The banquet was more crowded than ever.

Even the weak ladies decided to attend under the aid of their maids.

Over time, everyone's interest in Ariel grew and was at its peak.

Count Caterbell, who was in charge of the donation for the banquet, picked up an envelope bearing the La Carte's crest.

“This is an item presented by the Grand Duke of La Carte. First, a painting with the handwritten signature of the Grand d.u.c.h.ess*. Next…”

(t/n: it is stated before that since the position of the Grand d.u.c.h.ess is vacant, Ariel, being the only lady of the house automatically became the new one?)

The Count choked up as he tried to read the letters.

“H-he put out a blue diamond necklace called the Siren's tear…..! “

“Gasp!”

The inside of the hall became quiet in an instant.

Everyone stopped after making a choking sound.

The siren's tear…

The blue diamond, the rarest kind of diamond, is a huge thing!

The Siren's tear is a necklace that was so expensive that it couldn't be bought even if they add all the prices of the items presented by the n.o.bles in the banquet.

There were also n.o.bles who wanted to try it even once in their lifetime.

People were surprised by the Grand Duke's wealth of throwing these precious things casually at the charity banquet, but they should be shocked at something else.

'Wait a minute. The…order?'

When presenting such items, it was a principle to state the more precious one first and the less valuable one following it.

But there was something else in the order before the Siren's tear. It's a painting of the Grand d.u.c.h.ess.

'Does this mean that the p-painting is worth more than the blue diamond?!'

The n.o.bles all gazed in astonishment at the painting in cloth.

Count Caterbell lowered the cloth with trembling hands.

Those who gathered in the hall greeted the painting with their eyes squinted with light.

“Ooh….!! “

It was the biggest exchange of charity money in the history of the Empire.

The aristocrats started bidding and raising its price as if they were hypnotized by it.

“10 million denals!”

“15 million denals!”

“I can't lose. 15.5 million denals!”

It was just a common [Figure 1] for Ariel, but now the curiosity about her has reached its highest level.

Moreover, it looked completely different from those who believed the painting was worth more than a blue diamond.

Whatever the painting was, the value of the painting was more than diamond, as long as the Grand Duke declared it more valuable than a blue diamond.

The n.o.bles set aside the blue diamond necklace and began to heat up Ariel's painting.

“I'll buy that.”

“My Count will double it.”

“No, I will!”

The emperor, who was present, laughed at the amusing reaction of the people on the Grand Duke.

“The one who has paid the most for charity will take it.”

On that day, the one who won the bid paid exactly 50 million denals and took the painting.

Even after the painting disappeared from view, the people did not stop talking about it.

“Ah, the painting seemed to want peace in the world.”

“Oh, my. I felt the same way.”

“Then the theme of that painting must be world peace!”

Ariel would have been very surprised if she heard this series of thoughts.

Because her intentions were not as profound.

Later, the painting became worth 70 million denals after going through the hands of two n.o.ble families.

Then a month later, when Mathius bought the painting again and returned it to Ariel, it was with a certificate of 80 million denals.

The intention of the painting was simple.

This was the name given by the original author, Ariel, to the painting, which was praised for resembling world peace.

Susan's sweetness.

On top of the white lace table mats, a dazzling porcelain tray was laid gently.

The tray had freshly baked pancakes and syrup pots, dishes topped with small pieces of b.u.t.ter, neatly arranged plates.

 'Yum.'

Ariel quickly put the pancake with golden syrup in her small mouth so that it wouldn't drip.

'Ah, it's soft.'

She feels stuffed after waking up in the morning and eating a lot of pancakes with sweet maple syrup and b.u.t.ter.

“I'm going to meet Allen.”

Ariel loved spending time with the old butler Allen.

It was pleasant to walk slowly with Allen, who always has a little bit of free time in the late morning.

No one knew as much about this house and the people here more than Allen.

Ariel was learning the things she needed to know about the La Carte family one step at a time.

“Allen. When did the La Carte family get founded?”

“Yes, about that, milady.”

A somewhat proud expression always blooms on Allen's face whenever she asks such a question.

So Ariel thought he was a little cute even though he was an old grandfather.

“The La Carte family has existed even before the establishment of this empire. It has a long history. Only direct descendants of the family can know when it originated, so I don't know in detail.”

'That means, it's that long….!?'

“How did they manage to keep their family's blood alive even when it's so old?”

“What everyone needs doesn't disappear. The La Cartes have traditionally held onto their position as the empire's guardians.”

'Guardians?'

When Ariel asked with her eyes, Allen continued his explanation.

“The north occupies a large part of the entire territory of the empire, but it is not green enough for people to live.”

There was a huge mountain range in the north of the empire.

