Chapter 04
Heitzlinde Manor had been bustling for days.
Countless servants and maids swept and wiped the manor tirelessly in preparation, and the kitchen was also busy preparing various dishes.
Though it seemed there was nothing left to clean, everyone worked diligently day after day.
The kitchen area, in particular, was in a state of war.
Since Adel’s room was close to the kitchen, she could smell the delicious aromas seeping through the door gap every day, and when she had nothing to do and felt bored, she would pass the time imagining the dishes being made.
Now they were making a sweet fruit cake loaded with prunes and raisins; now it was crispy roast chicken baked with olive oil and herbs…
It was fun to imagine the foods she knew by recalling them. Though she would soon grow hungry.
Bailey thought that young children needed to eat snacks often, so she would sometimes bring her bits of the food made in the kitchen.
Thanks to that, Adel was able to enjoy butter-rich cookies and soft fudge with chocolate, things she hadn’t been able to eat during her time at the charity school.
Bailey unexpectedly discovered that Adel had rather refined tastes.
Then again, recalling the Baden household before their bankruptcy, Adel’s sophisticated palate made sense.
In any case, thanks to Bailey’s warm care, Adel was able to live well-fed and content.
Lately, Adel had been completely absorbed in reading.
Adel’s room was large enough for a twelve-year-old child, and the furnishings were nearly new, but there was nothing to capture a child’s interest.
She had grown accustomed to days without playthings during her time at the charity school, but truly, there was nothing to do in Adel’s room besides sewing, so she read books every single day.
On the third day after Adel’s arrival at Heitzlinde, the Duke of Clausen called for Bailey.
He had already heard through Norman that Bailey was in charge of Adel.
With a very tired face and his gaunt eyes closed, the Duke spoke to Bailey.
“Is Adel doing well?”
“Yes. She’s doing well. She’s a very good and gentle girl.”
“I see… If she needs anything, tell Norman. I’d like you to see to the child’s comfort.”
“Yes, I understand. Your Grace, would it be alright for Miss Adel to use the library?”
Recalling her conversation with Adel the previous day, Bailey asked if Adel could borrow books from the library to read.
The Duke, who had opened his closed eyes and thought for a moment, added the condition, “As much as possible, keep her out of Daniela’s sight.” It was only to be expected.
As soon as he finished speaking, the Duke raised the whiskey glass before him and downed it in one gulp.
“I’ll take my leave now. I’ve assigned Miss Adel to the room at the west end of the first floor.”
Bailey bowed respectfully and left the Duke’s study.
The Duke said nothing in response to Bailey’s words. It seemed Adel’s room would remain as it was.
With the Duke’s permission secured, Bailey observed the Duchess’s movements.
The Duchess’s daily routine was rather monotonous.
Being deeply religious, she often visited the chapel even on weekdays, and her days were mostly filled with shopping, hospital visits, and tea gatherings with a few noble ladies.
Today, even Dana, who followed the Duchess like a shadow, had gone out with her, so Bailey took Adel to the library.
Soon, Adel’s exclamation echoed in the library.
“Wow, this is much bigger than our house’s library!”
“His Grace and the young master enjoy reading. There are many precious books here, spanning both East and West, ancient and modern. Choose a few books to read, and let’s return to your room quickly.”
“Yes!”
Adel’s eyes sparkled as she looked around the library.
Expensive mahogany bookshelves were arranged in double rows, and gleaming metal ladders rested neatly on the rails in front of them.
The library was also quite tall, so it seemed one would have to climb the ladder to reach the books on the upper shelves. For a twelve-year-old Adel, the library ladder was a great temptation.
Bailey was anxious that someone might come in and thought time was passing too slowly, while Adel, completely enchanted by the scent of books she hadn’t smelled in a long time, thought time was passing too quickly.
In any case, Adel selected several books that looked interesting and carefully noted where they had been placed.
She needed to return them to their proper places next time so she would be allowed to borrow books again.
Adel’s steps were very light on her way back to her room.
The library was on the third floor, and her room was on the first, so she inevitably encountered servants bustling about as she came and went.
They looked at her as usual with a mixture of curiosity and contempt, but today Adel didn’t mind much. All she wanted was to hurry back to her room and read.
Bailey also taught her embroidery and sewing from time to time, and she spent her days reading in her room. A few days later, Adel was finally allowed to go out into the garden.
That day, the Duchess was going to the chapel and had parish activities, so she would return to Heitzlinde quite late.
Bailey had noticed Adel’s gaze constantly drifting toward the window and shutters even while sewing, so with a grave face, she gave her a few instructions and permitted her to go out and play.
“Thank you so much!”
Adel said quickly as she adjusted her shoes by the shutters.
A proper young lady should have crossed the first-floor entrance hall and exited through the front door, but there was no benefit to being noticed by others, so Bailey let her go out through the shutters as well.
“Remember what I said. You must return to your room in exactly one hour and resume the sewing we were doing.”
“Yes, I won’t forget.”
