"Oh my God, it's the sea!"
After a two-day long carriage trip, the open sea now can be seen beyond the horizon.
At the same time, Vesta's famous silver sand beach appeared. It is said that a special mineral from the Vesta underground mine mixes with the sand and produces such a beautiful silver color.
Even though the trip was long and tiring, Dalia's eyes began to sparkle as soon as she saw the clear winter sea and the beautiful silver sand beach.
She hung herself from the carriage window and looked outside frantically.
Hikan looked at Dalia while patting Adrisha's back, who was feeling motion sickness.
For a moment, his expression darkened as he remembered the task entrusted to him by the Emperor.
Anyway, he was happy to see his beloved Dalia. It would have been better if Adrisha had less motion sickness.
Adrisha seemed to get sick every time, even though it was not her first time traveling by a carriage. But when she saw the delighted Dalia, a faint smile appeared on her lips.
"Miss Dalia must have never seen the sea before."
Dalia was startled by her weak voice and clung to Adrisha's side.
"Oh my God, Adrisha. Are you feeling sick again?"
"No, everything is fine now. It will be over soon."
There was an indescribable relief in her voice that the end of this journey was near.
'Should we use a warp portal on the way back?'
Long-distance warp portals have cost issues, but have not yet been popularized due to their stability.
Out of the 100 animal tests, only one of the upper and lower bodies was moved.
In other words, one in every 100 people who use the portal will be transported successfully. That's why she didn't use it unless she was in a hurry.
However, for Adrisha, the probability of dying from motion sickness seemed greater than the probability of only half of her moving using the warp portal.
Fortunately, before Adrisha could die, the three of them arrived at the Pesteros villa.
Adrisha's condition was so bad that she decided to lie down and rest for two days. Dalia put her hand on Adrisha's pale forehead.
"How much motion sickness did you get Adrisha, for your forehead to be burning like this."
"I'm sorry."
"If you had told me in advance, I would have picked a closer place."
"But if Dalia likes it, I like it too."
Adrisha smiled and held Dalia's hand.
'Sobs, Adrisha.'
How can you live in this difficult world when you are so kind? Dalia was seriously worried about Adrisha's future.
At that moment, Adrisha said with a determined expression.
"I will definitely protect Dalia on this trip."
'From what?'
It can't be...Cedric?
Dalia broke into a cold sweat inside. From that determined look in her eyes, it seems that her concern for Adrisha was groundless.
Adrisha's hands lost their strength. She placed both of her hands on her belly and closed her eyes.
"Then go out and have fun. I'm going to get some sleep."
Adrisha quickly fell asleep, probably from exhaustion. Dalia looked at her worriedly and left the room.
* * *
She was relieved after putting Adrisha to sleep, so Dalia looked around the villa properly.
The villa was newly purchased and was in a very good condition.
All of the employees were friendly, and it was so pretty because of Hikan's arrangement, the place was decorated with fresh flowers everywhere.
Dalia's room had a large balcony, overlooking the sandy beach, and it was so pretty that it was a pity to stay for only a month.
Dalia rested her chin on the balcony railing and looked outside. The winter wind blew her hair. It was warm inside the villa, so the coldness was still tolerable.
The gray-blue sea, which has lost all the vitality and the color of summer, has become almost achromatic. The sandy beach facing the sea was also gray. Vesta was said to be a more popular vacation spot in winter than summer, and she seemed to understand why.
Dalia seemed to be cold, so Hikan came out to the balcony with a thick blanket. Dalia pulled his arm in excitement over the blanket. Hikan, who was a bit flustered, was dragged in a gentle manner.
"Isn't it so pretty, brother?"
"Yes."
Hikan replied, wrapping a blanket around Dalia's body.
Somehow it was an insincere answer. Still wondering why he came all the way here, Dalia took off a few layers of her blanket and rolled it up like bacon and gave it to Hikan.
Hikan held the blanket he received, with a helpless look.
Dalia wasn't too small, but it was too big for Hikan to wear it.
'....'
No, what did her brother eat for him to grow up to be this big?
Dalia never thought she might be smaller than her peers.
Um, no way. It's just that the people around her are just too big.