The vast land in the north that followed this mountain range belonged to the La Carte family for a long time.

And in the ancient forests and rugged rocky mountains forming the northern mountains, the beast appeared frequently

This was the reason why people could not easily access the mountain range even though there were many valuable mines.

“The La Carte family defended the empire from the beast by owning this barren land, which allowed the empire to build a mine and revived it with the minerals that came out of it and made it to the present day.”

'Uwaa, what a completely meritorious family.'

Ariel pondered and asked again.

“Then can the royal family leave the guardian's position to another family? The higher the name of La Carte, the more troubled the royal family will be, right?”

Allen's eyes widened a little.

'I can't believe such a young girl can think of such a thing…'

“You're so clever,”

Then he continued politely.

“But there is no one who can subst.i.tute for the La Carte. If you leave your northern enemy to another family, they'll all be wiped out.”

“Then…. “

“Yes. The men who carry the blood of La Carte are stronger than normal. One person does 1,000 or 10,000 per day. Even when defeating the monsters, only the Blue Lion Knights are taken.”

From the perspective of the emperor, La Carte was an objectionable ent.i.ty, but without a guardian, he had no choice but to admit that his country's existence itself was in danger.

The present emperor also chose to keep the La Carte under the imperial family, recognizing his contribution.

“La Carte is a pro-Emperor and maintains neutrality. He was awarded the honor of the Grand Duke in exchange for maintaining neutrality without threatening the Imperial Family.”

The Grand Duke's family was the only aristocrat to have family autonomy. The Grand Duke is like a king of a small country because it is equivalent to the kingdoms that belong to the Empire.

“What kind of family autonomy is it?”

“The right to keep family secrets, and the right to keep the imperial family from interfering in their own family affairs.”

Ariel was in awe.

She knew in the past that the La Carte family was great, but it was even more amazing to know it properly.

The presence of the Grand Duke in the Empire was greater than I imagined.

“Hey, Allen.”

“Yes, Milady.”

“What's the secret of the family?”

When Ariel asked, Allen's face suddenly hardened.

Ariel quickly added a word.

“I'm sorry, it was a difficult question.”

She is currently a member of the Grand Duke's family right now but she's also in a position to divorce Lucian and leave this place once she becomes an adult.

So it was presumptuous to ask for a secret that even the imperial family couldn't dig out.

'I didn't want to embarra.s.s Mathius or Lucian after learning the secret.'

Ariel spoke clearly and calmly.

“It's better if you don't tell me, Allen. I'm going to get going. Thank you again today.”

“……Yes. Take a look and go back. Milady.”

Ariel, who said goodbye with Allen, returned to her room.

She wasn't very curious about the secrets of the La Carte family.

Ariel herself has a big secret of coming back from the future.

It would be strange if there were no secrets from such an old family.

And La Carte was a family notorious for madness.

If that's what's revealed, what's hidden will surely be worst.

There are a ton of things to be hidden from the time of the ancestors.

“Haaaaam…”

'I'm sleepy after walking too much.'

Ariel fell flat on her nap bed and leaned her head in a fluffy, round pink cus.h.i.+on.

The little girl quickly sank into the dreamland.

It's been two months since Ariel entered the mansion.

And something she was worried about had happened.

Ariel sighed slightly.

With a small sigh, Ariel's red hair fluttered like a ribbon.

'I'm lost.'

Today, she was on the way back from the balcony at the end of the East Building that she went with Allen.

At the end of the building, there was a room where the former imperial princess stayed as a guest, and there was a marble birdbath on the balcony connected to the room.

When Ariel, who is not familiar with luxury goods, asks about the concave and elegant stonework with water, Allen politely explained it.

“The princess who stayed here liked the birds, so there is a birdbath where she can feed the birds or play with the water while they drink water.”

'Wow. Will we be able to see birds bathing water here in the spring?'

Ariel blushed with antic.i.p.ation.

Then she dipped my finger in the water and quickly pulled it out because it was cold.

An innocent smile filled her cheeks.

The old butler Allen saw the appearance and felt an emotion poked in his heart.

He was working hard to crack down on the frivolous words and actions of the other servants in the mansion who said that he was cute when he's with the lady…

Really, the young lady was so lovely. It's as if they turned a sweet colored ruby into a human.

It was the first time he was loyal to anyone other than his masters, Mathius and Lucian.

On her way back from looking around the princess' room, which is preserved in its original form.

Ariel decided to go back alone in consideration of the busy Allen.

“The East Wing has been renovated after a long time, so I'll take you there, madam.”

“No. I almost memorized my way now. I want to practice by myself.”

Ariel, who had gone on her way alone, could not return to her room in the South Hall and was circling around a strange place.