Lucia had rarely gone horseback riding ever since Damian arrived and as she was preparing to once again go riding for a bit, Kate came to visit.
The two greeted each other with a light embrace.
Kate had not been able to visit for a while as she'd been taking care of her injured grand aunt, Countess Corzan.
Perhaps she'd been weakened because of old age for Madam Michelle fell down the stairs and sprained her ankle.
It was to the point where she could barely move so she chose the one she dotted on the most, her niece, Kate, to be her caretaker.
Even though her grandaunt was usually nagging and strict, Kate stayed by her side and took care of her.
"How is Madam Michelle?" (Lucia)
"She's limping a little but she can walk around now. She asked me to tell you she's thankful for the medicine you sent, they've shown great efficiency."
"It's my pleasure to be of help."
In the beginning, Madam Michelle was a frequent visitor to Roam but after Lucia opened tea parties several times and handled her socializing effortlessly, Madam Michelle's visit came to a stop due to her poor health.
And ever since Kate became a frequent visitor, they'd been exchanging words to and from through Kate.
"This is my real purpose of coming to see you today, Lucia."
Kate placed the basket that she came in with on the table.
"It's the present I promised you last time. Open it."
Lucia carefully removed the cover of the basket and exclaimed.
"Oh my!"
Suddenly, a blinding bright light came in causing a certain pair of big black eyes to blink. The disheveled fox with fluffy light yellow fur shook its big ears.
It was conscious of Lucia's gaze on it for a short moment then soon enough it yawned and closed its eyes. It moved its bushy tail and wrapped it around its body for cover.
The lovely creature that was small enough to fit into both hands instantly captured Lucia's heart.
"Goodness! It's lovely!"
Lucia placed her hand on her chest to pace her thumping heart. She'd gone to the fox hunt and seen the foxes that the ladies raised but none of them was as adorable as the one in front of her.
"It's also my first time seeing such a beauty. Even when it grows up, it will be beautiful." (Kate)
Kate had promised to obtain a fox for Lucia for fox hunting.
"You have to obtain them when they are young to tame them. Look after it frequently, it has to recognize its owner before its growth phase. If this time passes, you can't give any excuses."
"I understand."
"I'll send you a list of things you need to watch out for when raising a fox later."
"Thank you, Kate. It's such a wonderful gift…"
The two women descended into a conversation about fox hunting for a while.
"Oh, where is my mind? I was about to go horse-riding. Do you want to join me, Kate?"
"I didn't plan on doing so at first, but I've been wanting to go riding for a while. I'll go."
"Ah, and I have someone I want to introduce to you."
Lucia called a maid and instructed her to call Damian.
"Damian is here. He's home for a change but I'm not sure if there would be another time to introduce him to you."
"Who…?"
"I'm talking about his Grace the Duke's son. Well, he's also my son now."
Kate's expression instantly stiffened.
"…What?"
"Could it be you've never heard of it? From what I know, the fact that Damian is his successor has already been made public."
"…ah…well…I've heard a little…"
The life of the Duke was a taboo topic amongst northern nobles. It wasn't like someone ordered them to keep their mouths shut but they knew to be careful with what they said.
It was thanks to the efforts of the Northern people that no rumors of the son and successor of the Taran Duke had spread in the Capital's noble circles.
Meanwhile, the Taran duke didn't care whether one deliberately spreads a rumor or one watches what they say. In the North, Damian was a fleeting existence.
"You called for me?"
Looking at the black-haired, red-eyed boy that had walked into the drawing-room for a while, Kate swallowed tensely. She hadn't finished preparing her mind.
"Say hello, Damian. This is pretty much the only guest that visits me in Roam. My friend, Kate Milton."
Damian looked indifferently at Kate who was unable to hide her puzzlement. He was familiar with such looks and expressions towards himself. He was deluded for a moment due to the innocent goodwill the Duchess had shown to him all this while.
As his mood sank a little, he lowered his head in a nodding manner.
"It is an honor to meet a beautiful lady like yourself, Lady Milton. My name is Damian."
"Ah…yes. I…I am also honored, Young Lord."
Kate hadn't ever had such a hard time managing her expression. Even when in the past she was walking around the city and stepped on her dress ripping it, she could manage her expression.
