Translator: Skye Editor: herkawaiidreams
* * *
Mrs. Ferris, who sensed her master’s worry, carefully spoke,
“Your Grace, though we have mobilized all the servants, we have not yet been able to catch the rat.”
Closing his eyes, Regis heightened his senses. He could feel every servant’s presence as well as the presence of his daughter who was in her room. He could feel all life inside the mansion, but the presence of a little beast that was the symbol of filth, he could not.
Regis opened his eyes and let out a sigh.
‘There’s no rat in the house so of course they’re unable to catch one.’
Unaware of her master’s inner thoughts, the housekeeper grumbled as if in complaint.
“It’s not just the maids, Lady Juvellian also feels uneasy so we cannot just ignore the matter.”
Regis flinched.
‘She’s feeling uneasy?’
“Call for Derrick.”
The butler arrived shortly after the housekeeper was sent after him.
“Master, you’ve called for me?”
The Duke, who looked deep in thought, spoke.
“Derrick.”
“Yes?”
“I need your advice on something.”
Derrick’s eyes widened as he grasped the serious tone of his master’s voice.
‘He needs advice….?’
His master had never asked for advice before. The Duke was the type to always settle things himself. Derrick suddenly became nervous; he had no idea what it could possibly be about.
“Where do rats usually live?”
Derrick wasn’t sure if he heard his master correctly. He stared at Regis with trembling eyes before responding.
“I’m sorry? Rats?”
When he heard Derrick’s stiff voice, Regis let out a sigh.
“Never mind. It was a slip of tongue. How is the list of potential marriage candidates for Juvellian coming along?”
Derrick was worried that the heavy workload was causing his master to act strange, but threw the worry away when the duke corrected himself.
“Ahh, yes, we are looking at all young nobles from reputable families, as well as considering their looks, wealth, and social reputation. The list should be finalized by the end of today.”
“I see.”
Fortunately, it seemed the duke was in a good mood. Derrick breathed an inward sigh of relief before reporting what he always hesitated to mention.
“Also…Sir Mikhail has sent another letter.”
The moment the name “Mikhail” was heard, the duke’s eyes changed drastically.
“What did it say?”
He spoke in a slow, thin voice.
Derrick felt his knees tremble even though he wasn’t Mikhail himself.
“As always, he’s been pressuring for a reply. He believes that Lady Juvellian is simply acting in order to get his interest.”
“I see.”
Although he continued to wear an unreadable expression, the duke’s eyes became frigid. Derrick was unable to say a word as he saw the duke’s chilling face. He stared nervously at his master.
‘He’s really furious…But then again, I don’t blame him.’
Derrick also thought that Mikhail went too far. Even if Juvellian were to still hold feelings for him, that didn’t mean Mikhail had the right to trample over her and question her character.
Then, the duke rose to his feet. Seeing his master coming closer, Derrick became tense.
‘Does he want to read the letter himself?’
Believing his master wanted to see the letter, Derrick took out the letter. Regis, however, continued to walk past him instead.
‘Huh? What does he want to do?’
As Derrick turned his head, he heard a grim voice.
“Burn it.”
By the time Derrick turned around completely, his master had already left the room.
* * *
“Milady, I received a report that the rat has been caught.”
“Really?”
“Yes, they said that exactly one was caught in the trap! There hasn’t been any more since then…So it seems that one had just found its way to the mansion by chance!”
I swept a hand over my chest when I heard Sella’s excited voice.
‘What a relief. The house is safe now.’
Feeling a sense of restored security, I let out a smile.
“Milady, a letter has arrived for you.”
Marilyn came in bringing in a silver tray which held a letter. This was the first reply I’ve received since I had sent out those letters a while back.
I knew it was probably nothing more than a formality, but since this was the first time I was receiving a response from someone else, I had to read it.
Holding the letter, I noticed the rose-patterned seal.
‘Is this letter from Count Arlo?’
Count Arlo…Our households were on friendly terms, and my relationship with their daughter was relatively not bad.
Or rather, it would be more accurate to say it was not bad “yet.”
‘Is this a reply to the letter I sent back then?’
I opened the letter with a slight eagerness. My eyes widened when I saw what was inside.
‘An invitation?’
Opening the invitation, I saw a relatively long message, written in pretty handwriting. The sender was Count Arlo’s youngest daughter, Rose. She was known to be quite active in social circles. She was also destined to become one of the princess’ close friends, and would eventually be one of the characters who would want to bring me, the villainess, down.
‘Well, let’s see what she wrote.’
Worried it was just going to be empty words, I opened up and read the letter.
‘Hm?’
Its contents included a greeting, some small talk from Rose and an invite to a party celebrating her upcoming birthday.
‘She’s asking if I could attend her birthday party in 3 weeks if my health gets better by then.’
In high society I was pretty much a loner, so receiving an invitation felt like quite a blessing. I had no reason to turn her down.
“Marilyn, could you get me some paper and a pen?”
After receiving paper, a quill pen, and ink from Marilyn, I found myself slightly frowning. No matter how I looked at it, the yellow paper and black ink seemed a bit old-fashioned.
‘It looks too plain.’
Rose went as far as to send me an invitation, if I barely put any effort into my reply, it may offend her. I wasn’t just writing to anyone, I was writing to someone who would be the princess’s close friend in the future, therefore it would be best for me to get on her good side.
I needed to work hard to get rid of my death flag.
‘What would she like?’
