Flowers, Swords and France

After counting and packing all the paintings left by the old painter, the pair of close friends took a carriage and followed the taxis that transported the paintings back to the Marquis of Treville's house.

Just like in the studio, on the way home, the scenery she saw along the way brought back memories full of memories in Fran's heart.

She has been going back and forth on this road since she was thirteen years old, going to the art studio with her love for painting, and then returning home full of admiration and joy.

She has a grandfather who loves her, a teacher who values ​​her, and she can see her brother at home every time she goes home... How happy she was at that time!

However, now she could no longer find the same feeling she had every time she came home.

When she thought of this, Fran suddenly felt extremely lost.

Because of this loss, the smile on her face disappeared. Even when she returned home, she was not interested. After asking the servants to unload all the paintings and designate a place to store them, she no longer cared about the paintings. Let Mary do her best for her, while she walked back to the mansion, preparing to go to her bedroom to rest first.

However, when she just walked into the living room, she found her brother sitting on the sofa, looking at her with a half-smile and making a joking gesture towards her.

Today...why is he here? The question flashed through her mind, but was quickly replaced by joy.

The long-lost feeling returned to her heart, as if time had not passed.

"Sir!" She rushed towards Charles regardless and ran in front of him, "Why are you here!"

"Can't I be a guest?" Charles asked with a smile.

"No... no! Of course I didn't mean it like that!" Fran quickly shook her head and denied, "I... I was just surprised. Of course, I... I was also very happy! Really, extremely happy!

Seeing his sister talking so incoherently, Ciel couldn't help but laugh harder, and then habitually reached out his hand to touch the blond hair behind her shoulders.

"I haven't seen you for so long, and I'm very happy today."

then. He looked at Fran's clothes again and found some dust on them. He couldn't help but feel a little strange, "You seem to have been busy outside for a long time today?"

"Yes. I went to the teacher's art gallery and collected all the paintings he left for me there," Fran immediately replied, "Didn't you tell me before? I plan to transform it into a Before the museum is built to house the masterpieces collected by our Treville family, I want to keep all the paintings at home.”

"Oh, that's right..." Charles understood, so he wiped her hair again, "You've just come back and you've already started to do it? You're really proactive."

"I will do the things you asked me to do as soon as possible. Is there any problem?" Fran looked at him slightly nervously, "You... you are finally willing to let me help you, so what should I do?" How can I not be active? Are you not satisfied with what I do?"

"No, I'm very satisfied. You've done a good job, and I'm very happy to have this kind of motivation. Just keep doing it, don't worry about anything." Charles quickly comforted the other person, and after a pause, he warned, "If If you need money, just let me know and I will help you.”

"Thank you, sir!" After receiving the recognition, Fran was extremely happy. Looking at his brother with a smile on his face, "I will do my best! Please never doubt my enthusiasm."

Then, she took the opportunity to jump forward with joy, and Ciel, who was caught off guard, subconsciously stretched out his hand. He took her into his arms.

"Hello?!" Charles wanted to push her away, but Fran had already wrapped her arms around his waist. In her haste, she was unable to push her away, but was in a hurry.

The two were entangled for a while, and Charles's face was itchy because her hair was so messed up.

Although this is very similar to the play between the two of them when they were children, Fran's current body is definitely not comparable to the young girl she used to be. The two people were pressed together, and Charles could feel the elastic touch in every detail.

In a blink of an eye, she is almost twenty years old...she has really grown up. A strange idea suddenly flashed through Charles' mind,

"Stop being ridiculous!" After a moment, he finally came to his senses, "I still have something to tell you!"

"What's going on?" Fran still hugged him, but stopped moving. "Can you tell me now?"

Seeing that he couldn't push it away no matter how hard he tried, Ciel had to give up the plan.

"Are you free recently?" He suppressed the strange feeling in his heart and asked in a low voice.

"Are you free? I'm free!" Fran immediately replied, "Do you have anything you want me to do?"

"Yes... something happened." Charles nodded, "Are you willing to go south with someone..."

"Going to the south? With whom?" Fran asked immediately, "If you need me to go, I can prepare my luggage tomorrow."

"You don't need to be so nervous, time is not so urgent." Charles smiled, "I just want you to help me fulfill a contract and complete a transaction. Well, I just want to go with Miss de Beauvin. ”

"Lola?!" Fran's body stiffened slightly when she heard this person, "Her? What on earth is going on?"

"It's like this... I will sell the land I bought in the south to their family, because the railway company they run now needs these lands." Charles cheered up and explained the situation to her. "In order to avoid them doing anything secretly, I hope you can go with Lola to finalize the deal and learn how to run the business."

After Charles' explanation, Fran finally understood.

It turned out that my brother really planned to start using me and let me participate in the family affairs...

"Why did you think of sending me?"

"I'm sorry, I have too many things to do recently. I originally planned to let Charlotte go, but now she is pregnant and it's not easy for her to go around. After thinking about it, I have to trouble you." Charles smiled again, "Besides, we will visit Austria soon, and I'm afraid she doesn't have much time to go back and forth."

"Go to Austria?" Fran was a little confused, "Why are you in a hurry to go to Austria? And, isn't Charlotte pregnant, why should she go with you?"

"Well... we have various considerations." Charles smiled but didn't answer. "Don't ask about such trivial matters."

From his smile, Fran saw some clues and knew that there was something hidden. And she knew that she shouldn't ask any more. She couldn't help but feel jealous of Charlotte who could run around with Charles, but she buried the jealousy well in her heart.

"Of course, I know you don't like Miss de-Bovan. If you don't want to go, I can entrust it to someone else..."

