My Mom Entered a Contract Marriage - Chapter 8

After ascertaining the real appearance of even the oranges, Lilica left the kitchen with a basket containing orange juice and refreshments.

“Let’s go to Mother. I can’t wait to share it with her.”

At Lilica’s words, Brynn nodded as she lifted the basket.

Lilica walked briskly through the hallway before suddenly stopping.

As she looked at the door that had an illustration of a black dragon on it, she asked what she had been curious about.

“Come to think of it, I’ve never seen the crown prince before.”

“Your Highness is currently at his fief.”

“Fief?”

“Yes, the Crown Prince has an imperial fief that’s bestowed upon him by default. The Duke of Lowen refers to His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“I see. When will he return?”

“Well, it appears that he’ll return back soon.”

At Brynn’s words, Lilica stared at the black dragon before moving her feet.

When she arrived at the Silver Dragon Chamber, her mother was seated at her desk and reading a letter.

When Lilica came in, Ludia got up from her seat immediately.

“Lily, a sweet scent is emanating from you.”

Lilica giggled and hugged her mother, who’d embraced her and kept planting kisses on her cheeks.

“I went to the kitchen with Brynn today. I ate delicious food there, and they’d even prepared refreshments for me.”

“In the kitchen?”

Ludia paused and instantly felt relieved at the realisation that she’d also changed the kitchen staff recently.

At least for now, no one would feed her daughter anything weird.

“There’s a lot of delicious things.”

“I see.”

Ludia waved her hand at the head lady-in-waiting to accept the basket.

As Brynn and the head lady-in-waiting set up the refreshments, Ludia sat beside Lilica on the sofa.

“Did you go to the office again today?”

“Yes, His Majesty threw the documents here and there.”

At those words that were said with a giggle, Ludia barely managed to prevent her face from turning cold.

She felt rather uncomfortable that the emperor was ordering her daughter around.

However, not long ago, the Palace Guards underwent a reshuffling for treating the Princess carelessly, and Lilica’s position did become more solid, so she could only sigh.

“Lily has suffered.”

“Not at all. It’s quite fun.”

Lilica held her mother’s hand tightly and shook her head. She asked.

“Why did you receive so many letters?”

“These are replies to the invitation. I intend to open a salon. And that…”

Her mother whispered softly.

“I’m about to invest the advance payment that I’ve received.”

“Advance payment?”

“I received an advance payment when I first started this job.”

Ludia made a hand gesture for the maids preparing the refreshments to leave.

‘Don’t we have to leave behind the money, accessories, and clothes that you’re currently using after the task has been completed? While we’re in this position, we have to earn some money.”

She intended to invest the advance payment and gain a huge sum in return. The places she could invest in were simply boundless.

Lilica spoke worriedly upon hearing her mother’s confidence filled words.

“Mother, you shouldn’t buy things like a panacea or a jar of happiness. You must beware of scammers.”

“Oh, Lily. Don’t worry. That’s not gonna happen. Mom will only invest in projects that’ll definitely give a sizable profit.”

When Ludia said not to worry, on the contrary, Lilica became even more worried.

Where in the world would there be an investment that’s 100% safe?

Lilica said.

“Mother, if you’re planning to invest, you must also let me know. You must.”

“Of course.”

After saying that, Ludia held her daughter’s hand tightly.

“Also, Mom has something for Lily.”

“Something for me?”

“Bring it over.”

With Ludia’s order, a maid quickly brought a tray over. On the tray, a silver coin was nestled within the velvet cushion.

Lilica was astonished.

“My silver coin!”

“It took a while because it was hard to find the exact same silver coin. He’d clearly promised to keep it separately, that old man. “

After frowning slightly, Ludia smiled.

“Is this your silver coin?”

“Yes, yes, i—it’s my silver coin.”

Lilica picked up the silver coin with a captivated face. She remembered it all, the stains and scratches.

It was that silver coin.

Even though she was rather disappointed and was about to give up. She’d never expected that she’d be able to regain the silver coin.

Even if she received a new silver coin, it wasn’t that silver coin, so she didn’t need it.

However, she didn’t say it as it would be spoiled and unreasonable of her to say those kinds of words.

That’s what happened.

Lilica stroked the silver coin several times. It was the silver coin that would bring her happiness every night.

It’s that silver coin.

Her vision became blurry. She didn’t know if something happened to her tear glands these days, as she’d cry every time she did something.

