NBTC 07

Chapter 07

Bailey diligently sewed Adele’s clothes.

She had asked Lena, a maid at Heitzlinde who had a daughter around Adele’s age, for a child’s clothing pattern.

It had been a long time since she had sewn clothes for a child of that age, and she didn’t know what styles were fashionable.

She had bought a light green Gloria fabric that would suit Adele, as well as a deep purple muslin fabric, and decided to make three sets of clothes including a sturdy wool dress.

Once summer passed, it had been decided that Adele would attend Mainz Girls’ School, so she could have her wear the school uniform then.

Bailey, who was quick and meticulous with her hands, soon finished one set of clothes.

With a proud heart, Bailey took the clothes and headed straight to Adele’s room. She knocked, knock, knock, and opened the door.

Adele had not been able to go outside much since she had fallen badly the other day and was having difficulty walking.

Apart from timidly going out to the shutters and lingering around for a while, she stayed in her room without moving.

Because the household had become busy since Karl’s arrival, no one paid any attention to Adele.

Bailey felt a little sorry for Adele, who had become dejected, so she worked even faster on the clothes.

It seemed that the thought of having ruined the clothes she had brought was making the child even more depressed.

“Do you like it?”

Bailey asked, looking at Adele dressed in the light green dress with satisfied eyes.

She had tied the ribbon neatly at the back of the waist to add volume, making it look much better.

“It’s so, so pretty!”

Children grow quickly, so she had made the summer dress slightly longer. The light green skirt, which covered half of her shins, also hid the wound on her knee from when she had fallen that day.

Seeing Adele hopping around after putting on her socks and shoes, Bailey gave a contented smile.

She was glad she had brought a fashionable pattern.

It was a light green dress that suited Adele’s white skin and fresh green eyes.

“Madam, thank you so much.”

Adele gently took Bailey’s hand and gave her a slight hug.

Feeling the child’s hesitation about whether she could approach her, Bailey quickly hugged Adele back.

“You don’t have to call me Madam. Miss Adele is a guest of the master of Heitzlinde, so you may call me by my name comfortably.”

Adele, who had been hesitating, said, “Thank you, Bailey,” with a small smile.

A small dimple appeared on Adele’s left cheek. She was a truly pretty child.

“Um… I’ve finished reading all the books I borrowed a week ago. Can I go borrow more?”

She had borrowed quite a large number of books, but it seemed she had read them all already. Just as she had said she loved books, Adele had read and read again even until bedtime.

Bailey thought about who was in the mansion today.

The Duke had left Heitzlinde early on business, and the Duchess had taken a sedative saying she had a headache and had not left her bed all day.

Sir Karl had been hunting in the forest behind the mansion for the past few days, so if they went to the library quickly, they would not run into anyone.

“Alright. Let’s go quickly now. Make sure to bring all the books you borrowed last time.”

“Yes!”

Adele hopped along happily, following Bailey.

The library was on the third floor, and they didn’t run into anyone on the way.

Since the young master had returned, everyone was busy with their own work, and now no one looked at Adele with the same hostile eyes as when she first came to this house.

Adele stayed in her room and was hardly noticeable, and she didn’t bother the servants of Heitzlinde or expect to be treated as a guest, so they also regarded her as casually as a piece of furniture in Heitzlinde.

The library, which she hadn’t seen in a while, was as magnificent as ever.

The shelves of red mahogany wood sparkled even more in the morning sunlight.

They glowed with the sheen of time, as if they had been well cared for over a long period.

Countless books were constantly waiting for someone to find them, and Adele was happy with the heavy scent of books that she could smell as soon as she opened the library door.

“Miss Adele. Put the books you borrowed back on the shelves where they originally were. You remember, right?”

Adele nodded.

“Good. I’m going to go see the butler for a moment now. Miss Adele, please pick out the new books you want to borrow and return to your room. We can’t stay long, so go back to your room in about 15 minutes.”

Bailey had to meet with Norman regarding Adele’s school transfer and also had to buy some necessary items, so she was in a hurry.

They hadn’t met anyone on the way to the library, and the mansion was quiet, so nothing was likely to happen in 15 minutes.

Bailey once again firmly cautioned Adele never to go down the central staircase on the second floor.

Just in case she might run into the Duchess or her faithful dog.

As soon as Adele saw Bailey leave the library, she quickly put the borrowed books back on the shelves.

There wasn’t much time, and there were many books she wanted to look through.

She remembered the books she had wanted to borrow last time but couldn’t because they were too heavy.

She glanced at the pendulum clock and quickly pulled out a book she had been wanting to read. The weight of the heavy binding felt pleasant.

Adele lingered around the literature section she liked, then turned her steps toward the history section.

‘Since they said I’ll be going to a new school from September, it wouldn’t hurt to study ahead.’

Adele pulled out a volume of Western history that Erwin belonged to. She considered adding a book on arithmetic and geometry, which she didn’t particularly like, but her hand wouldn’t move, so she gave up.

