NOVEL NEXT Side Story: Juliette’s Diary
Dear Diary,
My name is Juliette Fou Sera Carmine, I am the first daughter, as well as the second child, of the Carmine Ducal House. I live together with Mama and Papa in our Estate here in the capital, while my elder brother, Jorgé-nii, runs Papa's territory in the west.
I was instructed by Mama to try writing and keeping a diary. She said that a diary was an important tool for a lady of the house, and that I should learn how to keep one as well.
According to her, back when there was still a war going on, Papa would often leave her in the estate to defend our lands against the savages. She said that those times, though she knew were necessary, were extremely lonely for her, and that it was her diary that helped her get through with it.
She also said that it was important to keep a record of the things happening, so that we, as women, would have evidence to back our claims, but I didn't really understand that part.
Now, I have no clue as to what I should write about, Mama said that it was fine to just relate the important happenings of my everyday life into this diary, but at the moment, nothing really significant has happened. I spent my day just about how any normal person would. Although I did sneak away from my etiquettes instructor, the look on her face while she was looking for me was priceless. But that's about it.
I'll continue writing this tomorrow, when Papa comes home, I hope he brings something interesting. I always look forward to the souvenirs and stories he brings home.
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27th Day of the Evening Star,
Vanosian Year, 1265
House Carmine Estate, Belmont.
Dear Diary,
Papa returned home from his trip to the Southern territory, Rossi, today.
He brought the tea leaves that were said to be the best in the kingdom! However, that was only in name. I wasn't really that impressed by it when we tasted it in the mini tea party in the courtyard. Mama looked happy with it, but I still preferred the sweet tea that Milin always prepares for me. Maybe it's because my palates haven't matured yet? Mama did say that when she was younger she had a sweet tooth, but outgrew them when she grew older. Although, If growing up means not liking sweets anymore, then frankly speaking, I don't want to grow up.
After tea it was my etiquettes lesson with miss Tilde. As always, she was the grumpy old hag that I've come to know. It was quite annoying how she would always say, "Juliette don't" or "Juliette No" or even "Juliette that's not how a lady would act." Ughhh.. I can't help it! The etiquettes lessons are sooo boring! I don't need to learn those stuff, I already know those!
I think she just wants the money, that's why even though she knows that I already know those things, she still insists to Mama and Papa that I need her, and that I wasn't a lady yet. Ugh, I hope she trips and fall. Why can't I just spend my days leisurely around the estate?? All the worker's children do that. I sometimes catch glimpse of them playing around in outsiders the worker's lodging. Without a care in the world, they would run around chasing each other, they would laugh and tease each other, and then cry when they get hurt.
Why can't I, the Duke's daughter, play like they do?? I don't think it's fair! Whenever I go there people just make a big deal out of it. The parents would also hide their kids whenever I approach them, frankly speaking, I find that disrespectful. I did try telling that to Milin, but she just said that their just afraid that their children might do something to offend me. She even told me to go play with the other noble children, but I don't want that. I've seen what they do for "fun". They sit around playing tea pretend, while while laughing "Ohohoho" it's so booooring!
Haah, I hope Jorgé-nii visits us again. He always plays along with what ever game I want whenever I ask him.
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29th Day of the Evening Star,
Vanosian Year, 1265
Dear Diary,
Today while walking around the estate with Milin, I heard two of the maids talk about a new sweets store that opened in the city. I was extremely curious about it. You see, I have a sweet tooth, and I love discovering new sweets that I haven't tried before. So of course I'll want to know about a new store.
I summoned them to my chamber to ask them. But when they got there, their faces were pale as snow! I didn't what to make of that. Of course, it was very peculiar for me, a seven year old daughter of the Duke, to summon them without any cause, so their reaction was understandable.
After reassuring them that they didn't do anything wrong, I started to ask them questions about that sweet store. It turns out, a relatively famous company from the Sylvan Territories had opened up a new sweet store right here in the capital, and their having an opening ceremony tomorrow.
Of course I won't miss that opportunity! The honour of tasting the new sweets that came to the capital first shall be mine! I already asked Papa and tomorrow Milin and I, along with a number of guards will go to the sweet shop. I hope it can meet my expectations, I'm so excited!
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1st Day of the Morning Star,
Vanosian Year, 1266
House Carmine Estate, Belmont.
Dear Diary,
A lot has happened since I last wrote an entry. First of all, my little trip to the new sweet store was a success. I was the first to taste their flagship delicacy, "Sweet of the East" and it was exquisite. I had Milin buy me a whole box so that I could share some with Mama and Papa. Unfortunately, the day didn't end at that.
