The dishes Mia listed were ones she often saw in the kitchen at the Ivan household—meals reserved for the higher-ranking butlers and senior servants. She could only savor their aroma from afar, and ever since she was young, she had dreamed of indulging in a hearty feast of them.
The more Arthur listened, the more something felt off. He interrupted Mia before she could continue, "Mia—!"
"What's wrong?" Mia asked, puzzled. Had she ordered too much?
Before Arthur could respond, Tina, who had slipped into the room unnoticed, chimed in cheekily, "Miss Mia, why are you stealing our breakfast?" She couldn't hold back her laughter, covering her mouth, while Jenny, who had been standing in the room, burst into giggles as well.
"Really?" Mia didn't catch the teasing in Tina's tone and genuinely thought the dishes she wanted were Tina and Jenny's breakfast. Feeling a bit embarrassed, she said, "Oh, then forget it. I'll eat something else."
"Oh my goodness, Miss Mia! You actually believed—" Tina couldn't believe Mia had taken her words at face value and even felt guilty about it. Before she could finish, Arthur shot her a look, silencing her.
Arthur reached out and gently pulled Mia into his arms, her words tugging at his heart once again.
"Mia, since the dishes you want are what Tina and Jenny eat, let's have the breakfast Jenny prepared for today. We'll have what you want another time, alright?"
"Okay," Mia nodded obediently in Arthur's embrace. For her, just having breakfast was enough—she wasn't picky about what she ate. Besides, with Arthur, who treated her so kindly, by her side, she felt that even if she were to die at this moment, she'd have no regrets.
After a breakfast far more lavish than she'd expected, Mia found herself in the living room of Snowhaven. Arthur had summoned a tailor to measure her for new clothes, and he wouldn't take no for an answer.
"Arthur, I already have clothes," Mia protested, making one last attempt as the tailor stood before her.
"Mia, the clothes you brought have already been taken by Tina and the others to be burned," Arthur replied, meaning she had no clothes to wear now.
"Why? They were perfectly fine!" Several of those outfits were brand new, made especially because Mr. Ivan insisted that, as they were heading to the North Desert to accompany the young lady, they couldn't afford to embarrass her. Mia had been reluctant to wear them, so they were still pristine.
Arthur smiled but didn't answer directly. "Mia, once I've made up my mind, I don't change it. Besides, the tailor has come all this way—surely you wouldn't want him to have made the trip for nothing, would you?"
In truth, the tailor was from the Moore family, and coming to Snowhaven wasn't much trouble at all. Arthur said this purely to coax the kind-hearted Mia into letting the tailor measure her for new clothes.
Having experienced Arthur's domineering nature twice that morning, Mia glanced at the tailor, who was patiently waiting nearby, and stood up without further objection.
After the measurements were taken, it was time to choose the fabric.
As Mia looked at the rows of neatly arranged fabrics, she could tell they were expensive. When she reached out to touch them, she couldn't help but ask the tailor, who had been following her closely, "Sir, these fabrics must be very costly, right?"
The tailor glanced at Arthur, who was still seated, and only after receiving a subtle nod did he respond to Mia. "Miss Mia, these fabrics are indeed pricier than those in the shops, but that's because they're made of superior materials."
"I see," Mia said, already deciding in her heart to pick the cheapest one. Otherwise, she'd feel uneasy wearing anything made from such luxurious materials.
Mia searched for a while and finally spotted what seemed to be the least expensive fabric—it looked so plain and unremarkable. Pointing at it, she said to the tailor, "I'll take this one!"
Upon seeing her choice, the tailor's face lit up with excitement. "Oh, Miss Mia, what an excellent eye! You've chosen the finest of the fine—this is premium silk woven from celestial silkworms! It takes ten years to produce a single bolt of this fabric. Though its color is simple and understated, that's the true hue of celestial silk! Only a true connoisseur would recognize its value. This fabric is worth millions!"
The tailor went on enthusiastically, completely oblivious to the fact that Mia's hands were trembling so much she could barely hold anything…
When Mia first stepped into Moore Manor, she knew the Moore family was vast and powerful. But it wasn't until Arthur took her on a tour of some of the manor's scenic spots that she truly grasped the meaning of boundless expanse. Even after three full days of exploring, she hadn't seen even a third of Moore Manor.
The manor's gardens were divided into four sections, each named after a season: Spring in the east, Summer in the south, Autumn in the west, and Winter in the north. Each section spanned hundreds of hectares, filled with plants suited to its respective theme. Spring peach blossoms, summer lotuses, autumn chrysanthemums, and winter plums were the crowning jewels of these four garden districts.
It was now the transition from autumn to winter. The spring peaches had long fallen, the summer lotuses had withered, but the autumn chrysanthemums were in full bloom, and the winter plums were beginning to bud. While it was a pity not to see the sky filled with peach blossoms or the endless green of lotus leaves, the sight of countless chrysanthemums—vibrant, varied, and breathtakingly beautiful—was enough to leave Mia in awe.
Under the gardeners' meticulous care, the endless sea of chrysanthemums was arranged in a seemingly haphazard yet harmonious pattern, highlighting their unparalleled, subtle beauty. The sight was so stunning it left visitors reluctant to leave.
This single view captivated Mia, but as Arthur took her to other parts of the manor, each new scene left her even more astonished, almost making her forget everything else.
What fascinated Mia the most was that the Moore estate was surrounded by an endless expanse of grassland, just like the ones she'd seen in nature.