XX46, March 9
Papers were scattered on the table in her bedroom. The quill pen that was messily laid on top of several blank papers had a hint of leaking. However, Charlotte Flora Riverion completely ignored it as if the documents beside it weren't important.
Unlike most noble daughters, Charlotte was a little different. Every morning, she would always get ready and dress herself without the maids' help. On the contrary, she rather despised having other people inside her room. She never allowed the maid to clean her bedroom, and mostly cleaned it by herself. The one and only exception would be her personal maid, Emma Schneider.
Sitting at her dressing table, Charlotte combed her long brunette hair while humming a nursery rhyme.
"Emma, could you help me get the purple lavender hair clip on the nightstand?" Charlotte asked politely.
"Here, Miss Charlotte," Emma said as she handed the clip to Charlotte.
"Do I look good? I have a very important meeting," Charlotte's face gleamed as she imagined the business contract her family might get. Since her coming-of-age ceremony, Charlotte never failed to help her father with the family business.
"Beautiful, as always," Emma smiled.
Emma didn't just throw empty praises. As a matter of fact, Charlotte was known as one of the most beautiful bachelorettes in the Kingdom of Gallene.
Charlotte took her light purple hat that she had prepared the night before along with the documents on the table before heading downstairs.
"Should I clean the table?" asked Emma before her mistress went out.
"No need, just leave it there," Charlotte uttered prior to closing her bedroom door. Her voice had a hint of warning not to mess up anything on her table.
Beautiful, bright, and delightful, but different. That's Charlotte for you.
People might ask why she was so different.
The only reason was that she didn't stand on the earth or the sky, neither a true noble nor a commoner. She was in the middle of a pendulum, thus being disliked by both sides was an everyday encounter.
"Good morning, Father, Mother! And hello, my dear little Victoria," Charlotte greeted her family at the dining table.
"Good morning, Charlie," Baron Riverion greeted her eldest daughter while playing with his thin mustache.
"Oh, Charlotte!" Baroness Riverion stood up and exclaimed, "You should have put the clip more to the left or it will be hidden by your hat."
"Mother! It's not that important," Charlotte protested, yet stood powerlessly as her mother fixed her appearance.
"Victoria, don't play with your food. Don't be picky either!" Baroness Riverion reprimanded her youngest daughter right after dusting Charlotte's shoulder.
The Riverion family had their lovely breakfast as usual.
Charlotte sat in her father's office in the same hotels she always played in for more than a decade. Years ago, this office was inaccessible to her, but now she had decorated it as she wish.
"Yes, we can arrange the accommodation for 40 people along with a suite," a business smile plastered on Charlotte's mouth as she went on, "If any guest in our hotels has an allergy, the chef can prepare the food accordingly."
"I would also like to have a small party here. Is it possible?" asked the man sitting in front of Charlotte.
Charlotte didn't answer right away. She sipped her tea elegantly. As she placed her cup on the table, she lifted her head a little and looked right into the man's eyes.
Charlotte smiled again, "We have a ballroom that connected to the back garden that, I have to say, was exceptionally beautiful at night. Organizing a small party is within our capability, but the cost is charged differently than the accommodation."
"Aside from the cost, is it possible to design the party as my lady wishes? My lady longed for a perfect party on her vacation," the man asked again.
Charlotte nodded confidently, "Absolutely, Sir."
Shortly after their conversation ended, both parties signed the contract they had been discussing for a while. After ordering the hotel manager to prepare everything for the down payment had been paid, Charlotte invited the representative for lunch. However, he refused saying he had to report back to his master right away.
Stuffed with lunch at a nearby restaurant, Charlotte walked into the hotel lobby until she arrived at the door where she saw crowds going into the bakery.
"Crowded, as always," she muttered.
"Yes?" the hotel assistant manager that had been escorting Charlotte didn't quite hear her words.
"I'm done here. You may go back," Charlotte uttered.
The assistant manager bowed before excusing himself.
The bakery across the hotels was known to have the best cake. Knowing how the Riverion sisters loved sweets, Charlotte decided to buy Victoria's favorite cakes.
"One strawberry cake, please," Charlotte said to the shopkeeper.
Inadvertently, Charlotte listened to the suspicious man next to her. He wore normal clothes, but abnormally black. His act was even more suspicious. He kept pulling down his flat cap.
"Five small fruit tarts," he said in a pure pretend low voice.
Commoner clothes, but noble attitudes. Maybe a young master secretly goes to town, thought Charlotte.
The man took his order as his hand brushed past Charlotte's gloves.
"Excuse me, I apologize," he looked right into Charlotte's eyes.
"It's alright," Charlotte smiled. For the first time, she saw his dark brown eyes, black hair, and handsome face. Putting aside the handsome part, somehow, his face looked very familiar. She felt like her whole self being sucked into those attractive dark brown ebony-like eyes.
From his conduct to his face, it was apparent that this young man must be a noble. Charlotte put it past her mind and enjoyed her talks with the shopkeeper.
"I'm home," Charlotte exclaimed.
As soon as she stepped inside, a minor force pushed her back. Victoria hugged her waist tightly.
"Welcome home, sister."
"I brought a gift for you," Charlotte said while she took the package from the maid.
"A cake?!" Victoria yelled. She brought the cake over to the dining room. Baroness Riverion, who had been standing near the stairs, wanted to reprimand her youngest daughter again but decided to hold it off till later.
When Charlotte turned around, she saw her father just coming back from the Riverion's shop in the market.
"Welcome home, Father."
Charlotte helped her father in, and the family had dinner together.
Charlotte went straight to the bath after dinner. When she came back to the room, Emma was there sorting out some letters.
"How come I had so many letters? Maybe I have some secret admirers," Charlotte joked around to Emma.
"Surely, my lady has lots of admirers," Emma went along with her mistress' joke.
"Anything important?"
"I think my lady might be interested in this invitation to Lady Graford's tea party."
"When did this letter come?" Charlotte asked a moment after she opened the invitation and read the date for the tea party.
"This afternoon."
Charlotte sneered, "How come she always invited me at the last minute?! Emma, please bring me an envelope, I need to send a reply right away before she called me rude again."
With the quill dancing on the white paper, Charlotte wrote a concise letter to Lady Margaret Graford, Duke Graford's one and only daughter.
Dear Lady Margaret Graford,
I am forever grateful for the invitation to the tea party. It is truly an honor to be invited and I do not dare to decline. I anticipated very much to the tea party tomorrow.
Yours truly,
Charlotte Riverion
P.S. If you would please forgive my insolence, is it too much to ask for an earlier invitation?
"Send this letter as soon as dawn breaks," Charlotte handed her short but carefully written letter to Emma.
"Yes, Miss."