Gifts (1)

“My potatoes came too, then. One of the gardeners probably set them aside for me. Alicia, may I use the kitchen?”

“Of course.”

“I’m glad there’s something I can give you too, Alicia. Just a moment. I’ll go boil the potatoes!”

Anne chattered quickly and dashed out of the study.

An hour later,

Alicia, Daisy, Lise, Annie, and Lindsay ate the most delicious steamed potatoes in the world.

The five of them acclaimed Anne as the “Master of Steamed Potatoes.”

Anne Brennel was the “Master of Steamed Potatoes,” the “Master of Grilled Corn,” and a “Master Gardener”.

After coming to House Rain, Anne ate olives, planted the pits, and in a few days coaxed sprouts.

She praised mangos she tasted for the first time, planted the seed, and again brought forth a sprout.

Anne marveled at everything in the marquess’s house, and those watching her marveled at how anything she planted seemed to sprout.

Her innate gift was already astonishing.

Still, the fact that within five days at House Rain she could take dictation for ordinary sentences was nothing short of a miracle.

In a few days, Anne read more than ten books.

She wrote simple letters and learned what a lady should know.

“A Viscountess Brennel will arrive soon, Anne.”

Even so, Anne could not stay at House Rain forever.

The viscountess had sent word that she would not let her eldest child be a burden any longer and would come to fetch her.

“I’ll be fine.”

Anne trusted Alicia completely.

When told she would have to return to House Brennel, she was surprised but not disappointed.

Alicia decided to send Lindsay and Lise with Anne to House Brennel.

Lise knew how to back a lady deftly when social sparring arose, and she never swallowed her words.

Perhaps because Lindsay had been helped by Anne, the two had grown fond.

Judging by how deferential Brennel was to House Rain, Manners likely had already passed down the word to get along with Rain first.

Even so, they could not send Anne back alone.

“We’ll assist by her side with all our hearts.”

“Don’t worry, my lady. Lady Anne is the house’s eldest daughter. Leave the loud talking to me.”

Lindsay and Lise spoke stoutly.

Anne took their hands in turn and thanked them.

“Lady Alicia, Lady Anne. The Viscountess of Brennel has arrived.”

At Daisy’s announcement, Alicia went to the entrance hall to receive her guest.

A middle-aged woman with dusky blond hair, just stepping inside, offered Alicia a bow.

“Lady Alicia. It is an honor to meet you. Thank you for your generosity.”

“Lady Alicia. It is an honor.”

Behind the viscountess stood Cynthia, Julie, and Isabelle.

The three sisters followed their mother in making demure courtesies.

“Welcome, Viscountess Brennel, and you three ladies. I should have invited you first—my letter was late. Was your journey peaceful? Anne is waiting within. Shall we have tea?”

Alicia greeted them with a mild smile.

The viscountess and the three sisters followed the usher into the tea room.

Anne, seated in a single armchair, rose slowly.

Her dark green dress, with a liquid sheen, bared the shoulders boldly and spread wide at the hem.

Along the shoulder line and bodice, gold embroidery had been laid with precision.

The deep green, her skin pale to the point of porcelain, and her red hair made a striking contrast.

A band-style diadem of diamonds around her hair caught the light and flashed.

Small earrings and a simple ring lent a bright accent.

“I apologize for suddenly staying at the marquess’s house, madam viscountess. Cynthia, Julie, Isabelle—have you been well these past few days?”

The viscountess and the three sisters, having received Anne’s greeting, could not respond.

“Thank you for treating me so well, Lady Alicia. I will never forget these last few days. The gifts were so lavish that I still don’t know if I deserve them.”

Beside Anne, five large travel trunks were stacked.

That was only what Lindsay and Lise had packed.

Outside, three carriage-loads of gifts waited.

The mountainous luggage alone overawed the Brennel sisters.

“……Anne?”

The viscountess spoke, dazed.

“Yes, madam viscountess. Ah—just a moment.”

Turning her back to the viscountess who had called her, Anne finished speaking with Alicia.

Leaning in, she whispered so only Alicia could hear.

“I’ll write.”

They had decided to hide that Anne could now read well.

“I’ll be in touch.”

Alicia answered in a lowered voice.

Straightening, Anne waved brightly again and again to Daisy and Annie.

They waved back to see her off.

“I’ll invite you—come visit again, Anne!”

Alicia smiled as she spoke her farewell.

“Anne, there’s something I can do for you from Brennel.”

“Leave it to me.”

The previous night Alicia had sought Anne out with a proposal.

Anne accepted without delay.

“I’ll come again!”

Anne offered a cheerful farewell and left with Lindsay and Lise.

She also remembered to urge the bewildered viscountess and Cynthia’s sisters to get going.

Alicia, worried on one hand, saw her new friend off with a smile toward what was little different from a battlefield.

“To Brennel what belongs to Brennel.”

Quoting a famed orator to herself, she sent her friend toward the fray.

Living with Anne led Alicia to think about friends.

That she and Reichardt now called each other by name.

That she called Anne by name to show closeness.

Calling someone by name did not seem like much, yet it was decidedly different from not doing so.

Growing close to Anne also deepened Alicia’s gratitude to Daisy.

And she pondered how to become friends with Daisy.

