The Grand Duke's Little Lady Chapter 25

Ariel hesitated to ask Susan or Allen why the relations.h.i.+p between the two members of the La Carte family was bad.

They are both Susan and Allen's masters after all.

Ariel took a bite of the soft m.u.f.fin.

'Delicious…. '

The taste of fragrant and sweet m.u.f.fins spread through her mouth and her heavy thoughts melted down as well.

'I'll just ask Lucian or Sir Mathius later.'

After organizing her thoughts, Ariel began to concentrate on stirring the honey in milk with a wooden spoon.

Bruno, who sent out Heath and Ariel, raised his pale face.

He looked at his palm where the red-haired little girl touched.

'It must be… '

She seemed harmless but he felt a tremendous amount of mana through the child's fair hands.

Bruno knew intuitively that Ariel was not an ordinary girl.

It was a gut feeling that only he could feel since he became an archmage.

'Is it because it's La Carte? There's no ordinary person in this family. '

'Come to think of it, if a young girl like her saw a piece of furniture floating around the room, they would have screamed at least.'

When he thought of the small face that didn't seem very shaken, he came to his conviction that the girl was a wizard.

'She must've been exposed to magic phenomena a lot, or at least a few times.'

Bruno was deeply interested in the new young lady.

Originally, wizards are the type of people who climb the golden tower with a constant desire for exploration.

That's why he lost his position as a palace archmage and is hiding here.

Bruno conjured up Ariel's sweet and bright eyes.

Her eyes were very different from Lucian, the tyrant of this house.

'But their mana's energy is very similar.'

It was a strange thing.

Lucian with Sword Mana and Ariel with Innate Mana cannot have similar mana energy.

Bruno arranged his white robe.

'I'll have to visit the Grand Duke's office in a minute.'

Ariel sat alone at a long table waiting for the pre-dinner drinks and appetizers.

This evening's dinner had to be eaten by Ariel by herself because Mathius is away.

The appetizers were egg tart and half a cup of cranberry juice small enough for Ariel.

She spoke to Allen with a sullen face, splitting the charred egg tart on the top with a fork.

“Isn't Sir Mathius coming back today at all?”

Allen, who was wearing a white cloth on one arm and pouring cranberry juice into Ariel's gla.s.s, answered.

“Yes, something happened in the estate, so he has to go to the gate in the afternoon. He will be back the day after tomorrow.”

“It's not a bad thing, is it? If something dangerous happens…”

“No, milady. It happens three or four times a year, so don't worry.”

“Yes…. “

Ariel looked at the long table in front of her.

The table was big and long enough for thirty people to sit on.

'But it didn't look this big when I was eating with Sir Mathius. '

Ariel drank the acidic cranberry juice and pulled her napkin gently to prevent it from falling off her knees.

Ariel talked to Allen to erase the emptiness she's feeling without Mathius.

“Allen, I have a question.”

“What is it, milady? “

“Do you know any family that interacts with the La Carte family?”

Usually, aristocratic families were closely linked to two or three families because of their political orientation or business relations.h.i.+ps.

The Marquis of Lucilion, who was Ariel's family before marriage, also had that sort of relations.h.i.+p with Duke Monica and Viscount Beville.

Ariel knew this because the Marquis threatened Ariel to remain silent whenever he invited other families over.

The Marquis went out with his son Jerome every time a guest visited.

So Ariel thought that if there was a family that interacted with the Grand Duke, the wife of Lucian should know.

Allen, who heard Ariel's question, answered politely.

“There's no such family, milady. “

'What?'

“There's really none?”

“Yes, if you want to make it, it will happen in the future, but for now, there's none.”

It was difficult for any family to exist alone.

Ariel, who was not familiar with the aristocratic world, knew about that.

“Why is there no family close to the Grand Duke?”

Allen looked a little perplexed.

He said, dragging his answer slightly.

“……because we don't need to interact.”

Ariel still couldn't understand and blinked.

Allen, who saw it, slowly lowered his eyes.

“How should I explain it? The fact that the Grand Duke does not interact with other families is like a lion not feeling the need to be friendly with ants.”

“Lion and ants? “

“Yes. He talks to the ant leader sometimes, but there's no other reason to communicate.”

'Well, I thought I'd know a little. 

So the Grand Duke is a lion, and the other n.o.bles are ants?'

Allen often describes the Grand Duke's house in this way.

Like La Carte is more than just a human being.