Comforting herself that there was still time until September and she could prepare slowly, she headed back to the literature section she had been unable to take her eyes off from the start.

‘The Story of Haviland… It looks interesting. There are some illustrations too?’

‘Vitali’s Poetry Collection. I want to see it, but it’s thin. I should borrow thick books so I can spend more time with them.’

Just as she was setting her own thorough criteria and choosing books one by one.

She glanced at the clock again, and less than five minutes remained of the time she had promised Bailey, making her feel impatient.

She needed to quickly choose two or three books and go down to her room.

Just as Adele was rummaging through the shelves and pulling out a book that looked interesting.

“That one’s not great…”

At the low voice coming from behind, Adele let out a small scream, “Ah!” She was truly startled.

“The one next to it. Time of the Hunt. That one’s interesting.”

Adele quickly turned around to look behind her.

Through the gap in the red curtains, the intense summer sunlight streamed into the library.

A tall person standing with their back to the light.

His face was hidden in the shadow of the light and hard to see, but it was clearly Karl, whom she had encountered last time.

Karl approached Adele, who had frozen like ice, and pulled out the book he had just mentioned, Time of the Hunt.

“Hello, Sir Karl. I was very rude… last time.”

Adele answered, wondering whether she should put the six or seven books she was holding back on the shelf.

Karl might not know that she had the Duke’s permission to use the library.

“Can you read all of those?”

Karl glanced at the pile of books she was holding and said.

His tone seemed to dismiss her, and Adele snapped back.

“I love reading.”

Karl chuckled, spun the book in his hand, and placed it on top of Adele’s pile.

“Then try it. It’ll be interesting.”

“…Thank you.”

Adele looked at Karl with a reluctant expression.

When she had met him in the garden last time, he had looked a bit tired, but in the few days since, his complexion and expression seemed much better.

“I… I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were in the library.”

Karl raised one eyebrow as if he didn’t understand.

“This is a place for reading in the first place. Is that something to apologize for?”

“Still, I didn’t know you were resting here. I came to borrow books because the Duke gave me permission, but…”

“It doesn’t matter. I woke up because of Bailey’s voice.”

Sure enough, on the couch in the direction Karl had come from, there were several books he had been reading, and cushions and a bundle of blankets were scattered messily.

Adele felt relieved to see Karl looking in much better spirits than before and smiled slightly.

The young duke, who seemed relaxed, looked like a well-fed black panther.

His hair, which had only looked black, sparkled like silver threads in the summer sunlight, and his relaxed, comfortable blue eyes looked less frightening and cold than last time, more like playful blue jewels.

“Thank you, Sir Karl. Thank you for the book recommendation too. I’ll be going now.”

Karl nodded and turned away, and Adele quickly gathered her chosen pile of books and left the library.

She gently closed the library door, which had been left open, so as not to disturb him, and turned toward the west staircase to go to her room.

At that moment, she made eye contact with a maid coming toward the library.

The maid glared at Adele sharply and looked her up and down, including the pile of books in her arms.

It was clear from her eyes that she disliked her, so Adele quickly bowed and hurried down the stairs.

It felt as though a small pinhole had been pricked in her heart, which had been puffed up like a balloon.

Still, today was a lucky day.

She liked the clothes Bailey had made for her, and the thick books she had borrowed from the library seemed interesting too.

Besides, she had seen Karl, who was as handsome as a prince, and he had spoken kindly to her—all of it was good.

July was approaching soon. She realized it had been quite some time since she had come to Heitzlinde.

Time really does fly. She had begun to like this place little by little.

Adele’s footsteps toward her room were light.

“Sir Karl, the Madam wishes to see you for a moment.”

It was just as he was about to focus on his reading again after driving away the small intruder who had come to the library.

Karl frowned and put down the book he was holding.

It was Daina, whom he hadn’t seen since she had visited him last time.

“What is it?”

“I’m not sure, but she said she would like to have tea with you.”

He coldly regarded Daina, who answered with her head bowed respectfully.

She must have seen the small child who had just left the library, but she said nothing.

He didn’t know what she was thinking inside or what she would tell his mother, but it wasn’t something Karl needed to worry about, so he ignored it.

“Understood. I’ll get ready and come down soon.”

As Daina bowed deeply once more and left the library, Karl sighed softly and stood up.

Having spent the whole day riding and hunting until yesterday, he had wanted to rest quietly today.

This library was used by no one but himself and his father, so he had secluded himself here since morning, but with the successive visitors, he felt today’s choice had been a failure.

Though the first intruder who came into the library hadn’t been bad.

He remembered the sight of her, neatly dressed, with sparkling eyes as she chose books, and it was a bit amusing.

It had also been entertaining to see her snap at his dismissive tone.

Karl wiped the smile he had been wearing and left the library with his usual composed appearance.

It was the start of an annoying day.