CH 55

In the banquet hall a bit before the Viscount is dragged.

The banquet ended in great success.

Sophisticated banquet decorations that they could not even think to see at a Northern banquet, to tea culture gifts that seemed to become a new trend.

All the guests who participated went back with pleasant smiles.

The Northern nobles sent off the guests with proud expressions, as they sent a respectful gaze to the Princess of Aslan, who pioneered the Northern banquet which had always been ignored in the lead of trends.

“Phew.”

Beatty let out a sigh of relief as she loosened the strength from her shoulders.

It seemed that she was quite nervous without her knowing it as it was indeed her first time preparing a banquet.

“Let go of me! What kind of person… I am…!”

‘Huh?’

At that moment, the corner of the banquet hall, which was becoming quiet as people gradually left, suddenly became noisy.

Although she couldn’t hear it well because it was far away, at the familiar voice somewhere, Beatty looked around her surroundings.

“Congratulations, Lady.”

At that time, a figure which suddenly got closer blocked her view.

“His Highness Prince Ather?”

“I told you to call me Older Brother Ather.”

Blocking Beatty’s gaze from going to the side of the commotion, Ather smiled as he naturally changed the topic of the conversation.

“Right. Carl asked me to ask the Lady something.”

“Older Brother did?”

Although it was a complete lie, Ather didn’t care.

Since in order to make it work, there were still things left that needed to be looked into.

“Yeah. Shall we move over for a moment?”

***

In a separate room that was prepared for a chat.

For some reason, Beatty tilted her head at Ather’s question which was asking about her life at the Capital.

‘Why is he curious about this kind of thing?’

There was nothing in particular about the days she had.

Although it was strange, she answered him sincerely because it was something that was asked by Older Brother.

Secretly asking around and finished checking whether, by any chance, there was any more unfair treatment that she got besides the things he investigated, Ather secretly smiled at Beatty’s eyes, which were full of questions even while answering.

“Young Miss, I brought tea.”

“Ah. Thank you.”

In the middle, a maid came in bringing refreshments.

Seeing Beatty who was saying thank you while being delighted, Ather opened his mouth to divert Beatty’s attention, who seemed to have begun taking the out-of-the-blue QnA as strange.

“Come to think of it, Lady treats even a maid with respect.”

No matter how it was because she was at a young age, it was a rare thing to be seen among the snobbish nobles.

“I guess they’re people whom you rather cherish?”

It was something he said after recalling that the other day when she was holding against the Viscount because of an employee called Johanna.

It wasn’t rare for noble children who grew up without their parents’ hands to especially give their hearts to close employees like a nanny.

Thinking that Beatty was also a similar case, it was a conversation which he brought out to change the topic lightly.

“A person whom I cherish?”

The expression in which she didn’t understand why such words suddenly came out wasn’t particularly the response that he had in mind.

“Hm? Was it not something like that? Ah, then it’s a habit?”

“A habit?”

(t/n: the word ‘habit’ he used here is more leaning to the negative side. Kinda referring to that her habit of speaking with honorifics to a maid isn’t something good.)

At the gesture of the girl who was tilting her head, the ends of her hair, which was curled roundly like a squirrel’s tail, moved along.

Gently bending his eyes while thinking that even that one move of hers was cute, Ather opened his mouth.

“But it is indeed possible if you’re simply more comfortable with honorifics.”

Since she was still quite young.

She might only be using honorifics because she hears it a lot and wasn’t familiar with informal speech.

“Ah, even so, in places like this time’s banquet, you have to be careful.”

In Ather’s eyes, it was solely cute, but some noble whose personality was twisted might pick a fight.

Of course, if such a bastard comes out, he’ll step on them annoyingly, but wouldn’t it be better to not have an unpleasant experience from the beginning?

“Some kind of bad-personality noble can prattl— um, talk nonsense, saying that you’re using honorifics to the employees or something, you know.”

Quietly. He refined and expressed it with words that were easy for a child to understand, but the black eyes blinked as if she couldn’t understand.

“Uh, however….”

Ather, whose eyes unknowingly were following the pretty color that was fluttering like the night sky, was late to respond to Beatty’s next words.

“If I don’t use honorifics, they’ll get angry, right?”

“…What?”

Feeling a sign of something strange, Ather paused.

“Who dares—”

An icy chill clouded up his voice which was asking back.

Seeing Beatty flinch at the cold atmosphere, he immediately changed to a gentle tone.

“…You said that they’ll get angry, right?”

Ather raked in his patience, pressed down on his anger which was boiling up on the inside, and bent his eyes friendly on purpose though his heart wasn’t at all like the tone in which he asked.

“Can you tell me who told that to the Lady?”

Despite his efforts, not even one of Ather’s gentleness worked.

“By any chance, is the person in this castle?”

While looking at the Prince who was smiling suddenly after shedding a murderous energy one after another, Beatty thought seriously inside.

