Flowers, Swords and France

While Charles was still planning his future with his grandfather, Charlotte did not sit quietly and wait for his return. Instead, she paced back and forth in the living room boredly to relieve her slight tension. mood. .

Although she thought in her heart that her cousin would understand justice and let Ciel make the right decision, she could not help but feel a little uneasy in her heart, fearing what might happen.

After all, Charles is also his only grandson. Even the most heroic and fearless warrior would be afraid of risking his only grandson, right?

She had another question in her mind.

However, if the old man really considered it this way, she wouldn't be able to say anything reproachful.

After thinking for a while, she came to a conclusion.

"Okay, then let this elder decide the arrangements. Whatever you want will do!"

After making the decision, she stopped worrying about this matter and turned to find other things for herself.

At this moment, she suddenly remembered a sentence - a sentence that Charles had just inadvertently revealed to her.

"Don't forget, I was patiently teaching my sister just now, but you have rudely disturbed the owner of this room..."

Then, the corners of her mouth raised slightly, revealing a sarcastic sneer.

teach?

What can you teach that little fox, idiot? You, an idiot who is being played around every day without realizing it, want to teach others!

She sneered heavily in her heart.

However, mere mocking words could not relieve the unspeakable disgust that suddenly rose in her heart.

She frowned slightly, then quickly put on a bright smile again, turning to look at the servant at the door.

"Where is your lady now?"

The charming and bright smile made the servant stunned for a moment, and then, after hesitating for a while, he decided to truthfully report to this eldest lady who has had a very good relationship with the family since she was a child.

He answered Charlotte respectfully. "The lady is in the small reception room..."

"I just heard from Charles that he is now giving lessons to Miss Treville?" Charlotte's smile remained unchanged, but she just didn't want to say Fran's name. "What does that mean?"

"Uh..." The servant didn't know how to answer, and looked embarrassed.

"You still have time to please your future mistress, sir." Charlotte raised her eyebrows slightly. "Or are you planning to offend her first?"

Under the authority of Princess Treville, the servant finally chose to answer truthfully.

"Sir...sir is...teaching young lady about household affairs..." As he spoke, some cold sweat broke out on his head.

"Oh, that's it." Charlotte smiled and nodded towards the other party, "Thank you."

Then she turned slightly and walked towards the door without looking back.

"When Charles comes back later, tell him to find me in the small reception room!"

She didn't regard herself as a guest at all...

………………

At this time, Fran was still carefully examining the account books placed on the chessboard with her friend, the Marquis de Leoland, and following Charles' previous explanation, she slowly allowed herself to understand the things hidden in the chessboard. The secret between words and numbers.

Their efforts prevented them from immediately noticing Charlotte appearing at the door.

"Good morning, ladies."

It wasn't until they heard this greeting that they suddenly woke up, and then saw Charlotte in gorgeous clothes. Neither of them spoke for a while.

"No one told me that there was one more person here..." Charlotte walked in gently. She first looked at the Marquis next to Fran, and then her smile became brighter and more cheerful, "You must be De -Hello, Miss Leolan?"

Of course Mary could see the coldness hidden under the smile, "Miss de Treville, good morning." She quickly greeted the other party, and still maintained her apparent calmness.

Being able and liking to judge the other person's level with oneself almost instantly after meeting for the first time, but never telling the difference in level, is a unique hobby among women in ancient and modern times, both at home and abroad.

The two of them met for the first time in this moment of looking at each other, and they also considered each other.

Sure enough, he is not a character to be trifled with!

With smiles on their faces, they came to this conclusion almost simultaneously.

Then, Charlotte ignored her for the time being, but focused her gaze on Fran, who was still sitting coldly and showing no expression.

In this way, the cousins ​​met again after a few months - although there was no sign of happiness on Fran's face.

"Miss Treville, it seems you haven't said hello to me yet?" Charlotte asked with a smile after looking at each other for a few seconds.

"I'm sorry, not every guest will be welcomed by the host," Fran looked at her without flinching, with hatred flashing in her eyes from time to time, "especially those who come uninvited."

Her words did not irritate Charlotte—perhaps it could be said that they had irritated her. Anyway, after hearing her words, Charlotte smiled even harder.

"But, regardless of whether they are welcome or not, shouldn't a well-educated lady treat every guest warmly?" Charlotte walked to the chessboard and stood next to the empty chair where Charles had just sat. "I think this This is a minimum rule that a girl with the honor of being named Treville should know to abide by, right? What’s more, this guest is your cousin..."

Under Charlotte's intentional or unintentional ridicule, Fran couldn't help frowning and her chest rose slightly.

"Good morning." Until the end, Fran finally said hello with difficulty - God knows how hard she worked to suppress the disgust in her heart!

This fully illustrates how empty and false the so-called etiquette of upper class society is.

Hearing this greeting without any meaning, Charlotte smiled and nodded. It seems that she is very satisfied with Fran's way of suppressing her heart.

Then, she gently picked up a ledger on the desk and slowly read through it.

"It seems that Charles is really teaching you this!" After a cursory look, she sighed softly, and then looked at Fran again. "So, how's your studies going, Miss Treville?"

"This has nothing to do with you!"

Fran reached out her hand to take back the small book, but Charlotte quickly pulled the book away, leaving her empty.

"Aren't you willing to answer me? That's really a pity." Charlotte's smile remained unchanged, "Then let me just guess. Your learning progress should be closely related to the person who teaches you. Don't everyone now Doesn’t it mean that students should be taught according to their aptitude? If it’s Ciel’s kind? Idiot, you must be a slow learner, and you might not be able to learn it for a year and a half; if it were me or anyone else, what would happen to our smart, beautiful, and wise Miss Treville? Can it still be considered a problem... I think, all it takes is..."