However, when her mother hugged her tightly and patted her head, she knew that it was alright for her to cry as much as she wanted.

Amidst feelings of joy and relief, Lilica cried. She cried because she felt the pain in her heart dissolve.

“Thank you, Mother.”

“No. Rather, Mom is more thankful and sorry. As for the other coins, I didn’t manage to find the same…”

“It’s okay! It’s this silver coin that counts!”

She wouldn’t be able to distinguish the other coins, even if they were brought before her. Ludia became relieved.

She held out a small purse. Cute shapes of raspberries were embroidered on the purse, which opened with a click.

“There are coins in here.”

When Lilica opened it, she found some nickels within.

“This is enough.”

Actually, Lilica didn’t care about the money. It wasn’t important because the silver coin held a large value.

She was happy with her cute purse, and she placed the precious silver coin in her small purse.

Ludia also smiled brightly at Lilica’s happy expression.

While it took her quite a bit of effort to find this silver coin, the sight of her daughter’s smiling face made her feel that such hard work wasn’t anything. She’ll protect the smile on her face.

She wouldn’t be as stupid as she used to be.

Ludia found it fortunate that she’d  discover the time spent with her daughter every day was something so enjoyable.

Lilica looked better now that she has gained some flesh, and her hair is glossy.

Her nails are shiny, and it’s hard to imagine that she was once a kid from the slums.

She seemed to get along well with Brynn.

‘In my previous life, Brynn Sol was an excellent lady-in-waiting.’

She didn’t have to worry, as long as she knew about the Sol family’s loyalty, and where that loyalty was directed at.

Lilica clutched her purse tightly and mumbled for a moment. Ludia asked.

“What’s wrong? Is the money insufficient?”

“No! It’s not that. Erm, Mother…”

“What’s wrong?”

“About His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“Why? Have you heard of any rumours?”

“No, it’s not that. I heard that he’s returning back soon, so can we hold something like a welcome party?”

“Hm, it’s better if you give up on that.”

“Is that so…”

Her daughter’s shoulders drooped and Ludia quickly explained the reason.

“His Highness the Crown Prince is rather picky about food. He wouldn’t touch the food, unless it’s brought by his trusted aides. As such it’ll be meaningless to hold a party.”

“But isn’t he returning after a long time away? And Mother and I are suddenly here. What if he misunderstands?”

Come to think of it, she didn’t see him at the wedding.

What does he think about suddenly getting a younger female cousin that lives next door?

Whenever she thought about the countless bad stories about stepmothers, her heart began to pound with worry.

Would he misunderstand that they’re going to treat him coldly?

As Ludia watched Lilica describe the situation earnestly, she thought, ‘No, Atil wasn’t the type to do that,’ but there’s no need for her to pour cold water on her daughter’s feelings.

Since the next emperor would be Atil, she intended to get along with him.

Ever since his childhood, assassination attempts on him had been so frequent that Atil’s distrust in humans was in the early stages.

Not long later, a long-time escort of his will attempt to assassinate him, which would cause Atil to distrust humans completely.

‘I was planning to prevent that incident and maintain an appropriate distance.’

“In that case, instead of a welcome party, let’s come up with something else. All we have to do is express our welcome, right?”

“Yes!”

Ludia’s words caused Lilica’s face to light up. She said, pointing her finger.

“In my opinion. Wouldn’t it be nice to put some flowers and delicious foods in his room?”

Ludia nodded.

“And after he returns and recovers from travel fatigue, you can hold a small tea party and drink tea together.”

“Alright.”

Ludia was contemplating several other factors, but her desire to disagree also vanished at the sight of her daughter’s sparkling eyes.

She asked earnestly.

“By the way, Lily, do you really want to get along with the Crown Prince?”

“I want to get along well, but I don’t know what His Highness’ feelings are. First off, I want to express that I want to get along well.”

“Alright, I understand. Mom will actively help you too.”

“Thank you.”

Lilica smiled brightly and hugged Ludia. Ludia thought that she should give her daughter a bunch of supplies for a tea party.

* * *

Of course, Lilica’s plan flowed into the ears of Lat, the Chancellor and even His Majesty the Emperor.

Lat smiled and asked, “May I send you a gift?” and Lilica gracefully allowed.

After a month’s worth of hard work, etiquette began to kindle in her body.

Shortly afterwards, Lilica squealed joyfully at the gift box that the maids had brought in.