On our way home, I saw a very beautiful butterfly flutter. There was something about it's wing pattern, a vibrant colour of red and black, that caught my attention, as if it was drawing me in. So I followed it, I was so drawn to it that I didn't realize I had lost my guards and gotten lost. Of course, I remained calm. I did not at all cry, whoever said I did is a liar and a meanie. I tried to backtrack my direction, but I just got lost even more, then I found an open space, where I uhh.. rested, yes.
While I was resting there, and definitely not crying, I encountered someone, a boy. He was very small, dirty and smelly. There were also wounds and bruises around his body, frankly speaking, he looked like a ghoul or a zombie. Of course, I wasn't scared or anything! He came up to me and told me to stay quiet. Then came this man, this disgusting man that wanted me to come with him. Long story short, the boy fought the man and killed him, then he succumbed to his wounds, and I saved him.
I named that boy Larc after I managed to convince Papa to let me keep him, or uhm.. hired him as my butler. Of course that came at a cost, I promised Papa that I would properly attend my lessons from now on, and that Larc will have to train under Ser Alford. But that's fine, I guess. With Larc I have someone I can spend time with and do whatever I want to. Also, he is pretty funny to keep around. Honestly speaking, that whole ordeal in the slums is nothing to me now, I'm not even affected anymore, I'm just looking forward to playing with this new pet of mine.
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12th Day of the Morning Star
Vanosian Year, 1266
House Carmine Estate, Belmont.
Dear Diary,
Today I had an appointment with our head butler, Ser Alford. He taught me the basics of sword wielding and hand to hand combat, of course Mama was extremely displeased with it, but Papa managed to convince her that it was necessary.
The whole lesson was surprisingly interesting, I never would have guessed that Ser Alford was that talented in combat, but I guess he's not the head butler and my Papa's bodyguard for no reason. My pet was there as well, Larc is currently under the wings of Ser Alford, learning from him the responsibilities and duties of a butler. He was also surprisingly good with the sword, and even more so in hand to hand combat. Even Papa was dumfounded by the moves he was performing, they weren't like any martial art in this country.
After the lesson, I had Larc and Milin accompany me to relax in the gardens. Larc showed his newly found skill in tea-making, which is, for the lack of better word, horrid. He didn't know which tea leaves to boil and which sweet goes with that tea. It was quite amusing watching him fumble around in the kitchen. After that we played around some more, before Ser Alford called for him once more.
Nothing interesting happened after that, Mama just called me in and told me to clean myself up, I was quite dirty to be honest, we played around and got a lot of leaves and dirt stuck to my dress, which greatly displeased Mama. All in all, today was a fun day.
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23rd Day of the Morning Star,
Vanosian Year, 1266
House Carmine Estate, Belmont
Dear Diary,
Today isn't a particularly good day. I got invited to a tea party hosted by the daughter of Count Oakney. I told Mama that I didn't want to go, but she said that Countess Oakney was a good friend of hers, and that she also wanted to spend time with them. So I had no choice but to go along.
The party itself wasn't really that bad, the music was good as well as the food. My irritation lied with the people there. The girls were all looking at me weirdly while the boys kept on pestering me, Mama said that they were only just doing that because they liked me, but I didn't like any of them.
Fortunately, Larc was there with me. He stood there right by my side and acceded to my every command. I could overhear Mama's friends asking her about my pet, how he was so small and cute and that it was surprising how well he could carry himself. Frankly speaking, I was quite pleased with how they praised Larc. Any praise aimed at the pet is also akin to a praise aimed at the master of course.
Unfortunately though, Larc was targeted by a particularly haughty boy. He came close to Larc and pushed him, of course this made me very angry, I came up to him and shouted at him, but he didn't listen! He continued insulting Larc and stomping at him. Of course I wasn't crying, but I was very angry. I hated seeing my pet get treated like that, so I pushed him back. Only after he saw who I was that he began crying himself, his Mama did apologize to me and assured us that he was getting scolded when they get home. I wasn't crying, mind you, but I helped Larc get up, and he thanked me. Of course I wasn't happy with that, I was just doing what any pet owner would do.
After saying goodbye to Countess Oakney, Mama and I went home. I wasn't really worried about Larc, but I did ask Mama if he could see our healer, to which she agreed. After that, Larc said that he was fine and went to the worker's lodging, I think he's already resting right now. Well, that's how my day went, I can't wait to play around again tomorrow.
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6th Day of the First Seed
Vanosian Year, 1267
House Carmine Estate, Belmont
Dear Diary,
Jorgé-nii came to visit us here in the capital today. He and Papa talked with each other for a while in private, before coming to the gardens to have tea with us. I wanted to play with him together with Larc afterwards, but he said he had an errand to run.
I don't get Jorgé-nii. Before, whenever he was around, he would always go along with my whims, he would stop whatever it was he was doing to play with me, he said it was because we rarely see each other. But ever since Larc came, he rarely plays with me anymore. Often times he would just smile and say that I have Larc so I should go play with him instead. I think he's just being jealous of Larc.