Suddenly, I recalled the time when I first met her. I had passed by Rose at a party and noticed she seemed to enjoy wearing clothes that made her look quite lovely. In addition, it looked like she put a lot of effort into this letter in terms of her handwriting, as it looked quite pretty.
‘Well, it seems she would like those kinds of things.’
Having a feel for what I wanted to do, I called the maids.
“Sella, I need you to get some flowers from the garden. Julia, I’ll need you to bring me some lace and ribbons.”
The maids were quick to bring me what I wanted.
“Milady, we have brought everything you had requested.”
Great, now it was time to put my past experience of writing penpal letters to some good use.
“M-Milady–!”
The maids were shocked by what I did next but I paid them no heed.
* * *
After receiving the news that Lady Floyen was lying sick in bed, a certain family had prepared and sent a formal letter and gift.
Rose knitted her brows.
‘We have never received a reply before, so do we really need to regularly send a letter under the name of the House of Arlo like this?’
Lady Juvellian.
Holding the high status of a duke’s only daughter, she was a beautiful, doll-like young lady. Rose once used to admire Juvellian.
But the Juvellian she had seen in person was rude, cold, and haughty to everyone with the exception of Mikhail. Ever since she was ignored after trying to greet Juvellian, Rose began to loathe these formal relationships.
But that was before she received the reply that Juvellian herself had written.
<Have you been doing well?
Count Arlo, thank you for the kind gift and letter.
Thanks to your concern, I am recovering well, though it feels suffocating to be stuck indoors even on such beautiful days.
It seems it won’t be long till Count Arlo’s rose garden, which I’ve heard about from my father, will be in full bloom. It’s a shame I cannot witness the sight of the beautiful and stunning flowers myself.
Speaking of roses, I hope Lady Rose is also doing well.
Although we have not been able to talk often, I still feel a sense of familiarity because our ages are similar.>
What kind of person was Lady Floyen again? Wasn’t she someone who considered everyone, except Mikhail, to be irrelevant?
But the letter had clearly mentioned Rose’s name.
‘She knew my name! And she thought of me while she was thinking of roses?’
Though she had many friendly connections, she was still merely only an ordinary count’s youngest daughter. She was also occasionally teased by others who said that the name of the queen of flowers, ‘Rose’, didn’t fit her.
But Lady Juvellian, someone who everyone paid attention to, had mentioned her name, causing Rose’s heart to skip and flutter.
“Father! About the letter Lady Floyen sent–!”
Traditionally, a count had a retainer who would write a letter on his behalf, but Rose was adamant that she be the one to write the reply herself.
The problem came after that.
Not knowing what to write, Rose let out a groan. In the end, she had only been able to write about her birthday party and extend an invite.
In truth, Rose didn’t have any expectations towards Juvellian accepting her invitation. She simply wanted to write a reply to the letter where Juvellian had talked about her.
But contrary to her expectations, Juvellian had sent another letter–a reply to the one Rose had sent.
With trembling hands, Rose opened the letter.
<Lady Arlo, have you been well?
I was not only surprised to receive a letter from you directly, but also honored to be extended an invitation to your birthday party.
This is the first time I’m communicating with someone over letters, so I’m a bit inexperienced and would appreciate your understanding.
Hearing that you like flowers, although it’s quite lacking, I tried decorating the letter. Does it look all right?
I did my best decorating it in my own way, but I know it’s nowhere near the level of yours. Though I do hope it’s to your liking.
Like this, it has been enjoyable to be able to talk to someone whose family boasts to be as warm and beautiful as the roses in May.
Since we will see each other soon, I will save further words for when we meet.
Juvellian Eloy Floyen.>
Not only were the written contents first-class, but Rose also immensely adored the letter itself. The letter was decorated with small ribbons and pressed flowers, and surrounding the words in the middle was a border made of lace. It was quite aesthetically pleasing to look at.
‘She decorated and wrote this herself? For me…’
Rose couldn’t help but grin. Staring at the letter, she continued to feel waves of elation. It almost felt like she had become someone special.
After reading the letter a few more times while lying in bed, she reached into her drawer for her letter sheet.
‘I should hurry and write a reply!’
But Rose paused just as she was about to dip her pen into the ink.
‘No. I can’t just send one like this.’
She made a fuss and shouted at her maids.
“Emily! Bring some flowers from the garden! Laura, I need you to bring me some ribbons! The pretty and fancy ones!”
“Milady, don’t tell me you’re planning on using them for the letter? If the Madam were to find out…”
After hearing Laura’s words, Rose asked quietly,
“Is there no way?”
Laura let out a sigh when she saw Rose’s desire.
“Then I’ll bring the ribbon from the dress that was recently ripped.”
Rose, whose face had lightened up again, nodded her head.
“Okay!”
* * *
I let out a sigh while opening the letter Rose had sent to me.
‘Ha…I didn’t think I’d receive another reply….’
I definitely said that we should stop exchanging letters and wait until we see each other at the party…It seems she didn’t catch on to my words.
‘I’ll have to work on my writing.’
On top of that, the letter she wrote was especially long, giving me a bit of a fright.
‘Ah..What should I even write in response?’
Though I had let out another sigh, I couldn’t help but smile a little as I read her letter. Seeing the flowers and ribbons that crudely decorated the paper, I could only assume she was trying to copy what I had done to the letter I sent her earlier.
Despite being poorly made, it didn’t look that bad.
* * *
T/N:
Discord Link: https://discord.gg/Q3dStgu
Join and chat with us on our discord server! (also let me know of any mistakes)