"No, I'm very happy to do it for you." Fran replied quickly. "Please leave it to me!"

This is a kind of experience, and also a kind of trust. She can't live up to this trust. Although Lola is a cruel person, she has fought with her. She is completely confident that she will not lose.

However, after all, it is an important matter, and she can't do it casually according to her own temper. "But can Marie go with me? Marie has been working with you for so long, she knows a lot of things..."

"Even if you don't say so, I want to do it, so you can take her." Charles immediately agreed to her request, "So you have agreed to my mission? Do you have any other requests?"

"No, with Marie's help, I will do my best to achieve the effect you need... I will also study hard. Don't worry, I will be your excellent assistant! Lola can't beat me, I have already weighed her!" Fran cheered and agreed to everything.

"I can't praise the way you weighed her." Charles' face froze slightly.

He thought of the things that his sister and Miss de-Bovan had done not long ago.

France's smile also disappeared, replaced by a face full of regret and apology. "I'm sorry, sir, I was confused for a while and caused you so much trouble... I regret it now..."

The original text is available at Liu # 9 @shu/bar!

Although she was apologizing, to be honest, she didn't feel much guilt in her heart.

Mary was right. If I hadn't done those things, how could this be? She thought to herself.

However, this pitiful look still touched Charles' heart. "Okay, there's no need to talk about the past. We have to look forward. Don't collude with outsiders to deal with me in the future, otherwise I will be really sad."

"Well, look forward, don't worry, I will never plot against you with others again... I will only be your loyal assistant. I will go through fire and water for you and never retreat..." Fran immediately gave a guarantee, and then suddenly rubbed her head towards Charles' face, "Please accept my apology!"

Hey! You don't have to apologize in this way! Charles wanted to scold her, but Fran's movements were too fast, so he didn't have time to say anything for a while. When his sister's lips were close to his face, he was shocked and speechless.

"Ahem!" Just then, there was a noise and a cough on the stairs.

The two siblings were shocked and froze at the same time, and then quickly separated. They turned their heads at the same time, and saw the Marquis of Treville standing on the stairs on the second floor. The old man was looking at the two siblings entangled on the sofa with a strange look.

This... the two of them suddenly felt extremely embarrassed.

"I'll go and rest for a while, you should talk to grandpa first!" Fran ran away with a red face, ran up the stairs to the second floor, and then went straight to her bedroom. Fortunately, her bedroom and grandpa's bedroom were not on the side of the stairs, so she didn't have to face the embarrassment of passing by grandpa.

Facing the gaze of grandpa alone, Charles finally suppressed the embarrassment.

"Grandpa, when I came here just now, I heard that you were resting, so I didn't disturb you. Are you resting well now?"

"I'm fine." The old man still looked at him, and then walked down the stairs step by step, his face was very calm, and there was no abnormality. "What do you want to see me for today?"

"I'm here to see Fran because I have something to tell her."

Charles then told him the task he was going to give Fran, "You see, Fran was so happy just now that she did that, you don't have to take it to heart..."

"Isn't it too early for you to give her such an important task at such a young age?" the old man suddenly asked.

"She is not young anymore. The last time she wanted to do something for me, didn't you support her?" Charles was a little confused.

"But what you are telling her now is not a trivial matter. Besides...she has no experience." The old man still had some doubts.

"Experience can be accumulated. She is very smart. I don't think there is any problem. Besides, I will let Mary follow her. There shouldn't be anything wrong." Charles still insisted on his opinion.

"She has grown up and will go out sooner or later." The old man whispered.

Charles was silent.

"You seem to have regarded her as an outsider in your heart. I feel that this is not good." After a while, Charles became bolder and looked at his grandfather carefully. "I think you...you should continue to treat her as you have in the past, as one of us."

"Have you not read the letter?" the old Marquis asked, his tone full of helplessness, "Although I am as reluctant as you are, we have to face reality after all, child."

She specifically forced Dad to write that letter to us, in order to create the conditions for our union - something he would never dare to say.

"I always feel that the letter is a bit strange. I feel that dad has no reason to do this? Besides, if dad really found an outsider to adopt him, it stands to reason that since he has made such a decision, then he should be adopted in the future Keep silent, keep all secrets in the dark, why do you have to wait for more than ten years and then write a vague letter to tell us this? "

"But that was indeed written by your father." The old man hesitated slightly. “Even if it’s possible it’s not, it’s still possible it’s true.”

"Whether it's true or not, it doesn't matter to me anymore. I don't value bloodline that much. Whether what he said is the truth or not, it makes no difference to me." Charles raised his head and answered, "In any case, She is my closest relative, I have taken care of her since she was a child, and I think our emotional bond is deep enough even if we don’t have blood as a bond.”

When he heard Ciel say, "I don't value bloodline that much," the old man's eyebrows moved, a little unhappy. Obviously, for an old-school aristocrat like him, such words are indeed very unpleasant to hear.

However, he opened his mouth, but in the end he said nothing. After all, that was the granddaughter he had loved for many years... To a certain extent, Ciel's words untied a knot in his heart.

"Well, you are right. I should continue to regard her as my granddaughter, and I still love her." Finally, the old man nodded, and then gave him a sideways glance, "But you two should also pay attention. Come on, why is it like this? I know that you two have been very close since childhood, which is a good thing, but at this age, you should avoid suspicion. "

"Yeah, I know." Charles felt a little embarrassed again.

"Since she is your sister, then don't think too much about it. There are so many women in the world, why bother asking for trouble?" The old man glanced at him again, "Charles, I know that Charlotte is pregnant recently, and you are also pregnant. It’s time to relax, Mary looks very good to me, please spend more time with her..." (~^~)