“And the Lady’s eyes are like rubies. They look like pretty pieces of jewelry.”
“I’ve never heard of such a thing before.”
Susan lifted Ariel’s slender arms and pulled up her sleeve a little.
“Look at your skin. It’s fair, soft, and moist. The more you grow, the more beautiful and fairer you will be,”
Susan gently kissed Ariel on the inside of her arm.
“Your skin is white as snow, I don’t think I can even find you when it snows.”
Ariel stammered in confusion.
“But….Isn’t it weird being this white?”
“It’s not strange. There are so many young kids who want to get white skin and find ways! You are very blessed.”
“Blessed….? “
Susan patted Ariel’s cheeks.
“Yes. The little lady is really blessed with beauty. I don’t know them, but I’m sure that you will be much more beautiful than your father or brother. Both in heart and looks.”
Ariel asked again as if she had been confirmed.
“Are you sure I’m pretty, Susan? Aren’t I only pretty in Susan’s eyes?”
Susan burst out laughing.
“My Lady, even if you ask anyone else in this world, everyone will definitely say that you have a very lovely appearance. Have you seen the treasurer Dalton or the maids become enamored when they look at you?”
Susan pretended not to notice, but she knew that the butler, Allen was also the same.
It would be bad to tease the old man too much.
“There are only two people in the world who say that you’re not pretty, and you don’t know you’re pretty because you live with them.”
“Is…Is that really so?”
Susan nodded vigorously to Ariel, who clasped her clothes with wet eyes.
“I’m telling you, Little Lady. I swear on my name.”
Susan took Ariel to the front of the pink full-body mirror.
Ariel looked frightened when she saw herself.
“Look straight ahead. Remember that well from now on.”
“………what?”
Susan looked at Ariel’s reflection in the mirror.
“From now on, what you’re seeing right now is beautiful. There is no other standard. The Lady’s appearance is pretty.”
“From now on, the look I have is pretty… “
“Yes, your standards always have to be. That way, even if you don’t meet the standards of the world, you still can show your beauty without falling behind it.”
Ariel approached the mirror.
Until now, even if there was a mirror, she didn’t look at it often.
She didn’t want to see herself in the mirror even whenever Susan ties her hair up with pretty ribbons or dressed her up.
She felt sad seeing her ugly self in pretty things.
But when she listened to Susan and looked in the mirror, she saw her red hair for the first time.
She also saw her clear red eyes, that looks like strawberries melted in sugar.
Her skin was as pale as snow.
Even if people outside criticized her appearance, she thought she could finally say, “I like this appearance” now.
If she had bronze hair like her father’s, not red hair, she wouldn’t have met Lucian, Susan, and Mathius.
She leaned gently against her reflection in the mirror.
Ariel liked herself for the first time.
--------
Ariel washed her reddening eyes and went to bed.
Susan kissed her then turned off the lights, sat next to her and hummed her a lullaby like usual.
She felt good listening to the lullaby, so when Ariel opened her eyes, Susan smiled and patted her stomach.
“Lady, I was surprised by your marriage, not because of you, but because of the Lord.”
“Why? “
Susan spoke softly.
“The Lord is young, but he is more determined and sword-like than anyone else. He even told the Grand Duke not too long ago that he would cut off the bloodline of this family.”
“Cut off the bloodline of this family?”
“Yes, it means that he won’t get married or have children. But he did.”
“How come?”
Susan laughed.
“I’m just a maid, so I don’t know. But after I saw you, I thought I could understand it now. The reason why he changed his mind. He probably couldn’t help it if you were so pretty and lovely.”
“…..Susan, I think I’m going to cry again.”
“No. If you cry before you go to bed, your eyes will look like frog’s eyes tomorrow.”
<sub>(t/n:like those frogs with horizontal pupils?</sub>
<sub>Probably.)</sub>
Susan, who said that seriously, carefully covered her with blanket.
“I was so happy when you came. That’s all I need you to know.”
Ariel nodded instead of answering.
Then Susan added merrily.
“I’ll make you the prettiest when you get married properly later. Your scarlet red hair would go very well with the white wedding dress.”
But Ariel can’t say that her and Lucian’s wedding was hard just a deal.
‘I don’t think Susan will ever see me wear a wedding dress.’
But that’s not what’s important to Ariel right now.
Susan likes her without looking at her other conditions.