As for the Duchess sitting next to her,
"Wow, your words are so… geez. Who would say you aren't your father's son?"
After saying so, she burst into laughter. It was a feeling of seeing a comedy and she couldn't help but laugh.
"Do you know how to ride a horse, Damian? Or shall I bring a colt?"
"I know how to ride a horse. I learned at the Academy."
"Seems like there's nothing you can't do. Kate, he's marvelous, isn't he? He's only eight but he knows how to ride a horse."
"Ah…yes. It's…great."
It was definitely not common for an eight-year-old to know how to properly ride a horse but it was very possible for someone of the young Lord's huge stature as he exceeded that of the usual eight-year-old.
Moreover, he was the son of the Taran Duke whose name was hailed among Knights.
However, Kate didn't have any intention of diminishing Lucia's feeling of pride so she just humored her.
"Damian, we were going to go horseback riding now but we can all go together."
Damian took a glance at Kate's stiffening expression. He tried to laugh but it was a sign that told him he was an unwelcome guest.
"No, it's okay. I still have books I have to read."
"While studying is good, you can't keep studying all the time, especially when you're at the prime of your age. Don't you want to grow bigger?"
Big. Damian flinched at the sensitive topic.
"You have to grow as big as your father, right?"
Damian nodded his head.
"Kate, would it be okay if Damian joins us? Sorry I didn't ask for consent beforehand."
"No…It's fine. But Lucia, the horse-riding field we're going to… only women can enter."
"I know."
Lucia tilted her head as though asking 'What's the problem?'
"Damian is just eight years old. He's not a man."
It was only for an instant but Kate witnessed the distorted expression of the young Lord of Taran.
The boy that looked unlike his eight-year-old age with his upright and huge build, suddenly seemed his age when he heard those straightforward words.
Kate turned her head away slightly and let out a small laugh. She felt a bit sorry for the boy's broken pride.
In the horse-riding field, when the noble ladies came up to greet Lucia, she had them greet Damian.
The noble ladies were as though they'd all bitten an unripe fruit for they all had sour expressions as they begrudgingly gave their greetings.
Some looked at Lucia unable to understand it at all, some looked at her with gazes that said she was too young to know about the world while some looked at her with worried gazes.
Lucia was indifferent to their gazes and acted as though she didn't notice them. From time to time, Damian gave Lucia a peculiar gaze.
"This child is Emily."
Lucia introduced her favorite horse to Damian. Damian took in its entire appearance and so as not to surprise it, he walked slowly to its front then stroked its back.
"It's a good horse." (Damian)
"You know how to discern horses?"
"I only know how to tell if it's a good horse or not. I'm not an expert."
"But I don't know how to do even that. To me, because Emily is my horse, she's the prettiest but all horses look the same to me. Kate, isn't it great? Damian is very young but he knows a lot."
Looking at the face of the Duchess that was filled with joy and pride, Kate simply chimed in with a smile. She sneaked a glance at the young Lord who was embarrassed and had turned his head seemingly occupied with other things.
At first, Kate couldn't understand why Lucia was like this but eventually decide to just accept it since it wasn't a bad thing for their mother-son relationship to get better.
After a few rounds of circling the riding field, they ended their light session of horse riding and the two women went into the lounge (break room). As Damian had opted to keep riding, he was still outside on the field.
Every table in the lounge was filled with women, seated in groups of twos and threes. Unlike the original intention for building it, the lounge of the horse-riding field had increasingly become an active social gathering spot for women.
"People's gazes on Damian were much colder than I expected." (Lucia)
Kate was unsure of what reply to give so she just listened.
"Even though he's the successor that his Grace the Duke personally chose, why are they like that?"
"That's… probably because of the unwritten rules. Although the law states that a son would be recognized as a qualifier once they enter the family register, in reality, there are next to no cases where a son that enters the registry like that inherits the title. The ones that become Counts are barely a handful and there's been no precedence where they're titled higher than Marquis."
"I see. I didn't know that."
In Lucia's dream, she didn't have any children so when she lived as the Countess, she didn't pay attention to matters concerning succession.
"Then what happens if an official has no children apart from the child that was entered into the registry?"
"Most people adopt a son from among their relatives."
