New World, New Life: I Became A Bigshot In The Ancient World-Chapter 191: DAOIST PRINCESS
Chapter 191: DAOIST PRINCESS
Aristia quietly sipped her tea as she watched Wade in front of her. He looked slightly nervous, but Aristia noticed he had gotten better in etiquette since the last time she saw him.
"You wanted me to come here? Is there something you wanted to tell me?"
"Yes." Wade nodded. He smiled and put down his teacup. "The Marchioness finally spoke to me."
Aristia knew that he meant that Charlotte had finally really said something to him.
"Really? That’s great then." Aristia smiled.
Wade nodded again. "You were right. The Marchioness doesn’t hate me. She told me that she’s never hated me... and that I should call her mother. I’m still getting used to it." He said shyly, the tip of his ears tinged red and he looked away.
Aristia’s smile widened. She knew Charlotte had a soft heart. She had told Wade that Charlotte didn’t hate him during one of their meetups but Wade had not believed it.
Wade recounted most of what had happened that very special day and Aristia listened with interest.
"She let me call her mother. She even embraced me and let me embrace her." Wade had a bit of tears in his eyes. He whispered, "Mother and Father also speak to each other now, but they don’t always share the same room—"
A knock on the door interrupted Wade’s words before it opened immediately after.
Marchioness Charlotte opened the door and entered. She smiled at Wade, then at Aristia, before going towards Wade.
"Princess," Marchioness Charlotte curtsied slightly.
"Marchioness Oswalt," Aristia nodded.
Wade made space for her to sit beside him, slightly awkwardly in front of Aristia.
Seeing how Wade and Marchioness Charlotte sat side by side and Charlotte didn’t have that cold expression on her face, Aristia believed Wade’s words even more. She never doubted them in the first place.
The same maid from earlier came in. She bowed and asked, "Madam, shall I prepare some refreshments for you?"
Charlotte immediately waved. "Oh no, I heard that the third princess was present so I came to see the princess. I won’t stay long since I have to allow her highness and the young master time to themselves."
Aristia noticed that Charlotte smiled more now. Her expression had eased a lot. She looked much warmer and happier than before, and when she looked at Wade, rather than the conflicted look she usually had switching between indifference and nonchalance, she now had a soft expression on her face.
This change was obviously because of her mended relationship with her husband and Wade. As for what Wade had said about the couple not always sleeping in the same room... it was probably because Charlotte needed time.
According to what Wade had said, it had only been a few weeks since the day everything began to change for the better. frёeωebɳovel.com
Either way, Aristia was pleased with the good relationship between Charlotte and Wade. And she was now convinced of one thing— that had her speculation was right.
Charlotte didn’t hate Wade, she just couldn’t come to terms with his identity, but now that she had, especially after coming to the conclusion that it wasn’t the poor boy’s fault, it became easier for her to accept him.
A maid came into the room and went to stand behind Wade. Aristia guessed it was the maid assigned to him.
After spending some time in the drawing room, Aristia and Wade left the room.
"Princess Aristia, it’s almost noon and time for the afternoon meal. Please join us for lunch." Charlotte asked with a smile.
After some thought, Aristia nodded. "Then, I’ll have to ask the Marchioness to take care of me."
"It would be my pleasure," Charlotte curtsied lightly, her eyes twinkling.
Charlotte sat at the head of the table, Wade sat beside her while Aristia sat at the other end of the table opposite him.
As they ate, the woman and boy kept looking at Aristia for different but similar reasons.
Charlotte could still remember the previous year, during the Kingdom’s anniversary banquet, when she had encountered Aristia near the pond in the royal palace.
Thinking of adorable face scrunching into a friend as she unabashedly remarked ’Men are scumbags!’, still amused her deeply even after many months.
Even now, she still didn’t know where Aristia had learnt such a word.
Her eyes moved to Wade who happened to be looking at Aristia, and she smiled.
Hadn’t she heard that Aristia had defended Wade on his first appearance in society during the banquet?
