Unlike the boy, who was soiled here and there after playing hide-and-seek, the girl was clean. Her light pink dress with lace was not crumpled and dirty at all.

The boy lost the words to say at his sister's reb.u.t.tal, stamped his foot, and ran away. "I'm going to go get my older brother and Rita. Let's divide into two teams and do it again."

"Do you think fifteen-year-old Adrian wants to play hide-and-seek with us? And let Rita rest! Do you think it's fun for a maid to play with the kids in the master's house? It's a sort of thing to wait on!"

The girl even clicked her tongue at her older brother as he ran away without looking back. "He doesn't even pretend to listen. When he does what he wants to do, he will be satisfied."

When the girl was alone, she raised her skirt, threw off her shoes, and grumbled, "I have to wear boots in early summer. Just so they can't see my ankles, I have to wrap them up like this."

The girl wriggled her little toes and enjoyed the coolness, and she was so cute that Julietta approached to greet her. "Hi, I'm Julietta. I came from the mansion over there."

The girl didn't know someone was with her, and jumped up and covered her bare feet. The child looked blankly at Julietta who was wearing a sunshade and smiling, and quickly greeted her. "h.e.l.lo, I'm Adelaide. By the way, you're so pretty. Is that blonde real? It's not a wig?"

Julietta burst into laughter when asked, her eyes glistening bluer than the sea. "Yes. It's not a wig, but my real hair."

"How long are you staying? Lady Lotus went to Austern to go shopping, and I really want to introduce her to you as soon as she gets here. Oh, Lady Lotus is the daughter of the family of Count Lotus over there. She's very proud of her blonde hair. But it's just a straw color to me. It's a perfect color to make straw hats, but she can't face reality. I want to show Lady Lotus, 'This is what real blondes are like.' Of course, the people I've seen before..."

Adelaide was starting to talk about the blondes she had known in the 1960s, but she thought that Julietta wouldn't know about her previous life. "Oh, you wouldn't know if I told you. There are a few actresses who are famous for their blond hair. It's a little different from that blonde. I've never seen such a pinkish blonde before."

Adelaide who was constantly complaining about Lady Lotus with a pout, so Julietta asked, "You must be a close friend."

The chatter that seemed never to be quiet stopped. Adelaide frowned for a moment as if she were displeased, and replied, "She is not a friend, but I'll say she is close to me right now. I can say so. It's so rural that everyone looks the same, though. But I don't want to call her a friend because I don't know when or how our relations.h.i.+p will change."

"I made a mistake. But I don't think I'll stay until your close acquaintance returns if you don't know what's going to happen later. I'm leaving tomorrow. But you said you didn't like the shoes covering your ankles?"

It was part of Julietta's long thought. She was planning to sell shoes at Chartreu, and was attracted to what the little girl had said.

"Yes, I think it's too ignorant to wear these shoes in this heat."

"Yes, I see. I need to design a new pair of shoes."

Julietta thought about modern-day shoes. The ankle-covering shoes were natural for her, so even though she thought they were tacky, she didn't feel uncomfortable. Come to think of it, there would be quite a few such items. Like underwear…

Adelaide put the brakes on Julietta, who had been thinking for a while. "So far. This is an idea I've been thinking about before. I don't want you to steal my business with my idea, because I may set up a shoe store later."

Julietta confronted Adelaide's strong reb.u.t.tal. "I've been thinking about this before, too."

"You just thought about it, but you didn't think about putting it into action until you met me. So, I have a priority. I'm saving my money hard, but if I can't save my seed money, I'll hand my rights over to you."

Adelaide was so cute that Julietta laughed out loud. When she saw the cute girl in front of her, she wanted to have a daughter like this, just as Killian wished.

Adelaide looked at her as she smiled affectionately, even at her own rude remarks. She thought that there would never be such a beautiful person in the world.

"But what's your job? Are you an actress?"

Julietta smiled sweetly at Adelaide's question. "No, I'm running a small clothing store. I was thinking about selling shoes together, but you're right, so I'll give up. Let me know if you ever give up your plan later. I'll buy your idea."

At Julietta's words, Adelaide nodded haughtily. "Yes, I'll contact you at Tessa mansion."

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