"What?"
Lucy jumped up from her seat. The boy, who had been sitting leisurely in the wind, looked up at her in surprise.
Lucy looked at the boy with a more startled face than ever.
How could you say that?
Her large eyes and wide-open mouth seemed to say so.
At Lucy's reaction, the boy rolled his eyes with a bewildered expression. His face was contemplating whether he had said anything bad.
Lucy still frowned in shock.
"that… … ! that… … !"
That's what daddy said when he proposed to mommy!
Lucy swallowed the back horse through her throat.
How dare you say such shameful things to a girl you meet for the first time. Are the capital's children really this daring?
As Lucy continued to stand still, the boy snorted.
"You are a really weird kid."
Lucy was stunned and burst out laughing.
who's gonna do it
When he opened his eyes wildly and looked at him, the boy also came face to face without averting his eyes.
What, is this a snowball fight?
This time, Lucy's eyes widened even more fiercely, with the intention that she would never look after her.
But the boy tilted his head and straightened his crooked upper body. Rather than a snowball fight, I looked into Lucy's eyes with an observing gaze.
A wrinkle formed between his brows, and one eyebrow rose. Her tightly closed lips twitched like a person with some dissatisfaction.
Looking at his expression, the boy looked into Lucy's eyes and seemed to be thinking about something serious.
"Oh, I remembered it!"
At last, the boy exclaimed with a cool face as if the congestion had gone down.
"Your eyes."
It was snow again. Lucy took a step back from the boy with a nervous expression on her face.
What are you going to say this time?
"It resembles the emerald from
"… … what is that?"
"
It was the first painting I had ever heard of, the first artist I had ever heard of.
As Lucy's eyes widened, not understanding the boy's words, the boy spoke again as if frustrated.
"Painter Lucent! The most famous painter in the empire, don't you know?"
"I do not know."
"Ugh."
Lucy was furious at the thought of being ignored.
"I don't know that mad! I've never seen a picture like that!"
"Of course! It's hanging in my hallway, how do you look!"
Lucy clenched her fists.
Should I just hit one and run away?
Lucy thought seriously and glared at the boy's ugly forehead.
"But what are you doing here?"
the boy suddenly asked.
"Why are you here? This is my area."
This time, Lucy snorted.
"Hey, where is your district? This is just a lake."
The boy shrugged his shoulders once and then wrapped his arms around his knees again. Then he buried his face helplessly.
Lucy, who suddenly felt sorry for seeing her dead face, suggested.
"… … There are a lot of delicious foods out there. Why don't you go eat too?"
"… … ."
"It's a gathering where only women are invited, but will you kick me out?"
"You go."
He was a boy who never understood. It's like hiding in a corner of a garden full of allergens, refusing to eat a lot of food.
"Are you shy?"
"… … ."
"Can I speak for you?"
"… … done. i like being alone I hate having so many people."
A muffled voice came out of her hidden face.
Lucy looked down at the boy's reddish neck. I couldn't see his face, but the expression on the boy's face, saying that he prefers to be alone, seemed to be in front of me for some reason.
"… … I want to disappear."
The boy's voice came out once more and was blown away by the autumn wind from the lake.
"there… … ."
Lucy felt sorry for the boy and opened her mouth to say something comforting. But only his lips licked, he couldn't think of what to say.
It was then.
I heard footsteps running towards me from over the garden fence. After a while, someone appeared from behind a large tree.
Looking at the dress, I thought it was a maid working in a mansion. She looked at the crouched boy and cried.
"young master!"
She ran to the boy in a hurry. She hurriedly got the boy up. Then he brushed off the dirt and grass from his clothes.
"Oh, you scratched again! Look at this bleeding!"
As she was organizing her clothes, she looked at the back of the boy's hand and forearm and said:
"What else is this grass?"
The maid who was cleaning the boy's trousers looked at the grass attached to his ankles like leeches and asked. The boy began to repeat the words he had heard from Lucy with a sullen face.
"This is the grass called Mogana. If you crush it like this and put it on an itchy place... … ."
However, the maid listened to his words, removed the grass from her ankles and threw them on the floor.
"Come on, come on in, Master. If you stay here, your symptoms will get worse."
The maid did not even look at Lucy, who was standing still, but took the boy and left the lake shore.
