Mayana had placed the mashed potatoes and the vegetables she had stuffed underneath into the toast and sprinkled the sauce, before Ariante could even answer. As she wrapped the bottom of the toast with a soft napkin, Ariante unknowingly protruded her lower lip as she took it.

“Eating like this is something commoners do.”

“Nobles eat sandwiches, too, don’t they?”

“That’s not what I mean….”

Ariante’s words were cut off abruptly as she was about to nag more. She still lacked the vocabulary to explain the difference between the elegant sandwiches nobles made to eat in one bite when they went on picnics and this ‘Mayanastyle’ sandwich.

“How is it, Princess? It’s easy to eat, and it tastes good too, doesn’t it?”

Ariante glanced at Mayana with her cheeks puffed out. In the end, until she ate the whole sandwich, Ariante didn’t know exactly what she had eaten.

Mayana clenched her fist under the table to express a sense of victory.

‘I’ll have to grind everything and feed it from now on.’

Mayana thought.

(This is a time divider.)

At the moment when Mayana was immersed in joy, watching Ariante eat the sandwich, Jocelyn, the head butler of the Valterminster Duke’s house, stood in front of Sedilloy with an even more strict and serious expression than usual.

One was a master, and the other was just an employee, but occasionally, there was a light of reproach and blame in Jocelyn’s eyes that seemed to go beyond that relationship as she looked down at Sedilloy, leaning back in his chair, drinking tea.

Just now, Sedilloy had conveyed what he had been asked by Mayana to Jocelyn.

It was a calm attitude without exaggeration or fuss, but Jocelyn’s face turned pale as if Sedilloy had burst into tears, and she couldn’t speak for a while.

“Your Grace, your words are incoherent.”

She said, seemingly trying to calm herself, pressing the countless small buttons on her front chest with her palm. Sedilloy took another sip of tea without turning his eyes, resting his hand with a knuckle on his knee.

“I knew you’d react like that, but I have no objection to giving Ariante some time to play freely.”

“Princess is still far, far from having the dignity that befits the reputation of the Valterminster Duke’s house. Even if every single thing, from manners to posture, actions, and speech, is perfect, it’s still lacking. I don’t understand how you can give her more freedom when she has no interest in these aspects, Your Grace.”

“She’s seven, Jocelyn. She’s still an age that doesn’t know what the family’s reputation is, what honor is.”

“No, Your Grace. Children born into peasant families look after calves and follow their parents to plow and sow seeds at the age of seven. They naturally accept and learn it even if they don’t understand the logic of the seasons. The same goes for noble children. It is natural to take pride in the family to which they belong and act without tarnishing that honor while dedicating themselves nobly. But the Princess….”

Sedilloy glanced at Jocelyn. A faint smile lingered at the corner of his mouth. It seemed both contemptuous and, on the other hand, pitiful.

“Jocelyn, sometimes I think you’re the one who cares most about the Valterminster Duke’s house, not me.”

Jocelyn’s face turned pale in an instant. However, she did not readily reveal her flustered appearance, but slightly bowed her head with a very polite attitude.

“Your Grace, I am not trying to challenge your authority. I am not so foolish as to grow old enough to do something so shameful. But I believe you will understand. I treasure this family more than my own life.”

“Of course, I know.”

Sedilloy answered briefly. Jocelyn bit her thin, sternlooking lips slightly, appearing even more uncomfortable.
For a moment, Sedilroy looked down at the empty teacup with a distant gaze. It was a teacup that the ancestral Valterminster Duke had cherished greatly, and it was one of the heritages passed down to him, the eldest son.

From the base to the rim, a beautiful pattern was etched on the teacup, with long branches stretching out and white magnolia flowers hanging from them.

Compared to the delicate clusters of flowers, the branches were so thin and fragile that if the tea inside swayed, it could give the illusion that the branches were about to break.

The ancestral Duke held this teacup in high regard, to the point that he would not let anyone else touch it, except for Jocelyn.

“You became the head servant two years after my father became Valterminster Duke, didn’t you?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“I’m not unaware of your loyalty, dedicated solely to the Valterminster family over these many years, Jocelyn. You’ve gained complete trust from my father through that dedication.”

For a moment, all the blood drained from Jocelyn’s face. Though the words sounded like praise, she momentarily scrunched up her face as if she had been slighted.

Sedilroy watched her eyes waver and her expression change intently but made no comment.

He resumed speaking.