“She’s don’t get along well with another? Why?”
“They have a unique culture. It’s about the officer gatherings, where everyone goes out to eat together after work to bond.”
“Do they drink alcohol too in the gatherings?”
“From what I’ve heard. It seems like Ezkhiel’s group is too busy for that, but other departments, including the Ministry of Internal Affairs, have this culture.”
“That’s awful.”
Letticia felt a strange familiarity with this culture, reminiscent of her previous life. It seemed the author had reflected reality quite well.
“Anyway, Lady Averil seems to skip these gatherings every time. She has a curfew, so her family always picks her up by 6 PM.”
“Is that possible? Usually, with such a culture, it’s hard to skip. They would force you to drink.”
“How do you know so much about this?”
“Well, it’s obvious. People are the same everywhere, aren’t they?”
“It didn’t seem like there was such a culture in the social circles…”
Although Lenard was suspicious of her bold excuse, he let it slide, thinking it wasn’t a crucial issue. He had gotten used to Letticia’s way of evading things since a long time ago.
“Anyway, not participating in these gatherings and not working overtime seems to have made her quite unpopular among her peers. Newcomers usually have a lot of odd jobs and often work overtime, and it’s unimaginable to skip gatherings, but Lady Averil gets away with everything, it’s looks like she’s getting a special treatment.”
“That’s just overprotection from the Duke’s family. It’s not her fault.”
“But she accepts the privilege without rejecting it. I heard many people are subtly distancing themselves from her, even if they can’t openly ostracize her.”
Letticia didn’t have anything to say, so she just poked at her soup.
In the original story, after graduating, Ariette started a business which succeeded, making her popular and gaining followers in the social circles.
But the current Ariette is a civil officer, and her peers dislike her. Things have changed too much from the original.
“When you said she would debut this fall, was it because you thought she couldn’t endure it?”
“How could she? Her peers don’t get along with her, and her family is not only overprotective but also picks her up every day. That’s not a normal work life.”
“That’s true… I couldn’t endure it either.”
Even Letticia thought it was like hell. She wondered why there was such a realistic depiction all of a sudden.
“So I think Lady Averil will choose another path soon. But, to be honest, she lacks the knowledge or refinement for business or arts. So, the only option left is debuting in the social circles.”
“Isn’t that just ending up where she started? It’s a complete waste of time.”
“If her family hadn’t interfered, it might not have been a waste. Nothing has changed over the years.”
Lenard shook his head.
At those words, Letticia decided to discuss Achilles’s change with him.
“By the way, big brother, when I talked to Sir Achilles Averil yesterday, he apologized to me again. This time it seemed sincere.”
“Apologized to you? That Achilles Averil?”
Lenard was surprised and asked again, stopping his meal. When Letticia nodded to confirm, Lenard thought for a moment before speaking.
“…Well, if you felt it was sincere, then it probably was. Maybe he really reflected on his actions.”
“Do you think so too? That he genuinely reflected on his actions?”
“The Duke family faced a huge disgrace because of that incident, but he voluntarily apologized to you again after five years. So, it must be sincere. From their perspective, bringing it up again would only be disadvantageous, but he took the risk to apologize.”
Lenard often judged people’s sincerity based on whether they incurred any loss. It was a hard perspective to empathize with, but it was convincing, so Letticia accepted it.
“If it’s genuine, it seems he’s changed a bit, but seeing how he treats his younger sister, I’m not so sure. I don’t know.”
“People do change. He had to make a public apology to you and joined the knights, so it’s not strange that his temper might have softened a bit.”
“Would that temper really soften just because of that? Are the knights some sort of rehabilitation center?”
“It’s more that he’s started working in society. When you interact with others outside the academy, you learn patience and resignation.”
This was the answer from her brother, who had entered society four years earlier.
Unable to find a reason to argue, Letticia decided to accept the seemingly out-of-character change in Achilles. After all, the apology was a fact, so there was nothing wrong with it.
“But could you really find someone else? No matter how much I think about it, Ezkhiel is too good to waste.”
