As Dennis pinpoint the way to the location where the carriage was stationed, another carriage parked nearby their, stinging pupils forth her eyes.
A serendipitous encounter was her with His Highness Achilles, a second by which the citizens were knocked semiconscious by the chiseled jaw resembling a stony mask, his straight-edged nose, and feet in contact with the ground whereas an obvious weight was evenly distributed between the two feet.
Starstruck as their bodies were fidgety and mouths subconsciously opened, the teeth were showing up which was an awful manner shown before the Archduke of Vadim...
...I mean 'Future' Archduke of Vadimir and is currently the Duke Achilles Eliades Leventis of this nation in the East, who people deemed a man who simply has the secrecy of gender. They love the circulating doubts around them, don't they?
Second-rate patience and rather, an unfavorable temper. Moreover, he only has two friends and they were not considered the best nor closest for him. Both of them were guys and they were friends ever since childhood, some people even referred them as childhood sweethearts, so as to say they rumored him as gay.
Baroness Nefeli was against this rumor and faithfully believed that Duke Achilles Eliades Leventis would marry someone as his wife to help govern the nation. Accumulating force and bravery, she disagreed to stop the protest of protecting the son of the current ruler of the nation.
She spread her word through an original song written with her own hands superimposed a quill and ink onto the parchment.
Countess Tatiana Othonos Zafeiriou had raised her suspicions about Baroness Nefeli and guarded the Duke by staying by his side at all times. Her goal was to be his wife and successfully conquer the entire nation of Vadimir.
The click and clacking of the shoes were heard by each of them on the street as tranquility enveloped the once ever crowded and obstreperous road in Vadimir Centreville. She proceeded further on her steps and curtseyed before the Duke as the people followed.
"Why is His Royal Highness Eros here in Vadimir?" the audience murmured while staying in their position.
"Why do you have to ask?" they continued whispering to each other like the shoal of fish swimming together to protect themselves from the predators including Eros.
"Men would never understand," the woman mumbled to herself, flicking her hair back and forth after the long period of curtsy.
"You can have the time to admire his looks," another woman stated.
"I agree," she responded.
The curiosity of hers has been cured by the perfectly brewed medicine. His Grace Achilles has been mistaken as Eros. Although she does not know anything about the face of Eros since they haven't met yet after her reincarnation, the descriptions about him of being gay are certainly matching with the rumors from the commoners of Achilles 'being' a gay.
He is a man with a beautiful face in reality. Eros has a sweet tooth and is able to be open about it, outgoing, and loves the conversation of relationships and cheese drizzled with honey, syrup-laced olives, honey cakes topped with broad beans or sesame seeds instead of war which is the main reason, he was being defined as a gay.
Eros was not said to be one of Calliope's collection of men however, his personality attracts the attention of the Countess strangely, making him the countess upcoming prey which she had read as a piece of cake between the lines. Underestimating the vitality of the First Prince of Tuvinid.
All of a sudden, her mind cotton onto the peck of gunpowder scented on his raiment saying, this veneer of icebergs with permafrost has a mild, licorice-like taste accompanied with a slight bitterness and a false display out of their sight.
Filled half of the glass containing scarlet with some fernet, another half for coca extracts, and a pinch of stevia. This compound streams amongst his vessels.
She positioned her back to stand straight up as she saw his sturdy and towering physique. The darkness in his midnight blue hair and the prick of light as the coppery color with metallic shadows from his eyes appeared in front of her face, blood-like nevertheless was more of a russet brown.
The red pigment in the iris which looks bright in the darkness of his hair but is somehow still horrible, accentuated his antagonizing presence and stricken my flesh with terror furthermore.
"His Grace is here, thanks for the chalance, dearest people," a silhouette of an upright man on His left spoke for His Highness, a voice probably from a man middle-aged and appointed as his equerry.
They began to stride on their feet, as the people made way for them to pass and bowed again in respect.
"Umm... can I ask something, Your Grace?" the trembling voice of the hesitant equerry beside His Highness was heard by her without any intentions of listening. Latterly eavesdropping on them behind the scenes.
"Go on," He briefly told with the deft motion of flicking his nail against the pad of his thumb on his right hand.
