However, even in the midst of it, she thought that she should take care of what she needs to do. She stammered.
"That..."
Her voice trembled.
"By any chance, are you close to the Empress?"
Maybe it wasn't what she expected, one of Merida's eyebrows went up.
"I don't know why you're asking that, but I've been her lady-in-waiting for 1 year since last year."
"This is it!"
Dalia's eyes sparkled as she once again found a clue to the solution.
However she couldn't accept it right away. Dalia briefly explained and quickly concluded her story.
"I'll visit you next time."
It was nice to find the Empress and the connection, but there was no need to be too hasty.
To be honest, she still doesn't know what Merida was thinking, and she was afraid of her....
'But, isn't she much better than Felix?'
Listening to what she said, Dalia seemed to realize that Merida's brother Felix was a rotten log. She's always quick to judge.
Merida put the family seal back in her handbag and then spread her skirt with a very bright smile.
"Sure. We'll meet separately outside the mansion."
It means she doesn't want to meet in the mansion and be found out by Felix and the Duke of Artus.
Before she left, she turned around and looked at Dalia, putting on her hat elegantly.
"I know you don't trust me. But I'll be a useful card in my own way. If you need a bridge with the Empress, I'll give you one without any strings attached."
"Yes, what?"
"It's my favor, so take it when I give it to you. I will contact you later."
Merida raised the corners of her lips and smiled, then disappeared.
Dalia stared blankly at the place where she had disappeared.
'She's so cool.'
She honestly thought so. The driving force was enough to spontaneously exude admiration.
'It's not that she's a bulldozer.'
It still made her scared when she thought of her in the original story, but it was still a good thing.
Now she has found a way to approach the Empress. Besides, there is also a way to get a family seal as a bonus.
Dalia took a long breath, pressing down on her nervous heart.
But she can't trust her 100% just because she's cool.
Considering the original Merida, it was reasonable to think that she has a plan to save her family. Besides, she still doesn't know what her intention is.
'Let's wait and see!'
For now, let's implement the first step of the plan.
* * *
First, Dalia decided to find Meldon.
It was natural in a way, but she couldn't go on her own way without any prior planning with Meldon.
The next day, Dalia decided to call Meldon as soon as she got up and was ready to leave.
It was virtually impossible to find him with a fixed residence because he did not have a mobile phone like in her previous life.
But Dalia had a secret weapon.
After riding into a nearby town, she stared at her wrist from the carriage.
'I didn't want to use this again, but this is the only way I can call him at this time.'
She hesitated and eventually tapped her wrist. Then, she tapped it again a little later.
'He'll know what I mean.'
Was it when she was resting after repeating this for about 10 times?
Someone knocked on the carriage door with a deep sigh that it could be heard from inside the carriage. Dalia pretended not to know.
"Who is it?"
"It's Meldon, our beautiful Miss Dalia."
Dalia opened the door with a smile.
Meldon had just washed his hair, and his hair was damp and wavy more like seaweed. He said with a sigh.
"You were going to do it until I came, right?"
Dalia nodded shyly. Meldon shook his head.
"As you can see from my condition, I ran straight out of the shower."
"It seems like that."
"Miss, you're so mean. From now on, just send the signal twice and I'll come to you. Anyway, so what's going on?"
Dalia sighed heavily.
"Mr. Meldon can't even imagine what kind of hardship I have to endure because of you."
"Ah, I've heard. Felix told you....hmm.... Yes."
Meldon said as he struggled desperately to hold back his laughter.
Dalia understood. It was a funny story to anyone who heard it.
But if there's anything Meldon doesn't know, that's not the end of her ordeal. Her head ached again at the thought of Beolde.
'As expected, we have to make sure to solve this problem.'
"...Mr. Meldon, do you remember when I said that I would help you?"
His eyes changed slightly. He said as he sat across from the carriage.
"Yeah, I can't forget that."
Of course, it was a little funny to hold such a heavy conversation with the wet seaweed hair.
Dalia thought for a moment and said.
"You know..., I've done this and that to help you, Mr. Meldon."
She gave a brief summary of what had happened.
"In any case, Mr. Meldon needs to be recognized by the transcendent of the other three families in order for you to enter the family. My brother decided to help, and now the former Duchess of Blueport, who is my friend will also help, and I only need Lady Beolde to help..."
"Miss Dalia."
"Yes?"
"I think I'm going to cry because I'm so moved right now, can I cry?"
"You can't."
Dalia flatly cut his words.
Instead of really crying, Meldon smiled mischievously. Tears come out, his eyes are as crisp as a sandy field like a lie. (*t/n: heck, I don't even know what this part means..I don't understand at all haha)
"Don't worry, you'll pay twice as much for all of this later anyway."
"Okay."
A cool answer came unexpectedly.
As Dalia blinked as she looked at Meldon in bewilderment, he smiled and naturally slipped down from the chair and knelt down in front of Dalia.
And with a restrained gesture like a knight, he took the back of her hand and kissed it briefly.
"If I really become a Duke."
"Yes."
"Still, Miss Dalia will always be a lady to me."
Dalia frowned because she didn't quite understand what it meant. Then Meldon smiled a little awkwardly.
"Until the end, Miss Dalia will be like an elder and an employer to me. Well, it's also because I'm scared of Sir Cedric."
"Oh, ohh..."
Dalia finally understood what he meant and nodded.
It was understandable that Meldon was feeling awkward because she didn't understand such touching words.
"No it's okay. I promised to help Mr. Meldon. So now let's discuss in detail how the Pesteros can help Mr. Meldon realistically and what kind of help is needed."
"...."
"...…Regarding Lady Beolde, I'm not confident, to be honest, but I'll do something about it."
Meldon stared blankly at Dalia and smiled.
"...I sometimes can't believe your age, Miss."
'Actually, if you add up the memories of my past life, it's actually more.'
Dalia thought to herself.
Of course, adding a 25-year-old life and a 17-year-old life does not make her 42 years old.
Rather, she felt she was between the ages of 25 and 17.
'...Right. If I were that age, I would have handled it more wisely than I am now.'
Dalia's heart grew heavy at the thought of the burden that Beolde had left her.
'...How am I supposed to reconcile with Her Majesty?'
She sighed inwardly.
'I have one way that I thought of....'
After all, is this the only way?
It wasn't very likely.
However, no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't think of any other way, so Dalia decided to try the method after much consideration.