“Oh, if you think that, why don’t you find someone for me!”
***
A few days later, the much-anticipated day has arrived.
Letticia chose the prettiest outfit she owned and carefully selected her jewelry, including a necklace and earrings.
Today was the day she would finally go shopping with Ezkhiel.
“There’s a literary meeting hosted by the Duchess of Dinever at 3 PM today. So, make sure you check the time and finish your shopping in time.”
“Even though it’s called a date, the timing is quite tight. Why did the Duchess have to host a meeting today of all days?”
Letticia, who was doing her final touch-ups before leaving, complained about the schedule that Kenneth was reading out. She knew that her cousin had put in a lot of effort to arrange today’s schedule, so she didn’t blame him.
“It’s technically not a date, you two just shopping together. And just to be clear, don’t even think about ditching your escort to be alone with him. Don’t try to leave them and go somewhere alone.”
In this empire, there were strange rules for women who debuted in society, one of which was that they couldn’t be alone with a man before marriage. Even during a walk, a chaperone had to follow a few meters behind.
It was better than during Camilla’s time, when such conditions were even stricter, but the rules still required the presence of at least a guard or a maid in public places.
The irony was that if someone followed these rules too strictly, they were seen as boring and inflexible.
So, sometimes people would ditch their escorts while shopping in a busy area, and it was considered unrefined to point out that there was no one guarding them.
Kenneth wasn’t overly strict about these things, but he still thought it was too early for Letticia.
She had only debuted in society a week ago, and the person she was meeting was Lenard’s friend.
Even if it was a casual meeting, he couldn’t help but worry.
“Don’t worry. Neither I nor Sir Bright have the skills to shake off the escorts. Even if we tried, we’d be caught by the guards immediately.”
“I’d be saying to you to don’t even attempt it. If you do, I’ll tell Uncle to double the number of guards.”
“Then they wouldn’t all fit in the carriage. Let’s just be happy with the three guards that we have.”
After her debut, Letticia had hired three guards. All were highly praised veterans, including a rare female guard.
Compared to other noblewomen who usually had one or two guards at most, her security was quite strict, but her family had insisted she deserved this level of protection, and Letticia didn’t mind.
Remembering the ball, where men would likely try to create a scandal with her, Letticia wasn’t reckless enough to dismiss her guards just because she found them stifling.
“Alright then, I’ll be off. Pick me up in front of Faymot.”
“…Okay. Have a good time.”
Seeing Letticia dressed so carefully for what was supposed to be just a shopping, Kenneth gave up on further reminders.
After all, to marry for love, one had to meet many people, so he could only hope that Lenard wouldn’t be upset.
Sharon Jewelry occupied the best location on Clermont Street, a building painted in an eye-catching blend of pink and white.
Among the commercial buildings on the street, it stood out, and most visitors were young noblewomen, though there were quite a few men too.
They were usually there to escort a lady or run errands, but a few came for their own shopping. Ezkhiel Bright was one of those few.
By etiquette, Ezkhiel should have gone to the Sharon count’s house to pick up Letticia, but since he could only spare a brief time during a busy period, they agreed to meet at the main store.
Arriving about five minutes early, Ezkhiel felt a bit overwhelmed by the store’s pink decor, reminiscent of his friend’s and his sister’s hair color.
Not being particularly interested in jewelry or clothes, he wasn’t sure how to behave, but fortunately, the staff at Sharon Jewelry were very friendly.
After stating his name, he was immediately shown to a private room and served tea while he waited.
He didn’t really want more tea, having drunk strong tea all night while working, but he couldn’t ignore their hospitality, so he slowly drank the tea as they brought him a catalog.
Thinking he might as well look through it before Letticia arrived, Ezkhiel found the catalog unfamiliar since he didn’t know much about jewelry or clothes.
He only intended to buy a gemstone for his bolo tie, so he had no interest in the latest trends.
Eventually, he closed the catalog and checked the time.
While drinking tea and browsing the catalog, ten minutes had already passed since their scheduled meeting time.
