Chapter 28. Only daughter of the Marquis of Gardenia
2022.11.19.
The Gardenia family played a pivotal role in the politics of the Ermano Empire.
The Gardenia family was a prestigious family with a long history. He exercised great influence in all fields, including politics, art, economy and welfare, to the extent that there was no one who did not know the name of his family.
Its head, the Marquis of Gardenia, ascended to the rank of marquis at a relatively young age, and in a short period of time cleared the ranks within the turbulent family and consolidated his position as a parliamentary aristocrat.
The current Gardenia Marquis who has neither blood nor tears.
The Marquis of Gardenia had an only daughter.
A lovely daughter who won’t hurt even if you put it in her eyes.
Her name is Cyana Gardenia.
The wife, who was weak when the child was young, died early, and the Marquis of Gardenia cherished and raised her daughter more than her own life.
Siana, who had been ill since childhood, grew up in the peaceful Gardenia estate rather than the busy capital city.
Because of that, no one among the capital’s aristocrats had ever personally met the only daughter of the Marquis. There were only rumors about Siana.
It was because the Marquis wrapped around her daughter so much that even when she went to Yeongji Castle, she couldn’t even see her daughter’s hair.
Some families sent letters asking for engagement several times in order to boost the prestige of the Gardenia family, but no one received a reply.
‘What on earth is my daughter like?’
The more that happened, the more people’s curiosity grew.
“I hear it is very ugly.”
“Are you like that? I heard that I am a cold-looking beauty who resembles the Marquis of Gardenia.”
“hmm. One temper must be nasty!”
“It’s understandable that that great Marquis raised you.”
There were all kinds of speculations about the daughter of the Marquis of Gardenia, who had never been to the capital.
Whenever there were people who submitted marriage proposals but were mercilessly ignored, the story about Sianna flowed in like a tide.
Time passed and the child became a lady before she knew it. The time for the debut ball has come without fail for Siana as well.
After several socialite seasons, it was no longer possible to postpone it, so even the Marquis of Gardenia could not ignore Siana’s debut ball.
The Marquis of Gardenia, who did not welcome Cyana to the capital, had no regrets.
***
Gardenia Manor Castle.
It was late at night when even the servants went in to get ready. A dim light leaked through the window of a room on the third floor.
The castle’s maid and Sianna’s nanny, she was looking around the castle before going to bed when she noticed that the lights were on.
“Ugh. She didn’t sleep again…”
Shaking her head, she entered the building and slowly stepped on the stairs. Eventually, the nanny arrived on the third floor and arrived in front of the only room with a light on.
Inside the slightly open door, a part of the cute bedroom scene came into view.
A girl with loosely braided hair was sitting at her desk and writing something hard.
“miss. It’s late, you should go to bed now.”
“huh.”
Seeing the familiar voice, Shiana looked back at the nanny and nodded with a light smile. Soon, the worried nanny’s nagging poured out.
“You will be leaving tomorrow, but you will be tired if you don’t get enough sleep. Isn’t this the first time you’ve gone such a long way?”
“wait for a sec. I’ll just write this…”
Siana, who was writing in her diary, rubbed her sleepy eyes and played with her quill. Beneath the shadows of the eyelashes shaded by the light, there were sparkling amber eyes.
Cyanna’s eyes, as beautiful as jewels, were the pride of the people of Gardenia.
Also, how about warm pink hair like cherry blossoms?
Siana spent most of the money she received from the marquis on the welfare of the people of the territory, and there was no one in the territory who did not benefit from it.
It was truly a gentle and lovely treasure of Gardenia.
“I wrote everything.”
After closing the diary, Shiana quickly went to bed and lay down. But in the meantime, the two eyes that had already run away from sleep were shining brightly.
Sianna asked the nanny who made the bed.
“nurse. What is the capital?”
“hmm. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to the capital, so I can’t remember. It will be different from now.”
“I still want to hear it.”
“great. Instead, do you go to sleep right after my story?”
Sianna nodded gracefully, and the nanny smiled benevolently and pulled up the blanket and covered her. A friendly hand patted Shiana’s chest regularly.
“First of all, there are a lot of people in the capital. Especially during socialite season.”
“and?”
“Ricabelli street is lined with fancy high-end shops.”
