With the appearance of Ramiel, who was famous for his angelic appearance and mentality, the atmosphere of immediacy disappeared in an instant. In order to attract the attention of the next duke, the ladies dismissed the previous incident as if it was nothing, and even the ladies lost their awkward expressions as they were captivated by the angel’s smile.
Ramiel would know very well her own position and what kind of being she is. So, he probably came ‘directly’ to the place where the commotion was and asked what was going on. Thanks to that, there were no more harsh and rude words about the hard speaker Ray Alexis.
“Hehe. It was pretty good today.”
It was a satisfying day for Ray. From this morning until the angel arrived, she walked around the banquet hall and started arguing with people.
“When I think about it, I’ve been really unlucky since morning.”
Would you say she was like the left arm of the right arm of a villain in a movie? Ray came out to the terrace connected to the large window of the banquet hall, avoiding people’s eyes, and laughed alone.
“Is this okay now?”
Looking at the people’s disdainful looks, the plan seems to be going very well. Since she used such harsh language at a large banquet held once a year, her parents would no longer force her into banquets or parties. Moreover, she actually saw the rumored angel, Ramiel, so today was truly her greatest achievement.
‘The name is Ramiel. The man looks like an angel, but the real person is crazy. He’s five trillion times more handsome than the rumors say.’
“Good job. Ray Alexis, you were the best today.”
Ray proudly praised herself.
* * *
The eldest daughter of the Leanello family was strange. Ray Alexis, who was sick with a high fever, suddenly lost consciousness. When she opened her eyes four days later, amidst the tears and worries of her family, she looked 180 degrees different, as if she had become a different person. Even when the voice got louder, she just quietly avoided the situation, and as soon as she recovered from her illness, Ray committed an eccentric act of dumping her fiancé. Was that all she was? Not only did she get into a war of nerves with her family, telling them not to tell her to do this or that, but she also argued with people here and there.
“Good taste. This is crazy.”
It was a bonus to occasionally say strange, unintelligible sounds. Graduates who made a lot of money through basic industries grew day by day with the protection of the imperial family, which tried to keep the nobility in check, and even earned the title of ‘emerging aristocrat’. Of course, they were not real nobles who had received titles, but they were already no different from semi-nobles in that the crown prince was actively trying to give them titles in order to suppress the power of the nobles and strengthen the imperial power.
It has already been nearly a year since the Crown Prince was able to see the affair on behalf of the Emperor. In the meantime, the crown prince had been increasing his power, and one of the ways in which he had done so was to unite with his subordinates. These new nobles wanted to acquire not only enormous wealth but also fame. So he passionately supported the crown prince, and as another means, he approached poor and bankrupt nobles and committed illegal acts to buy titles for money. A more common and legal way was to gain honor by marrying a nobleman.
The Leanello family was also one of these wealthy families. The vast land that had been passed down from generation to generation was a barren land without any resources. All that came out was an empty magic stone that was of no use at all, and the family was famous for having a lot of land. However, as black water came out of a large land mass, Leanello’s name became widely known in Lytham in an instant.
Lytham was a country on the continent called Inua, divided into eight cities with the capital, Ravidon, as the starting point. The current emperor’s family unified the eight countries that existed in Inua into one and created the current Lytham. The emperor and his family lived in the imperial palace in Ravidon, and knights and magicians belonging to the imperial family guarded the emperor and the castle. Gates that allowed movement to specific areas using magical power were managed by the imperial family, and it was the shortest means of travel that could only be used with permission from the royal family.
The next fastest thing was the train. With the laying of the railroad, the cost of transporting goods was significantly reduced, and people who could not use the gate were able to travel to and from the capital in a relatively short period of time. Thanks to the free movement of goods, Lytham began to enjoy unprecedented prosperity, and the railroad business greatly improved. Of course, the final approver of these foundational projects was the imperial family. So railroad-related companies were busy trying to somehow connect with the imperial family. Oil and magic stones were used as fuel for trains, and although magic stones had good firepower, they had the disadvantage of being very expensive. However, here, black water and oil, which were treated as undesirables, emerged as substitutes. Nowadays, Leanello was responsible for more than half of Lytham’s oil production, so the size of its wealth was truly enormous.
