When Kirsi woke up, she was wrapped in a thick velvet blanket like a bird's nest cradle. Alruna had been paying attention to her comfort from head to toe. Even painstakingly fixing the position of her neck so that she doesn't feel stiff when she wakes up.
They arrived at the Crown Prince's residence not long after Kirsi closed her eyes. This means, sleeping for less than half an hour feels like the blink of an eye. Kirsi sleepily got off the horse carriage. Since the tail of her dress was so long, it took the help of several people to help her descend safely and comfortably. The horse carriage was parked right in front of the door of their residence. The two guards immediately gave a respectful greeting before briefly reporting the condition of the house, seeing how the hostess looked so sleepy.
"Madam, there is a guest for you on behalf of Viona Wensley from the Maple Boulevard estate. The Master has allowed her and her friend in, and he is inside with them."
Oh, that's why it wasn't Laura who are waiting at the door and reporting the condition to her. Well, since Cedric was at home, there was no way they would leave him alone without service. But why did the man just let Viona in? The Crown Prince's residence was not just any place anyone could enter. There is a special procedure applied to select each guest. It was all done for the safety of the host himself. Now that Cedric had let her in, it was clear that something had to be up.
Did Cedric know the woman privately?
In the novel, it is never mentioned the possibility that the two could know each other, however, isn't it now useless to compare the reality of events with the contents of the novel, seeing that so far there have been many things that have moved beyond the novel's script.
Kirsi nodded slowly as she tightened her fox fur coat on her body. When she walked inside, she was instantly greeted with a pungent smell of spicy food. This was simply not Cedric's taste. If you ask who likes this type of cursed food the most throughout the novel, then that person is Viona. Who cooks spicy food for her? Did she come with a notice beforehand? Why doesn't Kirsi know at all?
While she was wondering about many things, she arrived in the living room. The bronze eyes first landed on the portrait of Goddess Sorin which was similar to that of the Remus residence, before finally landing on the three heads who each sat on the sofa in the living room. She saw her husband pinching his nose in front of several spicy red hot dishes. In front of him, was Viona who shyly lifted her face from the bowl of winter noodles with extra chilli. And next to the girl, there was Arthur who calmly turned his head towards Kirsi, which made Kirsi almost burst out her exasperated laugh.
Alright, is this stupid woman complaining to Arthur about her patron offer? How far can this woman's stupidity go? Couldn't she have guessed the reason why Kirsi would rather go see her adoptive father than discuss the offer with her in person?
It was because Arthur mustn't know!
Viona feels guilty for accepting Arthur's patron offer so she prefers to work in many places at once to continue her education. And when someone selflessly intended to offer her patronage, she acted shamelessly and reported it to Arthur. Now see what she will get. Kirsi will not give her an easy stance.
Kirsi came in and sat next to Cedric without saying anything. Seeing that her husband looked quite tormented by the smell of dishes in front of him, Kirsi handed him her scented fox fur jacket. Kirsi commented casually as she finished helping Cedric deal with his discomfort.
"Who prepared such an interesting dish for my honoured guest? I don't remember ordering it before." Her eyebrows rose with false curiosity.
Viona looked increasingly embarrassed and nervous. To help her, Arthur on her behalf answered. "No, I prepared it. We brought our own maid to cook it—"
Kirsi cut him off, "Shut up. I didn't ask you." Her eyes were still focused on Viona who still couldn't stand on her own feet. She's not a baby anymore, why does she still need someone else's support to answer?
"Oh, I... I'm sorry."
Kirsi snorted loudly, "Excuse me? Do I sound like the one trying to blame you?"
"Daciana, you scared her." Arthur tried to intervene, but his participation only made Kirsi even more sentimental.
"You shut up. I gave my proposal to Lady Viona, why did you bother coming here? Are you being paid to be the spokesperson?"
Arthur's brow furrowed deeply. Feeling incredulous and incomprehensible at the same time. He refuted, "That's precisely why I'm here. Daciana, don't you think it's strange that the person who used to ostracize and harass you suddenly came to offer you help?"
Kirsi knows that. She, therefore, avoided Arthur's eyes and reached her hand out to Viona behind his back. If Viona was smart enough to read the situation, she wouldn't rashly report it to Arthur. But it turns out that Kirsi thinks too highly of Viona. This naive girl only understood that a punch was meant to kill. She can never learn from experience. She is a naive person who only thinks of experience as a decorative home ornament.
After snorting loudly once more to calm herself down, she explained a bit of the situation in a way that was easy for someone as stupid as Viona to understand.
"Arthur, has been with me for a year and a half made you feel like you've known me for a lifetime? What do you know about me? Didn't we break up because you didn't understand me at all? You have cut off the relationship between us, plus you have chosen to put everything behind you and cut off our friendship. Now that you don't even want to stay as my friend, aren't we strangers? Do you still think that all these actions of mine will still have something to do with you? You think highly of yourself. You'd better keep your mouth shut and let me settle my business with this Lady."
Kirsi's words left him speechless. There is nothing wrong with the content of the dialogue at all. And the sentence was too perfect to receive a rebuttal that Arthur couldn't even reply. Even if Arthur could retaliate, he would not have the face to retaliate rudely in front of his older brother.
To temper the suddenly deteriorating atmosphere, Cedric played his role as a good family head by saying, "Arthur, better listen to my wife first. If you still have any objections, talk about it after she's done."
"... Fine. I'm sorry, Big Brother." Arthur nodded obediently. Even if behind their backs they had a lot of strife, in front of the public they were still a pair of brothers who shared the same blood.
