Chapter 27

“Yes? Suddenly like this?”

“Suddenly is when Spencer took you out as if kidnapping you.”

At Grandmother’s words, Diana’s smile faltered.

On her first day of going out, Diana fell asleep as soon as she washed away the dust and sand from horseback riding. Later, she heard that Grandfather was scolded by Grandmother that day.

“I felt sorry that I told you that I would show you around the Imperial Capital but you only stayed at home.”

“It’s alright. I go around learning horseback riding, too.”

“You have to go to other places, too.”

“Another place?”

“Yeah. Is there any place you want to go?”

“Umm.”

At that moment, Senir naturally suggested.

“How about El-Corte?”

“Not bad.”

Grandmother nodded then asked her.

“Diana, have you ever been to El-Corte?”

“No. But I’ve heard of it. Isn’t it the place where they gather and sell high-quality things?”

“That’s right, it can also be called a department store.”

El-Corte. It was the place where Young Miss Atticia sang every time.

“Then, it wouldn’t be bad to also get your clothes and shoes there.”

Surprised, Diana frantically waved her hands.

“Ah, it’s enough just having what Mom used.”

Even if she wore a different one every day, there would still be many clothes that she couldn’t wear. But Grandmother insisted firmly.

“Frugality is not a virtue of Ohrid.”

“….”

***

The hall was busy preparing to go out.

“Young Miss, this way.”

“Michelle!”

Diana ran to her side. Michelle handed her a black mask with fancy decorations. It was a mask that she was quite used to now.

“Ah, right, the Little Young Master sent you a gift. Please do open it after coming back.”

“Ah, I’d heard of it. He said that it’s pearls.”

“Pearls?”

Michelle continued with a small smile.

“Neria and Daisy were guessing whether or not they were jewels, but turns out, Neria was right.”

She wrapped the cape that Michelle was holding around herself. Diana, now wearing a glossy, thick ivory cape, stepped out the front door.

When she came down the stairs, there were two knights dressed up in light suits. It was Lord Serafina and Lord Dominic. As Diana waved her hand enthusiastically, the two knights greeted with smiles on their mouths.

“It’s ready to go.”

Senir nodded lightly at the butler’s words. The butler approached Diana, and politely held out an envelope.

“The Count told me to give it to the Young Miss.”

When Diana opened the ordinary off-white envelope, a thin, shiny piece of paper came out. Numbers and stamps were written on the rectangular paper without any decoration.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a check.”

“Ah, I’ve seen Hermann use it when he was doing the house transacti— Wait, wait a minute.”

300 Reed? Then the zeroes were… 1… 2…

“120 MILLION SORNA?!”

Diana’s hand trembled. To think that this piece of paper that was light enough to fly away when a slight wind blows was worth 120 million Sorna!

The butler explained politely.

“The Count said to come back after using all that is on the check.”

***

When she came to her senses, she was already in the running carriage. Diana looked at the person sitting opposite her with shaking eyes.

“How do I use 300 Reed? Is it possible? To use it only in one day?”

Senir burst into a small laugh at Diana’s concern.

“Don’t worry. If you’re really tired, the Count won’t say anything even if you come back without using it all.”

“I-is that so? It must be like that, right?”

“Yes.”

“Huuuu.”

Diana breathed out relief.

“Even so, you surely have to work hard.”

“Yes. I’ll work hard!”

Diana answered determinedly, but she felt it was somewhat strange.

The carriage soon entered the main road. Senir blocked Diana’s hand as she tried to pull up the window curtains.

“Hm?”

When Diana looked at him oddly, Senir pointed at the mask with his finger.

“You have to wear the mask first.”

“Ah, right.”

Diana picked up the mask that she had put down. The small feather that was attached to the mask shook at Diana’s movement.

The mask was one that covered her entire forehead up until the tip of the nose and was tied around the back.

The string at the back had to be tied on its own, but it was a lot more difficult than she thought.

‘Ah, I should have asked Michelle to do it.’

Her hair and the string kept getting tangled. When she was finally able to barely tie it up, the moment she raised her head, the mask fell down. It seemed to be too loosely tied. Diana pouted and untied the string.

Senir, who was watching it all happen, took off his gloves and said.

“Please sit back.”

“Oh, it’s okay. I can do it alon—”

Senir moved to Diana’s side. Diana smiled and handed over the mask.

“I’m sorry. Please help me.”

When Senir sat close, Diana could faintly smell a good scent.

‘Perfume? Soap?’

It wasn’t a strong scent. It was subtle.

She felt Senir collecting her hair. He was so careful that she couldn’t even feel his fingers touching her nape.

“Just a moment.”

Senir lifted over the hair he was holding. Senir, who adjusted the position of the mask, asked.

“How is it?”

“To the left… Yes, there. It’s good now.”

