CH 5.02

Chapter 5: Are people born a tsundere?

Part 2

“If I have an ugly face, shouldn’t I study harder and dress better?”

“Isn’t that obvious? That way, you’ll look less ugly.”

“Well… I just think the young master looks cute…”

At her words, Michael shook his shoulders and shouted.

“I’m talking about you, not me!”

“I’m fine.”

That was her intention, so why does it matter?

Knock knock.

Just then, Vincent came in pushing a trolley. On the trolley were chilled honey tea, teapots, teacups, and peach and strawberry tarts.

“It’s not the season of peaches yet, right?”

Lila asked, and Michael responded with a cheerful look.

“That’s for another family. We, the Montefeltras, have our own cellar, one that is kept at a temperature maintained by the magic stones.”

Lila’s eyes widened at this new information, and when she looked at Vincent, he spoke.

“I will take you there tomorrow.”

“You’re really marrying my uncle?”

Lila, who had been looking at Vincent, turned her head toward Michael, surprised at his question as she thought he wasn’t interested.

“Yes, I am.”

“I thought they said ugly people shouldn’t marry ugly people…”

He was clutching his fork tightly and muttering to himself. Lila turned to Vincent.

“You may leave now.”

“Yes, Duchess.”

Clack.

Hearing the door close, Lila turned to Michael.

“Who said ugly people can’t marry?”

Michael’s shoulders slumped as if he realized she was upset, and he lowered his head deeper.

The sight made Lila’s heart sink. So she spoke in a softer voice.

“I’m not saying anything against you, young master, I’m just wondering who told you such a falsehood.”

Michael lifted his head slightly and asked.

“Are you saying that it’s wrong?”

“Yes, it’s wrong.”

“Why?”

Lila lifted her teacup and took a sip. Michael picked up the honey tea in front of him and took a sip.

“First of all, the Duke is not ugly. I think he looks very handsome.”

“That’s because you only saw your face.”

“…No, how high are my eyes*?”

*eyes are high – used to refer to someone who possesses standards that border on unreasonable

“I’m sure you only see your face every day, so how can your eyes be high? They’re high.”

“My eyes are higher because I only see my face!”

Lila exclaimed, remembering her bare, undisguised face, and then covered her mouth with her hand in a self-conscious surprise.

Luckily, Michael thought she was being ridiculous and stuck out his lips as he cut into his peach tart with his fork.

“My mom said my dad’s ugly and my uncle’s ugly, and my mom says I’m ugly because I look too much like them, even though I’m not.”

Feeling thirsty, Lila lifted her teacup and set it down harshly, a look of disbelief on her face.

“What?”

“I’m going to marry a girl prettier than my mom, so my kids won’t be ugly.”

Lila blinked rapidly as she watched Michael eat the tart hungrily.

She was at a loss for words.

To her, neither Lucas nor Michael was ugly. Instead, she liked their looks, they were good-looking, not ugly.

Although it was not the standard of beauty that this world wanted, people would see Lucas and Michael differently if they removed their freckles.

‘No, aren’t mothers the ones who say all their children are beautiful?’

I couldn’t understand Michael’s real mother, who had gone to her lover after her husband died and abandoned her son to the duchy.

‘I feel so out of place every time I see something like this. Even though I’ve lived here for ten years, it’s still so different from the modern world.’

Lila, with her arms crossed and deep in thought, looked at Michael, who had just finished his strawberry tart.

“Are you hungry, you ate that fast.”

Her words made Michael visibly flustered.

“No, I didn’t get to eat lunch…”

“Why didn’t you eat lunch?”

After rolling his eyes at not being able to answer her question right away, Michael snapped.

“While I was reading, I didn’t realize how much time had passed!”

“Well, if you missed it, you’ll have to eat later, and if you snack like this, you might not be as tall when you grow up.”

Lila said, pulling out a handkerchief. She wiped the tart crumbs from the corner of Michael’s mouth.

“Young master, would you like some of mine? Oh, no. We’re supposed to be eating dinner in a little while…”

Lila asked, gently smoothing down his slightly disheveled chocolate-colored curly hair.

Michael looked up at her with his small mouth open. Her freckled face, like his own, was ugly, but her softly curved lips were beautiful.

But Michael slapped Lila’s hand away.

“Anyway, I’m against it!”

“Yes?”

