A Cold-Hearted Prince Who Has Had 23 Engagements Broken off Is Manipulated by a Useless Young Lady From the Countryside - Chapter 6

(Mother’s love for Ophelia is unstoppable.)

The next morning, when Adonis went to the dining room for breakfast, he noticed that his seat had been changed.

Until the day before, his father and mother had been sitting side by side on one side of the rectangular table, and he and Ophelia were sitting side by side across from him. But this morning he was sitting next to his father, and his mother and Ophelia were sitting side by side on the other side.

“…?”

He was puzzled, but it was Madame Nicolas’s doing.

The reason became clear as soon as the meal began.

“Ophelia, this is how you hold a knife.”

The Madame directly placed her hand on Ophelia’s hand to instruct her.

“Ophelia! You’ve got sauce on your cheek again! You’re such a handful,” she said, wiping her cheek eagerly.

In any case, the Madame was very happy to be able to take care of Ophelia.

The seating arrangement was changed to teach her step by step.

Marquis Bahnhof watched this scene with a smile.

It was the first time he had seen his wife so happy since their marriage.

She would often skip breakfast because she had a headache.

After scolding Ophelia, Madame Nicola suddenly became worried.

(Will Ophelia hate me if I nag her too much?)

“Um… well, Ophelia. I’ve been nagging you a lot, but I’m not saying it because I hate you.”

“Yes, Mrs. Nicola.” Ophelia replied, blushing.

“I lost my mother when I was young, so… I’m actually glad.”

“Eh?”

“I wonder if this is what my mother would be like if she were still alive. It makes me feel a little warm inside. Hehe.”

“Ophelia!”

The lady was overcome with emotion and hugged Ophelia.

“Yes… that’s right. You will one day become Adonis’ wife, so you are practically my daughter. From now on, you can call me mother.”

As she said this, she re-tied Ophelia’s ribbon.

Adonis was shocked.

Thinking that it was best to get out of the situation quickly, she quickly stuffed her breakfast into her stomach.

“Thank you for the meal. I’ll be off now…”

“Wait a moment, Adonis!”

She was stopped in a second by her mother.

“I’ve come up with a plan for Ophelia’s future education. I’ll ask you to help me.”

Even Ophelia herself had never heard of this plan before.

The lady’s idea was this.

She had to brush up on her knowledge, skills, and appearance at a rapid pace.

“Knowledge” meant memorizing things like the world situation, the country’s history, and information about the main people in high society.

“Skills” meant acquiring the hobbies of an aristocratic lady, such as dancing, horseback riding, and embroidery.

Appearance is about how to wear a dress and have elegant manners.

“I’ll take care of the attire and manners,” Madame Nicolas declared excitedly.

Fashion and elegance are her two greatest specialties.

“Then let’s arrange for a first-class lecturer for the lectures,” Marquis Bahnhof suggested.

“That would be very helpful! Thank you.”

The lady’s face lit up.

Not only was he able to talk to his wife, but she even thanked him!

Marquis Bahnhof was so happy that he did a little dance inside.

He then realized that he could talk to Nicolas by using Ophelia as an excuse.

(He must make sure that Miss Ophelia stays in this house forever, no matter what…)

The Marquis made a firm promise to himself.

“So, Adonis, I want you to be in charge of dancing, horse riding, and introducing yourself to the noble community.”

“Huh? No. I have no intention of getting involved.”

Adonis tried to refuse, but his plea was completely ignored.

Ophelia was surprised.

She had assumed that bridal training would involve housework.

(She was supposed to be feeding soup to an old, feeble old man…)

Once again, she was reminded that this was a marquis’s home.

What was expected of her was completely different from the countryside where she was born and raised.

She was worried. Would she be able to do it?

Even by countryside standards, she was useless.

She didn’t think she could ever become a daughter of a marquis’s level.

Adonis noticed that Ophelia looked worried.

“Mother, look! Ophelia is also in trouble. To begin with, I don’t know if she’ll really marry me. There’s also the possibility that the engagement will be broken off…”

She tries to stop herself from being dragged into this troublesome plan.

“Stop saying such inauspicious things!”

The lady glared at Adonis with a terrifying expression.

It was written on her face that she would not let the engagement be broken off… But then, in the next moment, she opened her eyes wide and looked at her son.

“Oh, Adonis, you remembered Ophelia’s name! That’s rare.”

Then she looked meaningfully at Adonis and grinned.

“See? Ophelia is different from the ladies we’ve seen so far.”

Adonis’ resistance was in vain, and thus the “Let’s raise Ophelia to be a proper lady!” project was launched.

But…

Ophelia was far more useless than everyone expected.

First of all, her manners. Every movement was the Ultra 3K of “spill, break, fall.”

It was far from the pursuit of beauty.

Another problem was her devastating lack of aesthetic sense.

It was even worse that she was completely unaware of it.

Incidentally, the creepy dog ​​figurine she gave to Adonis the other day was something Ophelia had chosen with sincerity, saying,

“It’s cute! It’s stylish!”

It was usually Adonis who was the victim of Ophelia’s clumsiness.

Dance lessons were a disaster.

Adonis was stepped on many times and ruined several pairs of shoes.

Another time, something like this happened.

Ophelia was trying to give a handkerchief that she had embroidered to Marquis Bahnhof as a gift.

“This is to thank you for the dress you bought me the other day. I think it’s not bad for a first piece.”

He looked and saw that Ophelia’s fingers were covered in bandages.

“Thank you Ophelia. But you should give it to Adonis rather than me. It’s a custom in this country to give an embroidered handkerchief as a talisman to one’s fiance.”

Marquis Bahnhof managed to get away with it.

His intuition in avoiding it before even seeing the work is truly impressive. And the handkerchief that Adonis got in his hands was… a very avant-garde piece.

(Wh-what’s with that “so-so” thing?!)

Irregularly tangled “balls” of threads were sticking out everywhere, creating a strange three-dimensional effect.

There was even a blood stain from when he pricked his finger on it. It was scary.

Wow…it looks like it’s more like a curse than a talisman.)

“Hmm? Hmm?”

Adonis tried to unfold the handkerchief in his hand… but.

“I can’t unfold this handkerchief. How can I use it!”

The handkerchief was still sewn on while still folded in four.

“…” 

The Marquis and Madame Nicolas were speechless, unable to follow up.

“How could you make something so horrible? You’re such a loser… haha! Hehehe.”

Adonis was laughing!?

The Marquis and his wife and the servants were shocked.

No one had ever seen Adonis laugh.

“Ophelia! How wonderful!”

Madame Nicolas took Ophelia’s hand, her eyes tearing up.

“You know, Adonis receives mountains of handkerchiefs. But yours is the first handkerchief to make her smile!”

That’s not quite the smile… though.

He certainly had a drawer full of beautifully embroidered handkerchiefs. But he had never remembered the designs or who sent them.

The first time he’d ever remembered the name of his fiance…

The first time she’d given him a handkerchief that made such an impression…

The first time she’d made him laugh was when this poor, clumsy girl from the countryside came.

At this point, no one had noticed that the “ice” inside Adonis was slowly melting.

…Not even Adonis himself.