“Is it different from the market?”
“sure.”
“Then what kind of place is the Hwangseong?”
Siana, who had never been to the capital since coming down to the estate when she was young and couldn’t remember, had fantasies about the capital.
‘I’m looking forward to it…’
I was already thrilled to be able to visit the capital city I had only seen in books.
As if to solve the curiosity she had been curious about all at once, Siana threw a series of questions. The nurse answered the lady’s questions one by one.
“Not all young people in the capital are cool. Of course, there are some good-looking people, but I don’t know if I’ll catch the master’s eyes… Oh my.”
The nanny looked at Sianna’s face and smiled brightly.
It was because Siana was soundly asleep. The nanny, who was looking down at her gentle and pretty face with friendly eyes, turned off the light.
“Have a nice dream, my lady.”
Soon, Gardenia Castle was enveloped in peaceful darkness.
.
.
.
The next day, the Marquis of Gardenia came down to Burinake Manor after clearing a mountain of work to meet her daughter.
As she prepared to get on the carriage, Siana greeted her father.
“father!”
The Marquis took her running daughter in her arms and lifted her up.
“Oh dear. How are you?”
“yes. Are you here to pick me up?”
“okay. We should go up together.”
The servants of the castle were happy to see the reunion of a loving father and daughter.
It was not surprising, as the servants had seen the terrifying Marquis of Gardenia’s outrageous side many times.
In the meantime, preparations for departure were complete.
“All preparations for departure are complete, Your Excellency. Get into the carriage.”
Ciana, who nodded at the butler’s words, looked up at the Marquis anxiously.
“You must have had a hard time coming down, but would it be all right if I got on the carriage right away? How about taking a break and leaving?”
“If my baby stays with her father all the way to the capital, there will be no problem.”
“If that’s the case, you don’t have to worry.”
Siana clenched her fists as if asking her to take on the role of her companion. A smile never ceased on the face of the Marquis of Gardenia at the reassuring appearance of her daughter.
Eventually, the two climbed side by side in the carriage.
“Hey!”
With the call of the coachman, the carriage started moving. Cyana looked around inside the carriage and looked at the Marquis of Gardenia across from her with a serious face.
“Why?”
“How long are you going to call me baby? I am all grown up now.”
“You will always be my baby.”
After saying that, the Marquis immediately said “Oops” and hurriedly added his words.
“Is it something you don’t like? …If you don’t like Shiana, don’t do it.”
No matter how much Siana is her forever baby, if she doesn’t like her daughter and is uncomfortable with it, she can of course quit.
Contrary to the Marquis’ concern, Siana shook her head with a worried face.
“I wouldn’t like it. But I think it would be better to refrain from doing it in front of other people. What if someone looks down on my father?”
“who? this me?”
The Marquis of Gardenia laughed heartily at Siana’s words that she might be taking her lightly.
It was an imagination that could only be imagined by Siana, who had never seen what the Marquis of Gardenia was like in dealing with other people.
The Marquis, who had no intention of resolving her daughter’s misunderstanding, gladly agreed.
“Anyway, be careful. If someone ignores this father, it will be in trouble.”
He stroked her daughter’s hair with a loving hand. Her fine pink hair tumbled through the Marquis’ fingers.
As I looked at the angelic face of my daughter, I started to worry again. The Marquis of Gardenia asked as usual.
“Remember. If the bastards of the capital come face to face with you-”
“i know. ‘Do you know who my dad is? It is the Marquis of Gardenia. so get off You fucking worms!’”
“Right. But would you like to be a little more aggressive? It’s not a threat at all now.”
“Like this?”
When Cyana frowned, the Marquis of Gardenia smiled and shook her head.
‘It’s too cute to wear, let alone a threat.’
On the other hand, the expression that was built as a menacing face was completely indifferent.
It was obvious that the lines of ‘My father-‘, which he had taught so hard, would be useless.
‘It’s good to see how much he will flirt with my daughter.’
Of course, it was the marquis who started to be afraid of the debutante ball. He made up his mind to stay next to Siana throughout the debutant ball.
***
Rumors quickly spread that the daughter of the Marquis of Gardenia had come to the capital before the full-fledged socialite season began.
Coming up to the capital now was no different from attending the Debutante Ball.