Lila’s eyes narrowed as she glared at the sulky kid who threw up his hands again.

“I’m against you marrying my uncle! You’ll never marry my uncle! I’ll stop it!”

With that, he stomped out of the room. Left alone in the parlor at dusk, Lila could only sit there with a bewildered look on her face.

“Don’t worry. Your uncle doesn’t seem to have any ideas either.”

Lila muttered in a low voice and picked up her plate and fork for dessert.

She cut the plump peach and crispy pastry together and popped it into her mouth.

“Mmm!”

The rich peach flavor and sweetness washed over her.

“This tastes like real fruit.”

She hadn’t asked for dessert because she was used to not having them in the barony, but she knew she had to ask for it next time. She sliced off a big piece and popped it into her mouth, when the door suddenly flew open.

BANG!

Lila, who had just gulped down the entire tart in surprise, was caught off guard.

She gulped down her tea with a hand to her chest and heard the sound of tongue clicking next to her.

She turned her head, wondering what it was, and saw a woman who appeared to be a maid standing there, staring up at her.

They were like the young ladies at a banquet.

“With a body like that, can something like that fit in your mouth?”

These were words she could have easily heard at a banquet.

Lila quietly set her plate down. She wiped the corner of her mouth with her handkerchief and looked at the maid.

“What the hell is the matter with you staring at me instead of going out?”

Lila narrowed her eyes at the maid, who stood in the doorway, grumbling loudly.

Flinching at her expression, the maid jerked her head and said.

“This is the young master’s private drawing room. It is not a place for a mere baroness to come and go as she pleases.”

Speaking as if she were lecturing, the maid pulled the trolley she had brought with her and stood in front of the table.

She placed Lila’s teacup and saucer on the trolley without asking permission.

Lila had never been treated like this before, and it was refreshing. At the barony, she was often avoided or shunned, but not in this way.

Especially for food.

She’d never been treated to fancy desserts, but she’d never played with or withheld from what she ate. That’s what it was at the barony.

As she had realized the other day, being a ducal servant was like dealing with a socialite.

Of course, in a ducal household, the maids and servants, as well as the butler and head chef, are not commoners.

They would be the children of nobles, and it would be common for them to be nobles themselves.

Is that why?

It was interesting that none of the maids had been graceful behind her back, they were secretly cursing her, and now arguing with her like a bunch of ladies-in-waiting.

Lila considered.

With the contract already signed and her safety assured, was there any need for the bossy behavior she’d shown at the barony?

Yes, there is.

Especially now.

What if it was Jin Yura at this point? Of course, none of her staff would have the balls to be so bossy.

As she pondered this for a moment, the maid who had loaded all of Michael’s plates onto the trolley muttered softly.

“You’re in trouble. The mistress said no dessert.”

Lila blinked hard at the maid’s words.

“How in the world are you supposed to give the young master dessert when you’re a person who couldn’t even take care of herself.”

The maid, still talking to herself as if Lila wasn’t there, pushed the trolley and started to leave. Lila jumped to her feet and quickly grabbed the maid’s wrist.

“Repeat what you just said.”

“What! Let go of me, are you crazy?”

Lila asked again as the handmaiden struggled to shake it off, flailing her arms as if she were a germ.

“What did you just say, what do you mean!”

“The mistress has specifically told me not to give him dessert! How dare you break the rules!”

“Rules?”

“Yes! If you’re ugly, you should at least be in good shape, so that you can get married later!”

“What the hell are you talking about…”

Lila didn’t know if it was the maid who was crazy or herself.

Why did Michael have to be told he’s an ugly child, and why was he already scoring points with her by talking about arranged marriages?

“Let go of me! Let go! Will you be responsible if I get dirty?”

The maid cursed and slipped from her grasp, but Lila didn’t flinch.

‘I’ve been a staff member for several years, but that didn’t make me angry much.’

But when it comes to Michael, it’s a different story.

“It’s annoying, really. You’re a baroness, and you have the audacity to grab my hand. If it was a banquet, you wouldn’t even speak to me.”

The bewildered maid glanced around the parlor, her expression unchanged as she spoke in escalating tones. Then she suddenly threw her head up and screamed.

“Kyaaaaaaaaaah!”

The scream was so loud that the parlor thumped, and someone came running.

“What’s going on, Chelsea!”