< —="" damian="" —=""> (12)

TN: Ｏ(≧▽≦)Ｏ Enjoy~

He'd ultimately asked Damian to follow him but quite frankly, he had no idea what he to do with the child.

Roughly looking over the boy, he could say the boy had grown up well but properly examining the child felt awkward.

"Do you read a lot of books?"

"Yes, I like it so I read a lot."

Hugo took Damian to his study. Before this, she'd been the only one allowed access to his study.

As soon as Damian entered the study, his eyes widened, his mouth fell open and his head swiftly turned left and right.

The huge library in his academy had a lot of books but it wasn't stylish. Owned by an individual, the magnificent scale and superb atmosphere lit up a soft light in the eyes of the fascinated boy.

"Is that place part of the study too?"

Damian asked, looking at the firmly closed door at the right of the study.

Hugo's eyes sank. The place where he was able to enter after succession. The place where only the head of the Taran Family could enter. It was a secret room that contained all the truths about the Taran family.

"Don't concern yourself with that one. It's full of garbage."

Hugo had no plans of pa.s.sing down that room to Damian. He would burn and erase all traces of it sometime before Damian takes over as the master of Taran.

This was what he'd made up his mind to do for a long time. The secrets of Taran would end with him alone.

"You can look around as you please. If you want to read a book, you can come in and read at any time."

"Yes! Thank you."

The boy had been jittery for a while because he wanted to look around so as soon as permission was given, he quickly bolted away and began to look all over the place.

There was warmth in Hugo's eyes as he watched the boy frantically move from place to place, scouring the study.

Sometime later, Hugo left the study, leaving the boy alone as the boy had taken out a book from the shelves and was completely engrossed in reading.

When he was about to enter his office, the name 'Lucia' once again crossed his mind. He knit his brows and stood holding the door handle. After a while, he went inside.

***

From morning, there was a line of carriages heading towards Roam to attend the garden party hosted by the d.u.c.h.ess.

Because the d.u.c.h.ess always held small tea parties and never a ball, this garden party reached many generations.

The age group were diverse, ranging from elderly women to unmarried girls, the attendees were also diverse, composed of well-known people in the northern high society, those who were not well-known, families of va.s.sals and those who were not families of va.s.sals.

Everyone invited today had at least been invited once to one of the d.u.c.h.ess' previous tea parties.

The tea parties of the d.u.c.h.ess were not repet.i.tive exchanges with a small group of people but were distinctively broad meetings with various groups of people.

The evaluation of the d.u.c.h.ess in the high society varied from person to person.

Those who dreamt of a grand and luxurious ball expressed their regrets while influential figures in the established high society favored the non-aggressive manner of the d.u.c.h.ess.

"Thank you for the invitation."

"Welcome. I'm glad you could come."

Lucia welcomed the ladies as they arrived one at a time, greeting them with a light embrace.

It was hectic constantly meeting the eyes of people and smiling at them as they entered but once there was a little gap, she called for her maid.

"Damian is running late. Go check if he's still far away and report to me."

"Yes, Milady."

There were dozens of round tables arranged in the extensive s.p.a.ce of the garden. They were covered with white lace tablecloths and each table was decorated with a vase.

There were no designated seats, allowing people to sit freely. The attendees understood this and they made groups of twos and threes, taking up tables one at a time.

In the blink of an eyes, the garden was filled with the talk and laughter of women. It was a really good weather to schedule an outside program.

The sunlight was moderate and there was next to no wind. Even though they had already entered the cold season, it was quite cozy today.

The elevated atmosphere filled the face of the ladies with laughter.

"Lady Milton. Welcome, come on in."

"Thank you for the invitation, the weather is very good today and I know the party will be lovely."

After confirming that Kate came alone, Lucia expressed her regret.

"Madam Mich.e.l.le did not come with you."

"Yes, she wanted to come but her health isn't very good these days."

Countess Corzan was weakening in energy day by day due to old age and as Countess Corzan was like a teacher to her, Lucia's heart felt uncomfortable.

"I have to go see her sometime."

"Great-aunt will be very pleased if you do."

A maid quickly went up to Lucia and informed her.

"Young Master is waiting in the first floor hall."

Kate looked on worriedly as Lucia asked to be excused and went inside. She knew ahead of time about Lucia's plan to introduce Damian at the garden party.

Kate had cautiously expressed her concerns but Lucia's thoughts on it were firm and she couldn't change her mind.

'I don't know if this will turn out okay.'

The problem of illegitimate children gaining peerage was more determined by the att.i.tude of women than the att.i.tude of men. No one wanted to be in a situation where an outsider comes in out of the blue, kicks away their good fortune and overtakes the child of the legal wife.

'Lucia was born a princess and then became a d.u.c.h.ess. She doesn't seem to know of the n.o.ble wives' mentality to an abnormal degree. Although, rather than not knowing their mentality, should I say she's detached from their desires?'

Kate had interacted with a wide range of people. If they were of like-mind, they didn't discriminate between people, regardless of their status.

So, naturally there was a lot to compare between how a person with a high status and a person with a low status differ in basic att.i.tude.

The typical daughters that were born n.o.ble ladies, had never experienced a rough day, married that way, lived as n.o.ble ladies, and had a very narrow view.

It wasn't that they had malice but from the outset they didn't know anything else. They were arrogant, fussy, immensely prideful and selfish. Apart from a difference in degree, they were pretty much the same way.

It wasn't like Lucia did not know the attributes of such ladies. Sometimes during conversation, she was surprisingly sharp. However, understanding with one's head differed from accepting it with one's heart. To Kate, Lucia was intriguing.

It was her first time seeing someone like Lucia in such a position. Lucia wouldn't reveal herself of her own accord nor would she stand on top of anyone. She wasn't pretending to be humble, it was her nature.

There were no pretenses, no fabrications, even when saying something, she took the recipient of her words into consideration. So, Kate felt most comfortable when she was around her.

Kate's expression grew dark when she saw an elderly n.o.ble woman with her head stiffly raised high amongst the cl.u.s.ter of guests.

The Countess of Wales was a well-known figure in the northern high society. Even though her (Kate's) great aunt was respected by a lot of people, her great aunt's actual influence was not that significant.

This was because her great aunt did not like this woman. The Countess of Wales and her great aunt were extreme polar opposites on everything. In fact, the relations.h.i.+p between the two was not good at all.

The Wales family was considered one of the most prestigious and wealthy families in the North. The Countess of Wales wielded her influence to her heart's content and enjoyed people flocking towards her.

'Great-aunt said her activities have come to a lull and these days, she flaps her wings around more.'

As the Countess of Wales did not enjoy horse riding, she was never found in the horse-riding field. However, according to the rumors spreading around, when she heard that Lucia had brought Damian to the horse-riding field and introduce him to people, she'd remarked,

[She's young. She should have someone close to her, giving her wise advice.]

'I hope she doesn't stir up pointless drama today but…'

Kate knew inwardly just how smart and firm the seemingly docile Lucia was. Hence, although she was worried, she wasn't anxious.

Translator's Corner:

*If you aren't reading on rubymaybetranslations, then the translations are stolen~