After the exhibition ended, Valerie calculated the donations, revealing that they had raised twice their original goal.
Elated, everyone ordered an afternoon tea set from the tea room in the department store and happily celebrated their success.
But no sooner had the tea sets arrived—less than five minutes—than the inevitable topic of suitors came up during their friendly chatter.
“Letticia, isn’t there anyone among your suitors that you like? I’ve hardly seen you spending time with any of them,”
Valerie asked, before Letticia could reply, Dayna answered on her behalf.
“That’s not true. She’s spent quite a bit of time with one of them—Lord Ezkhiel Bright, the Crown Prince’s aide whose name appeared in Lucinella.”
“Lord Bright?”
Hearing the name Bright, Stella turned her head with a conflicted expression.
Her look didn’t convey disapproval of Letticia choosing him over other prominent suitors. Rather, it hinted at unease.
“You mean Lord Bright, the second son of Baron Bright?”
“Is there another Lord Bright who serves as the Crown Prince’s aide?”
“I suppose not… Hmm…”
As Stella rubbed her temple, Chloe tilted her head and asked curiously.
“He seems polite and like a good person to me. Is there some sort of problem with him?”
“No, there aren’t any bad rumors about him personally. Many women even wish to have him as their son-in-law. The real issue is his mother.”
At the mention of ‘mother,’ Letticia frowned. There was only one type of story that followed such a remark.
“Baroness Bright often visits our department store, but she’s not exactly a likable customer. You know those troublesome aristocratic ladies who throw tantrums? She’s that type.”
“Oh…”
In high society, it wasn’t uncommon for otherwise elegant and dignified noblewomen to treat subordinates, such as employees at dress shops, restaurants, or department stores, with disrespect.
Such women often extended their harsh treatment to their daughters-in-law, considering them beneath them simply because they were new to the family.
“She’s definitely not someone I’d want as a mother-in-law. Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
“If she has enough sense to realize that treating me poorly wouldn’t end well for her, then we’ll get along just fine.”
However, Letticia wasn’t particularly worried. If anything, it was more likely that the Baroness would end up being wary of her. Letticia couldn’t imagine herself being cowed by someone like the Baroness.
Unless she was a Marchioness or higher-ranking noble, a mere Baroness attempting to mistreat Letticia would risk not only offending the Sharon family but possibly the Imperial Household as well.
Dayna, however, remained slightly skeptical.
“No. Sometimes, even when they’re in a weaker position, people will still try to assert dominance by saying all sorts of things. If you get used to it, you’ll start feeling guilty even when you’ve done nothing wrong and end up doing everything they want.”
“Then I’ll just have to bring him into our family as a son-in-law. He’s the second son, so it’s not like he’s inheriting their title anyway.”
“I don’t think they’d agree to that…”
Stella said, recalling the Baroness and tilting her head doubtfully.
Surprisingly, Valerie nodded in agreement with Letticia.
“It might be possible. Lord Bright is financially independent from Baron Bright’s household.”
“Really?”
“Yes. As far as I know, Lord Bright manages all of his income independently. He doesn’t receive any support from his family, and he rents a house primarily occupied by estate managers rather than living at the Baron’s manor. At this point, you could consider him essentially independent.”
Once someone is independent, unless they receive financial support from their family, they hold the authority to make decisions as the head of their own household.
While many still maintain close ties and adhere to their family’s decisions, a completely independent person operates differently.
“Financially speaking, Lord Bright is in a good position. Of course, it’s nothing compared to families that provide their younger sons with large inheritances, but as long as he remains employed, he earns 2,400 gold annually—more than enough to maintain the dignity of a noble.”
“How do you even know all of this?”
“I’ve already researched the financial standings of everyone listed in ‘Lucinella’. Luckily, many of them are clients of our bank, so it wasn’t too difficult.”
Valerie grinned, a radiant glow seeming to shine behind her.
Shane Bank was one of the Empire’s largest and most prestigious financial institutions, serving numerous noble clients.
Investigating someone’s financial standing through the bank was far easier than the roundabout inquiries nobles typically used.
“You have plenty of money, so marrying someone without financial resources wouldn’t be too difficult for you. But still, you’d want to avoid someone in debt, right?”
“Of course. Thanks for going out of your way to look into it.”
“If you’re that grateful, invest some more of your idle money. We’ve recently launched some excellent financial products.”
“No, thanks. Didn’t I tell you I’ve already lost money on everything except Faymont investments?”
Letticia, who had long given up on mimicking romance-novel heroines with entrepreneurial ventures, refused flatly, and Valerie didn’t press her further.