It was the so-called noble pride.
It is said that an illegitimate child should be extremely grateful to even be recognized as a qualifier. Although Lucia was of the royal family, looking closer, she was also an illegitimate child so it left a bad taste in Kate's mouth.
An elderly noblewoman walked up to Kate and Lucia's table. She was Countess Philia, a woman extremely healthy for her age and not inferior to anyone in her enjoyment of horse riding.
Lucia remembered hearing that when the women-only equestrian(horseback riding) practice field was created, the Countess had praised the Taran Duke till her mouth ran dry.
They went through the usual ceremonial motions of greeting each other and sending their best regards then the Countess placed two flower baskets on the table.
"I got a granddaughter just recently and it is a northern tradition to present yellow flowers to people around me as I wish for my granddaughter to be healthy and to grow up beautifully."
"Oh my, Congratulations. Your granddaughter will grow up beautifully and healthy just like the Countess."
When the Countess turned around to hand out flower baskets to other people, Kate spoke.
"It is a northern tradition but these days there aren't many people that do it. Countess Philia seems quite trusting of this tradition. It is indeed correct to give out yellow flowers but…it isn't common to give out this flower…its prices are tremendous. Countess Philia looks very happy, she must have spent a fortune."
Lucia glanced at the flower basket and smiled ambiguously. The beautiful yellow roses looked as though they were flaunting their elegance.
***
The employees were lined up outside, as usual, to welcome the Lady of the House as she returned from her outing to the horse-riding field.
The door of the carriage opened and Lucia stepped down from the carriage. When Jerome discovered the basket of yellow roses in her hands, he grew frightened.
"Kkuk!"
Jerome let out a strange sound despite himself but was quick to cover it up by dryly clearing his throat. The employees that noticed it acted like they didn't hear anything.
Lucia gave him an odd look then held out her basket of flowers.
"Countess Philia said she'd gotten a granddaughter and gave me a present."
"Ah, yes…"
After accepting the basket of flowers, Jerome heaved a long sigh. He didn't want to see yellow roses anymore.
Lucia and Damian sat face to face in the receiving room, drinking tea while Jerome stood at the side, waiting on them with more tea.
"Now that I think about it, there are no roses in the garden. I'm thinking of making a rose garden next spring, what are your thoughts, Jerome?"
Jerome's expression froze.
"About roses…can you think over it again…?"
"Why?"
"Master doesn't… particularly like them."
Lucia's eyes grew round as she looked at Jerome then she spoke to Damian.
"Damian, tell me honestly. Did you know that there were no roses in the garden?"
"I didn't know."
"See? Jerome, unless a man is particularly interested in flowers, he wouldn't really know that. I doubt if my husband can differentiate between varieties of flowers. Although I'm sure there's one flower he can distinguish. Yellow…"
"K-hm. K-hm."
Jerome overdramatically cleared his throat causing a small laugh to escape from Lucia's mouth.
"Don't worry, even if I plant roses, I'll exclude that color."
The color itself wasn't the problem but the Duke had ordered that he didn't want to lay his eyes on any roses. This was serious. Jerome's back broke out in cold sweat.
Damian returned to his room and Jerome finally said what he had been hesitant to say for a while.
"Milady, about the yellow rose I talked to you about the other day. You asked me who the last recipient was, right?"
"Yes, I did. I remember."
"Under Master's orders, I sent a yellow rose to the Countess of Falcon."
Jerome became nervous when she didn't say anything in reply.
'I said something useless! What if I offended her?'
"Why so suddenly? They must've met?" (Lucia)
"No!! Absolutely not. I informed his Grace that Milady was curious about it and… he asked me to send it."
"I see."
Lucia's expression was indifferent and she replied as though it was a trivial matter. Jerome grew restless as he tried to comprehend, even if it was just a little bit, the feelings of his Mistress.
Lucia really did think it was a trivial matter. Was her husband taking care of an old lover so great that she had to jump up in joy about it? However, Lucia felt as though something had been lifted off her chest and her heart grew soft.
The longing that had been satisfied in the meantime thanks to Damian once again rose in her heart.
'When are you coming back? I want to see you…'
One month after leaving to subjugate barbarians, the Lord of Roam who'd been away from his seat returned.
* * *