Chapter 409 9th Birthday VI
"Al, I'm sorry to keep you waiting."
Even though it was out of her control, Sara apologized for leaving her partner behind. However, Alfred seemed too focused on the array of sweets to care much.
"I'm fine, but were you okay surrounded by all those amazing people?"
"They were really amazing, huh? I was surprised to see so many unfamiliar uncles. By the way, did you really eat 3 Tarte Tatin?"
"It's called Tarte Tatin? It's super delicious!"
"They use a new type of Elma from the Grandchester territory. It looks simple, but it's one of my favorite sweets."
"A new type of Elma? Grandchester has everything, huh?"
"Not really. Unlike Arbal territory, Grandchester doesn't have a sea."
"So, you can't catch fish?"
"There are rivers. A big river flows from the Aklar Mountains, with wheat fields and villages along its branches. There's also a beautiful lake that you can only reach by climbing the mountains. I haven't been there yet, but I plan to go when I grow up."
"Wow. By the way, you're having a hunting competition at the foot of the Aklar Mountains, right?"
"Yeah. The hunting grounds are so big that sometimes people get lost and can't find their way back. To help with that, we've built hunting cabins and lodges all over. The lodges are also popular for participants to stay, but there are only three, so every year my grandfather has a hard time deciding which noble family to lend them to."
"Staying at a lodge sounds really fun!"
"The Duke Arbal family uses one of the buildings in Grandchester Castle every year, you know?"
"Oh, really? That's a bit disappointing."
"But it's relatively close to the Maiden's Tower where I live, so it might be easy to hang out together."
"Then that's fine. I'll definitely go to the Grandchester territory next year. I'll offer the prey I hunt to Sara!"
'Ah, I see. I get his enthusiasm.'
Sara felt like he had become a kindergarten teacher. A friend of mine who was a kindergarten teacher in a past life used to say that every day, kids would tell her, "I'm going to marry you when I grow up." Of course, none of those kids ever proposed to her later.
"Sara, you shouldn't be hiding in a corner like this."
Chloe came over with a bunch of girls. Since some of them looked younger than Sara, she was probably planning to introduce them to her. Chloe walked up to Sara and whispered softly while covering her mouth with a fan.
"It seems like you had a rough time all of a sudden."
"Yeah. Grandfather and father came to help me, but..."
"Did you show your tail, Sara? Or was it that grandfather and uncle weren't very helpful?"
"Maybe it was my tail. It seems like I can't help but get led around."
"That's a problem, isn't it? It's fatal for a noble. It might be because you don't have much experience, but you need to try harder. It was a bit awkward even in front of His Majesty the King."
"I can't argue with that. I need to learn from Chloe."
Suddenly, Alfred, who was sitting directly across from Sara, stood up and greeted Chloe and the others with a bow and scrape.
"Hello. Even though it's winter, it seems like colorful flowers are blooming everywhere. It's truly a beautiful sight."
The young ladies all took a curtsy at once, and Chloe spoke on their behalf.
"Hello, Sir Alfred. Thank you for taking care of Sara today. We are all very grateful from the Grandchester family."
"Please don't bow your heads in front of someone like me. I would be happy if you could show me your beautiful faces without hiding them."
At these words, the young ladies lifted their heads and all smiled gracefully at Alfred.
'As expected of a young Duke, he must have been trained in these manners. I wonder if he sounds a bit flashy because of his mentor's influence.'
"And, Sara is the one who I offered to take care of. I wanted to ease her worries about attending the social scene in the capital for the first time."
"Young Lord Alfred, you are so kind."
"Maybe I just wanted to be Sara's first partner in the social world."
Alfred had a slightly shy smile and spoke sweetly, causing the young ladies to let out small giggles. The sight of the 9-year-old little lady next to an even smaller Little Prince seemed very heartwarming.
A small young lady, about the same age as Alfred, was blushing and gazing at him with dreamy eyes. Alfred noticed her gaze and gently smiled at her, tilting his head slightly.
'Oh, no. This is definitely a charm factor. He might be naturally cute for his age. Oh, but Al's uncle is that idiot Lysander.'
At that moment, Sara was sure she would never have a relationship with Alfred beyond friendship. Thanks to her memories from her past life, she knew she wouldn't fall for this type of guy again, so she observed him from a distance.
'There's no doubt he's a handsome boy, and he has good manners from his upbringing. His conversation skills are a bit flashy but still refined enough to keep his childlike charm... probably without realizing it. Older women will surely dote on him, and girls his age might fall for him.'
It's not that Alfred was doing anything wrong. Raised as a noble, his behavior could even be seen as exemplary. Sara sometimes acted similarly because of her own noble education, so she had no intention of criticizing him. If he could express his opinions just by being charming, that would be amazing.
'I'm starting to understand why noble kids have to mature so quickly. But thinking about it, Adam really seems to be a failure as a noble. Can he really manage as the future Marquis Grandchester? Well, I guess I can only hope for Marg.'
While she was lost in these thoughts, the small young lady from earlier trotted over to Sara and sweetly wished her a happy birthday.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Alexandra Harrington."
