My Mom Entered a Contract Marriage - Chapter 43

After being lost in thought for a while, Lilica exclaimed, “Ah!”

“Then, the increase in the number of people at the Sun Palace earlier…”

“They’re the Southern aristocrats. Everyone probably wants to speak to you. Though they didn’t say anything because you’re with me.”

“To me?”

“It’s because they’re despicable.”

Lilica frowned, and Atil continued.

“It’s probably much more crowded in the Sky Palace. Now that the news has spreaded, the Sandar’s mansion at their fief must be rather bustling.”

Atil’s explanation reminded Lilica that she didn’t recall seeing Lat in the office these days.

“I didn’t even see Pi.”

At her mutter, Atil smiled coldly.

“That’s what it is.”

For some reason, Lilica wanted to defend Pi.

“Pi must be having his own situation. But I’m sure he’ll work hard to accompany Atil.”

Atil tapped the edge of his glass with the muddler.

“Whatever.”

Lilica frowned, but she didn’t say anything else.

Instead, she folded her arms.

‘Just how is that small thing twisting her arms,’ Atil thought while staring at her, and Lilica spoke relatively seriously.

“In that case, the North wouldn’t stay still either. After all, it’s an opportunity to earn a huge sum of money. If the South is Sandar, the North would be…”

“Wolfe.”

“Ah!”

Lilica’s expression became complicated.

Are Lat and Tan getting on bad terms?

Come to think of it, the last time she visited, they seemed to be discussing something serious.

Atil reached out with his fingers and pinched her nose.

“Atil!”

A nasally sound appeared instantly.

At Lilica’s cry, Atil laughed and said.

“This isn’t something you should worry about.”

“Even so—”

“Trust Uncle and Aunt.”

Lilica thought of her mother and His Majesty.

Although she was a little anxious, her mother would still be safe as long as she was with His Majesty.

Atil spoke.

“Even if they wanted to produce sugar in earnest, it’ll take a long period of time. If they aren’t fools, it will calm down. And Sandar isn’t foolish.”

Lilica’s shoulders sagged at his words.

Atil was right. Farming wasn’t something that could be built overnight.

“Diare Wolfe is your conversational partner, right?”

“Yes.”

“Call her over and hang out with her.”

“?”

Though she was slightly startled, Lilica nodded.

* * *

Diare, who was dressed in the neat attire of an apprentice knight, also looked lovely today.

With round eyes, dusty pink hair that cascaded down, and a charming smile.

It wasn’t a forced one but a natural smile, and it seemed to be an extreme opposite of Lauv’s.

“Would you like to go to the garden’s stream and play there today?”

Lilica nodded because she liked the proposal a lot.

Brynn prepared a picnic basket, and the party left the Sun Palace.

They ran into a group of people passing through the hallway.

As she walked past their greeting voices, she heard a loud voice from the back.

“Filthy things have rolled in and clouded over the sun!”

Lilica couldn’t help but feel astonished.

Her steps weren’t considered fast, so she could hear the voices talking behind her.

“To think that a bunch of vulgar people are wandering around. Ugh, isn’t there a gutter smell coming from somewhere?”

“About that, Ah, I think I’ve smelled it before while passing by the slums.”

Lilica agonised amidst the burst of laughter.

If she turned around and spoke, it would be considered as her striking up a conversation. In addition, it was more likely that they’d claim they were talking to themselves.

And they’d continue that conversation.

But if she ignored them, they were doing things that disregarded Takar—

“Don’t you detect a bad smell here, princess?”

Lilica looked at Diare in surprise.

Her voice was loud and cheerful, so it was projected around them.

She spoke with a smile.

“Where’s the bad smell coming from though? The strange smell seems to be coming from a desert rat. We’d better get out of here quickly.”

Diare smiled and grabbed Lilica’s hand.

Her voice was still loud and sonorous.

“I guess it’s true that bumpkins have an overly stinky body odour. Oh, I heard that their mouths also give off a weird smell, and it smells like that right now. Oh, I hate this. I’m suffocating, ugh, I’m about to die, yuck, I’m about to die. Could this be an attack on our noses? You have to run away, princess. Please save Diare by hurrying out of here.”

The south was a scorching region, so their inhabitants sweated a lot and were sensitive to scent. The sale of scented products was rather popular in the south.

They also mocked those that didn’t use perfume as ‘foul smelling’.

No one would dare to make such a statement in front of them because it was something they were most sensitive about.

“T—that……!”

“What…!”

There were some people behind them that fumed with red faces, but Diare ignored them, pinched her nose, and held out a handkerchief to Lilica.

“Let’s hurry.”

Then she walked quickly down the hallway.