Dalia pretended not to know and turned around again to take the blanket. Hikan then opened his mouth as if nothing had happened.
"Count Williams has invited us. He asked us to join him for dinner. Since he's the owner of this territory, he will show you a lot of nice places."
"...."
"I heard that other nobles who have come for vacation in this area are also coming. Do you want to go together?"
As Vesta is more famous as a winter resort, there were many nobles who came here at this time.
Nobles with famous resorts also used this as a method of expanding their connections.
Among them, Count Williams was a fairly prestigious nobleman.
There was absolutely no reason to refuse. Dalia nodded his head.
"Yes, that's great. Then Adrisha...?"
"She probably can't go together. I've told the maid to prepare porridge for her."
Dalia nodded her head. Then, when the soft blanket touched the tip of her chin, her face burned with embarrassment.
As Hikan was about to furrow his brow and ask why her face was like that, Dalia said, 'Oh, the blanket is so warm,' and went inside.
* * *
Count Waliams' mansion was on a hill. Dalia and Hikan mistook the location and arrived at the mansion earlier than scheduled.
The Count, with a well-groomed mustache, smiled warmly and introduced the mansion. Since there was nothing to do, the two decided to tour the mansion before dinner.
Sculptures and paintings were hung all over the mansion, showing that the Count had a hobby of collecting artworks.
The Count had about three or four famous resorts, and the money from these resorts alone would be huge, so he would probably be very rich. Still, it's not as much as Pesteros.
Dalia looked at the painting while holding Hikan's arm.
Since she was educated as an aristocrat, she had her own eye for art. Some were tasteful and some were not, but they all seemed to be worth the money.
However, in one section of the mansion, there were paintings in a very different style from other artworks.
A feast of primary colors that hurt the eyes, it seemed to mimic a human face with lines and shapes drawn at will.
'….In a good way, it's like an abstract painting.….'
To be honest, it was like children's graffiti.
Dalia glanced up at Hikan. He had a doubtful expression on whether he was thinking the same thing.
'What is this?'
Dalia was confused and couldn't take her steps further.
"Oh, that's a picture drawn by the children I sponsored."
Before she knew it, the Count suddenly appeared from behind and smiled happily. Dalia said in surprise.
"Sponsor?"
"Yes, do you happen to know the landslide that happened a while ago on Vishe's territory adjacent to ours?"
"Oh, I saw it in the newspaper. But it wasn't such a big accident...."
"I thought so too."
The Count's expression sank sadly. It was amazing that the beard sank as well as the facial expression.
'How do you do that?'
Dalia focused her gaze under his nose.
"The newspapers in the capital always focus on the affairs of the capital rather than the regional territory. Even though I'm also from a regional area, I've forgotten about that fact for too long."
"So….. the children that you are sponsoring are the landslide victims?"
"Yes. A large number of children who lost their parents moved to this territory, which is a good place to beg because of the large number of tourists. Now, they are receiving the support of our estate, so there is no need for that."
He's a good man. Dalia looked up at the Count, deeply moved.
"You're amazing."
He blushed in embarrassment at such a compliment.
"No, it's all thanks to a certain person that I was able to do this."
"Thanks to a certain person?"
"There was a young master who came to this territory for recuperation a month ago. He brought the wounded children to me, saying he couldn't leave them alone. I have no interest in other territories, but I feel sorry for the children. Looking at his kind eyes, I willingly decided to help those children too."
"I see."
"He's also coming to dinner today. Why don't you try to talk with him? You'll be surprised at his extraordinary insight of the world regardless of your title."
The Count seemed to have a great deal of faith in that man. What kind of person is he? Dalia looked forward to the dinner a little.
As dinner time approached, people gathered one by one. There were usually many people who came in groups of families or young couples. But there were others who did not.
Dalia looked at someone who was particularly out of place.
Under the circumstances, it seemed that this person was the young master who came to recuperate. He introduced himself as Arthur.
He was a tall, pale-faced, black-haired handsome man with glasses. He was in his early to mid 20's and had a calm and carefree smile on his lips. However, there was a strange sense of alienation in his impeccable manner.