I Want To Be Your First – R19 - Chapter 83

The situation Vieta witnessed was as such.

Apparently, before the Madam left, she looked excited at the thought of leaving. After checking their tickets, she had some snacks at the port and even bought gifts for her family in the North. She began preparing to board after sending postcards to her family.

While they were undergoing the procedures to board the ship, the Madam rushed off towards somewhere abruptly. Vieta followed behind her hastily, and all of a sudden, the Madam jumped into the sea. Afterwards, the Lord hauled her up and when Vieta thought they were having a conversation, Ariel kissed him out of the blue…

It was still acceptable up till that point.

Aren’t lovers’ quarrel the best material to watch? With a fascinated feeling in her heart, Vieta joined the crowd that was watching the couple, and only returned to reality at the sudden call of her name by a low voice.

The Lord’s escort guard, Sir Syknechid, looked at her with a sombre look on his face, before tapping her on the shoulder.

“I understand the feeling of being swept away by your masters. Now, let’s return back to the mansion.”

Just like that, the Madam and her dedicated handmaiden’s departure ended in vain. When she returned back to the mansion, instead of ‘longing and regrets’, she was met with one-sided criticisms of ‘why did she run away from home with the Madam’ by those that were waiting.

“Anyways, I feel really wronged! I had also persuaded her again and again that she shouldn’t go to the North. But what could I do when she was so stubborn? If you all were in my shoes, even if you added onto my words, it wouldn’t have lessened her determination!”

When Vieta expressed her sorrows while thumping a fist on her chest, the gazes that trained on her became mixed with a sense of pity. Vieta didn’t miss that opportunity and continued to elucidate her position more strongly.

“Besides that, look. Up till recently, the Madam was someone that would tremble when she saw strangers. Because I couldn’t send the Madam off by herself, I could only follow along. Place yourselves in my position, can any of you bear to send the Madam to the North by herself?”

“…No, well,”

“She’s that dazed normally, so how can she go through such a long distance without a single attendant? There isn’t a child that would be left by the water alone, never! Wouldn’t it have been an insult if I had just sent her away? Am I not right?”

Nicky lowered her fist and turned her gaze away secretly. Jude and Maria also scratched their cheeks and started to stutter gibberish.

“But what was it that you’d said earlier? What about a kiss?

Maria changed the subject with a smile. As such, Jude also asked about it with gleaming eyes.

With a flinch, Vieta mumbled.

“…Didn’t you hear from the bodyguard?”

“Have you ever seen Sir Syknechid talk about such things?”

“Well, what else would that reticent man say? He just asked us to take good care of Madam.”

Vieta cleared her throat while thinking to herself, ‘No, Mr. Vion seemed to be quite fond of chatting…’

Perhaps because she found Vieta’s attitude arrogant, Jude grabbed Vieta’s shoulders and shook her back and forth.

“You’re being so cheeky even though you’re the youngest! Stop stalling and spit it out!”

“Yeah, both the Madam and the Lord came back soaking wet, what the hell happened?”

If she didn’t speak about it immediately, they would immediately choke her. They were usually affable women, but Vieta couldn’t figure out why they were so strong when the three of them were together. Giving up, Vieta spoke.

“…Well. Are you talking about the fact that the Lord came to the pier to find Madam?”

As soon as she finished speaking, Nicky couldn’t help but open her mouth and say, “That’s ridiculous. The Lord did that?”

Jude and Maria took over.

“Really? The Lord went to look for Madam? Oh my! Oh my! Actually, he hadn’t eaten on time ever since Madam left.”

“Oh, my… The Lord is a man deeply in love! I knew it!”

“And then? What happened?”

“…When the lord was crossing the pier, he fell into the sea.”

“Heok! Wasn’t the Lord unable to swim?”

“Oh, I also thought so too. The only flaw of a perfect man.”

“There’s a lot of people that said it’s good because it gives him a more human side. Why, yesterday Cornelia…”

One word led to ten, or perhaps twenty other words. Vieta waited for their chattering to end with cloudy eyes, before continuing.

“Afterwards, the Madam jumped in in order to save the Lord… She almost drowned because the dress was so heavy, and the Lord had to save her.”

Jude and Maria clapped their hands together and started speaking nonsense such as, “Oh my god, what’s that,” and, “It’s too romantic.”

Of course, Nicky was the only one that had a neutral expression.

“Ah, the Lord had some sort of special training last summer, and kept going out to the sea everyday to practise swimming with Sir Syknechid.”

“Something like that happen?!”

“I saw them heading out to sea early in the morning several times. In any case, what happened next?”

“Uhm well, they hugged and said something, before their lips suddenly…”

Silence fell. A mysterious atmosphere spreaded through the silence. Only Maria thoughtlessly said, “Their lips? What about their lips?” which made the atmosphere murky. Then, Jude poked Maria in the ribs violently and gave her a gaze to be quiet if she didn’t know.

