New World, New Life: I Became A Bigshot In The Ancient World
Chapter 132: IS THAT JEALOUSY, I SEE?

Chapter 132: IS THAT JEALOUSY, I SEE?

Aristia picked up a blank sheet of paper and started writing.

After putting down the last word, she folded the paper and put it into an envelope. Then, she sealed it using candle wax.

She left the parlor not long after. She met the Grand Duke just outside the door.

He was aware of her intention to purchase the art store as she later revealed it to him.

"That was the man I told you about," she said simply as she guessed they would have met. "Mister Randall."

Wilson hummed and they started to walk together.

"I gave him five percent of the shares." Aristia continued.

Her action of informing her new parents of her plans and actions, and explaining to them showed the level of reliance she had on them. She had promised herself and she would try to keep it.

Wilson raised a brow, then nodded. As usual, he didn’t have any objections.

"Tomorrow I will leave for the store Papa. I have to make some arrangements and take care of some things. Could you please help me give this to Owen?"

"Alright," Wilson collected the envelope and ruffled her hair in reply. After he was satisfied, he patted the hair back in place gently.

He chuckled when Aristia stared up at him with disapproval written all over her face, and left.

[The audacity of this man!] Aristia thought as she glared at his back.

Aristia headed towards her room.

"What is with him and my hair?" She murmured, smoothing her hair over again.

Once inside the room, she placed the signed documents inside a drawer. She closed the drawer and sighed.

"What’s wrong, princess Tia? Is there something you don’t like in the documents?" Adeline asked with an expression of worry on her face.

Aristia shook her head. If there was something wrong with the documents, she wouldn’t have accepted it in the first place.

[I guess I’m just... bored.]

There wasn’t much to do to rid boredom in this world for someone who had lived in a modern, technologically advanced world.

If it were her world, she could use her phone, go skiing, play games, watch movies or play with the mischievous bunch she called nieces and a nephew.

The point was, there were lots of things she could do. But here, she could only ride horses, play pretend tea time, play with the dolls, read boring books and attend tea parties. And she was not too excited about the last option.

Those options were a bit bland for someone who had had better options.

"Let’s return to the garden, Linny." There was no point thinking about what she once had. She might as well make the best of what she now had.

[After all, these people don’t have those things and they don’t get bored... I think. I just have to find out what they do for fun apart from the ones I’ve already mentioned.]

Aristia walked back to the garden with Adeline in tow.

The air was still cold but sunlight peeked through the clouds, casting a warm glow over the garden.

Alaric and Lilith had finished their drawings and were now looking at his storybook together, while Liam had taken up his wooden sword again, practicing his swings with careful concentration. Lauren glanced up as Aristia approached, and a smile appeared on her face.

Aristia returned the smile and took her seat at the table again, and for a while, she just listened to Alaric and Lilith’s chatter.

However, she happened to catch Liam’s gaze on her.

[Liam was Aristia’s favorite cousin according to the book.] She thought,. meeting his Ruby orbs silently.

Liam just stared at her. She had said she would explain about Randall the previous day but they had been so busy with their plan that it had escaped his mind.

Later, she had exposed her identity. After that, he didn’t need anymore answers.

"Are you really closer to the royal family than you are with us?"

All of a sudden, Liam asked that unexpected question, throwing Aristia off guard.

She had expected to be asked about what she discussed with Randall, instead she was asked this...

The question attracted Lauren’s attention and she also turned to stare at Aristia, eager to hear an answer.

Aristia watched Liam. He had stopped swinging his sword and was instead leaning on it while waiting for her, but she could see the trace of annoyance between his brows.

Was this about the royal family being aware of her secret identity when they were not aware? Aristia wondered.

[Wait... Is that jealousy, I see?]

But she still didn’t know what to say.

"Uh... I-I— wait... I don’t..." Aristia was a bit surprised.

[Why did I stutter? Why am I stuttering?] She thought, horrified.

It was just a simple yes or no question. Yet, for some reason, she couldn’t answer.

[Am I scared to hurt his feelings?] Aristia thought, confused. She couldn’t say yes because she felt she would undoubtedly hurt his feelings, and yet she couldn’t say no because she would be lying to him.

[But I feel more relaxed with him than with Ivan. I’m closer to the royal family, but I feel closer with Liam than with Ivan. Ugh! Why does it have to be so complicated?]

Seeing her silence, Liam sighed, already choosing an answer for himself. Somehow his chest ached at the assumption.

Aristia had always been closer to his family and to him. But all of a sudden, she seemed different, distant.

He noticed how closer she seemed with the royal family than with them, but it never truly bothered him.

Up until the previous night, when he found out her secret identity and that the royal family was already aware.

It had been months since the restaurant’s building and construction, and yet, they had no idea.

Why had she chosen to let the royal family know and not them? That question bothered Liam. It also confirmed his thoughts that Aristia was now closer to the royal family.

He shook his head. It didn’t matter who Aristia was closer to. She would still be his favorite cousin.

So he pushed down his sadness and disappointment and said,

"Never mind answering. It really doesn’t matt—"

But he was interrupted.

"I-I like you a lot, brother Liam." Aristia didn’t know when the words left her mouth. But they were filled with sincerity. "I like Laura a lot too."

Liam was stunned for a moment. He hadn’t expected her to answer. The next moment, he smiled widely and went back to swinging his sword, feeling oddly satisfied.

Lauren immediately approached Aristia with a small bouquet of flowers in her hands. "For you, Tia. And I like you a lot, too." She said with a smile, offering the flowers to Aristia.

Immediately she heard Aristia’s answer, she picked up the bouquet of flowers she had gathered for Aristia and handed them to her.

Aristia formed a smile as she accepted the bouquet. "Thank you, Lauren. These are beautiful." She brought it to her nose and took a whiff. And they smell good too."

They were pretty flowers that only grew in the north.

Lauren beamed at the praise and her cheeks tinged with pink.

She looked so adorable, Aristia couldn’t help but pinch her cheeks.

"Look Laura, look Tia, I’m making a flower crown!" Lilith ran in front of them and showed them the flower in her hand.

Aristia tried to control herself from laughing. Lilith’s flower crown was really... well, if she hadn’t said what it was, Aristia wouldn’t have been able to guess.

"That’s not how to do it." Alaric objected, following after her with a disapproving frown.

"It is." Lilith humphed in annoyance.

"This is how a flower crown should be." Alaric raised his. It was better than Lilith’s. At the very least it looked like a crown made of flowers.

Lilith pouted and turned away from Alaric, sulking.

Aristia took some flowers too and got to making a flower crown.

"That’s not how you do it too, Tia." Lauren laughed.

Aristia’s crown looked like she had heaped the flowers and squeezed them while trying to join them together.

Aristia, "..."

After many attempts and lessons from Lauren and Alaric, she finally got it right. "This is for you, Lily." She placed it carefully on Lilith’s hair.

Lilith beamed with a wide smile. She was a very cute child. Her Ivory hair swayed and her emerald green eyes sparkled with glee. "Thank you, Tia."

As usual, Aristia couldn’t help pinching her soft, chubby cheeks.

She sighed. [At this point, they might start calling me the Pincher.]

A servant approached them, interrupting their activities.

"Young Masters and Misses, where would you like to have lunch?" She looked like she worked in the kitchen.

"Right here in the garden," Lauren replied.

Liam was too focused on training and Aristia looked like she was okay with anywhere. Alaric and Lilith also didn’t reply.

The servant bowed and left the garden.

Whoosh!

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