As soon as they left the Sun Palace, Lilica burst into laughter.

Diare took a deep breath.

“Aren’t you able to live now? Haa, the outside air is great.”

Lilica stopped laughing and looked at Diare.

Diare gave her a smile that was as sweet as sugar cookies like she always did.

“Do you feel better after inhaling some fresh air?”

“Yes, much better.”

Lilica nodded.

The two faced each other like mischievous girls, before walking hand in hand with smiles on their faces.

‘I can see why Atil told me to go around with Diare.’

Lilica was still worried about what ifs, and asked just in case.

“Diare, will you be alright later?”

If she did that, will something happen to Diare later on? Diare asked with a tilted head.

“But I just said that it smelled weird because there was a weird smell. Did I do something wrong?”

“That’s right.”

Lilica laughed.

Although she didn’t know whether they were southern aristocrats or not, she got payback in the same manner.

If Lilica said such things, some might gossip that it’s expected that she has nasty speech because she’s from the slums.

But what about Diare?

Diare smiled.

“I’m ‘Diare the uncompromising’.”

Lilica also smiled at the smiling Diare.

The two walked while swinging their hands excitedly.

There were many flowing streams in the large garden, but the best spots were reserved for the imperial family.

A low wooden bridge was built across the fairly wide stream, making it perfect to play with the water.

After dipping the juice and milk bottles that they’d brought into the stream’s water, Lilica took off her shoes and silk socks.

“It’s so refreshing!”

Her legs touched the water as soon as she sat down, and cold stream water hit her calves.

Lilica sighed while splashing the water.

Diare, who was seated next to her, asked.

“Why are you sighing?”

“No, it feels good because it’s very cool, but it’ll probably feel even better if you jump in, right?”

“I guess so. Oh, come to think of it, you aren’t going to the summer palace this year.”

“Summer palace?”

“Yes, this is the main palace in the capital, but they’ll travel to the summer palace in the summer and the winter palace in the winter for an excursion. Or a villa. I heard that the imperial summer palace is located on the island.”

“On an island?”

“Yes. Have you ever seen the sea? I heard that you can enter the sea as much as you want.”

“No.”

Lilica shook her head.

She’d never seen the sea before. Apparently, it was a vast and endless body of water.

“I’ve seen it in an illustration.”

When she mentioned that she saw it in the encyclopedia, Diare smiled.

“Actually, I haven’t seen it before either. The beach too. I hope we can go together in the future.”

“Yes. If I’m going, of course Diare will also go with me.”

At Lilica’s words, Diare smiled and said, “Right?”

Diare jumped off the bridge.

Splash—

There was the sound of cool and refreshing water.

The water was deep enough to reach Diare’s waist.

She didn’t care about her uniform getting wet.

“It’s definitely quite refreshing to jump in. Come in too, princess. Hurry.”

Lilica looked down at her clothes, hesitated for a moment, before jumping down with an ‘Ey’.

“It’s so refreshing!”

Lilica burst into laughter.

Diare splashed water at her.

“Diare!!”

“Isn’t it refreshing?”

“Oh gosh!”

Lilica also shouted and began splashing water at her.

She’d already stopped thinking about her clothes.

It was also fun to remain floating on the water surface.

When Diare said that the body was light in the water, so they could cut it lightly, the two faced each other a few times and tried cutting it.

Those useless things made her rather delighted.

Eventually, the both of them, who were completely drenched, climbed up onto the warm stones.

“I feel heavier.”

At Lilica’s words, Brynn brought a large towel and covered her with a smile.

“It’s because after coming up, the clothes that were soaked in water become heavier.”

Diare wrapped a towel around her and squeezed the water out of her hair. Her gaze reached the basket.

Brynn took something to eat from the basket and also brought the drink she’d prepared at the stream.

The hungry girls soon polished all the food.

Brynn said anxiously.

“It’d be better to go back and change your clothes quickly. At this rate, you might catch a cold.”

“Really? I think I’m alright though.”

Diare’s eyes widened.

“That can’t be right. Princess, aren’t you trembling?”

At Diare’s words, Brynn moved closer.

She touched Lilica’s cheek and spoke, startled.

“You’re too cold, Princess. Let’s go back quickly.”

Brynn swathed her in the towel and picked her up.

Ahh, in an instant, Lilica was immersed in a tub of warm water.

‘It feels good…’

From the way she welcomed the warm water despite the fact that they were in the midst of summer, it seems that her body temperature had indeed decreased.

She was exhausted after playing in the water, so after washing up, she felt entirely exhausted.

While dressing the princess, whose cheeks were as red as an apple, Brynn mentioned.

“Your friend is here.”

“Friend?”

