Chapter 008
* * *
“They know too. They’re just pretending not to. It’s not exactly a proud expenditure, so I’d prefer it if you pretended not to know as well.”
I spoke nonchalantly.
“That’s the money spent on my engagement five years ago. It was for behind-the-scenes maneuvering, which is why it wasn’t written down in detail.”
Lancie nearly tumbled out of his chair. A look of disbelief and shock crossed his eyes.
“What? Your engagement, My Lady?”
“That’s what I said.”
“No, I mean—does it even make sense to get engaged at seven years old?” He added with a groan, “And to spend such a massive sum… good heavens, what kind of insane person would pull such a stunt…?”
“My mother led the charge.”
Having accidentally spoken the truth, Lancie struck his own mouth hard.
“Wendy’s ghost possessed me for a moment there.”
He was clearly in quite a panic. I decided to drop an even more shocking remark.
“I was dumped anyway. I’ve handled everything, so you don’t need to worry. The request for annulment arrived the very day Alpheus became the Marquis.”
Lancie clutched the back of his head.
“You mean they asked for an annulment immediately because you’re no longer the heir of Sayers? Does that make any sense?”
“It makes more sense than staying engaged when the conditions no longer align.”
“No, I mean, who on earth calculates every single detail like that and gets married without losing a single penny!”
“My parents.”
I explained calmly.
“My mother was a princess of a fallen kingdom with no dowry, so she had no choice but to marry a divorced man ten years her senior. My father, as you know, publicly talked about wanting to leave the title to his ‘missing eldest son’ all the time, so he couldn’t marry any decent imperial noble lady.”
It was truly a political marriage of convenience between two people with equally poor conditions.
“It was a precise union of two people who had no substance but plenty of name value. Based on the conditions, neither held any superiority over the other.”
“B-but…”
“Besides, well, my fiancé anyway…” I muttered bitterly. “He wasn’t particularly fond of the engagement to begin with. The conditions were heavily tilted from the start, and I didn’t expect it to actually reach the stage of marriage smoothly.”
Lancie took a sharp breath and finally managed to ask:
“M-My Lady… are… are you alright?”
I furrowed my brows slightly. The question felt foreign. Only after a moment did I realize that no one had ever asked me, ‘Are you alright?’
The maids didn’t ask me such things. They didn’t dare speak such words. And my parents…
“Nobody likes a whining child, Lancie,” I replied flatly. “Adults find it bothersome when a child isn’t ‘alright.’”
In truth, I wasn’t alright on the day of the engagement either. I just hadn’t been able to tell anyone.
“Let’s end this topic here. What was the favor you wanted to ask?”
“I suddenly don’t want to ask anymore. I have a sense of tact too.”
“Then you must have also sensed that if you don’t ask now, I won’t leave you alone because the feeling of being pitied makes me sick.”
“B-but if I ask like this, I feel like a part of my heart will be very uncomfortable…”
“That just means your heart will be much more comfortable overall if you just ask, so get on with it.”
As I replied ruthlessly, Lancie sighed once and spoke cautiously.
“Then, My Lady, I am truly sorry, but… could I ask you for… the education of the maids?”
I could feel him desperately choosing his words, fearing he might offend me.
“The maids of the mansion are currently looking down excessively on Lord Alpheus and us, his people.”
In fact, the very fact that he brought up this request could be seen as him acknowledging me.
“We now realize it wouldn’t be pleasant for those they served to be pushed out of the succession overnight. However, from our perspective, we don’t look kindly on maids who talk as if they have no idea how the world works while sitting on a mountain of debt.”
Lancie looked at my expression for a moment after saying this. I slowly held up two fingers.
“Regarding that, let me tell you two things. First: my maids indeed have no idea how the world works.”
“You already knew? Good heavens!” Lancie’s eyes widened.
I said coldly, “But that’s why they are still here. If you’ve checked the budget, you must know how long their wages have been overdue?”
Lancie looked as if he’d been hit over the head.
“The ones who knew how the world works have all left already. Only the maids for whom the pride and honor of serving the last bloodline of the Liente royalty are more important than a paycheck remain.”
The Kingdom of Liente had been destroyed by the Kingdom of Sebon before I was born. Just before the fall, the King had hurriedly sent his youngest, the 5th Princess, to the Marquis of Sayers, a high noble of the Empire. It was in the hope that at least his youngest daughter would survive.
Now even that mother had passed away. Therefore, officially, I was the only direct bloodline of the Liente royalty left.
“Liente’s history is longer than the Empire’s. But for a long time, Liente neglected practical sciences and only valued luxury, vanity, and empty formalities.”
“I-is that so? But that’s not right, is it?”
“That’s why it fell.”
I calmly exposed my maternal family’s disgrace.
“Still, to them, my every move is the honor they must protect. I know you might find it ridiculous.”
I was their pride. That was a value greater than any wage I could provide. That was also why they weren’t young; they were the Liente people who had come with my mother.
“Still, wouldn’t it be better not to easily mock a person’s consistent convictions? So, second.”
Staring at Lancie, whose mouth was slightly agape, I continued flatly.
“Tell me when you are able to pay all their overdue wages. At that time, I will educate them properly as you requested.”
It meant if he wanted to boss them around, he should give them money.
“To them, a single coin in their hand is more precious than an unwrinkled hem of their master’s skirt.”
“…No.”
The response from the man in charge of the budget was quick.
“For now, an unwrinkled hem of My Lady’s skirt is much more precious to all of us.”
And so, Lancie decided to share his soul with the maids.
“Very well.”
I generously accepted Lancie’s change of heart.
“I’ll be going then.”
Since it seemed there was nothing left to say, I quietly stood up.
* * *
Lancie had even forgotten his fury. This clever child knew the price of the fine clothes she wore.
She wasn’t the leader of the maids who spoke nonsense. She was doing her part to earn her keep, forced by the debts of the Marquisate. If the maids weren’t here right now, who would do the work of this mansion?
“I-I will escort you.”
Lancie stood up hurriedly and followed Brisa. However, the moment he opened the door, he encountered the maid waiting for her. The maid, having checked Brisa’s face, immediately whispered to Lancie.
“My Lady’s expression is bitter. Did you perhaps talk about the annulment?”
Like a ghost. How did she know?
While Lancie blinked his eyes:
“Don’t pity our Lady. It’s not like My Lady only secretly handled the annulment papers. An anonymous bouquet of flowers arrived at the same time as the annulment.”
The maid spoke haughtily.
“It will be no trouble at all for her to receive a proposal from that young lord soon.”
Lancie’s mouth fell open.
“In fact, she might even build a marriage alliance with a family of even greater status!”
Surely she isn’t saying that as comfort right now.
Lancie lamented inwardly. He could roughly guess what had happened in this house. While the tactless maids showered her with misguided love, the child had matured early all on her own. If Alpheus knew this, he would wail for three days and nights. Alpheus was also a child who had matured early.
‘Brisa must have missed having a family too. She gave me something like this.’
Before leaving for the capital, Alpheus had boasted to him about a single withered herb.
‘It’s just because she’s shocked today, but I’m sure she’s a kind and gentle child who takes after me. I want to meet her again soon and play in the garden, blowing up balloons for her. She’ll like it if I bring back a surprise gift like soap bubbles from the capital, right?’
The very thing Alpheus had worried about so much as he left was Brisa growing up too fast.
‘I hope that at least my sister doesn’t become an adult too quickly…’
But sadly, one thing was certain.
Marquis, you’re going to have to blow those soap bubbles alone.
Even if he conceded a hundred times and they were both at the scene together, it was obvious it would be closer to Brisa playing along with Alpheus.
