Chapter 64: A strong shoulder
The trip to the Bastier estate turned out even better than I had expected.
Fortunately, Angela and Lionel really hit it off, and it seemed to me that they had a good time together.
I watched them from afar, trying not to interfere, but still noticing every little detail: how Angela smiled a little shyly, how Lionel, who was reserved at first, gradually began to respond to her more confidently. I found this scene almost touching. Perhaps this is how what we later call friendship begins.
It was a real relief for me. Not a huge one, but still noticeable. I suddenly felt that at least one of the problems that had been weighing on my life lately had finally moved forward. Maybe for the first time in a long time, I allowed myself to relax a little.
On the way back, I watched Lionel, whose behavior had not changed at all since we left the estate. The boy was still silently watching the passing landscape from the carriage window.
The sun was setting, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink, and the trees along the road merged into a green strip. His face remained impassive, which made me wonder what was really going on in his head. I cleared my throat and decided to talk to him to lighten the mood.
"Lionel."
As expected, the boy immediately distracted himself from his previous activity and looked at me intently.
"Yes, ma’am?"
"How did you like this trip? Did you enjoy talking to Angela?"
However, the boy replied rather indifferently:
"I don’t know."
"But how?" I asked, a little surprised. "It seemed to me that you were having a good time."
Lionel raised his eyebrow slightly, and his gaze became even more distant. He paused for a couple of seconds, as if weighing his words.
"I did it because you asked me to," he finally replied quietly.
"Huh?" I asked, not immediately understanding.
"Ma’am, it was your order to befriend this girl, wasn’t it?" he clarified calmly. "So I did everything I could to carry it out."
To be honest, I was somewhat taken aback by his answer.
An order? Could it really have sounded like that when I said it? I remembered our conversation before the trip: I had simply suggested that he get to know Angela and spend some time with her so that they could get to know each other better. Who would have thought that he would take it as an order?
"So... are you saying you didn’t actually like it?" I asked, trying to clarify.
Lionel raised his eyebrow slightly, his face remaining impassive.
"Madam, I already said that I don’t feel anything special about it. So I can’t say that I didn’t like it. It was just a task that I completed."
I sighed heavily, feeling my disappointment grow.
As it turned out, things weren’t going as smoothly as I had thought. Of course, I wanted Lionel and Angela to become friends and have a good relationship with each other. But I also wanted it to happen sincerely, and for these two to have a genuine interest in each other. Otherwise, it just wouldn’t make sense.
What was the point of Lionel talking to the heroine just because I told him to? Unexpectedly, this difficult dilemma now faced me.
After thinking about it for a while, I finally sighed heavily again. Yes, it must have been because Angela and Lionel hardly knew each other yet. After all, they had only met today.
It was quite possible that such a short time was simply not enough for genuine affection to develop between them. Yes, that’s right, I just needed to give them more time. Over time, as in the original story, Lionel would open his heart to Angela, and it would be genuine, not forced.
With these thoughts, I decided that this problem was not so significant, and in the end, it would only take some time to resolve it naturally.
I nodded to my own thoughts and turned to Serpens the next moment.
"Serpens."
"Yes, ma’am?"
"You can take Lionel to this place sometimes so that he and Angela can spend time together, right?"
When I asked him this, the man’s expression did not look very friendly. He probably didn’t like the idea of having to deal with the princess of this empire in the future. However, he had no choice but to follow my orders, so in the end, he just nodded.
"Yes, ma’am," Serpens sighed.
Well, that’s great. Now that this matter had been settled, I could breathe a sigh of relief.
The carriage rolled on down the road, and I felt my tension finally melt away. I continued to think about what had happened today for a while longer, until we finally arrived at my estate.
I got out of the carriage, and Lionel and Serpens drove on. I sighed as I watched the carriage drive away, then headed for the house.
When I entered the house and Edison helped me take off my coat, I asked him what time it was.
"It is exactly six o’clock in the evening, ma’am. Dinner will be served at six forty-five."
Fortunately, it turned out that there were still forty minutes left before dinner. I was lucky and wasn’t late for dinner with Ruby. Yes, perhaps dinner with my niece would be the best way to end this tiring day.
Before going to dinner, I was going to rest a little in my office. But before I had a chance to go up there, I saw Christian Lockwood coming down the stairs toward me.
"Hello, Mr. Lockwood," I greeted him.
"Oh, good evening, Lady Weinstein. Are you back home already?"
When the man came down the stairs, we caught up with him and now chatted casually in the hall.
"Yes. Today was a tiring day," I smiled. "How was your session with Ruby?"
Christian Lockwood smiled back at me.
"We’ve just finished for today. Lady Rubiella was very attentive, and we managed to cover several topics on the history of the empire."
"Oh, good," I nodded, feeling a slight sense of relief.
Apparently, I had met Christian just as he was about to leave our estate after class. Well, I saw no reason to delay him. Besides, we had no particular reason for further conversation.
I was about to say goodbye to him and head to my office when he suddenly stopped me.
"Lady Weinstein, might you have a moment to talk?"
"Hmm?" I looked at him, a little puzzled.
"You see, since we’ve just started classes, the schedule isn’t quite stable yet," he smiled awkwardly. "I thought it would be better to discuss this with you and decide which classes should be given higher priority, based on the child’s goals and interests."
Oh. In fact, I was feeling a little tired and didn’t have the energy to engage in any kind of constructive dialogue. Nevertheless, since it concerned Ruby... how could I refuse? Although I was feeling tired, I nodded and smiled, realizing that this was important for my niece’s future.
"Of course. Let’s discuss it."
"I won’t take up much of your time," he assured me with a smile. "So, where would be a good place to go?"
"Well, how about my office?"
"Of course, as you wish."
After I suggested that Christian come into my office to continue our business conversation, we went up there. I offered Christian some tea to accompany our conversation, and he accepted.
In the end, it took us about half an hour to draw up the perfect schedule for Ruby. In addition to including all the compulsory classes for Ruby’s proper education, we also found time for the girl to have days off. After all, rest was also an extremely important part of the learning process and was necessary for the child to recover her strength.
When we were both satisfied with the resulting schedule, I began to feel a little anxious as I glanced at my watch. After all, there were only five minutes left before our dinner with Ruby.
Well, since the purpose of our conversation had already been settled, I was already thinking about how to politely see Ruby’s tutor out.
But at that moment, when our business conversation was already over, the man suddenly said unexpectedly:
"Lady Weinstein, I really admire you."
"Huh? What?" I was a little surprised, finishing the last of my tea from my mug.
"You are raising your niece on your own, and you also maintain the entire estate yourself. It must be really hard for you because of that."
"Ahem..."
I cleared my throat, as I was a little embarrassed by how this conversation had suddenly taken a different turn.
"Ahem, Mr. Lockwood, I appreciate your concern, but what are you trying to say?"
"Nothing in particular." Christian smiled absently. "I just think it must be hard for you to carry all this on your own without a reliable, strong shoulder to lean on."