The large, beautiful boxes were tied up with glossy silk ribbons, which Brynn said she would take back and make good use of.

Each time she opened a pastel coloured box, she couldn’t help but let out exclamations.

Transparent and beautiful glass containers as well as teacups with fine gold decorations were just right for a child of Lilica’s size to use.

It’s too extravagant to be called playing house.

The plates had pink and blue drawings, and the cute silverware fitted in her hand perfectly.

Needless to say, the tablecloth was embroidered, and cute animals were imprinted on the ceramics.

The drawings of squirrels, rabbits, baby bears, and weasels were very cute, and it didn’t seem like too much even after staring at them.

Various shapes of sugar cubes became visible when she opened the silver box that’s inlaid with gold.

These items were so beautiful that her eyes spun.

These items laid neatly in numerous boxes according to type.

Brynn explained that the Sandar family had also sent ten kinds of tea leaves, and each one of them is very precious.

“Tea is a specialty of Sandar’s fief. As Sandar’s fief is in the South. The people from that family are rather vulnerable to the cold.”

“I see.”

Lilica nodded at the new knowledge that she’d acquired.

After having to throw away the paper several times, Lilica wrote an invitation clearly and sent it over.

So far, the writing has not been written smoothly, and the ink smudged as she wasn’t good at controlling the nib, but she still chose the one that looked the best.

She felt heartbroken that she’d wasted expensive paper, but there was no helping it.

The seal was shaped like a dragon, but white powder was sprinkled and pressed, indicating that it was sent from the White Dragon Chamber.

Strangely, the white powder sparkled like snow.

Upon asking, the reply she got was, “It’s processed snow gem.”

Those words caused Lilica to sigh. A snow gem is a gem that falls with snow, and it doesn’t melt despite having the same shape as a snow crystal.

“I really wanted to pick one up, but I’ve never managed to do so.”

“Shall we try again during winter?”

“Mm.”

Lilica nodded.

At the same time, preparations began in earnest.

His Majesty allowed her to open the Black Dragon Chamber, but Lilica was quite vexed.

“Would he dislike it if he knew that I’d entered his room as I pleased?”

Brynn made an amused face at Lilica’s question.

“I’ve never thought of that. Because that’s impossible.”

“Oh?”

In the palace, servants and maids would enter and exit every room frequently to handle chores. As such, a life where none entered the room was impossible.

“If it really bothers you, you can only decorate the living room.”

Lilica nodded at the words. The structure of the White Dragon Chamber and Black Dragon Chamber was almost the same.

Upon opening the door, there was a large foyer-cum-waiting room, and another door had to be opened to enter the living room. Reception rooms were connected to both sides of the living room, and another room was located beside it.

“Then, let’s just decorate the living room.”

Lilica agreed with those words.

Brynn shook her head when she was asked when the crown prince would return.

“His Highness travels around quietly with his aides, without informing them when he will return. So I don’t know when he’ll return. But, shall we find out through Brann?”

“Brann?”

“He’s my older brother. He’s currently serving the Crown Prince.”

“Really? Then is it alright if you ask him?”

“Yes, I will.”

Brynn nodded.

According to the news she’d heard through Brann, he would arrive within a week, so Lilica’s mind became busier.

The stale air was ventilated, the sheets were replaced with new ones, and the walls were decorated with ribbons and colourful paper rings.

The atmosphere of the Black Dragon Room, which was desolate to anyone’s eyes, became very lovely after displaying flowers that she’d asked the gardener for.

In addition, according to Brynn, the crown prince likes sweets. Lilica felt a sense of camaraderie with him, and selected the type of tea and sweets.

Her mother also suggested, “You should also select the tea set that you’ll use according to the colour and type of food,” so Lilica and Brynn arranged the teacups and bowls by type on the table and looked for a suitable combination.

The chef also made new snacks everyday. The chef that made snacks was hired by her mother, and rather proficient in coming up with interesting and new snacks.

The garden in May was quite vibrant, so Lilica asked if she could set up a table in the garden.

Brynn said that this was a good idea, and her mother also agreed, so Lilica rewrote the invitation to correct the venue of the tea party and placed it on the table.

Just in case he didn’t notice it, she placed a doll and made the doll hold the invitation.

Everything was good to go.

Lilica looked out of the window from time to time, wondering when the crown prince would arrive.

‘I hope that you’ll like it.’

* * *