However, the nobility in the capital still considered oil to be of little importance. This was especially true because most of the wealthy people who threatened themselves with various basic industries used oil as their driving force. There was no way the original old nobles would like such a new noble. They never called low-ranking men the new ‘nobles’ and considered colluding with them as a shame, saying they were selling their reputation for money. In this social atmosphere, the engagement between the count’s second son and eldest daughter was made difficult, but who would have thought that Ray would literally dump the fiancé. The Leanello couple could not have imagined it.
The couple couldn’t even get married to their daughter, who barely opened her eyes after going through a difficult time and tried to commit suicide, and then immediately insulted her fiancé and informed him of the break-off of her engagement. Of course, Ray never said she did it because she didn’t want to get married. When asked why she did that, she said it was a mistake, but no matter how much the couple thought about it, it wasn’t a mistake. They could only guess that it would happen after seeing her break off the engagement immediately after recovery.
Ray’s suicide attempt was a top secret in the family. No one knew about it except the couple and the maid who first discovered it. Oscar, the weak and timid head of the Leanello family, suffered extreme stress from this incident and lay ill for a week. After that, Ray quietly began helping her father with his work, which seemed to offset the shock of the breakup. And since Ray Leanello got involved in the business, the train business, which was barely able to maintain its respectability by following others, has recently been receiving increasingly positive reviews, so it was slowly falling into disrepair. It had already been three months since their daughter broke off her engagement. At that time, they missed the wedding because they were looking for a husband, but it was a difficult thing to do, and it was a headache for Oscar to think about finding a groom again.
However, in the midst of all this, his daughter was causing a scene, going around arguing about everything, whether she was crazy or not. After suffering from such a severe illness that it seemed as if the high fever at that time had boiled his brain, Ray acted as if he had changed as a person. In the meantime, the most surprising thing about her was that she insisted that she would not get married. To be precise, she told him to leave her alone as she would take care of her own marriage, but considering Ray’s age, she could never do that. Rae Alexis Arhyda Leanello, 24 years old, was now in a situation where she had to be sold off on the marriage market. However, the biggest problem in this situation was that she was no longer able to push for marriage as actively as she used to because she was afraid that her daughter would make another risky choice.
So the Leanello couple made a choice. It was decided to send Ray instead of Oscar to the grand banquet. Timid Oskar decided to pretend to be sick because he felt he couldn’t attend such a large banquet, and his wife, Eina, excused herself from the event by using the excuse of caring for her husband, and invited her eldest daughter to attend as a substitute. Fortunately, in order to somehow appeal to her beautiful face that resembled only the strengths of husband and wife, the Leanello family worked hard to decorate Ray and sent her to the imperial family. And the beautiful Ray Alexis used the opportunity very well. It was a grand banquet held at a grand imperial banquet where all possible marriage partners were gathered. Her hum came naturally.
“If I made such a fuss, I’ll never be asked to marry, right?”
Who would want to marry the witch of Ravidon? No matter how important money was, nobles placed the most importance on reputation. Therefore, if you have a lot of money and a bad reputation, there would be no chance of marriage talk.
‘But my mother, who is obsessed with fame and dreams of rising social status, would never let me marry someone who is not an aristocrat.’
Ray’s plan was simple. She found a man like chaff, married him as a trick, quickly divorced him, and left Ravidon. The strict caste system was limited to the capital. Of course, there was a class system in cities other than the capital, but since most people have jobs and make a living, they were not greatly affected by class. In other words, the fixation between classes was not as severe compared to the capital city. In particular, the magistrate, the leader of a small town, was returning to a system in which those who were recommended by residents were promoted, not based on status. Because of this, unlike in the capital, women were also able to have some political voice. This was because reputation, or ‘public opinion’, was one of the important factors in becoming a consul.
