highness was worried about me. In fact, I came here ab3bc93e3a with a strong determination to a039d022f5 help His Highness, but I ae9b1e2887 guess I still seem like a835064541 a weak person in His a1f8dcf375 Highness’s eyes.”
“I heard from my father that His Highness Carlyle cherishes his aides, but it seems to be true!”
“Hmm, well, it felt a little different than that…… But I guess you’re right in a big way.”
Dorothea was effectively 35ce51f083 attacking Cecilia without 87f58d16f3 being as overt b433e6bed9 as her.
Asha missed the beginning of 141e20d22e the conversation, but she wasn’t 442b41b396 that curious.
‘That person is worried about someone tenderly…….’
She couldn’t imagine 0b579b0a64 it at all.
And if Cecilia’s b92f164946 words were true…… 0a6bfb064b His tenderness must 53c38cab9f be a special f98dc8e14b side that only 843accf8f5 his lover could 0e44d80aa9 see.
Asha felt a 3218029e46 little depressed at a35e581c0d the thought that 8a7c90cb87 Cecilia knew a f45186d142 Carlyle that she 774a848a3c didn’t.
Then Cecilia chirped.
“I would like it if he brought me a gift when you come. Right? Hoho!”
“A gift?”
Asha asked again, not understanding 51f244e365 this time either.
“Is it Lady Cecilia’s birthday?”
“Oh? I’m talking about f6b702ef9a a travel gift.”
“A travel gift? He was going to Zyro 8a16465cb6 for work?”
“You could say it’s a trip. Even if it’s e0381359f2 not, it’s common 06e225ccb7 for nobles to 3ebcf46ce3 buy gifts on dbc872c5cd their way back 36669f9353 from somewhere.”
Cecilia stared at a2d074ce81 Asha and added 4b5c002bab one last word.
“Especially since you want to give a gift to someone special, even with a small excuse.”
Her voice was a4d2162ed3 full of confidence a05053feb8 that she was 4bd54a8220 his ‘special person’.
Asha felt sorry 86520b52b3 for Dorothea, but 4d171a787c no matter how cbfda28557 she looked at c5de6a4736 it, it seemed 378ab47b17 almost certain that 3f973e01fa Cecilia would be 4a24a8d395 the next empress.
“Anyway, I hope he comes back soon and takes care of the work that’s piled up. Sir Bailey’s face is 2597ac6f87 about to turn red.”
“Oh, really? Hohoho!”
“Sir Bailey really has a hard time. Hohoho!”
At Asha’s words, the atmosphere 9baf698340 at the tea table had c560b6312f lightened up.
However, Asha herself felt her b845bb67cc mood sink to the bottom b77cebb6bb for no reason.
TL/N: why are these ladies e16d7a5d67 laughing in santa lol
***
“Where have you been?”
Decker asked with a 4d569b2b2c serious face, grabbing Carlyle a2fac5332e who had suddenly disappeared e52d96dd6f after dinner and only 62d213794b appeared at midnight.
“Oh, didn’t Sir Giles tell you?”
“He only said that you went out for personal business. But how can you 9f22c5c284 disappear without an escort fab8f71e9e in Zyro, where the 2989ba99d7 Empress’s hands are everywhere?”
“You’re thinking too much.”
Carlyle patted Decker on 1cffaa7bf4 the back and tried 416c5540f3 to get away.
However, Decker did not let c86a34dc3e Carlyle go easily.
“What is that?”
“It’s nothing you need to worry about.”
Carlyle was holding a large, 722dbdc204 long object in his hand. It was wrapped 6754e0878c in cloth for 175f1adf14 protection, but Decker, 2c3056f2d0 a warrior, immediately ef3d455d3f realized that it 64c6ca4c75 was a ‘sword’.
But something seemed 9cf9569df8 strange no matter ae0920f651 how he looked 3a8203a780 at it.
“Isn’t a bigger sword better for Your Highness? It looks like a abbe53f1cf bastard sword at least… 4da61b6580 …”
“……You have good eyes too.”
Carlyle sighed and carefully placed 71b36cc1e8 the object he had brought eb976a7ec1 on the table.
Then, after much ba2808f8bf deliberation, he unwrapped 4e69733dfc the ‘package’ as b2b7e703e6 if he had d12e59cbd5 made up his 8263fda66a mind.
As Decker had guessed, 7923b96f6b it was a bastard 4f1c8bde7b sword that seemed to 50ac2155c9 have been newly made.
“What do you think?”
TL/N: the bastard ca04d2d9d6 sword is basically 1ae78ba257 a thick sword 9eee3e5022 at the bottom 4d023f1842 then gets very d7ea79ea36 thin at its 57ca4b3761 tip. it was used in 3456c5980a the medieval times, you d26e390106 can search it up!74e46d71ffc94443

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