“Daisy.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Daisy had a strict temperament.

Duty came first, and she valued rules as if they were gold.

“From today, let’s be friends—so call me by my name.”

If she demanded that, Daisy would never agree.

“I want to be friends with you, Daisy.”

Alicia spread a soft, warm smile.

“My lady, I……”

As expected.

With a straight face, Daisy flusteredly began to explain why she and Alicia could not be friends.

She looked ready to impress upon Alicia, in solemn tones, that Daisy was a maid and Alicia the marquess’s lady.

“Become a baroness today, Daisy.”

Alicia spoke lightly.

Daisy’s face fell into confusion.

“Pardon?”

If Alicia simply said “let’s be friends,” Daisy would refuse.

So Alicia decided to raise Daisy to a station from which she could be her friend.

Leisurely, Alicia drew a gift box from her desk drawer.

Inside lay several sheets of letters patent.

Seeing the “Universal letters patent,” with title and name blanks empty, Daisy blinked in bafflement.

“What… what is that, my lady?”

She wanted to ask, but was too stunned to open her mouth.

“You’ll be a vassal under the Grand Duke of Tessen—no fief, but a title is a title. A viscountess might have to take on duties; let’s make it baroness. What shall the title name be?”

Daisy’s mouth only opened and closed.

Alicia flipped through the blank patents as breezily as if buying notebooks at a bookshop.

“……”

By eye, Daisy counted how many sheets Alicia was riffling.

She gave up after fifteen.

Impudently, she wanted to ask how many there were in all.

She wanted to ask whether the Grand Duke had given Alicia every last one.

From “vassal under the Grand Duke,” it was certain that the one who had handed over those outrageous patents was the Grand Duke of Tessen.

“How about Ronok? Daisy Nel of Ronok. Baroness Ronok, Daisy Nel. Sounds good? Don’t like it?”

Alicia treated the title as if it were candy to hand to a friend.

So flustered and afraid, Daisy hesitated.

“What is His Highness thinking, giving my lady something like that?”

Dizzy, Daisy’s eyes wavered.

“You don’t like it? Not to your taste, Daisy? Then another……”

Cheerfully, Alicia rummaged for a blank patent, asking if viscountess might be better even if it meant some work.

Her hand skimmed through no fewer than twenty sheets.

“F-fine. All right.”

Even being an untitled gentlewoman would make life livable.

Live quietly, and one could avoid grave harassment.

With a title, most nobles did not readily meddle.

Even if one could not wield great power, with enough to live on one could lead a peaceful life.

Daisy’s father, merely a baronet, had raised his children well and now passed a quiet old age in the countryside.

If one could have a baronial title, there were thousands in the empire who would haul wagonloads of gold and silver for it.

That was how tremendous a noble title was.

Even as she wondered what exactly was happening, Daisy—for once—allowed herself to want something.

Frowning as she examined a blank patent, Alicia turned to Daisy with a delighted face.

“Do you like it? I thought ‘Ronok’ sounded nice too. All right—once I write in your name, we’re done. I’ll send a letter to His Highness, and the formal investiture can follow in due course.”

In the blank, Alicia penned “Daisy Nel” with flourish.

In another blank, she wrote the title “Baroness.”

“Is this… a scam? A prank?”

Feeling guilty for the irreverent thought, Daisy nonetheless doubted.

Titles were not things one obtained so easily.

Yet Alicia waved the paper to dry the fresh ink and blew on it—fresh as a breeze.

By statute, a duke could create as many nobles of earl and below as he wished to serve as his vassals.

The Grand Duke of Tessen could likewise bestow any number of titles at count and below.

Because a noble’s power came from land, to maintain close ties even with viscounts and barons, a grand duke usually granted or entrusted part of a domain.

At present, there was no one near Reichardt who needed “just a title.”

He was indifferent to meaningless bestowals, and his people did not care.

As the Emperor’s brother, the Grand Duke of Tessen held countless domains and titles beyond Tessen itself; if he wished to make marquesses and counts, it would be no trouble.

In fact, Reichardt had recently transferred the Viscounty of Gaeller he had received to Alicia.

While staying in Baden, anticipating contingencies, Alicia had asked Reichardt for several “universal letters patent” where one need only fill in the name and title.

To a royal with dozens of titles, it was nothing; to ordinary folk, a noble rank was immense.

At Alicia’s request, Reichardt made no fuss.

Opening a big wooden chest, he spoke offhand.

“How many do you need?”

“As many as you can spare—plenty.”

At that, Reichardt handed over a sheaf—however many his hand grasped.

“I’ll put them to good use.”

“After you confer them, just tell me who received what.”

At the time, Alicia had the same thought:

Could one really become a titled noble this easily?

She had not sold the patents to the Baron Appel family, who wanted a title, because the documents had their limits.

But for making friends, they were quite useful.

“Baroness Ronok—congratulations on your ennoblement. From now on, call me by name, Daisy.”

Smiling, Alicia congratulated Daisy on her barony.

“……Thank you, Lady Alicia. Th-thank you. ……Alicia….”

Still dazed, Daisy answered.

She was not entirely sure she truly now held a baronial title.

“Excellent. As Baroness Ronok’s enterprise—how about carriages? I’ve had a few ideas.”