After a long time, he tilted his head.

'I can't figure out what she drew.'

Judging from the shape of the painting, it was clear that it was painted by a child.

The color scheme is quite plausible as well.

Dalton shook his head as he tried to infer what the painting expressed.

“No, I don't need to judge what Ariel drew.”

Ariel is now a La Carte, so it was wise not to make a judgment on her.

One of the Empire's proverbs is [Don't judge what La Carte does.]

Whatever the way that works, it's written in the sense of trust that whatever the La Carte did always has perfect results.

But thousands of years have pa.s.sed and now its meaning has changed a lot.

[La Carte will not let those who judge him live] or [Don't think about what a La Carte tells you to do, just obey him.]…?

Well, it changed in a slightly overbearing direction.

Anyway, it was foolish of him to give a remark to a La Carte's work.

Dalton neatly wrapped Ariel's painting and sent it as a donation to the upcoming imperial charity banquet.

It is a place where each aristocratic family proudly presents all kinds of rare treasures.

And Ariel's painting was about to make its debut there.

After a month's tour of the mansion with the butler, Allen, Ariel finally got to know the way so that she wouldn't got lost from that house.

'I should visit Dalton today. '

There have been a lot of questions bugging her mind, but she's afraid to ask Susan openly because she might get worried and it was difficult to ask Mathius so he's out of the list as well.

Ariel safely entrusted her hair to Susan's hand, determined to go to Dalton.

'Haam, why do I feel sleepy when someone touches my hair….? '

Susan gently untangled her tangled hair, then she skillfully twisted it on both sides to make half a ponytail.

And finally, she tied it in black silk ribbon with an embroidery in it.

“Oh my, our little lady looks like a lady now!”

Ariel carefully twirled in front of the mirror.

'I've hardly gotten used to these compliments.'

“Then, go and have fun! “

Susan pushed her back gently.

Ariel left the room with a thud. The room where Dalton works was close to Mathius'.

That means, she have to walk for quite a long time to reach it.

It was not even possible to know how long it would take to walk this wide mansion on Ariel's short legs.

It is a moment where teleportation magic is desperately needed.

'But why did Lucian tell me not to use magic?'

'Can't I use magic to got to other people because I'm far away?'

'I…wont use it for anything else anymore anyway.'

Ariel wondered and looked down at her leg.

Her left leg, which was crippled by the hand of the Marquis in the past, feels so distant now.

'It hurt so much just to walk back then….'

Thanks to Lucian's acceptance of her offer, she was able to neither lose her legs nor stay in that house.

'That's why I won't magic unless it was for Lucian.'

Ariel, who made up her mind, stepped forward boldly.

Even if she doesn't use teleportation magic, she has two legs that you can walk well.

“Young Lady?”

“h.e.l.lo, Dalton.”

“What brings you here…… No, come in first.”

Dalton, who couldn't make his master wait outside, quickly brought Ariel inside.

Ariel went inside and sat on the sofa.

*squeak*

“Wow, Dalton, this sofa is so soft!”

The sofa in her room was also soft, but the one in this room was for adults, so there was a lot more cotton in it.

When Ariel looked up at him with twinkling eyes, Dalton instantly thought of a cute baby cat and grabbed his heart.

'Hyuk, she's so cute that my heart hurts….'

He began to rummage through his drawers.

“Wait a minute, I have something to give you…. “

Dalton found a lot of sweets inside his drawer.

And gave it all to Ariel.

“Eat it, Little Lady.”

“A…All of this?”

Even if she tried to eat it as snacks for 3 nights and 4 days, she still wont be able to eat them all.

But the giver seemed very pleased, so Ariel accepted the package of snacks.

Then she nibbled a snack and opened her mouth.

“The reason I'm here today is that I want to ask you something, Dalton.”

Dalton, who was briefly fascinated by Ariel eating snacks like a rabbit, finally came to his senses.

“Yes, ask.”

“Lucian-“

“Hiccup.”

Ariel was about to ask but she was suddenly interrupted by Dalton's hiccup.

His complexion turned pale and I didn't even know where he was sick.

“Dalton? Are you okay?”

“Yes? Oh, yes… I was surprised to hear to suddenly hear that name.”

“You mean Lucian?”

“Hiccup”

When Ariel said the name once more, Dalton hiccupped again.

'Is it really that surprising?'

Ariel mumbled in her head.

'Come to think of it, Susan said last time that Lucian hates being called by his name.'