‘Did I, do something wrong?’

Why did the Prince’s expression which was fine suddenly change? Beatty answered in a careful voice while wondering.

“Uhm, although no one in the Duke’s Castle told me that.”

“Then?”

Since he asked about a known thing that was too obvious, it was rather awkward to explain in words.

“No, I mean, it’s something obvious, no?”

Fumbling, Beatty groped back the memories from long ago and brought up ‘The reason she has to use honorifics’.

“That’s… because if a kid who’s not even a proper noble speaks informally to an adult, it’s upsetting.”

In fact, those were also words that she refined a bit more than the one that she heard in reality.

To be precise….

“How bad would it feel if to hear informal speech from a kid, a nobody?”

‘…They surely said it like that, right.’

To think that she didn’t get a single word wrong and remembered everything.

Thinking that it looked like that time’s memory was imprinted more deeply than she thought, Beatty thought calmly.

That was nothing special, in the ordinary daily life of Beatty’s childhood.

***

A young noble girl who grew up alone in a relative’s house without a guardian.

It was obvious to anyone that there was no one who would protect the child.

If at first it was a mistake, afterward, it was intended disrespect. No matter what kind of ‘mistake’ they did toward this noble child, they wouldn’t be punished.

The employees of the Capital mansion were clever enough to quickly understand that and use it to their advantage.

“My gosh, Young Miss. Do you not know this either?”

“Umm. After all. Since she’s not a proper noble, and also not a real shapeshifter, it can’t be helped….”

The words echoed as if telling her to hear them.

Noticing that Firina didn’t have any goodwill for the girl as her adult relative, the employees purposely did so.

Tuk, tuk.

They threw words at Beatty as if they were throwing stones at an abandoned baby beast and enjoying the reaction.

“It’s not like we caned you. Can words like this count?”

“This much is only on the level of a joke, a joke.”

Especially since if it was not harassment that left traces on her body, nothing would happen if it was just to the extent of being sarcastic and disdaining through words.

Employees who had tasted it moderately like that felt at ease and crossed the line.

The life of an employee who was employed in a noble’s mansion was wearing a uniform and going around in a good mansion. They got envied by other commoners, but actually got treated no different from furniture in front of the nobles they had to bow down their heads to.

The life of nobles that they could never enjoy in their whole life even though they witnessed it right in front of them.

As close as they were to the nobles, their inferiority complex also deepened together with their yearning.

In such a situation, Beatty shone in the employees’ eyes….

“My gosh, Young Miss. Are you really a noble?”

She was an object whom they could easily relieve their piled-up stress on.

Since although her status was high, as the Young Lady of the Duke Family, she had no actual power to punish them.

“I’ve never heard and seen of a noble young lady as shabby as you.”

“If you go out to the street right now, who would recognize you? Whether you’re a noble or a commoner. With that appearance.”

A perfect existence to relieve their inferiority complex about nobles.

Snicker.

The sound of laughter that was filled with such mean pleasure chased behind the small child for a long time.

Like a child who treats toys with pure malice, the employees held and played the fool with Beatty.

“Ha? What did you just say?”

Although she’d thought that the enemy’s words would stab her as if it was natural.

Grroowwl.

Unable to beat the sound that came out of the inside of her stomach, Beatty barely held her hungry stomach.

“I said that the meal didn’t come….”

“You said it didn’t come? You said?”

(t/n: Beatty used the word 안 왔다고 = I said (that the meal) didn’t come, which is informal, usually the way the higher status speaks to the lower status or the older speaks to the younger one. Then the maid repeated 다고 = you said, to emphasize that Beatty said it informally and not formally/using honorifics.)

The maid, who had repeated Beatty’s words temperamentally, snorted as if telling her to look.

“Ha!”

Flinch.

Her shoulders shrank without knowing it herself.

“Did you not even learn that?”

“Learn what?”

“You have to use honorifics.”

Beatty blinked at the unexpected words.

“Aren’t — a maid?”

(t/n: the — is the maid’s name I presume, it’s also like that in the raws, so I’m just following it.)

It wasn’t something that had a particular meaning.

However, inside the knowledge that she had acquired by herself, there were no nobles who used honorifics toward an employee.

“Eek! You Half!”

“Ugh.”

But the maid who got pricked in her sore spot overreacted.

Snatching Beatty’s little wrist, the maid said as the corners of her mouth stuck out and twitched as if she pleased at the sight of a child’s distorted expression in pain.

“Look. Listen to how I say it. Much more, I talked cultivated like this even to Young Miss Half, didn’t I.”

‘It hurts.’

Although Beatty’s eyes were headed to her wrist, which delivered the numb pain, before the maid heard the answer that she wanted, she didn’t have the thought of letting go.

“Then, what should you do? Not the meal ‘didn’t come’, but.”

She persisted in squeezing.

Too much force was applied for the delicate child’s arms to bear.