The boy grunted something with an annoying and annoying face. However, he was led by the strong hand of the maid and reluctantly took his foot off.
The boy who was leaving the lakeside suddenly turned his head. The boy's lake-like eyes and Lucy's emerald-like eyes met in the air.
Then he moved his lips and said.
"Good bye."
"Yes. Hi."
Lucy raised her hand awkwardly.
The boy was taken by the handmaiden and left the lakeshore with an indifferent expression.
After standing quietly under the oak tree for a moment, Lucy shook her head and came to her senses.
"It's been too long."
Mrs. Triana might have been worried. Lucy hurriedly made her way through the garden and returned to the lunch room.
I heard familiar voices in my ears. The luncheon approached. The servants seen through the fence were eagerly carrying food, and the maids were busy preparing desserts not far away.
I could hear the maids carrying the dessert whispering.
"… … You found Confucius Berg. You must have been alone in the garden again."
"Why do you keep entering the garden even though you have allergies?"
Confucius Berg.
Lucy, who was overhearing the maids' stories, muttered to herself.
So that kid is Confucius Berg. The duke's son.
She had never actually seen a man as tall as a peacock. Of course, so was the duke's son.
In fact, a duke-like person was someone a commoner girl like Lucy would never meet in her life. Because they live in the capital and never come to a country town like Brom to help His Majesty the Emperor and run the government.
So, it was extremely rare to meet the duke's son by chance in the garden he entered by chance like today.
Realizing that, Lucy opened her eyes and shouted.
"Wow! I've met the Duke's son!"
Lucy felt that she had come to the capital once more.
The Duke's son has such dazzling blonde hair and blue eyes. Besides, the clothes you wore looked great too! And will we only eat delicious food every day in such a nice house?
Lucy, who had been contemplating the boy's appearance one by one, immediately opened her mouth. He remembered the rude words he had thrown at him.
Heh, but the duke's son is fine, huh! Like Brom's immature boys, he's bad-tempered.
If it's the Duke's son, shouldn't he be polite and polite with his words?
They say it smells like horse dung!
Lucy groaned inwardly and ran out of the garden.
Soon, I could see the ladies talking in elegant voices.
Naturally, the luncheon was going well without her in a friendly atmosphere. Mrs. Triana's cheeks were slightly red, probably from wine.
Lucy came back and sat down next to his wife.
"Yes, Lucy!"
She said looking at Lucy.
"How was the garden?"
"It was beautiful! There were many flowers I saw for the first time."
"I thought you would like it!"
Mrs. Triana smiled happily.
Her interest in the little girl, who soon returned from a garden expedition, quickly shifted elsewhere. The wife continued the conversation with the other ladies with a slightly drunken face.
Lucy has now completely abandoned the idea of making friends at this gathering.
It was enough for that boy to meet someone and have a conversation that will remain in my memory for a long time. Now, Lucy decided to focus her attention on the food that was waiting for her on the table rather than the person.
It was only after he had made up his mind that the cakes and sweets delivered by the attendants caught my eye.
"Wow!"
It took me a while to think of the boy. She rolled her eyes at the desserts laid out on the table. Without hesitation, she reached for the nearest cookie.
"If you don't eat something delicious like this, you're only hurting yourself."
Lucy thought of the boy involuntarily and murmured.
But why was he crouching there with that expression on his face?
Lucy, who had been thinking unconsciously, shook her head again, leading to thoughts of the boy.
He took a large bite of the cookie she had picked up.
We'll never meet again anyway.
My thoughts about Confucius Berg gradually faded as the thick sweetness I tasted for the first time melted in my mouth.
* * *
The days in the capital left a deep impression on Lucy.
What Mrs. Triana said that one trip could change a person's life was true. Lucy thought she had completely changed.
In fact, on the surface, it seemed that her life had not changed at all.
As usual, she got up early in the morning to help her grandmother trim the herbs. She helped her mother prepare food for her family and drove the cat out of the yard.
It was the daily life of an ordinary country girl.
But if you take a closer look, you will find a surprisingly wide world unfolding inside her.
Even after returning from a trip to the capital, Lucy often remembered the splendid streets and tall buildings.
The imperial palace was more dignified and majestic than anywhere else. A night street in the capital where the lights seemed to never go out. A vibrant market.
Lucy often missed the splendor and bustle of the capital.