'I don't think it's simply because the emblem of the La Carte Family is a 'blue lion with a fire flower mane' that the Duke is called a lion, but… '

'By the way, is the leader of the ants talking about the Emperor?'

Ariel looked faithfully at Allen, who was serving the meal.

Sliced winter smoked ham and thick slices of white cheese were placed on Ariel's plate.

Ariel put the tableware down.

“Allen, can you tell me why the La Carte is a lion, not an ant, just like any other aristocrat?”

Allen's hands twitched for a moment.

Ariel could see that she had hit a point.

If the ant's leader was the Emperor the secret of La Carte could have been greater than she thought.

Ariel did not intend to dig up the dark secrets of the house of the Grand Duke, but she wanted at least, to know what she needs to know and what she shouldn't.

'I don't need to know much about this subject.'

'Still, I thought I would no longer embarra.s.s people around me if I knew what I should not know.'

Ariel changed the question when Allen was silent despite her rudeness.

“I heard that the men of the La Carte family can produce some sort of an intimidating aura. Why is that? “

This time Allen answered politely.

“Yes, Milady. That's a concept that anyone who has learned a sword can know. Have you heard of the thing called the 'sword mana'?”

“No, I've never heard of it.”

Mana, by a.n.a.logy, seemed to be involved in magic.

But Ariel had no knowledge of magic theory.

Because in the past she only learned practical magic and no one taught her theory.

“Sword mana is also called sword chi (剣氣), and the person who uses it is called the swordmaster.”

'Ah!'

Ariel knew what a swordmaster is as well

Unlike a wizard who is a born mana user, they deal with mana by nature.

“So the mana that Swordmaster uses is different from the ordinary mana?”

“Yes. “

“So that's what you call Sword mana.”

“That's right. “

Allen added some explanation.

“Swordmasters can attack or defend with their sword mana. They can release mana, which is called momentum.”

“Is the momentum the one responsible for putting people under pressure?”

“That's right.”

But…

“So why is it only apparent to the men of La Carte Family?  There must be other Sword Masters besides La Cartes.”

“That…. “

Ariel found the answer from Allen's hesitating att.i.tude.

'Aha.'

“……that's why La Carte was a lion and not an ant.”

Allen was amazed.

It was by no means simple for such a young child to make an a.n.a.logy…

'You have great insight.' 

He bowed to Ariel with respect.

“Yes, milady. What I can tell you is that the men from the La Carte family are born with Sword mana, even if they don't learn the sword. It's in their blood.”

Ariel's bright expression was relieved with admiration.

“Uwaa, by nature…I see. Is it rare?”

“Yes, no one but La Carte is born with Sword mana.”

“It was very special.”

Ariel was fully convinced.

La Carte had a special bloodline.

They are extremely powerful in every way and have Sword Mana that can intimidate and overwhelm others.

That's what makes La Carte different from ordinary people, and that's why La Carte seemed to have more strength than any other human being.

'That's why they're a lion, not an ant.'

'I don't know the details but.'

Allen looked at Ariel who's lost in thought.

The young lady, who he thought was bright and lovely, was surprisingly sharp.

He became more fond of serving Ariel.

On the other hand, he was afraid that the young lady would feel bad because he hid some family affairs from her.

Just now, she noticed that he was in trouble and said it was okay not to tell the secret, but he was strictly hiding the family's affairs from the young lady.

As a butler, he felt guilty.

Allen carefully opened his mouth to Ariel.

“If you feel uncomfortable with something I'm hiding,….”

Ariel's eyes widened.

“No, I'm not offended. I understand that Mr. Allen is very loyal to the Grand Duke.”

Then Ariel added.

“I'm rather relieved. That just means that Mr. Allen is going to keep everything about me so thoroughly out there.  You're very trustworthy and I'm grateful for you,  Mr. Allen.”

Ariel grinned.

“If I need to know something, Lucian or Sir Mathius will let me know. I don't think I should know it if I don't need to. So it's really okay.”

Allen felt a surge of emotion.

'Other ladies were often offended or afraid of knowing that there's something hidden from them.'

He had been working for the Grand Duke for a long time, and he had met several ladies of the house before Ariel.

Although there was not a long history of the Ladies in La Carte.

This is not to say that the previous hostess's reaction was bad.

Of course, as a hostess, it's not fair that you don't know something.

However, it was also true that Ariel, who showed such a reaction at an early age, looked great.