"Harrington, you say..."
"--Yes, she is the daughter of Count Harrington. She is our second cousin."
Chloe introduces Alexandra again.
"Well, I see. It's nice to meet you."
"Please, just call me Sandy. Dear Big Sister Chloe calls me that too."
'Oh, so it's Big Sister Chloe, huh?'
"I understand. Sandy. Please feel free to call me Sara."
"Thank you. Big Sister Sara."
'Ah, I'm being called as big sister too. Yay!'
Sara is relatively younger among the Grandchester people, so being called 'dear big sister' makes her a bit nervous, which is strange. Milliam might call her that, but for now, she still says 'Miss Sara' in a childish way.
"You look a lot like your father with that smile."
At this comment, Alexandra's expression darkened a little.
"To be honest, I wanted to resemble my grandmother more than my father."
"Really? But Sandy, you are very cute. Count Harrington is quite handsome too."
"My grandmother has a beauty that embodies the Grandchester family. Even as she ages, she never loses her elegance."
'Ah, I see what she means.'
Indeed, Alexandra has a different look from the Grandchester family. However, that doesn't mean she is less attractive. She has a cute, chubby round face and slightly droopy but big, bright eyes. She will probably grow up to be a kind and beautiful woman.
"Sandy, I believe everyone has their own unique beauty. I resemble my mother more than my father, so I don't look like Chloe, who is the typical Grandchester beauty."
"But, Big Sister Sara, you are very beautiful."
"Thank you. I do like my appearance, but sometimes I envy Chloe's luxurious blonde hair. It's so glamorous."
"Indeed, Big Sister Chloe seems to symbolize the beauty of the Grandchester family. She is very pretty now, but in the future, she will definitely be the most beautiful flower in high society."
'Oh, this girl really loves Chloe.'
With that said, Chloe couldn't just stay quiet.
"Thank you, Sandy. But you know, I, Sara, and you, Sandy, no, everyone must do their best with the looks they were born with. Actually, I sometimes feel complicated when I stand next to Sara. When a gentleman calls Sara 'a beautiful lady' and then looks at me and says I'm 'cute,' it makes me a bit down."
"Th-that's such an inconsiderate gentleman!"
Since her comment was a bit critical of men, Sara glanced at Alfred. She wondered if he might feel uncomfortable, but that worry was unnecessary.
"I'm sorry, but you don't have many words to share, do you? Sara stands like a young goddess, while Lady Chloe is like a beautiful rose. And then there's Lady Alexandra's gentle and lovely beauty... Hmm, it's really hard to compare them."
'Who raised a 6-year-old like this?'
Maybe it's because of Sara's memories from her past life that she feels uncomfortable around noble Alfred. However, when Alfred smiles at her, Alexandra's cheeks quickly turn pink.
"I didn't know. Sara admired my hair."
"Of course! It's so typical of the Grandchester family to have blonde hair."
Then, the young ladies behind Chloe all spoke up.
"What are you saying? The young lords who saw Lady Sara at the hunting tournament are calling her 'the fairy of moonlight' and 'the embodiment of pearls.'."
"My childhood friends teased me, saying I had hair like an old woman."
She remembered being teased by the neighborhood brats when her real parents were still alive.
"That was probably just to get Lady Sara's attention; they were being mean on purpose."
"Young boys can be like that, can't they?"
Looking back now, that might be true. But from the perspective of someone being teased, it was really tough. Remembering the past made Sara feel a little sad. Even though she rarely feels this way about her past life, her own past still feels like a fresh pain.
"I-I won't do such a thing."
"Hehe. I know. Young Lord Alfred would never do something so unreasonable, right?"
The brunette noble lady next to Chloe spoke to Alfred.
'Hey, this person used to have way more amazing ringlets, right? They were curlier than Chloe's.'
Chloe's ringlets started about halfway down her long hair, but Sara remembered that this lady's hair was curled much higher up. Now, it was styled in a half-updo with a complicated braid at the roots, tied back with a ribbon. The ends remained in gentle ringlets, so she probably had naturally wavy hair.
Thinking about this, Sara noticed that fewer noble ladies had ringlets now. At Jasmine's dress reveal tea party, ringlets were the trend, but it seemed the hairstyle fashion had changed quickly in a short time. Also, the volume of the dresses appeared to be more modest.
'The designs presented at the Jasmine dress tea party had skirts that were ridiculously wide.'
Sara realized again that Chloe had a big influence on the young ladies in high society. And for adult women, it seemed that Elizabeth and Victoria were the fashion leaders. By the way, at today's party, Elizabeth was wearing a dress designed by Lucas for the Sophia Merchant Guild. Victoria was in a dress designed by Jasmine, but the skirt's volume was quite modest. Victoria probably made some requests to Jasmine.
However, Sara felt a sense of urgency in this situation. Even though she wanted to create dresses with the same vibe as Elizabeth and Chloe, the Sophia Merchant Guild wasn't ready to handle a large number of customers.
'We really need to hurry, or this will be bad.'
But Sara still didn't realize that an even worse situation was slowly approaching.
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