Kirsi thanked Cedric softly, then turned to Viona who was waiting anxiously for her. Kirsi is really disappointed with this Heroin. Simply hopeless.
Well, it wasn't like Kirsi had been able to hide this patron issue from Arthur for the rest of her life. But at least don't tell Arthur before the deal is made. It will only add to the problem. And that naive woman still doesn't get it.
Kirsi sighed wearily and explained, "As I said before, I just want to be your patron. I saw your abilities and I acknowledge you. Other than that, for no other reason. I will offer you financial support and facilities, then grant you special permission to legally enter a restricted area, with terms and conditions that apply. To guarantee all that I said, I open a place for you to submit requirements from your own viewpoint. You don't have to worry about other things, because I'm still not interested in becoming your acquaintance. You don't need to greet me in public, you don't even need to be polite to me. I just need your skills." Kirsi then turned to the side towards Alruna who was standing tall beside her. "Alruna, bring me the documents I asked for yesterday."
"Yes, Madam."
Alruna retreated and returned quickly. She was carrying a papyrus paper document that was rolled up and tied with a red satin ribbon. Alruna brought it with a tray and handed it to Viona as directed by Kirsi. The woman accepted it politely and read it after pleasantly asking permission.
The reason why Kirsi offered to be a patron was because of the profit behind it. Viona's medicinal abilities were fully mediocre, not even to the point where people would compete to offer money to fight over her. What Kirsi was after was beyond that. Her sentence just now was just empty words filled with icing that didn't really reveal her true intentions. What she was after was simple. If Kirsi can't fix her already a bad image in front of Viona and Arthur, Kirsi only needs to improve her image in the public eye. By being Viona's patron for some time, even if it seems unnatural, people will pay attention to her if one day her plan fails and this pair of protagonists intends to execute her. At the very least, they would not dare to use such a frontal and rude means to dispose of her.
A person who intended to be a good Emperor would not ignore the public view of him. Now that she's done what the real Kirsi couldn't have done, there wouldn't be any possibility of experiencing the same bad luck as the novel narrated.
It took a while for Viona to absorb all the terms and conditions that Kirsi put forward. And because there were so many things she couldn't understand, she occasionally asked Arthur in a low and coy whisper. The last time she confronted Kirsi, she shamelessly protested against Kirsi for being late to help her. Now that Arthur and Cedric were in the room, she was acting like the soft and shy Snow White.
After reading along with the parchment, there was something Arthur wanted to ask so he raised his hand as low as his shoulder and said, "I have something to ask you."
Kirsi raised her eyebrows "Why are you the one asking?"
Arthur sighed and whispered to Viona, asking her to represent him asking. Viona looked confused, not sure if she could do it or not. So Arthur sighed and put on a look as if to say "Look that".
Kirsi still doesn't accept it. "I only received questions from the relevant person."
"Daciana, don't make things difficult."
Kirsi hit the table angrily, "Oh, what do you mean? Who are you? Would you like to receive my support too? I would be very flattered if I could become the patron of a prince like you. I have nothing to lose—"
"All right, all right. Calm down." Cedric, who had been silently watching, began to take on the role of a good arbiter. He grabbed Kirsi's shoulder and rubbed her gently to calm her down. He also pulled Kirsi's head to lean against him as he explained to Arthur.
"I know you two are close, but perhaps my wife would be more comfortable if Lady Winslow came over and discussed it with her legal guardian. Arthur, I know you are worried and concerned about Lady Winslow, but you are not in the right place to object and interfere. In any case, Kirsi has taken care of this document in a legal place. Do you nonetheless think that she would dare to cheat?"
Kirsi felt guilty for doubting Cedric just now. She had too much faith in the possibility that Viona would use her last brain cells and couldn't possibly bring Arthur here. But she was wrong. Of course, Cedric would just let Viona in if she brought Arthur here. The reason why the guard at the door didn't announce Arthur's arrival was because the man had come here not as a guest but as a guest companion. He's smart though.
Arthur wasn't too irrational so he didn't argue further. And since Arthur was not given a place to question Kirsi's terms and conditions, then Viona asked for a deadline of two days to discuss it with her guardian. And Kirsi agrees.
Now that the patron issue was considered settled, Arthur began a more serious conversation with Cedric. Since it wasn't the kind of chat that everyone could hear, the two of them excuses themselves from the living room in their own way. Arthur said goodbye to Viona in a friendly and gentle manner, while Cedric said goodbye casually and spoke as needed. The man also had time to ruffle Kirsi's hair which had been painstakingly arranged.
"Argh, what are you doing?" Kirsi protested while trying to grab his hand to steal a pinch of revenge. But she failed. Angry that the reply didn't hit him, she grabbed Cedric's waist to pinch him. But again ceased to function because Cedric dodged quickly.
Arthur watched the interaction between the two calmly, while Viona watched Arthur's face with anxiety. Before Arthur left, Viona caught the hem of his shirt and whispered, "There's no need to rush. I'll be fine here."
Arthur smiled and rubbed her head lightly. Answered, "Okay. I trust you."
Viona smiled gently.
Unlike Viona, Kirsi doesn't precisely care about the interaction of the two lovebirds in front of her. She was more interested in talking to Alruna about the menu for dinner tonight.
Kirsi turned to Laura who was standing not too far from her and said, "Accompany Lady Winslow and show her around. Make tea and snacks to her liking. Treat our guests well."
"Yes, Madam," Laura answered firmly.
Accompanied by Alruna, Kirsi returned to her room to rest.