Chapter 143
“My lady.”
“Yes?”
“Are you busy today?”
“Today? No, not particularly…”
Despite the commotion in the imperial capital over the past four days, Alice didn’t have much to do.
The aftermath of the Second Prince’s case was entirely Kylus’s responsibility.
Viscountess Rosetta and the Third Prince had returned to their respective homes, so there was nothing more to do there either.
Occasional invitations from other noblewomen had arrived, but… Alice hadn’t accepted them.
It was obvious they would only ask about the assassination attempt at the hunting grounds.
At any rate, she had been spending these days in considerable boredom. That’s why she’d been thinking of visiting the bookstore alley tomorrow.
Rather than wasting her excess time on worries, she wanted to read some intense romance novels.
As Alice shook her head with a faint smile, Sienna curled up the corners of her mouth as if pleased.
“Then come out with me, my lady.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
Alice’s eyes widened at the sudden proposal.
But immediately thinking it was perfect timing given her restlessness, she smiled at Sienna.
“Sure, sounds good.”
Sienna had chosen today’s destination.
She only told the curious Alice that she could look forward to it, nothing more.
And she ordered a maid to prepare a simple picnic basket.
So Alice boarded the carriage with Sienna without knowing their destination.
After about forty minutes of discussing the Third Prince, a topic that had turned Sienna’s cheeks quite red, the carriage finally stopped, seemingly having reached its destination.
“We’ve arrived at Selena Park, my lady, miss.”
Sir Ruyd, who had come along as an escort, opened the door.
Alice stepped out of the carriage first. She gasped “Wow,” her eyes widening at the scene spread before her.
“I told you that you could look forward to it, didn’t I?”
Sienna, who had followed her out of the carriage, approached Alice’s side and spoke.
Alice turned to Sienna with a bright smile.
“Better than I expected. This place is wonderful, Sienna. I didn’t know there was a place like this in the capital.”
Alice turned her head again toward the expansive park.
The vast park spread before her eyes looked exactly like something out of a masterpiece painting where nobles would sit and rest.
A grassy lawn where people could sit and relax, with a lake stretched out before it. What especially delighted Alice was the arched cloud bridge built over the lake.
Alice looked with wonder at the forest beyond the bridge.
Sienna smiled proudly as she watched Alice looking around the park with sparkling eyes, clearly very pleased.
Then, opening the parasol she had brought, she said:
“This land doesn’t belong to Vicente. It’s slightly separated from the capital, in the outskirts, you could say.”
“Really?”
Inside the carriage, Alice had been so focused on teasing Sienna that she hadn’t even realized they had left the capital.
As Sienna linked arms with her, the parasol naturally covered Alice’s head as well.
Soon, Alice began walking along the path as Sienna led the way.
As they walked companionably around the park, Alice noticed that most of the people sitting on the lawn in front of the lake were couples.
‘Is this a famous dating spot for nobles?’
She felt as if she were stealing a glimpse of intimate moments and averted her gaze, but suddenly, attention began to focus on her instead.
The Duchess of Dearrut.
The nobles on the lawn had recognized her.
‘If I meet their eyes, they’ll come over to talk.’
Alice had no desire to engage in gossip with them, so she ignored their gazes.
As if understanding Alice’s discomfort, Sienna spoke quietly:
“Don’t worry, my lady. If anyone approaches, I’ll send them flying into the lake.”
Sienna said these frightening words with a pretty smile.
‘She always smiles like this when saying something brutal.’
“Haha… I’m fine. It looks quieter over there—let’s set up there.”
Not particularly wanting to witness someone being flung into the lake, Alice pointed to a relatively empty area of the lawn and quickened her pace with Sienna.
For a spot chosen at random, it had quite a good view—a prime location where she could see the cloud bridge over the lake that she had admired most.
“Oh… I just picked a random spot, but it’s beautiful.”
Alice murmured softly as she sat down on the lovely beige cloth that Sir Ruyd had spread out.
Sienna, folding the parasol, sat beside her and asked:
“What did you say?”
She had heard Alice’s quiet murmur.
“Nothing.”
Alice smiled and naturally opened the picnic basket that Ruyd had set down.
She took out teacups and a glass bottle filled with cool fruit tea from the basket.
“Let me do that, my lady.”
When Alice tried to pour the tea, Sienna hastily protested.
“It’s fine. I’ll do it.”
Sienna seemed flustered, but Alice casually poured the tea and handed her a cup.
As Sienna accepted the teacup, Alice poured the cool tea into her own cup as well.
Then she sipped the tea while gazing at the picturesque scenery.
‘I feel like an elegant noblewoman.’
It was truly a peacefulness she hadn’t enjoyed in a long time.
From the hunting competition to the Second Prince’s trial, and then searching for the Wraith of Darkness—she had experienced truly dynamic events.