“Is it because…Luci, I mean the Great Lord, told you not to call him by this name?”

Dalton, who wiped the sweat off his forehead with a handkerchief nodded.

“Yes. No one is allowed to call him by name except you.

Dalton trembled as if he had thought of something he didn't want to think about.

“In the mansion, the Great Lord's last name is like a taboo word.”

He said n.o.body is allowed to call him by name.

However, Ariel received an order directly from Lucian, so that seemed to not apply to her.

Ariel asked the question she originally wanted to ask.

In fact, she was actually most curious about whether there was a vacation in the academy, but she was interested in the academy itself as well.

“Anyway, my husband…can you tell me about the place he went to?”

“You mean the Johannes Academy?'

Dalton organized the information in his mind about Johannes, the largest and the only academy for n.o.bles in the empire.

“Johannes is an academy attended by royalty and aristocratic children aged 14 to 18. It's a very necessary course for aristocrats. His Majesty the Crown Prince is also attending.”

“Um, is there any school for girls?”

“There's been discussion about it for decades, but I don't think there's one yet.'”

Women in the empire were only allowed to engage in social activities.

So instead of going to the academy and being educated, the girls only learned basic things from tutors.

Miller, who became a doctor by studying on her own, was a very special case for a woman.

Dalton explained what is taught at the Academy.

“Johannes teaches a wide range of swordsmans.h.i.+p, social skills, and art. Among them, the Great Lord entered the school for swordsmans.h.i.+p.”

“Swordsmans.h.i.+p?”

“Yes. The Great Lord has already been a Sword Master ever since he was nine. He was the youngest person in the Empire to be one.”

Ariel's mouth opened a little.

The youngest Sword Master.

Ariel had heard of the Sword Masters when she lived with a group of wizards.

Unlike wizards who were born with mana, Sword Masters are said to gather mana in their swords.

“Lucian… is amazing.”

“Yes, the Grand Duke of La Carte has produced Sword Masters from generation to generation, but he was especially fast to be one.”

After that, Dalton explained many things.

Ariel hesitated and finally asked for a direct answer.

“Lucian said he will return only after a year. Does that mean he really won't come until then?”

Dalton made a puzzled look for a moment then he burst into laughter.

“Are you sad that the Great Lord is not here?”

Ariel was puzzled by Dalton's question.

'Ah…. I think that's a given because she's his wife.'

“The only people in this house who wish he were at home would be Sir Allen and the Little Lady.”

'Why? Is Lucian being treated poorly at home?'

“The Great Lord is as much as, no, maybe even more scary to us than the Grand Duke himself.”

“Why?”

“You've seen the extension of the mansion with Sir Allen, haven't you?”

“Yes, I did. “

“The Great Lord is the one who made that extension. He often destroyed the mansion, so he had to rebuild it. His specialty and hobby is destruction.”

'My husband's specialty and hobby is destruction…'

Ariel felt as if she had somehow discovered a huge fact.

“In addition, the men of the La Carte family have a peculiar intimidating aura, so it is difficult for people inferior to them to even face them.”

'Ah, I know that.'

Ariel sensed it before. The overwhelming intimidating aura that she had felt when she met the black-haired man in the past.

She also felt it from Lucian when they went to see her father, the marquis.

“That's why everyone thought they're seeing some kind of illusion when the Great Lord expressed affection for the Young Lady before he left.”

Ariel's face turned red.

It was because she remembered the forehead kiss at that time.

“For a moment, we thought the Great Lord looks like a demon- No, no, they're the same thing already, who turned into an angel. “

'Why is Lucian a demon in Dalton's head.'

Dalton spoke with a little excitement.

“We've never seen such a sight before. Not only is Lucian married, but Lucian also kissed the Little Lady. The Lucian!”

'Dalton, you said Lucian three times already. Is he going to be fine saying his name?'

Ariel didn't know how people would react to Lucian's usual behavior.

Then Dalton asked with great enthusiasm.

“Any more questions?”

“Ah, I have!”

Ariel asked about the noisy n.o.bles and her painting.

“I heard there's a lot of gossip about me. What is it?”

Dalton's expression became serious.

“……Did the Grand Duke told you?”

“Yes.”

When Ariel answered, Dalton became a little relieved.

The girl in front of her certainly looked so young and innocent.

But the fact that his master, the Grand Duke, spoke to this girl about something external…

'Maybe it means that he believes in the Young Lady.'

If the owner judged it that way, Dalton had no disagreement.