Oh, apparently, Jorgé-nii was meeting with his fiancé, Princess Camilla. Makes me think that he likes spending time with that woman more than us. But I'm not jealous or anything! It's just that, because of this, I had also wondered what kind of man my fiancé will turn out to be. Frankly speaking, none of the boys I've met so far is anywhere near the caliber of Jorgé-nii.
After Jorgé-nii left, I went straight to the courtyard where Larc and Ser Alford usually train. I watched the two of them trade blows as Ser Alford gave out instructions. Of course Larc always lost, the gap between their strength and experience was too wide.
Oh and I also just only noticed this, but Larc's far from the boy I rescued in the slums a year and a half ago. He's visibly taller now, and his thin frame is nowhere to be seen, frankly speaking, he had grown. Though I'm not at all happy about that! I was just surprised about how good food and a home could change a person.
Well, I'm sure that he'll keep changing even more, for now I'll just keep quiet and watch.
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4th Day of the Frost Fall,
Vanosian Year, 1268
House Carmine Estate, Carmine
Dear Diary,
We arrived today at Papa's territory for a vacation. We haven't been here in a while so I was particularly excited. Hundreds of maids and servants greeted us at the Estate's entrance, as well as Jorgé-nii.
Larc and I spent the entire day wandering aroun the city, just looking at the souvenirs and sweets. Oh, and Milin was there as well, I almost forgot. The capital of Papa's territory, Sundgard, was extremely lively. You can clearly see that the people were prospering under Jorgé-nii's leadership.
Larc also gave me a gift today, not that I'm happy or anything, I was just a little surprised. He presented me a beautiful golden hair pin, of course it wasn't real gold, but it was still beautiful nonetheless. I wore it for the rest of the day, ah! But not because I loved it, I just thought that it might make him sad if I don't.
After exploring the city, we came back home and joined Mama and Papa in catching up with their close friends. Afterwards, we were invited into the courtyard by Jorgé-nii, well, Larc was invited, by I came along nonetheless. Of course if you invite the pet, it's only natural that the master would accompany it, I was not at all lonely.
I was quite surprised when Jorgé-nii threw a sword and a shield, the training ones, at Larc. He told him to pick the arms up, it turns out, he invited us in order to spar with Larc. He said that he wanted to ascertain Larc's training, but I know that he just wanted to show off.
The outcome was what you would expect, Jorgé-nii completely obliterated Larc. None of Larc's attack even reached Jorgé-nii as he just danced around, nimbly avoiding everything Larc threw at him. It was as if he could see where Larc was going, before he even got there. Well, it's not really that surprising. I only just learned a little while ago, but Jorgé-nii was considered to be the strongest duelist in the kingdom, even at a young age! He's said to be stronger than the head of the royal guards himself! So even though Larc got blasted, I don't think he should feel bad, in fact, I think he should be proud that he was even able to survive more than two minutes against Jorgé-nii.
I wanted to play with Larc some more after that, but unfortunately, he was too tired to even move around. Servants had to carry him to his room. So I just spent the rest of the day with Jorgé-nii. Nothing special happened after that.
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12th Day of the Last seed,
Vanosian Year, 1270
House Carmine Estate, Belmont
Dear Diary,
The most amazing thing happened today. Larc has finally bested Ser Alford in single combat! How exhilarating is that! All his hard work have finally paid off today. Of course I'm not at all enthralled by him, I'm just a bit happy.
Their duel was quite beautiful to be honest, the way they moved around trying to counter each other, their grit, perseverance, it was all fun to watch. Larc's eyes were showing a different fire today, it roared inside, as if it was ready to run down Ser Alford. When the two clashed for the last time, it was Ser Alford who fell down!
The news that Ser Alford was bested reached Papa relatively fast. Well, It was expected that it would spread like wildfire. See Alford was second only to Jorgé-nii when it comes to martial might in our house. Papa called for Larc right after they cleaned themselves up and congratulated him. I was a little bit happy when Papa said that he had big expectations for Larc, of course any master would be happy if their pet gets praised.
Looking at him, I noticed today that he was already taller than me. I hadn't realized it sooner because I was always with him. You can see from his build that he was always meant to be tall. Maybe Jorgé-nii was right when he said that Larc might be from the North. From what I've read, Northmen were relatively bigger than Southerners, mainly because of their climate, but I digress. Of course, I wasn't overjoyed that he grew to be taller than me, obviously. I was just a little happy that my pet is growing, yes.
Tomorrow I believe, See Alford will be teaching him body strengthening. I wanted to learn as well, but he said that my body wasn't built for that, and I would only hurt myself, so I didn't push it any further. Maybe I'll just keep watching them tomorrow after I sneak out of my history lesson. Haah I'm looking forward to it.