MILND 43

Chapter 43

 One person taking the lead and everyone else praising them—it was something I had seen in my past life, too.

“Then, shall I ask the Count? He went to the capital several times to report victories. He might know what kind of banquets His Majesty prefers.”

“Right, the victory ceremony was also held in the capital, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, but I heard it was quite different in nature from the one held by the Duke’s family.”

The one hosted by the Duke was to celebrate the border duke’s victory, whereas the capital’s event was more of a “All thanks to His Majesty” kind of ceremony.

If it’s that border duke, he might come up with a clever trick.

‘Wait a minute, the victory ceremony?’

Toast, victory ceremony, praise… the outline was forming in my head. I’d be a bit embarrassed to do it myself, but if the Emperor’s personality was as I expected, this might work well.

“Nata, can you contact the Count as soon as possible?”

“Ah, yes!”

“And Anna, call the tailor again. I need to change my banquet dress. Also, find out how the banquet hall is laid out.”

“Got it!”

Instead of splitting the speech into two parts, I found a rather convincing way to express loyalty. This should be enough to count as voicing my opinion rather than flat-out refusal.

Watching the two working harder than I was, I yawned big.

“Ugh, let’s just sleep first. It’s late.”

“It’s 9 p.m.”

“Yeah, but I went out, so I’m sleeping early.”

“Oh… okay.”

Leaving behind the enthusiasm of the two that cooled instantly, I climbed into bed.

After receiving my letter via messenger, the border duke moved with blazing speed. There was quite a bit to prepare.

I stopped by the banquet hall to check the seating for the New Year’s Eve party and had a meeting with the tailor about the new dress.

I rehearsed the speech with Nata and Anna, while the Viscountess dropped by frequently to teach me the proper etiquette for interacting with royalty.

With all that going on, time flew by, and the New Year’s banquet was just around the corner.

Guests began arriving one by one at the castle, and I headed to the banquet hall for one last check.

The Emperor would arrive tomorrow, and the banquet would begin the evening after.

Leaving the banquet hall, I looked up at the cloudy, gray sky and muttered,

“Phew, that was the final check.”

“You’ve worked hard,” Nata said softly with a smile. Despite having worked as hard as me, this handsome man’s face didn’t have a single blemish.

Feeling a bit petty inside, I walked through the estate’s garden—it was the fastest route back.

The garden was empty, so I walked leisurely.

“I’m looking forward to the banquet.”

“Really? I just want it to be over so I can rest.”

“Everyone’s going to see Madam’s performance.”

“Hmmm…”

The more we practiced, the more excited Nata seemed to get.

To me, the performance felt a bit silly, but he seemed genuinely moved.

Anna felt the same—she had even said she was too excited to sleep lately.

I let out a small sigh.

“I just hope nothing unexpected happens.”

“It’ll be fine. We’ve prepared so well.”

“Yeah… hopefully… hmm?”

As I tried to steer the conversation back to work due to his sparkling eyes, I noticed something moving among the withered trees in the corner of the garden.

On a closer look, they weren’t cotton candy but kids in white coats. They were so fluffy and white that they looked like cotton candy rolling on the ground.

‘Wait… are those Helene’s kids?’

I should call them grandchildren, but the word didn’t sit right. I was still in my twenties, after all. Grandchildren felt like a stretch.

Anyway, I didn’t expect the duke’s children to be playing in the dirt in the garden. They were giggling excitedly, looking at a small tree in the corner.

“Madam?”

“Ah, right. Let’s go.”

I hadn’t officially met the kids yet, so I didn’t feel like approaching them.

They looked exactly like Mikhail and Helene, which caught my eye—but I had no intention of scaring them by getting close.

Just as I was about to walk away, I overheard their innocent voices.

“This was yummy when we ate it in the summer!”

“But the color’s a bit different now…”

“You said it was good too! If you don’t want it, I’ll eat it all!”

“N-no!”

The girl, presumably the younger sister, pointed to a sprout on the tree and claimed it tasted good in the summer. When she threatened to eat it all, her brother stomped over, clearly jealous.

‘Wait—that plant’s poisonous.’

I remembered hearing about it from Johan.

The sprouts in summer are sweet and edible like a snack, but from fall onward, they turn toxic. He had warned us not to eat them even when hungry.

The kids were about to put it in their mouths.

‘Oh, come on.’

Where were the caretakers? I sighed and walked toward them.

“Hey, little ones. You’ll get sick if you eat that.”

“Huh?”

“Didn’t anyone teach you not to eat things off the ground?”

They both looked up at me from where they were sitting. Their expressions weren’t ordinary.

‘The boy looks like Helene, the girl like Mikhail. It’s reversed by gender.’

Which meant, in simple terms, both were absurdly cute.

So cute, in fact, that it felt like a shame there weren’t any cameras in this world.

“…Madam?”

“Ah, anyway, don’t eat that. Hand it over.”

If Nata hadn’t spoken, I might have just stood there admiring them.

Snapping back to my senses, I approached and gently took the plant from their hands.

“Ah—”

“Madam? But my mom’s the only madam I know.”

The boy hesitated, unsure how to address me, and the girl, clearly sharp, questioned my title.

‘Saying “I’m your grandma”… ugh, too much work.’

Explaining how their grandma was younger than their parents? Too much trouble.

After a bit of inner struggle, I went with the easiest answer.

“Actually, there’s more than one Madam in a house. Each household has one.”

“Oh…”

“So one day, you’ll become a Madam too. You’ll understand when you’re older.”

They nodded awkwardly at my nonsense logic.

I helped them up and brushed dirt and twigs off their knees. My old habits as a teacher were kicking in again.

“Now don’t eat anything weird, okay? Only eat things adults say are safe. If you get sick, the people who care for you will be sad. Let’s promise, alright?”

“…Promise?”

I ignored Nata’s puzzled tone.

Still a bit dazed, the kids hooked their pinkies with mine and nodded obediently.

“Good kids. Alright then, I’ll be on my way.”

Just as I was turning to leave, the girl suddenly tugged on my sleeve.

“…What is it?”

“I’m Minerva. Minerva Layton.”

“…I see. I’m Wilhelmina.”

“This is my brother, Jeonil.”

“Ah, hello.”

I greeted them and looked at the siblings. Minerva’s eyes sparkled with overwhelming curiosity.

“Are you a botany major?”

“Bot… what?”

“I’ve always wanted to know what flowers grow in our garden. Mr. Nofe didn’t know. He said he wasn’t a botany major. So you must be a botany major, right?”

I was speechless at Minerva’s torrent of words.

‘Well, I know a bit because Johan told me… but wait, did she just call me a teacher?’

She must’ve mistaken me for a teacher because I scolded them just now. Given my old habits, it was understandable.

I was about to clear up the misunderstanding when Jeonil came up and grabbed my hand tightly.

“Uh, do you… have time? Would you like to have some tea?”

Where on earth did he learn that?

From botany to pickup lines straight out of a romance novel—what five or six-year-old talks like this?

As I stood stunned by the strange conversation skills, Jeonil blushed and shyly added,

“So… do you want to play with us?”