"Enough! What does this have to do with you!" Fran shouted loudly, completely losing her usual demeanor and demeanor, and startling the Marquis next to her. At this moment, the person next to her was not Fran she knew at all.

She actually has a cousin who hates her so much! Oh, no, they two actually hate each other so much! Mary sighed in her heart and was speechless for a moment.

"I saw this trick of yours six years ago. You were not even ten years old at that time, right?" Charlotte didn't care at all about Fran's scolding and continued to speak calmly. With. "What a promising child, you can play tricks so early! However, you can fool anyone, but you can never fool me... Yes, yes, just use this expression, full of disgust, even It's so beautiful to be able to breathe out fire. Miss Treville is indeed a beauty that everyone knows! Isn't this your truest feeling?"

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

Under her sarcasm after sentence, Fran did not answer at first, but her expression became paler and paler, and finally... as if she had reached a critical point, she suddenly opened her eyes wide and glared at her sister.

Then she sneered.

"Hide? What do you mean? Maybe in your eyes I am acting and hiding, but what qualifications do you have to accuse me? Didn't you mess everything up yourself? Yes, I hate you, I I don’t want to see you, and I hope you never come to pester my poor brother, but is there anything wrong with me thinking this way? My brother is already pitiful. A person has to bear so many things and has such lofty ideals. It hurts me to see him stumbling along like this! Why do you bother him? Don't forget, his world is completely different from the one you want! Wouldn't it be great if you just leave honestly and don't cause too much trouble to us? He has never cried in his arms, right? Because in his heart, you are always just an outsider, a poor person. !”

The girl who opened her chatterbox suddenly seemed to have changed. She said all these words in one breath, which actually made Charlotte stunned.

"Very good, very good! This is our smart and wise Miss Treville!" After a moment, Charlotte laughed again, "'Don't cause us too much trouble.' Did you finally say what was in your heart?" ?”

Fran's face suddenly stiffened, and then she turned her head and looked out the window, as if she didn't want to say anything to her anymore.

"Don't dare to answer? It doesn't matter..." Charlotte still sneered, "Although you have been victorious for a while, what you owe me must be repaid after all. What you want to stop cannot be stopped after all, don't worry Come on! One day I will let you know how big of a mistake you have made..."

"Miss Treville!" a greeting interrupted Charlotte.

It was Mary, and she couldn't listen any more.

Charlotte looked away for the moment with some displeasure.

"Ms. Leorain, is it true that the etiquette you have learned is to interrupt other people's conversations?" There was a hint of coldness in her words.

This cold gaze made Mary stiffen.

In front of Charlotte, who was born in a famous family and enjoyed countless favors and grew up, Mary, who had had many troubles in her life, could not help but feel a little ashamed of herself. However, this self-esteem did not make her feel better, but instead inspired the kind of feeling in her heart. Competitiveness is often accompanied by jealousy.

I won’t lose to you!

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, but... I think you treated Fran even worse than I treated you." She looked at Charlotte calmly, and at the same time, she held Fran's hand tightly with her right hand under the table, as if she wanted to give her support and strength in this way. "You are a guest. Can you sneer at the host as soon as you come to someone else's house? How inappropriate is that? And, as far as I know, aren't you her cousin? You are older than her, shouldn't you take care of her? Even if you had any conflicts before, shouldn't you be magnanimous and forgive? I believe she must have made an unintentional mistake..."

"Oh, an unintentional mistake! You bystanders always have something to say!" Charlotte sneered, "You, you are always like this, often like to be deceived by helpless faces and tears, and then come to blame me, as if everything is because of me doing evil..."

Although she said so, Charlotte's tone finally slowed down a lot, as if she herself knew that it was indeed unreasonable for the two young ladies of the Treville family to quarrel and fight in front of others.

"From what I see now, it is indeed you who are bullying Fran." The Marquis lady is still fearless.

"Whatever you think." Charlotte shook her head indifferently, "Who cares?"

In the face of her sarcasm, Mary stopped answering.

The first confrontation between the two people started and ended quickly, and they were evenly matched, which confirmed their first impressions.

The small reception room fell into a temporary calm.

Flan gave her a grateful look, and Mary still held her hand and smiled back at her to encourage her.

"Alas, people always have a desire to protect lambs, but they don't know that lambs have eaten people. Is it the lambs that killed people? Or is it the stupidity of people?" Charlotte suddenly sighed in an ambiguous way.

Then, she picked up the account book on the table again and examined it carefully.

"It's very tight, and it's really a pity for Charles..." She sighed again, "You don't even want to tell me when you are short of money. Will I not give it to you?"

"Our family still has some backbone. We won't borrow money from outsiders. Don't worry." Fran replied.

"Does a person who enjoys the money earned by others have the right to talk about what is called integrity?" Charlotte mocked.

Then, without waiting for Fran to get angry again, she continued, "Forget it, I don't want to argue anymore. Miss Treville, I have been a secretary with my grandfather for these years and learned a lot of things, including these. If you need it, I don't mind teaching you..."

"I don't need it, thank you..."

"... In this way, after you get married, you can also be a good hostess that everyone praises," Charlotte continued, ignoring Fran's refusal. "It also saves your brother and me from worrying..."

At this moment.

Fran's face turned red in an instant, and a ghost fire almost flashed in her blue eyes.

"Charlotte? Why did you come here!" Charles finally came to the reception room.

"You...what's wrong?" (To be continued.)