"When would Your Grace take His rightful heir?" the man who was unquestionably bathing in a cold sweat in an imaginary watery grave let his curiosity come over.
"When My Father take me as his," he indifferently responded to his indirect question.
"Then, when does His Majesty Christos Solon Leventis take you as Archduke?" he asked again as to not make the whole point obvious.
"When I married Her Grace," he answered the most feasible short and forthright answer with a period.
"Then, when would Your Grace marry someone as Her Grace?" he asked the last question and His Grace remembers this scene as clear as it repeatedly happens.
This has been the fourth time of the day despite the sun being seen like afternoon does not pass yet high up the sky. The twentieth time ever since this topic was brought up by His Father, Archduke Christos Solon Leventis just yesterday morning. The period when the rumors, reached the ears of the officials guarding at the gates of the entire palace.
"That..." he paused for a moment and approached her or perhaps...
...someone behind me...?
...but, he was definitely in front of her before her guts disappeared like a leaf hanging on a dry branch, blown by the breeze.
Whoosh—
"Were you eavesdropping on us, ma'am?" He asked making me put on a level lower than his which was a mere sector of the harsh reality.
"Oh..." she was speechless like the muted and the receptors in her mind had a sudden snap that made her scream, "No!"
Fortunately, the people close to them were only the ones who heard their conversation turning bittersweet to an entire sack of bitter gourd.
"I'm just asking," He abruptly said as that smirk of his brought out a sense of mischief, of innocent fun, a wry yet voluptuous smile.
"Raising this blood pressure of yours is unnecessary and even might be the cause of your death," he added then left without an apology.
But, then He does not have to apologize.
He knew it all along however he just let it pass by like a pain in the neck of the little account. He knew that sh was eavesdropping on them secretly. Honestly, she should be the one who gives him an apology hoewbeit she felt too embarrassed to say an apology after the recent occurrence of a first meeting with the male lead.
"How'd she got that on her neck?"
As she heard the question which he was asking himself, she self consciously rubbed her neck several times. Dennis lead them to the carriage and stroke the horse on fire as a sudden question got out of Pepi's mouth, "What's this envelope, Lady Lia?" causing her curiosity to increase and her head to turn around facing her with a vellum paper at hand.
Broaden her hands and reached for the paper she had on her right. Opened it up and a familiar penmanship was displayed, written there was...
Ladies or gentlemen, you have been sent an invitation of coming to the annual gala occurring on the second Sunday of September. The nobles of Vadimir and its neighboring nations would be welcomed, in regards to the sincerest thoughts of His Majesty Christos. The royal palace would be hoping for your arrival. We express our gratitude for your preparations.
Despite that she does not know the month, this sunny day may be indicating it is the season of summer. Perhaps the last weekend of August is coming by at least tomorrow.
As Pepi asked this, she was full of curiosity as well. She took a peep in discreet at what was said on the paper and eventually knew, it was another invitation which the Countess would appreciate.
The certainty of hers has reached its extent, Lady Lia would be sensing the heavenly blessing of God by then. The very best welcome would be prepared in advance as she savor another chance of defining a man as a further remark— at least that was what the Countess would do.
I wouldn't dare.
This penmanship was indeed familiar, the name of the shop which she entered a few minutes ago had this decent, angular, and pretty legible handwriting.
"Giddyap!" the coachman ordered, as he whipped the horse's back with the rope. Muzzled and neighed, it began treading with a sprightly pace in the long run. They reached the destination of her mansion at a gallop.
The somnolence caused her eyes to put up the shutter and reunite the soft glowing light from the sky whenever the sun is beneath the horizon, caused by the refraction and scattering of the sun's rays from the atmosphere. The suddenness of positivity that she should meet Baroness Nefeli at her bijou palace poked her head. She permitted to take a leisurely walk outside alone and find the place where she stays.
Complex walls enclosed the conservatory, inside was light and airy. The once famous palace has been a house like a deserted beach of soft sand. The vigorous wind breeze makes leaves rustle tremulous, tremble, and be hauled by the gravitational force. Little shrubs would welcome you along the patch of green grasses, with disturbing weeds and fruit-bearing herbs surrounding the white bricks of the palace. The conservatory having a roof, which is red.