Although there were no female consuls yet, it was better than the capital in that women could also contribute to forming political and social public opinion. Ray set her life’s goal as a homecoming. She had already been through so much in Korea that although her body returned to Lytham, she could not even bring back her way of life. So now that she has a second life, her goal is to live ‘alone’ in a city that suits her tastes and seems livable.
Her grandiose goal of changing the social atmosphere in Lytham, which took her marriage for granted, was too ambitious, so she left her excuses to avoid a proper marriage. She was the woman no one wanted to marry.
What a great title!
“You pissed off that gentle Caitlyn, so that’s a huge success. Sorry, everyone. Well, I didn’t really mean it. But I have to live my life first.”
It wasn’t something that harsh, right? As of today, she would probably be expelled from society, so she wouldn’t see her again.
‘In the future, when my younger sister Fianna debuts in the social world, my parents will try to elevate her status through Fianna, so I can leave out, I guess?’
Her conscience prickled at the thought of sacrificing Fianna, but her other self soothed Ray by saying, ‘I have to live first, it’s okay.’
“Now I won’t even take the dog.”
There was even an angel there. It was a time when Ray was proudly reflecting on today’s achievements.
“Heh.”
A very small laugh was heard from behind.
‘There was definitely no one here!’
Ray turned around in surprise. And he was startled by an unexpected sight.
“Uh, uh…”
It was the social angel, Ramiel, who caught Ray as he was about to fall.
“Okay, thank you.”
When she saw him up close, he was so beautiful that she couldn’t help but tremble. Underneath the silver hair so clear that it almost tinged with blue, eyes that seemed to be made of melted gold of the highest quality were looking at Ray. When she saw it in the banquet hall, she thought it was because of the fancy lighting, but it seemed to be Ramiel’s own glow.
‘A handsome person like you can subdue monsters.’
This man seemed like a man who poured all the good things that exist in God and created them with all his heart.
“Why are you here alone instead of attending the dinner?”
What did Yuju say about this voice? Was it the sound of jade beads rolling on a silver tray? She had never heard of it, but she was sure it’s better than that. Even the way he spoke to her, who was not a noble, was polite. As the adult man’s low voice softly passed by her ear, Ray felt a tickling sensation and gently rubbed her ear. Unlike before, the angel’s voice penetrated directly into her eardrums without any noise and was surprisingly brilliant.
“I don’t want to hear people peck at me and ask me why I eat so much.”
To aristocrats who considered empty space on a plate a virtue, Ray’s plate, which was filled to the brim, must have seemed like a symbol of greed. She just recorded it all at once because it was annoying to pop it up two or three times. So she took the food out of the banquet hall, onto the terrace, and enjoyed it alone. The dinner she ate while looking at the well-maintained garden with the music flowing from the banquet hall in the background, without any eyes criticizing her or any unpleasant sounds, was delicious. In addition, she gave some self-praise about today’s performance.
Ramiel smiled at Ray’s bold answer.
‘What? Just now…’
She thought the angel’s smile was a bit cheap. Was it an illusion?
“Ramiel, why are you here?”
“Um, do you want to rest a little?”
She couldn’t believe the expression ‘I want to take a break’ appears at a banquet hall where people come to visit. It was the sorrow of a popular man. How easy was it to deal with people? Even just smiling made her lose energy. Just smiling and saying a few words to people coming from all over would drain all her energy. Especially since it is a capital society where war was waged with just a word.
‘I guess that’s why a cruel smile came out for a moment because the witch was holding on to the place where I came out to rest.’
Although there was no crime committed against him, he suddenly felt uneasy. He must have finished his meal, confessed and praised himself, but Ray tried to make room for him.
“Then please excuse me first.”
As she was about to pass by Ramiel, he asked.
“Aren’t you going to get married?”
—————————————————————
Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
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