As Seraphie opened the door and stepped out, she immediately noticed how terrible the location of the private room the staff had assigned her was. Boxes were stacked in front of a storage room, and staff members were bustling around, sneaking glances at Seraphie as they went in and out of the storage.
It was inevitable that they would look at her. She was the subject of rumors, still had short hair, and made no attempt to hide her exposed neck. But she hadn’t expected them to be so blatant about it. How easy did they think she was to look down on?
But I should use this to my advantage. She was already using the original story; why not use this face as well? So Seraphie smiled brightly and confidently approached the group that had been talking about her with such interest.
“Hello.”
The young ladies, who had been chatting merrily, gasped. At Seraphie’s sudden appearance, some screamed or flinched dramatically.
“I just couldn’t pass by without saying something,” Seraphie said, her gaze sweeping over each of the noble ladies who were now avoiding her eyes. The blue in her crescent-shaped eyes darkened, casting a shadow. “Even though we don’t know each other, you’re all so concerned about me.”
The faces of the gathered noble ladies grew increasingly pale.
“How kind of you.” Seraphie toyed with her curly, short hair with her fingers.
“La-Lady Vallidus…”
“Lady? No,” Seraphie corrected the title for the young lady with the pretty, golden hair. “I’m Countess.”
“Ah, that, Countess Vallidus. I didn’t mean to…”
“That, we were just…”
“Co-Countess is amazing!”
“That’s right! You won the trial splendidly.”
“How could that all be my doing?” Seraphie shook her head, denying their flattery. “It was all thanks to Sir Felicia and Sir Iris.”
After all, that’s what they were gossiping about earlier.
“Unfortunately, I haven’t met Sir Iris since the trial…”
Her blue eyes seemed to scrutinize each one of them.
“…But I’m scheduled to meet Sir Felicia in a few days.”
As Seraphie said this, her lips curled slightly.
It’s not like I want to meet him.
After the trial, she received a letter from the Felicia family asking her to come to their mansion to discuss business matters. Seraphie had sent a reply accepting the invitation, and a few days later, when the carriage came to pick her up, Orkis was inside.
“From now on, let’s get along well.”
“I knew you were a nag from the start. Since when did you start liking me?”
“It seems Countess doesn’t need to eat since you must be full from all my nagging.”
Orkis, who had been smirking, revealed that he would be managing the joint business between the two families as the duke’s representative.
…He’s just annoying like my father.
Although Orkis wasn’t exactly easy to get along with, he was certainly better than the duke, so Seraphie was somewhat relieved.
Bringing her thoughts back to the present, Seraphie said, “You all seem to be quite close to Sir Felicia.” Seraphie slowly turned halfway around, not wanting to stay with these petty, vain chatterboxes any longer. “I’ll be sure to pass on your regards when I see him tomorrow.”
“W-Wait…!”
“Goodbye, then. Lady Tipeon.”
At the mention of her name, the red-haired young woman who had tried to stop her froze with a look of shock.
“Lady Gramene, Lady Baglosa, and Lady Rodo as well.”
Each time a name was called, the young ladies felt as if they were suffocating. How on earth did Seraphie know their names?
“Countess…”
At that moment, a staff member who had been nervously watching from behind approached. It was the person who had shown Seraphie to that damned private room.
“That, causing a disturbance in the store is…”
“Disturbance? What disturbance?” Seraphie approached the staff member casually as if it were nothing. She was now close enough to grab her collar if she wanted to. “I was just exchanging greetings.”
But Seraphie thought it wasn’t worth dirtying her hands. Why bother when she could make them fight among themselves?
“Thanks to the room you guided me to, I was able to form a close bond with these ladies. I could hear everything perfectly. Thanks to you, I could hear them bad-mouthing me while calling each other’s names.”
As soon as Seraphie finished speaking, the noble ladies glared sharply at the staff member. The flustered staff member looked back and forth between Seraphie and them in a panic.
Meanwhile, Seraphie was busy preparing to leave with Marine’s help.
“…Now your curiosity is satisfied, right?” Seraphie whispered to Marine, who was wrapping a shawl around her.
“Yes!” Marine, having satisfied her curiosity, smiled brightly. As expected from my master!
Seraphie had been jotting down their names in her notebook back in the private room, and Marine thought she had handled the situation brilliantly. But there was another reason Seraphie had written down their names. Their families were also listed as potential business partners and investors when she had first discussed business with Orkis.
We’ll see each other again.