Each day, the Baroness would let herself be outside. Harvesting curry berries, lots of cherries, and the popularly inhumane lingonberry in Vadimir. Refining her unexplained beautiful voice until her throat is filled with croaks of a frog.
The dye of carnation pink rushing out of each strand of her hair with the vanilla emphasized her innocent and cute looks. Her hazel eyes reflected the colors in the environment around her such as the green from trees or amber from the sunlight which is why they can appear to change color throughout the day.
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The Financial Countess
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The Leading Roles
mjanwu2008xin
Sh was having a stroll and down that very mountain, she met Neli carrying a basket upon her wrist, singing incomparable to a nightingale warbling in the trees through its composed song on the spot and had a bountiful harvest of cherries into the bargain.
Her hair was tied in a single tail behind, had flowing locks of cascading curls, enviable trademark of beautiful long hair. She spotted her pretty quickly and greeted her as immediately as she could. Performed a curtsy before her and said, "Good afternoon Countess Calliope,"
She approached her and greeted her with a curtsy as well. She took her hand and exclaimed that performing a curtsy before a royalty of lower level is unnecessary.
"You can address me as Lia unnie," she said.
She apologized and pleaded from the bottom of her heart. She implied her gentle front was never a white veil masked within the bounds of a facade but a quail's egg still inside its shell, incapable to foregather the mouthwatering scent and tender grilled lamb loin chops.
Their conversation went round and round in circles, revolving around the très palatable dishes for lunch.
"Sorry about that Coun... I mean... Lia unnie," she felt a quiver of tension and shake like a leaf, calling her name.
"It's fine," she opined.
"Are you gonna have lunch?" She asked out of curiosity.
"No... however, Lia unnie is here then... I should cook lunch for you," she was obviously hesitant about uttering her thoughts.
Her mind take a trip down memory lane, she cast the fact of Neli was unable to cook delectable delights which made her hesitancy be right under one's nose. She suggested that she would be the cook this noon as quick as greased lightning, she took her on a tour to her kitchen and she head for the menu inside her head.
"Umm... how about I call you, Neli?" She raised a sudden question, appearing in front of her, causing her to be partially shocked and partially ill at ease.
"Of course... Lia... unnie," she trembled with her words.
"Neli, what would you like to eat?" She queried an answer for that day's lunch.
"Umm... bread... bread is enough, bread is enough," she responded. She agreed with what was said in the novel. She was definitely not good with words. She decided to cook something else. An avant-garde dish that can have the ability to open eqach living soul's spirit and the individuals' taste buds inside the palace of the Baroness.
She borrowed a large woven tray in her palace's storage room and went to the rice fields to gather some wheat. The rapid huffing and puffing of the air, direct towards the north, winnowing its way through the grass.
She harvested thousands of grains and placed them inside the tray, cooled her heels, and warmed up for the incoming call of the wind. The gushing breath of the wind once again came on the scene as it has torn open a rift in the clouds, quickly lifted the tray, and flung the grains of wheat above the firm space with the dispersion of gas molecules in the air.
She caught them again and the chaff was threshed from the piles of unhusked rice. She returned to the kitchen where Neli was finishing the cleaning of her fruits and set it up among the fruit stand, above the seemingly endless wooden mahogany table. She left the winnowed wheat inside the rotary querns at the top of the rustic kitchen island and have them ground by the maid of the palace in charge of the kitchen.
As the last spring had already frost, sweet red beans should be dry by this period. The longer they stay on the vines or plants, the drier they will be. Sweet red beans can grow in both bushes and vines. She went ahead to the greenhouse to find a bunch of sweet red beans, either in a bush or hanging on a vine.
The shop owner pursued her to buy vegetables, spices, and any kind of plants. She asked for at least two to three packs of sweet red beans and brought me four packs of them as the fourth one was bought for free, a token of gratitude for buying in their shop.
The silhouette of the seller was handing her four packs and he said that most customers were just their regular ones and nobles would often offend the greenhouse, comparing his greenhouse with the other best greenhouses in the nation. He was grateful for a noble like her to buy something from his tiny business, and in the end, he waved and a sunny aura pleased her despite the shades of black seen, exclaiming goodbye.