’She’s really such a sweet child.’ She watched Aristia eat without looking up from the food, unaware of the two people on the table watching her.
After having lunch in the Oswalt mansion, Aristia left in the afternoon.
No one in the mansion noticed a bird flying in through the window of a carriage.
"Princess Aristia, will you be heading home or is there somewhere else you would like to go?" Lucas asked.
"Please take me home, Lucas." Aristia said.
"Yes, princess." Lucas started the carriage.
The carriage rode slowly through the streets in Amberale. Millie lay in Aristia’s arms but she was no longer a bird.
"You really decided to act like a lazy cat, huh?" Aristia said, the corners of her mouth curling up teasingly.
Millie just purred softly and ignored her. Aristia stroked her fur and contemplated.
According to her father, the captain and the books she had read about Daemons, once she felt the spiritual connection between she and Millie, she had to break the chains whether partially or fully.
She had tried a few times to feel the spiritual connection but hadn’t succeeded. She wasn’t scared of not being able to fully or even partially break the chains, it was something that had to be done eventually.
She couldn’t remain like this with the daemon, she was determined to form that link.
She rolled her eyes. Maybe she would soon find out that she would die if she didn’t create a link after a long time, or she would lose the connection she had with her daemon. The second possibility seemed highly likely.
The days passed by peacefully in a blur and soon the month of June was over, welcoming a new month.
As the summer break had ended, all academy students returned to the academy before the month of July.
The noble children of Amberale returned to the academy along with the other noble children of other kingdoms, but they would return in two months, when September came.
The academy resumed for a new academic year in January and had three breaks; the summer breaks in June and September, and the winter break in December.
September was also the month of the Kingdom’s anniversary. It was unknown whether it was just a coincidence that it had been chosen as a holiday for academy students or if it had specifically been set aside as a holiday because of the Kingdom’s anniversary.
From what Aristia heard, Amberale was one of the founders of the Academy so it was highly likely the holiday was set intentionally on that month to match the month of the anniversary so that the students from Amberale would be able to attend.
Presently, in her room, Aristia was seated on the bed with her legs folded in a petal position like a daoist trying to meditate. The room’s curtains and her bed’s drapery were closed, leaving the room dark.
"Hooom..... hoooom." She placed her hands on each lap facing upwards and pressed each of her index fingers and thumbs together, with her other fingers stretching outwards.
She hummed and tried to concentrate. "Hoooom... hoooom."
Her eyes snapped open. "Ugh. This isn’t working. This is so silly."
She glanced down at Millie in her arms, staring at her curiously. She didn’t know if it was just her imagination or the cat really looked amused.
"Hehe. Millie, call me Aristia, the Daoist Princess."
"Meow." Millie only responded like that.
Aristia unfolded and stretched her legs with a sigh. She had tried meditating in the morning when she woke up, she tried doing it at noon, and now she was doing it at midnight. It was the same result for a week.
"Maybe it’s not the time that matters, maybe I’m just doing it wrong. Pfft! Of course I’m doing it wrong. This stupid position from cartoons definitely won’t work."
She ran her hand through Millie’s fur. "Let’s try again." She muttered and folded her legs again.
This time, her hand wasn’t held out in that absurd position. Instead, she folded it in front of her lap. Aristia took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Let’s do this."
She concentrated deeply, thinking only of Millie and herself.
In this state, she could even hear the faint sound of crickets and wind rustling through grass. It was surprising, but she didn’t focus on that.
"Thump, thump, thump."
Her heartbeat echoed in her breath and she heard the soft sound of breathing.
She could even hear Millie’s heartbeat. To her surprise, their hearts beat with the same rhythm, as if in sync.
Then, all of a sudden, the sounds faded and it was as if the world became quiet, because she couldn’t hear a sound. Even the sound of their heartbeat was no longer heard.
When this happened, she didn’t panic concentrated only on finding the spiritual connection with Millie.
Her eyes remained closed and darkness was all around her, but suddenly, she could see a faint ball of light hovering in front of her. It looked very similar to the ball of light she had seen before Millie was formed.
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