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“Your Ladyship, may I feed some of this?”
“Oh my, that’s…” The baby white swan stared at the plate brought forward to it, but it still had its head facing the ground, its body visibly trembling. It seemed to do better than when His Majesty had first approached it, but it didn’t seem to have the appetite.
“Hmm.” Eventually, Viscount Dion had decided to step up. He couldn’t keep throwing suspicious glances at their esteemed guests after all. Although His Majesty had given a warning, but as the caretaker of the Winter Palace, he couldn’t slip up in hospitality towards the guests.
“It’s alright. The food is specially prepared under His Majesty’s orders.” Viscount Dion answered.
“Ah, I see.” Up close, the Duchess’s eyes looked like those purple jewels shining with fancy lights. How could there be someone like that….
Viscount Dion’s view on the Duchess had changed, and he became more polite. “His Majesty had ordered to prepare a turkey from downtown but who could guarantee the food quality?”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. How could I be reckless in food preparation for your esteemed guests….” The Duchess, along with the mallard which had been hiding behind the tree all this while, was shocked when Viscount Dion gestured towards the table filled with food.
“Wow!” The was a gorgeous three-tier cake, colorful desserts, and even the finest brandy aged in the basement cellar.
Both the Duchess and her pet duck couldn’t seem to hide their entranced looks, and the Viscount shrugged, proud of himself. Truthfully, it was nice to see real reactions from them for a change since Viscount Dion had always been serving other noble ladies who would hide their real expressions behind their fans and even complain about things.
“Ahem.” It didn’t end there as Viscount Dion moved to the center of the table. The long-awaited highlight of the banquet was raised under a huge dome-shaped cover.
“And the highlight!” However, the reactions weren’t what he had expected. The Duchess, who had her hands clasped together expressing her high anticipation, slowly let them go and even started shaking slightly.
“I-it doesn’t look like turkey.”
“That’s right. I can’t trust food prepared outside that’s for His Majesty, so I’ve prepared them personally.”
“…I, I see.” The Duchess’s face turned paler as she managed out those words, wondering if something wrong had happened to the dish as she stared at it.
“Look, I caught this personally today. It’s hard to see one like this here.” The goose must have been caught while training for the hunt, then turned into a delicious-looking dish with a shiny luster. The goose was prepared and grilled to perfection. Seeing that it wasn’t too large in size, it could be a….
“Mr. Darren!”
“Quackkkkkkk!”
The Duchess screamed with hands grabbing her temples about to faint but soon regained her composure. She looked flustered as she grabbed onto the hems of her dress tightly.
She picked up the mallard which had fainted then dashed towards the lake in a hurry.
“Y, Your Ladyship!” The Duchess didn’t even explain what had happened before leaving. Viscount Dion stood rooted with the silver cover still in his hand but looked up to see the Duchess’s seat empty.
“Uh-ho.” It seems that there was no helping it this time. No matter how hard he tried to understand, there was no way this situation could be explained in words.
Viscount Dion instinctively turned towards His Majesty. Even His Majesty wouldn’t tolerate such disrespect and ridiculous action….
“What are you waiting for? Serve the food.”
“Brother, please dig in.” Rashid casually put down the documents in his hands and took the cup which Tenon offered. Instead, Viscount Dion’s breathing started to shake at the sight of the brother’s normal interaction without any surprise.
‘…Yes, it’s just me being weird.’
There was no way the royalty would make wrong judgments of others. He would just have to set his mindset right himself.
After some persuasion and brainwashing, Viscount Dion was about to clear the Duchess’ plate when Rashid looked up. “Leave that alone. She’ll be back soon.”
***
[Mommy? Mommy!] Oh no, there’s no one around!
While Haniel had her head buried and looked back up, her mother and nanny had already left without a trace. She looked around anxiously, but could not see even a slight image of her beautiful mother.
[Sobb.] Haniel tried to chase after her mother, but a long strand of grass wrapped around her ankles after taking a few steps out. This wasn’t their house!
She was upset at each fact upon realization. The tall grass from the residence that they were living in was holding her down.
[Miss Black Swan!] Haniel called out as she held back her tears, hoping that her mother would appear. She had to address her mother as ‘Miss Black Swan’ outside. But there was another reason why her tears were forcing to fall.
Those crimson red eyes that were staring right back at her.