She’s calm and warm.
“Good night, Little Lady.”
Feeling a faint sound of sweet a sweet lullaby, Ariel fell asleep.
--------
Even though she didn’t cry in bed last night, Ariel’s eyes still became swollen and became like a frog’s the next day.
‘
Oh, this is embarrassing.’
During lunch, Mathius rushed into the room.
He probably heard it from Allen, the butler, who’s currently standing behind Mathius.
This is because Susan was busy so she left Allen to prepare Ariel’s meal.
Ariel only wiggled her eyes that she couldn’t open well.
She was embarrassed because her mouth was full of turkey sandwiches right now so she can’t explain everything that happened yesterday.
When Ariel didn’t answer, Mathius looked all over the room.
“Lack of toys?”
She wanted to say no, but the sandwich stopped her.
Mathius looked at Ariel’s cheek, filled with sandwiches, and muttered.
“A child is also short of toys,” said Mathius, turning around.
By the time Ariel had swallowed up the turkey sandwich, he had already disappeared in the hallway.
In the afternoon, the news that Ariel cried spread throughout the mansion, and people went to Ariel’s room constantly.
Chef Holston prepared Ariel’s favorite, plum pudding and put it on the pot, and the maids took a pretty silk ribbon and hung it on Ariel’s window.
Even the gardener Woods, who never leave the first floor, came to visit.
The quiet Woods installed a strong and pretty wooden swing in Ariel’s room without saying anything and left after seeing the winterberry branch in a vase.
Ariel asked while sitting on a new wooden swing and dragging her feet.
“Why is everyone doing this, Susan?”
‘
What’s was the big deal when I only cried once?’
Susan, who was busy all day today because of the four curtain changes in the winter season, responded with a smile.
“Everyone’s just worried about the lady. Children your age usually gets homesick after a month or so away from their parents.”
“But I don’t want to see my father and my brother.”
“It’s because other people don’t know that. And even if they know, they might still be worried that you’ll have a hard time staying in this house.”
Ariel was surprised at Susan’s words. She had never thought of it.
How can she hate the La Carte mansion when it’s filled with such warm, and good people who always takes care of her?
Ariel could not suffer from homesickness itself because she had nothing to miss.
Rather, if she were to stay here and go somewhere else, she’ll miss this place more.
“Everyone is doing that because they’re hoping that the lady became happy and well adapted to this place. Of course, this is also the first time I have ever seen the Grand Duke do that.”
Susan, sweetly explained it to her while she changed the outer curtain of Ariel’s room into ivory.
“And my lady also needs to act a little more child-like. If someone gives me something good, don’t think things like, ‘why give it to me? ’Do I deserve it?’”
When Ariel was dumbfounded, Susan laughed.
“If I were a normal kid in a situation like this, I’d act a little more childish. I’m going to ask for more things that I want and take the opportunity.”
‘
But I already have everything I need?’
Ariel can only looked away.
However, it was not long before I realized that her thoughts and those around her were different.
Allen, the butler, brought out a giant stuffed eagle, which he said to soothe Lucian tears when he was still a baby, and made Ariel play with it.
Ariel was amazed to see the eagle for the first time and looked at its shiny feathers and orange beak.
‘
This soothed the baby Lucian that he stopped crying?’
Ariel thought it was very fun to be able to recall Lucian from my childhood.
The treasurer Dalton provided a high quality picture book with beautiful illustrations.
Ariel excitedly put the books neatly on the empty bookshelf.
And Mathius….
Within a few hours of Mathius departure, a stream of big toys began to enter Ariel’s room.
“Uwaa.”
Even Ariel, who wasn’t interested in toys for children because she had already lived until the age of 17, was surprised.
“I think these are more like a work of art than toys.”
The toys that Mathius gave her were a big doll house and an ark-shaped toy.
The ark-shaped toy was amazing.
It was a wooden toy made by carefully painting the grain of wood red one by one, then sanding it softly. It was possible to assemble it by matching the rooms in the ship.
The surprising thing was that no matter how the rooms were combined, the final shape would be a pear shape.
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A large ship, a two-story tower, and a comfortable ark….
And it was finished with resin that made it look like it actually floats on water.
The dollhouse was all the more impressive.
The doll’s house seemed to be a miniature of the La Carte mansion.
It was very colorful and sophisticated. The furniture and the structure inside the house were almost the same.