The situation where glances were exchanged persisted. It was Nicky that broke the mysterious silence.

“I guess that’s what happened.”

Nicky, who had an indifferent expression the whole time, crossed her arms and fiddled with an eyebrow. Nicky shrugged when the three maids looked at her in wonder, asking what she was talking about.

“I’m talking about the Lord. Since he was such a perfect person, I wondered if he would choose someone humane as his companion.”

“What are you talking about?”

Nicky relaxed her sullen expression and looked considerately at Vieta.

“Whether it’s the Imperial Princess, or the Princess from the Grand Ducal family. The woman that had been thought of as candidates for the Lord’s fiancée…For some reason, weren’t they like dolls? Aren’t they completely different from the Madam?”

“Well… kind of… true?”

“They had high status, were proud, graceful, and beautiful… Oh, Madam is of high standing, too. She’s a little different from them.”

If all the aforementioned women felt like perfect aristocrats, the Countess seemed to be more friendly and candid.

This didn’t mean that she was as simple as ordinary people. She just gave an affectionate feeling, and others could feel her warmth when conversing…

It can be likened to raising a dog that had a very noble status. A small, good-natured dog of good pedigree, who rubs against people repeatedly.

“A Maltese, Maltese,” said Jude, and at her words, Maria added, “Do you mean that dog the royal family raises?”

Although the Lord’s wife had suddenly become a dog, none of the four thought it was a bad thing.

“I think that the Madam is much better than those women.”

Maria broached the topic with an awkward smile. She was originally the type that would form attachments easily, but the Madam seemed to be a nice person, in Maria’s opinion.

“I had originally wondered why it had to be such a person…I thought that in the past, and now I see that the Lord has a discerning eye for people.”

“Maria, you… you were still mean to Madam two months ago.”

“No, no! Isn’t that all back then! I thought you guys hated her too!”

“…I’ll admit that. Ah, not anymore though? Madam is a little cute.”

“Yeah. If you watch her, she’s cute. She isn’t picky, and eats well and sleeps well.”

“But why does she keep hiding under the bed?”

“Ah! I was also curious about it, so I asked. Apparently, the North is very cold, so their bedrooms are made smaller. The bed is also small. But everything in the South is spacious, so she can’t ease her mind…”

“…Well, is that why she slept on the sofa or under the bed?”

A huge question was resolved. Starting with this, Nicky, Maria, and Jude started to discuss Ariel’s strange habits.

Why did she crouch by the window every day, almost mistaking her for a ghost, why did she split cookies in half, etc.

The never-ending topic reached its climax at ‘Why does the Madam sleep on the tip of the blanket instead of a pillow’.

As she listened to their meaningless chatter, Vieta then realised that she had returned to the mansion, and felt relief.

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In a drooping dress and wet, tousled hair. The Countess’s appearance, who has returned back after a long absence, was horrible.

As such, the first thing Ariel did after returning to the mansion was take a bath. The head maid Eva had no time to rejoice, and busied herself removing the damp clothes, asking what the hell happened.

“Oh goodness! What if you catch a cold?”

It wasn;t unreasonable to make a fuss about her, since she was the Countess who, not long ago, was idling while medicated. Ariel awkwardly left her body in the hands of the servants.

After taking her bath, Ariel wrapped her damp hair up roughly and went to the office hesitantly.

Not too long ago, she left the mansion readily, but she felt very embarrassed at returning back like this. Of course, the thought that she would be facing Berthwald made her even more embarrassed.

“Excuse me, Count? Are you there…?

Whether it’s fortunate or not, it seems that the owner of the room has yet to return. Ariel approached the window cautiously and sat on the windowsill.

The fresh scent of the sea flowed in through the wide-open window. The curtains fluttered, the pages of the open book on his desk flipped noisily as she left her body to the breeze.

All of a sudden her precognitive dream came to mind.

His brilliant platinum hair that fluttered with the wind, his slowly raised eyelids. As Ariel wasn’t well aware of the beauty standards, she could only say that the way he looked at her with curved eyes was beautiful.

“Such duality reminds me of my wife. Quiet, yet full of passion.” 

‘What was the Count’s face like then?’

‘Let me think about my dream again.’

The way Berthwald bit his lower lip slightly as he looked at her with a look like he was dreaming.

Now that she looked back at that, all of them were clues. It was his own way of expressing his feelings for Ariel in a roundabout manner.

If he had said that he liked her directly, it would have been difficult for Ariel to accept it, and she’ll think that he was teasing her.

She rubbed her red cheeks lightly. Then, as there weren’t any signs of them cooling down, she slapped them with her palms.

‘To think that he said he likes me?’

“…I love you.”

It was like a lie. All of it…felt like a dream.