Chapter 146
* * *
There was deep confidence in her voice that she would never lose her affection for lody.
“So lody, never think such thoughts again, understand?”
Despite her tender words, Mrs. Higgins wore a stern expression.
lody, who had been watching her intently, slowly nodded her head.
Only then did Mrs. Higgins finally smile and gently stroke lody’s hair.
“You troubleso little lamb.”
Feeling the depth of affection in her tone, lody imdiately embraced Mrs. Higgins tightly once more. She patted the child burrowing into her on the back soothingly.
“But…I was still in the wrong.”
“Oh?”
“I must have caused you a lot of worry?”
“…Well, I did know you were safe at least.”
“Huh?!”
lody looked up at her mother with wide eyes after that statent.
“The Duke’s people always quietly follow the young master, after all.”
“Ah.”
So there had been escorts discreetly accompanying them, relaying information back.
Of course, that did not diminish Mrs. Higgins’ concerns in the slightest.
“It’s alright if you’ve reflected on it. When a child gets into too much mischief, I can’t even muster the energy to scold them properly. This is precisely that situation. Tsk.”
As she clicked her tongue and turned her head away, a knock ca from outside accompanied by a maid’s tentative voice.
“Um, ma’am?”
Mrs. Higgins briskly walked over and flung the door open wide. The maid who had co was from the kitchen, appearing utterly terrified.
It seed this particular maid was deathly afraid of Mrs. Higgins.
“What is it?”
Despite the poor maid trembling like a newborn fawn, Mrs. Higgins brusquely demanded her business first.
This caused the maid’s already pale complexion to turn even whiter.
“The…pota…”
“What was that?”
“The head chef wanted to ask…how you would like the potatoes you peeled prepared, ma’am. Of course, he said to follow your wishes! For now, they’ve just been salted…”
“Salted?! Good heavens, this is madness!”
With that outburst, Mrs. Higgins flung the door open wider and started rushing towards the kitchen.
Left alone by the doorway, the maid watched her retreating back with a crestfallen expression, likely worried she had made so mistake.
“It’s alright.”
But the maid shook her head at lody’s reassurance.
“But Miss…Lady Higgins seed terribly angry.”
“She’s not really angry.”
“Is that so?”
“She’s berating herself.”
“Huh?!”
The maid turned a stunned gaze towards lody. From any perspective, Mrs. Higgins’ reaction appeared far removed from self-admonishnt.
Moreover, even if lody was right, what did her mother have to reproach herself over? All she had done was peel a bunch of potatoes.
“But the lady has no reason to berate herself…”
“Well, I don’t really think so either.”
lody shrugged before heading to the kitchen herself, following her mother’s path.
Soon, Mrs. Higgins’ shrieks rang out from inside. “Adding salt to them! Chopping in vegetables by color and nutrients!”
The maid flinched audibly, her face falling again.
“As I thought, it seems the lady was quite angry…”
This ti, lody replied, “I told you, she’s just berating herself.”
Though the maid did not appear convinced.
* * *
A few minutes later, lody was lying on her bed with a thin cloth draped over her face. Mrs. Higgins was carefully layering chilled, grated potato slices on top.
“Ruining costic potatoes by frying them all in oil!”
Mrs. Higgins grumbled repeatedly about the earlier kitchen incident. She had painstakingly grated fresh sumr potatoes to soothe lody’s tanned complexion.
But in the brief mont she had stepped away, salt and various chopped vegetables had been added to the potatoes, leaving them ready to be crisply fried – a travesty.
Of course, Mrs. Higgins did not actually scold the servants over this. She simply glared daggers at the now appetizing-looking potatoes, shrieking as if reprimanding herself for not ‘telling them not to touch it.’
Not that any of the servants understood her glares carried that aning.
‘Though I do feel bad for Mother, those would have tasted quite delicious.’
Potatoes and oil were an eternal pairing, after all. Recalling the kitchen commotion, lody struggled to suppress a smile.
But that did not seem like the best idea.