Instead, Valerie kindly offered a suggestion to Stella and Chloe, who had been listening with open mouths.
“If you’d like, I can investigate the financial standings of your suitors as well. Some people boast about their wealth but are merely bluffing. Worse, there are cases where they’re deeply in debt but hide it before marriage.”
“Oh, can I ask for your help too? I have four suitors.”
“I have two.”
Stella and Chloe quickly made their requests, and Valerie eagerly noted down the names of their suitors. It seemed she had already completed her investigation of Letticia and Dayna’s suitors listed in Lucinella.
“Anyway, if you plan to marry Lord Bright, it’d be wise to carefully address the issues with Baron Bright’s household. From what I’ve heard, the Baron’s estate in the East has seen a sharp decline in revenue recently. The Baron and his heir, Lord David Bright, are essentially supporting the family on their own.”
“You don’t think they’d try to take Lord Bright’s assets, do you? That would be shameless.”
“With certain underhanded tactics, it’s not impossible. For instance, they might frame it as passing the family title to the second son rather than the eldest and then pressure him into buying it back. Some neutral noble families have been known to do that.”
“How dreadful, truly…”
Even Letticia, well-versed in romance and rofan clichés, couldn’t help but click her tongue in disbelief.
The behind-the-scenes stories about noble families shared by Valerie and Stella always sounded like something out of a scandalous drama.
‘It’s a different kind of chaos from what you’d find in a rofan novel, honestly.’
If playwrights ever wanted inspiration for sensational stories, all they’d need to do is look into the downfall of some noble families—it would provide them with perfect material.
“But enough about us. What about you, Valerie? Are your suitors any good?”
“Oh, that’s right! Valerie, didn’t you say you might receive a marriage proposal soon?”
“Really? Who’s the lucky person? Are they an old noble family or part of the neutral faction?”
“They’re from an old noble family on the verge of collapse, of course. I have five suitors like that, and my father is carefully deciding which one to pick based on their history and titles.”
Her story, filled with practical considerations rather than romance, continued for several more minutes.
After exchanging useful information and enjoying a lively chat, the friends eventually went their separate ways and returned home.
***
The Sharon estate’s garden was primarily designed according to Camilla’s tastes. The reasoning behind this was quite practical—since she was responsible for hosting social activities as the lady of the house, she was the one who used the garden most often.
As a result, the garden featured a Western-style pavilion and a fountain, both designed to serve as focal points. The pavilion was even equipped with tightly woven mosquito nets, per Camilla’s request.
In this pavilion, Ezkhiel sat with Letticia and Kenneth, enjoying a pleasant tea time together.
Initially, Ezkhiel seemed a little awkward with Kenneth present. However, his expression froze in surprise when Letticia served a lemon tart and a cup of white opera tea with a slice of lemon floating on top.
“As you mentioned before, pairing white opera tea with lemon complements the lemon tart perfectly. I think I’ll start enjoying it like this more often.”
“…I’m glad it was helpful to you, my lady.”
Ezkhiel seemed both flustered and pleased by Letticia’s words. He had clearly not expected her to remember and praise the pairing he had suggested.
“Besides that, I also prepared arenne, scones, and rose jam. Let me know if you’d like to try any.”
“Rose jam?”
“Yes. During the visiting season, we had an overwhelming number of roses brought in, and I had to figure out what to do with them. So, I ended up making rose tea and rose jam. Oh, I also picked a bouquet to scatter rose petals prettily on my brother’s bed, but I got caught before I could do it.”
“Rose petals… on Lenard’s bed?”
Ezkhiel asked, bewildered, and Kenneth explained on Letticia’s behalf.
“It’s a scene that occasionally appears in romance novels, where hotel beds for newlywed couples are covered in rose petals. She wanted to recreate it.”
“I see… But why did you want to do that on Lenard’s bed?”
“I was most curious about how he would react. When I got caught, he said he’d throw them straight into my bathwater. So we compromised by scattering them on our parents’ bed instead.”
Hearing about Lenard’s reaction, Ezkhiel couldn’t help but chuckle softly.
A sister scattering rose petals on her brother’s bed and a brother threatening to toss the petals into her bath—it was clear the Sharon household had a unique sense of humor.
“Lenard seems like a reliable friend most of the time, but to you, my lady, he’s simply a close older brother.”
“It feels a little embarrassing to hear it put like that, but I think we’re probably closer than most siblings.”
“No, not probably—you definitely are. At the Imperial Ball, he was so concerned about you that he even came to me with a request.”
“That… was a bit surprising, even for me.”