“And as I just told you, you must never go into the garden behind the golden lion statue. The gate is locked, so you wouldn’t be able to get in anyway, but that is Her Grace’s private garden.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“Try to step only on dry soil and don’t go into the mud puddles.”
“Yes.”
Unlike her usual calm demeanor, Adel was now squirming with excitement.
She wanted to run to the garden bathed in the bright summer sun, but Bailey’s instructions seemed endless.
Even at the charity school, playing outside was strictly forbidden, so the last time Adel had freely breathed the fresh outdoor air seemed to be at the tail end of early spring.
She remembered the smell of earth awakening spring in the air back then.
Noticing Adel’s restless heart, Bailey smiled and said,
“Here, it’s biscotti baked with ginger. If you get hungry, find a nice spot and eat it.”
Bailey slipped something the size of her fist, wrapped in a paper bag, into Adel’s apron pocket.
“Thank you!”
Adel smiled, opened the shutters, and ran out.
Oh, how delightful… Bailey shook her head and left Adel’s room. A faint smile also lingered at the corner of her mouth as she walked down the hallway.
The Heitzlinde Manor in June was fantastic.
When Adel had arrived, it was raining, the weather was gloomy, and Adel’s heart had been no different from the weather, so she hadn’t been able to see anything properly.
Stepping out through the shutters and looking at the manor from a distance, it was truly a magnificent and quaint place.
The old-looking walls were solid stone, and ivy climbed long along the right side.
The red roofs and spires harmonized beautifully with the blue summer sky, and the arched main gate, numerous lattice windows, and balconies were splendid. Beyond the manor, a dark green forest stretched out.
Adel’s former home had also been quite elegant, but it couldn’t compare to Heitzlinde of the Clausen ducal family.
A spontaneous “Wow!” escaped her lips.
‘This is no time for that. Let’s hurry to the garden.’
Adel forced herself to turn her gaze away from the manor.
The manor was splendid, but the rose garden visible from her window was even more beautiful.
The scent of summer trees wafted from everywhere.
In the garden, neatly trimmed trees lined up in rows, and walking along the path, she arrived at a place where lovely rose bushes were intertwined like a maze.
‘It’s so beautiful…’
Adel looked around, entranced.
She hadn’t known roses could bloom in so many colors until she saw this place.
Small Tania roses sparkled like jewels among the bushes, and the pink petals of lovely ever-blooming roses fluttered in the breeze.
Walking a little further, she saw magnificent red and colorful roses proudly showing off their existence, blooming in abundance.
Adel carefully stroked the petals, being careful not to get pricked by the thorns. The delicate rose petals were as soft as her mother’s touch.
The various rose bushes grew endlessly, following their own rules.
The gardener must have just watered them, as small puddles had formed here and there on the fine soil.
In the puddles, the clear blue sky of Portzheim and the many-colored roses that adorned it like a paradise were perfectly reflected.
Remembering Bailey’s advice not to dirty her shoes, Adel walked lightly, stepping over the puddles.
As she slowly walked, feasting her eyes on the seemingly endless rose bushes, she felt a little hungry.
Having been outdoors for the first time in a while, breathing fresh air and walking energetically, she felt hungrier than usual. Then she remembered the snack in the paper bag in her apron pocket.
‘Is there a place where I can sit and eat?’
Past noon, the summer sun was becoming quite intense, so Adel decided to rest for a while in the shade of a tree and eat the snack Bailey had prepared.
All the rose bushes were short, so Adel kept walking, searching for a larger, more secluded tree shade.
At that moment, beyond the green bush leaves, she spotted a blue iron gate in the distance.
As if drawn by something, Adel approached the iron gate.
The blue iron gate, engraved with beautiful sirens and a ship tossed by waves, was half-open, as if beckoning to Adel.
It had been painted over so many times with care that there wasn’t a single chip on the gate.
She grabbed the gate, glistening in the sunlight, and peered inside.
Beside the gate was a stone wall covered in ivy, so the only way to see inside was through the bars of the blue gate.
Adel poked her head through the half-open gate and looked around.
Unlike the low rose garden bushes that only reached about Adel’s height, the garden inside the blue gate had quite large trees clustered together like a small forest.
In contrast to the soft dirt paths of the rose garden, the ground there was covered with lush green grass, and in the distance, she saw white birch trees.
Adel thought she would eat her snack there, rest for a while, and then go back.
Just then, Bailey’s warning suddenly came to mind.
“It’s okay. Bailey definitely said Her Grace’s garden would be locked. And I don’t see any golden lion statue.”
Even though she knew the Duchess had gone out, Adel had been diligently looking for the golden lion statue while walking through the rose garden, feeling a bit of fear.
With a creaking sound, she opened the iron gate a little more and stepped into the new garden.
She hadn’t noticed because it was hidden by quite high stone walls, but once inside, she saw that the space was also spacious and the trees were very tall.
As Adel walked along the path lined with pine and oak trees toward the shade she had spotted earlier—
With a rustling sound, someone walked out from under the shade.