She felt a slight pull on the string. After she felt a slight tickle on the back of her head, Senir asked again.

“Is it suffocating?”

Diana shook her head sideways as well as up and down. It didn’t hurt because it was fixed too tightly nor did it shake because it was too loose.

“No, it’s perfect!”

While Diana straightened herself, Senir sat back on the opposite side again.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Senir continued to talk while wearing the gloves he had put down.

“We’ll arrive in 10 minutes.”

Senir swiped back the curtain with an elegant gesture.

“This is Baroque Main Road. It is a road named after the middle name of the first emperor of Heimbarden. It runs straight from that gate to the gate of the Imperial Palace.”

Diana made sure the mask was in place one more time and sat close to the window. Senir told a few anecdotes related to the building as the carriage passed through.

“What is that building?”

Diana pointed to a fancy building where a pair of sweet lovers in a dress and suit entered.

“That’s the Opec Museum of Art. It’s owned by the Esteemed Mother of Ohrid.”

“It’s huge… Yes? What?”

Among the words that poured out like flowing water, a part caught her breath.

“It is only exhibiting today. It is an art auction that is held once a month, and it is also the largest auction hall on the continent.”

“No, not that. What did you say is owned by Esteemed Mother?”

“Ohrid has always been sponsoring many artists since the old times. Especially the Esteemed Mother who has a good eye for painting. Thus she runs the museum passionately.”

“Huh…”

To think they’re the sponsor of artists. After coming to Ohrid, Diana felt that she had become dull in most things.

“She had let go of business affairs after handing over the Count position to the current Count, but she continued to take care of the Opec Museum of Art personally.”

The majesty of the Opec Museum of Art in Ohrid was extraordinary. It had been a symbol of Ohrid for generations since it was founded by Count Ohrid. The foundation was a place where one could tell who in the family the central power lied with.

Senir only explained the light truth.

“Currently, for its operation, the Count Husband is in charge of it.”

“Oh… Turns out Grandfather works, too.”

At the words of Diana who did not know the entire truth, Senir unknowingly had to suppress his laughter.

“Huh? Why, ah!”

Diana covered her mouth because she was embarrassed. She had said the thoughts in her heart too thoughtlessly. Diana rolled her eyes as she looked around.

“Uhm… Mister Spencer is quite busy, too.”

Senir spoke with a voice full of laughter.

“However, when I’m studying, he comes every time and asks me to stop and play…”

Thinking of the way that Grandfather asked her to play almost nine out of ten times, Diana realized.

“Wait, if Grandfather is ‘quite’ busy, then Senir and Grandmother are ‘very’ busy, right?”

The smiling Senir avoided Diana’s gaze. So she was right.

“If you have a chance, it would be great to go to the Opec Museum together with Mister Spencer.”

“Grandfather is… oh? That’s the opera house, right?”

There they could see a fancy and large building with ivory-colored sculptures lying on each pillar. Probably because nothing was currently being performed, they could see the bare marble instead of a red carpet on the stairs.

“It’s the Haslin Opera House. It’s the largest opera house in Heimbarden. There are personal box seats for the Ohrid Family there, so you can go comfortably whenever you want to see it.”

“What is a box seat?”

“When building an opera house, they give the families who invested the seats they want. They usually receive the 2nd or 3rd floor. The Imperial Family has 15 seats, followed by the Ohrid Family, the second largest number of seats with 10 seats.”

“Ah, is it like the racetrack viewing room?”

In the end, all he was saying was that there was also Ohrid’s share there. Diana said with a slightly tired face.

“At this rate, I’m afraid you’ll say there is even a road made for Ohrid later.”

“Are you curious?”

“….”

“That is El-Corte.”

Senir pointed to a building that stood out across the road.

If the opera house was a classic building made of marble, El-Corte had a style that had never been seen before anywhere.

The exterior walls of the building with crystal decorations everywhere were transparent, and through the glass windows, the people inside were sometimes reflected.

An exclamation naturally burst out.

“The building is really pretty.”

“There is a special design so you can see the inside from the outside, but you can’t see the outside from the inside.”

“That’s somewhat…. shouldn’t it be the opposite?”

“It’s designed so that customers in the building don’t know the passage of time and only admire the inside from the outside.”

“Ah—”

Currently, there were only two El-Corte on the continent.

When El-Corte was first established 15 years ago, the snobbish master craftsmen considered it insulting to bring their stores together in one place.

However, the atmosphere had changed completely now, and these days, shops that have not been able to enter El-Corte couldn’t be recognized as proper craftsmen.

“How do you know about it so well? By any chance, even El-Corte, Ohrid…”

At Diana’s suspicion, Senir spoke as if it were natural.

“El-Corte was founded by Young Miss Philippa.”

“What? Who?”