When they were finally able to see the veiled face of the Marquis of Gardenia, people’s expectations skyrocketed.
Even those who had no intention of attending the ball hurriedly sought invitations, leading to an out-of-the-ordinary contest of invitations.
Not knowing that she had become the subject of rumors, Siana was preoccupied with touring the capital. Accompanied by one of her family’s knights and her nanny, Sianna went on an outing.
The place I stopped by today was Ricavelli Street, which I had only heard about.
Shiana’s face swung around in the other world that spread out before her eyes.
“I’ve never seen so many carriages, nanny.”
“Whoops. Please?”
“All the stores are cool…”
“Where do you want to go? Just speak.”
When she was told that she was going to Ricavelli Street, the Marquis of Gardenia silently handed the nanny a blank check and a huge amount of gold coins.
It was too much for just an outing allowance. She was ready to buy even the entire store if she wanted it.
‘Because even the owner can’t stop it.’
To pay a blank check with your daughter’s pocket money while being so picky when it comes to financing within the family.
Anyway, thanks to that, there was enough money to buy everything Sianna wanted.
After looking around the shops for a while, Siana entered a cafe.
“This is the first cafe this big. There is also a second floor. Yeongji’s cafe was smaller.”
“How does your drink taste?”
“It’s delicious, but it’s a little expensive…”
Nanny laughed under her breath at the appearance of Sianna, who had a blank check and said that the drink was expensive.
Sianna didn’t know, but the people in the cafe glanced at her sitting by the window.
It was because the nobles of the capital knew each other’s faces at least roughly, but her face was unfamiliar.
Moreover, Siana’s appearance was quite conspicuous.
Her pink hair was a rare color, and her neat and gentle appearance also caught the eye.
A dark shadow fell over Sianna’s head as she was leisurely drinking and talking with the nanny and the knight.
“Hello Lady. Did you come alone?”
A strange man suddenly called out. The knight and nanny were wary of the man’s approach.
Shiana put her hand on the shoulder of the knight who was acting as if she were about to draw her sword.
I couldn’t make a fuss just because a stranger talked to me.
“As you can see, I am not alone.”
The man openly admired Shiana’s answer. I thought only her face was blindingly pretty, but her voice was also pretty.
‘From hearing what you’re talking about, it seems like you’ve just come up from the countryside.’
In the eyes of such women, a capital aristocrat like herself would look cool.
I thought that there might be a possibility if I flirted with him when I didn’t even know how to do it yet.
“I thought I was blinded by Lady’s beautiful appearance. Oh, and your voice is as sweet as that of an oriole.”
“…thank you.”
Siana’s expression slowly hardened. The attitude of the man talking to her while complimenting her appearance was not very pleasant.
“If you don’t mind, could you please tell me which family you are from?”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t want to tell you.”
The man was taken aback by Siana’s firm answer, but soon smiled.
‘It must be embarrassing to be a poor family.’
If it was a family with such a pretty appearance, it would be perfect to seduce it when you don’t know how to look.
“it’s okay. It doesn’t matter which family.”
“no.”
“You look ashamed. Then I’ll buy you a car, so why don’t we move around and have a chat?”
“I’ve already had enough to drink.”
Despite Siana’s euphemistic refusal, the man persisted. Eventually, the poor nanny rose from her seat.
“I’m sorry, but the lady is uncomfortable.”
“How dare you interfere in a conversation between nobles!”
The man cut off the nanny’s words and shouted in displeasure.
Siana furrowed her eyes. He couldn’t stand the ill treatment of his precious nanny.
“I told you that I didn’t want to reveal my family name.”
“If so, please tell me your name.”
“I don’t have a name to tell Youngsik.”
“You are very shy.”
No matter what he said, the man persisted. The other was also a nobleman, so the nanny didn’t know what to do either.
Even though he was annoying, he didn’t do anything other than talk to him, so even the family knight couldn’t come out recklessly.
Embarrassed, Shiana remembered her father’s words.
‘What did he say?’
When I met the man, my mind turned white.
Ciana cut off everything the Marquis of Gardenia had said before and screamed at the words that came to mind.
“You worms.”
“…?”
“Fuck off!”
“…??”
Suddenly, the man who was cursed at, made a foolish expression for a moment.