Of course, she had spent four days at the mansion with nothing to do, but her mind hadn’t been at peace.
She couldn’t shake her worries about the Wraith of Darkness and the Empress.
But sitting on the verdant lawn, looking at the calm lake, and listening to the birds chirping, her concerns naturally melted away.
As Alice felt a calm settling over her mind and body, forming a comfortable smile, Sienna said:
“I’m glad you seem to like it.”
“It’s not just that I like it. I love it. Thank you for bringing me here, Sienna.”
At Alice’s sincere words, Sienna’s face brightened.
“No need for thanks. But since you like it… next time, come with my brother.”
‘Spending time here with Kylus…’
For a moment, Alice imagined sitting with Kylus on the pretty cloth, gazing at the lake.
‘Just imagining it feels… nice.’
“You’re right… It would be really lovely to come with the Duke.”
Alice unconsciously answered with somewhat dreamy eyes, then suddenly snapped back to reality.
She felt embarrassed for indulging in fantasies about tender moments with Kylus.
Alice cleared her throat, trying to act as if nothing had happened, but Sienna let out a small chuckle and said:
“You seem to have changed a lot. At first, you seemed to keep your distance from my brother, but now… when you’re together, you look like a real couple, don’t you? You’ve grown closer to my brother, haven’t you?”
“No… well, I suppose we have become closer than before…”
As Alice scratched her cheek in embarrassment, Sienna added in a low voice:
“Why not consummate your marriage at this opportunity? You are husband and wife, after all.”
‘…Consummate?’
‘Surely she doesn’t mean that suggestive meaning of consummation that I’m thinking of?’
Judging by Sienna’s mischievous gaze, she did indeed mean the passionate night.
Alice’s face flushed hot at the mere thought, and she slapped Sienna’s arm, not knowing how to react.
“Consummate?! What are you saying?!”
Alice scolded her as if reprimanding a thoughtless younger sister, but her cheeks couldn’t hide her true feelings.
And Sienna couldn’t help but laugh, finding Alice adorable. Right now, Alice looked like a pink rabbit with her cheeks glowing red.
“I’m joking, my lady. I shouldn’t dare interfere with such an important matter. It’s just a small revenge for how you teased me about the Third Prince earlier.”
‘Small revenge…’
Alice glared at Sienna, realizing she had deliberately teased her, but she wasn’t angry.
She couldn’t deny that she had thoroughly teased Sienna in the carriage.
‘Compared to what I did, this is just playful banter.’
Alice sipped her fruit tea to cool her flushed cheeks, then set down her cup and gently changed the subject.
“By the way, is this imperial land? Is it a park managed by the empire?”
“Oh, no, this isn’t imperial land. To be precise, it belongs to the late Empress Adrianne Pentium, who was the First Prince’s birth mother.”
Alice looked surprised at Sienna’s answer.
She hadn’t expected the First Prince to be mentioned here.
‘The First Prince’s birth mother…’
The former Empress had appeared in just a single line in the original story, without any detailed description or explanation.
She was only briefly mentioned when the crimes of the current Empress Lariella Pentium were revealed.
Stating that both the former Empress and the First Prince had been poisoned by Lariella.
As Alice briefly thought about the original story, Sienna continued:
“From what I’ve heard, after Her Majesty the former Empress ascended to the position, Count Latrang built this place as a gift. They say the former Empress grew up freely in the south and found palace life quite stifling. So this place was built to capture the feeling of the south.”
“Count Latrang built this…”
Alice recalled Count Latrang, whom she had seen once at the hunting competition.
He had looked quite stern. To think he had created such a beautiful park for a daughter who missed her homeland.
It was unexpected. At that moment, Sienna pointed to the forest across the cloud bridge and continued her explanation:
“If you go into that forest across the lake bridge, there’s a mansion similar to those built in the southern territories. I heard that the Empress always stayed there during summer. Sometimes she would invite noblewomen to parties here in the park.”
Alice’s gaze fell on the forest beyond the lake. When she first saw it, she thought it was just a dense forest path.
‘So there’s a mansion inside.’
“If this is the former Empress’s private property, are we allowed to come in like this?”
When Alice asked, Sienna answered in a slightly subdued voice:
“After the former Empress passed away, this place was completely closed at first. Then the First Prince asked Count Latrang to open it again, saying he wanted to spend the summers here like his mother used to do.”
“I see…”
“And when the Count reopened it, he allowed nobles to freely come and go in this part of the park, as long as they didn’t cross the lake. He said he was honoring the former Empress’s wishes, as she enjoyed mingling with people.”
“I understand…”
Having heard the story of Selena Park and the former Empress, Alice looked at the park with a different, sorrowful gaze than before.
This beautiful scenery was, after all, an expression of Count Latrang’s love for his daughter.
While others might simply be moved by such deep fatherly love, Alice knew a truth that others didn’t.