Kindness will be repaid twice over. Revenge, on the other hand, will be given mercilessly. There was nothing the unruly daughter who had driven out her vile father couldn’t do.
“Shall we go?”
“Yes, Master!”
Marine followed closely behind Seraphie like a loyal soldier following a victorious general. Only then did the staff member realize the enormity of her mistake.
Just then, the coachman waiting outside opened the door for Seraphie. The newly hired coachman was someone who had previously worked for Vallidus but had been wandering from one-day labor job to another after not receiving his overdue wages. He had practiced opening the carriage door and serving his new master, who had rehired him under much better conditions, all night long.
“Master,” the coachman offered his hand, and Seraphie comfortably boarded the carriage.
As the carriage began to move, the boutique door burst open. The boutique owner looked helplessly at the departing carriage and then started yelling at the staff who had followed her out.
“Hehe.”
The expression reflected in the window showed Marine’s mischievous grin.
“Feeling relieved?” Seraphie couldn’t help but laugh.
“Of course! Wow, it was thrilling to watch! I almost buckled under the excitement!”
“Don’t you think it was a bit childish?”
“It was a much cooler move than just using fists!” Marine excitedly recounted the events that had just happened for a while.
“By the way, I’m never going to that boutique again.”
“Absolutely! I hope it goes out of business!”
Marine stuck her tongue out at the boutique that was now out of sight, and Seraphie burst out laughing.
“And don’t worry. I’ve already found another boutique!”
The capable maid opened the small window connected to the coachman and told him the destination. The carriage smoothly changed direction.
“You look happy.” Seraphie, having barely managed to stop laughing, looked at Marine.
“Well, it’s always been a dream of mine.”
“What dream?”
“To, um….” Marine fidgeted with her fingers, hesitating to speak. “Going out with Master in a carriage and buying things.” She answered shyly and then quickly waved her hands. “I didn’t mean I was dissatisfied before! But back then, we rarely went outside, let alone ride a carriage!” explained her hurriedly.
Seraphie wasn’t particularly angry by that. Rather, she was just happy to realize that Marine was a much better person than she had thought.
“Marine.”
Too much to the point Seraphie felt she didn’t deserve her.
“With your skills, you could go somewhere else and—”
“N-No!” Marine’s face turned red as she shouted. “I swore to be loyal to you ever since you took me in!”
Did she? Seraphie was surprised by this old story that she couldn’t recall. It seemed there was a special memory shared between Marine and the ‘real Seraphie.’
“…Thank you.”
Seraphie didn’t ask about that memory. Asking might lead to mistakes, and getting too attached to Marine would only complicate things.
Seraphie’s top priority was always ‘return.’ Nothing in this world should hold her back. However, progress on her plan to return to her original world was slow. Instead, she only seemed to be getting closer to the mansion’s staff.
This is troublesome… Seraphie frowned.
“Master, we’ve arrived.”
The carriage slowed down just in time.
“This place will be much better than the last one!” Marine, who had gotten out first, opened the shop door.
Marine’s words were true. The boutique owner welcomed Seraphie warmly, even though she hadn’t made an appointment. She seemed to be well-informed and quick to pick up on things. And then,
“Countess Vallidus?”
Seraphie encountered someone she hadn’t expected but wanted to see the most.
“…Lady Felicia.”
Seraphie decided she would give Marine a huge bonus for introducing her to this place.
* * *
For Seraphie, money and titles were the basic tools to achieve her goals. My ultimate goal is to return to my original world.
Now that she had secured the basic tools, she needed to find a way to return to the world she originally came from. And she chose ‘magic’ as her new means to achieve that goal. The illogical and even absurd power of magic seemed like the only solution to the irrational and ridiculous situation she found herself in. That’s why she had painstakingly searched for the Land Abandoned by God.
Magic wasn’t something easily accessible to ordinary people. It was a power handled only by magicians and priests belonging to the magic tower and the temple. And these two organizations had been desperately seeking the god’s treasures, which hadn’t appeared for centuries. But Seraphie now had it in her hands.
“Lady Felicia!”
Seraphie approached with a fully armed smile. In truth, she didn’t need to force herself to smile.
“What a pleasant surprise. I never expected to see you here!”
How could Seraphie not be excited when Lady Felicia might be her only hope of returning home? The smile blooming on Seraphie’s face was completely natural.
“…Indeed.”
Peonia couldn’t hide her bewildered feelings as she looked at Seraphie, who seemed genuinely happy. Her wide eyes made her look much younger.
Today’s goal is to plant the seeds of friendship!
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