“Oh dear, stay still now. The freshly grated precious potatoes are slipping off.”
True to her mother’s words, one of the potato slices on lody’s lips slid right off, plopping over her neck.
“This troubleso little lamb, what am I to do with you?”
Mrs. Higgins’ muttered words as she reapplied the potatoes were clearly admonishing lody’s behavior.
Yet beyond the gruff tone, such imnse tenderness and adoration shone through so vividly that…
lody found herself smiling again. Soon after, another potato slice lost its grip on her face, rolling off her neck once more.
“How difficult is it to stay still? At this rate your bed will beco a potato field.”
Oh dear, what to do?
Though lody knew she needed to relax her facial muscles, she could not help herself. In fact, her smile only grew wider, until the potato slices on her eyes slid right off as well.
“Oh no, my potatoes! My precious potatoes!”
The delicious aroma of potatoes and oil began wafting in from the distant kitchen. For so reason, lody finally felt a true sense of being back ho again.
‘From now on, I must never leave the mansion without my parents’ permission again.’
In fact, if possible, she wished to live here forever.
‘…Ah.’
In the midst of her tranquil reverie, lody suddenly recalled having forgotten sothing.
‘What was it?’
There had been sothing she thought to ask her mother about later…
After pondering for quite a while, lody finally rembered what it was, thanks to the maid’s words when delivering her father’s letters earlier:
“These letters arrived for you while you were away, Miss. There are more, but those can only be delivered after Lady Higgins’ approval.”
‘Ah yes, that’s what it was.’
What kind of letters had arrived that required her mother’s permission before lody could receive them?
‘I haven’t gotten into so other trouble, have I…?’
Perhaps the company had sent an advance list of her purchases before shipping, and her mother took issue with it upon seeing.
What if she got angry after looking at the items?
‘But they were all necessary things, after all.’
Unable to voice her curiosity for fear of dislodging the carefully arranged potato slices, lody could only fidget her feet restlessly.
So more ti passed. Around when the damp potatoes seed to have dried up a bit, Mrs. Higgins announced, “Alright, that should do it,” and removed the cloth from lody’s face.
Her piqued curiosity finally reaching its limit, lody imdiately asked her question.
“Mother, I heard there were letters addressed to
besides the ones from Father.”
Mrs. Higgins’ hand, in the middle of plucking potato
strands from lody’s hair, stilled montarily.
Sensing her mother’s shift in mood, lody felt an ominous premonition and sat up, closely watching her expression.
“Did…Did I perhaps do sothing else wrong?”
“No.”
Mrs. Higgins shook her head firmly.
“It’s nothing to concern yourself over. That kind of thing.”
However, a deep crease ford on her brow as she added those words, suggesting she was troubled over sothing.
“If it involves , please tell . Maybe I can help.”
“No, that’s unlikely.”
Her tone grew sowhat cold before she hurriedly elaborated, seemingly flustered.
“I-I an, I won’t be accepting that kind of thing.”
“What…kind of thing won’t you be accepting?”
At lody’s insistent questioning, Mrs. Higgins let out a faint sigh, having noticed her daughter’s stubborn expression. She likely intended to pester her until she got answers.
Left with no choice, Mrs. Higgins decided to explain everything. It was an issue lody ought to know about as well, even if conveying it felt rather awkward from a parent’s perspective.
“It was nothing major. Um…”
“…?”
“Just an unsavory request that ca through.”
Even after resolving to speak frankly, Mrs. Higgins’ words still seed to skirt around the main point.
‘This is…difficult…’
She studied the child before her, potato pieces stuck all throughout her hair, blinking innocently in her direction.
People often complinted the Higgins couple, saying lody had grown into a fine young lady. But in Mrs. Higgins’ eyes, she was still just a child.
A troubleso little lamb she would need to constantly pluck potatoes from for the rest of her life.
“A letter ca…requesting to et you.”
“From who?”
Mrs. Higgins’ lips pressed tightly together for a mont before she slowly shook her head and answered.
“Soone…seeking to beco your fiancé.”
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