Lilica let out a light yawn and smiled, “Ah!”

“Is Fjord here?”

“Yes.”

Brynn added with a smile.

“Miss Diare is also waiting for you.”

“Then I’ll have to go over quickly.”

Lilica sped up, wondering if it would be awkward because it was their first time meeting.

When she entered the drawing room with damp hair, Diare and Fjord were sitting on opposite ends of the sofa.

Diare was dressed in clothes that were borrowed from somewhere, a loose shirt and drawstring trousers, and water was still dripping from her hair.

On the other hand, Fjord was dressed rather flamboyantly from head to toe as he always did, and his hair was neatly combed without a strand of hair out of place.

When Lilica came out, the two stood up from their seats naturally.

With a charming smile, Diare opened her mouth first.

“Princess, is it true that Barat, who isn’t the least bit useful aside from his flashy appearance, is your friend?”

Lilica was bewildered for a moment, while Fjord smiled brightly.

“I feel sorry for Wolfe, who has little use aside from biting and barking. It’s because they have to make barking noises all the time.”

“Oh, I learned dog-speech in order to speak to a dog. Come to think of it, you’re worse than a dog, since you can’t even understand dog-speech. By the way, my princess.”

Before Fjord responded, Diare ran over and held Lilica’s hand tightly.

“Here, have a seat.”

When she was offered a seat next to Diare, her other arm was seized in an instant.

Fjord spoke with an elegant smile.

“I’m afraid that you’ll get dog hair on your clothes.”

Before Diare could say another word, Lilica spoke in a low voice, “Enough.”

Diare quickly backed down and made a disconsolate expression.

“But princess—”

“No buts.”

Lilica spoke sternly.

“Fjord is my friend.”

Diare became sullen.

“But is the flashy looking—”

“Yes, he’s my friend.”

Before Diare could continue speaking, Lilica hammered it in again.

At this, Fjord felt strange, like he didn’t know whether to rejoice or not.

Diare raised her head abruptly and spoke sharply.

“I won’t let it go if you hurt the princess.”

“I agree.”

Fjord replied like that, and Lilica sighed deeply.

At the sound of her sigh, the both of them quickly shut their mouths.

Despite that, sparks continued to fly in all directions as they continued to stare at each other, seemingly having no intention of letting go of Lilica’s hands.

In the end, Lilica raised both of her hands with an “Aish.”

“Ah,” when the two let go of her hands, Lilica extended her hands and said,

“Hand!”

The two held Lilica’s hands meekly, and followed Lilica as she walked over to the sofa and sat down.

There was silence as the three held hands and sat side by side on the sofa.

“……”

“……”

“……”

Lilica remained silent.

Diare was itching to talk but she endured it.

Lilica had always smiled and spoke to them in a friendly manner, so they could only watch her mood as they thought that she was angry.

Meanwhile, Brynn set three teacups down in a row and poured them tea, as though she didn’t see the current situation.

“I’ve prepared warm tea to warm up your body. This is ginger cinnamon tea.”

A distinctive scent hovered in the air.

A simple refreshment soon followed.

“This is a newly made snack and it’s named Gold Bullion because it looks like a gold bar.”

The combined scents of almond powder, butter, and sugar gave it a sweet fragrance.

Lilica remained motionless despite the fact that refreshments were served.

Her tightly pursed lips were sticking out like a duck’s mouth.

‘How cute.’

After that thought came to mind, Diare glanced at Fjord.

His gaze remained fixed on Lilica’s hand that he was holding.

A wick seemed to burn within those reddish-gold eyes.

The gaze that remained on the princess like it was nailed that even seemed fond.

‘This punk…?’

Diare’s eyes narrowed.

‘The princess only needs to hold my hand!’

Diare had a hunch.

This punk was a rival.

He will fight her for the position of princess’s best friend.

Diare couldn’t stand the thought of the princess patting this guy’s head.

‘But it will only backfire if I attack now.’

The princess kept remaining silent. It seems like she’ll remain like this until the tea cools down.

No, she’s probably someone that could persist like this till nightfall.

Diare was happy to see a new aspect to the princess, but that was that, shouldn’t they let go of what they should in this situation?

What the princess wanted was evident.

And it was true that she made a mistake.

Fjord Barat didn’t approach the princess to harm her.

‘I saw the exact same thing to me.’

Diare took a deep breath and said.

“I’m sorry, Young Duke Barat. I’ve made a mistake.”

Fjord looked at Diare in surprise.

Diare looked right at him.

“I shouldn’t have carelessly badmouthed a friend in front of the princess. I was disrespectful.”

Her admission of fault occurred quickly, and her apology was just as fast.

* * *