She returned from the greenhouse, she went ahead to the poultry farm, and chased a chicken. Chased and chased until it chased her to death, the chicken should be covered by calmness and warmth. Once the hen calmed itself, it eventually laid an egg. She picked it up and went again to the palace, panting and flooded with sweat.
She asked the maid for a handkerchief and wiped her sweat with it. She requested to let two bottles of milk be sent in Baroness Nefeli Regas Bakirtzis's palace and the farmer who was also the delivery man, soon arrived by a single tick of the clock's hand.
The ground wheat is now called whole wheat flour, a mixture with the milk of a cow, and the egg whites were separated from the egg yolk. The yolk was combined with the flour and fresh milk while the egg whites were mixed in another bowl by Neli. When the mixture was finally mixed up, the egg whites were carefully poured into this compound and put to rest.
The mashed red bean paste is the most common for home cooking. You only need to boil the sweet red beans with sugar until it's very soft, then smash them to the texture you prefer. The finished paste will have a consistent thick texture that is easy to shape and contains some whole and broken beans.
The dough was shaped into balls, leaving a hole with no room to swing a cat's tail for the sweet red bean paste to enter afterwards. Several balls were made and the paste was added recently. Neli helped her in molding them into balls again and punched them flat onto the tray made of iron which has our reflections.
And after a few minutes, "They're done!" They screamed with synchronization.
Delicious!
"You're such a good cook, Lia!" Neli complimented her without stuttering anymore.
She had been living alone in her previous life which can explain her skillfulness in housework. She is an only child and her mother had passed away because of stage three cancer and has been in the hospital for many years, gradually becoming a bag of bones.
Ah-hwa's father passed away way before even her mother had, the cause was an accident during work on the highway, as he was a truck driver delivering cargoes.
The debt owed to the hospital was being paid by her ever since she worked for Dae Yeong Bank Institute and little did she know, those hard work would leave her with a knife stabbed inside her chest and brought herself a whole new life as a villainess inside the novel which she recently finished reading and knowing the end in lieu of them paying off.
A joyous wedding.
"Sunbae, are you okay?" she asked out of the blue.
"Oh... f-fi-" she stuttered.
"I am fine, Neli" she briefly told her whilst her eyes seem to be avoiding being in contact with hers.
"Eh? Did you just call me sunbae? No need to be formal!" She exclaimed.
"Want to try some?" she asked as she put the food inside of her mouth without even a single word from her. She still wanted to try some. She left the food and her palace around five in the afternoon. She began her journey of walking back to her palace. As she smiled and said farewell to Neli, she did the same. Time passes by a bit slow.
A silhouette of a citizen and a dog suddenly walked by. It began barking at her and she was indeed terrified. She had been afraid of dogs ever since dreaming about an enormous dog that sucked her whole house with tremendously sharp and fearsome teeth, chomping people in her dream when she was a child.
I am really afraid of dogs!
She tried to run as fast as she could with these clothes and she gradually was tired from trying. She can run and can hide as well however her scent would be noticeable by the power of the dog's snout. She ended up thinking of how lucky she was escaping from the monster and arriving at her mansion in a flash.
"Leisurely walk, Milady?" Penelope asked as her beige blonde hair was seemingly messy with it spiking out of her little bun, raising one of her eyebrows upwards.
"It's almost five o'clock!" she grunted.
Commanded my lady-in-waiting to set a bubbly bath for her and she went to the bathroom as fast as she could. Her left foot took its step inside the bathtub filled with artificial lavender oil supplements dissolved in warm water and her eyes sunk as darkness enveloped.
I finished bath at last.
Pepi sealed the blinds and beyond those flat shades was her, clothed in nothing but the favorite silver nightgown of Lia. Hidden in one of her closets, covered in comfort, and was in a deep sleep.
She left when she saw her in peace and heard her voice whispered in chant, "Goodnight, Milady," began treading and shut the door —thud!
She placed her hands on her forehead as her fingers were apart. She had a slight headache and was unable to keep her eyes shut. Pitter patter— rain began falling again and soothed her ears causing her to fall asleep completely.