Lindbergh (2)
Lindbergh (2)
"The food is really quite excellent, isn't it?"
Because of his tall stature and very masculine appearance, his first impression was somewhat imposing, but the voice that addressed us was exceedingly gentle and gentlemanly. How should I put it? If someone asked you to picture an early-twentieth-century gentleman, you might well draw a man like him.
Mia Crowfield flushed when she noticed Duke Lindbergh's gaze shift to the biscuit in her hand. A warm smile spread across his face as he watched her, and his already upturned mustache rose even higher with the movement of his upper lip.
"There's no need to worry at all. Every dish here is prepared by first-rate chefs who came over from the mainland. We could hardly serve our guests food made by colonials, now could we."
"I-is that so?"
Mia Crowfield answered blankly. The Duke smiled gently at her once more, then looked back and forth between us.
"The climate differs from the homeland in many ways. I trust you are both keeping well?"
"I am."
"Ah, yes, I am as well... Thank you for your concern?"
Mia Crowfield still looked as though she couldn't quite figure out why the Duke had spoken to us.
If I went to a party my friend's parents had thrown, only to discover that the real purpose had been to see whether there might be a suitable match for their son, I'd be at a loss for words too. Though in this world, maybe that wasn't considered such an odd thing.
In fact, at the edge of my vision, I could see several girls approaching Jake to talk to him. All of them were daughters of prominent houses. Lottie, who was at his side, didn't even seem to care.
"I hear that both of you are in the same class as Jake."
"That is correct."
I answered politely, while carefully studying the Duke's expression. Outwardly, his face looked exactly like that of someone who had struck up a conversation out of simple curiosity about his child's friends.
The Duke's gaze moved to Mia Crowfield, then settled on me.
"I am curious—are you on close terms with my son? Is Jake conducting himself with proper manners?"
"He has never been unpleasant, at the very least."
"Has he?"
The Duke smiled, looking pleased at my response.
Then he turned his gaze toward Jake.
Jake was subtly edging away from the women who were talking to him. Rather than openly running off, he was adroitly extricating himself by slowly maneuvering the conversation this way and that.
The Duke looked back at us with an expression that suggested he hadn't expected much from Jake's behavior anyway.
"I have met the Countess of Crowfield several times before. That was when the young lady was very small, though, so I am not sure she would remember."
Mia Crowfield shook her head. The Duke didn't look particularly disappointed.
"Now that we have found ourselves in the same place like this, we can simply remember each other from here on. Should you encounter any difficulty whatsoever inside my domain, please do come to me. Whatever the matter may be, I will see it handled with every resource at my disposal."
Had he interpreted Mia Crowfield's timid side as demureness? She seemed to have made quite a favorable impression on him.
Well, from an aristocratic standpoint, she'd probably seem better in every respect when compared to Lottie. Most of all, Mia Crowfield had no other siblings or a father. Perhaps Jake might end up inheriting the County of Crowfield.
"The same naturally applies to Your Imperial Highness. With a wide ocean lying between us, the Empire's reach may prove somewhat difficult. As a loyal servant of His Imperial Majesty, our ducal house will do everything in its power."
"I thank you for saying so."
... So he'd taken a liking to me as well, it seemed. Well, I was a child of the imperial house. Even if the world did know that I shared no blood tie to the emperor.
I wondered how the Duke of Lindbergh would react when he learned that Claire carried imperial blood. Would he be pleased that she came without an invitation?
Hm, or maybe he'd be pleased even without knowing that fact. At the very least, it meant Jake had brought "a woman who hadn't even been invited." Her family was a barony, but a noble house with territory inside the imperial capital, so they'd be well-placed to receive intelligence from the capital. In the Duke's eyes, she was surely a far better option than Lottie.
"Dear me, I fear this old man may have been interrupting the young ladies' conversation. I hope you both enjoy the rest of the evening."
The Duke inclined his head slightly toward us, and both Mia Crowfield and I each grasped the hem of our skirts and curtsied.
"Just what do you suppose he meant to say...?"
Watching the Duke's retreating back, Mia Crowfield asked. I was glad we had something to talk about. Otherwise things would have just stayed awkward.
The Duke was walking at a leisurely pace toward where Alice, Charlotte, and Sophia were.
"Jake is getting to an age where an engagement would be appropriate, after all."
"What?"
Mia Crowfield started in surprise at my words. So much so that it was a miracle she didn't drop the biscuit in her hand.
"But, Jake has... doesn't he have Miss Lottie?"
Hm.
Miss Lottie, she'd said.
That form of address was so very Mia Crowfield. Now that I thought about it, I'd never seen the two of them talk. Neither of them was the type to strike up a conversation first.
"That's—"
"Hey!"
Before I could offer any explanation, someone shouted loudly.
A maid seemed to have made a mistake. A dark-skinned maid, apparently a local, was bowing repeatedly, apologizing.
The shouting man's clothes were stained with purple liquid. Had he spilled wine or something?
Judging by the shattered glass on the floor, they must have bumped into each other.
... In the original story, it had been the man who walked into her.
"Do you know how much this outfit cost?"
"I am truly sorry..."
The maid was apologizing to the man, who was using such a textbook line. The bowing maid was a considerable beauty. She was definitely older than us, but I wouldn't have called her truly old.
"I'll—"
"What, you'll pay for it? Huh? Do you even have the means, you wretch?"
Of course she didn't. Even if you factored in her body's price, that outfit was probably more expensive.
The black-haired man was a supporting character attached to the Governor-General's office. I didn't think his name was ever given.
And the maid, on the other hand—
"I am truly sorry."
Just as the man opened his mouth to shout again, someone interceded.
"Ah, Young Master."
"This maid is a person in the employ of our house. A servant's mistake is thus also her master's. I will handle the compensation for the clothing myself."
At Jake's words, the man's expression instantly turned deferential.
"Ah, no. The fault lies with this woman. There is no need for you to trouble yourself, Young Master."
"But, to say it once more, this maid is a person in the employ of our house."
"Young Master..."
The maid, flustered, tried to dissuade Jake, but he waved his hand lightly, as if bidding her to step back.
And then, in the middle of all this, one more person interceded.
The expressionless girl who approached knelt down and, without a word, began picking up the scattered glass shards from the floor.
"..."
The maid, who had been standing there fidgeting, also hurriedly knelt and helped clean up alongside her.
The murmur of voices grew louder.
Because the girl picking up the glass fragments from the floor was also wearing a school uniform.
"Miss Lottie...?"
I heard someone murmur that beside me.
"Lottie."
Jake said that, but Lottie didn't even raise her head and just kept working in silence.
Most of the students merely watched Lottie and whispered among themselves—but
The students who had known Jake for a semester, Alice, Charlotte, Claire, Leo, and Mia Crowfield, looked slightly confused.
Mia Crowfield’s gaze moved back and forth between the maid prostrated on the floor and Lottie.
"...Huh?"
She made the sound as if she had realized something.
The others had apparently realized it too, not only Mia Crowfield.
The maid's face looked very much like Lottie's.
And considering their age difference...
If one called them mother and daughter, the gap wasn't unreasonable. Lottie looked appropriately young for her age, and the maid looked mature.
But at the same time, there was an odd atmosphere that would have also made it plausible to say they were "sisters with a big age gap."
In reality, the age difference between the two was less than twenty years.
Seventeen years, to be exact.
Though the actual relationship was the former, not the latter.
"No way...?"
I didn't bother to answer Mia Crowfield as she muttered that to herself.
Because even if I didn't, she would be able to grasp exactly why Jake and Lottie couldn't marry.
Blue blood and base blood.
In the world's eyes, that was their relationship.