“I guess so. Since the setting is that you are already married and have a child, it’s probably a bit difficult to get it through the upper level now.”
“It would take too long to get the gems, let alone craft them.”
Eugenia listened silently to their conversation, biting her lip.
The pair of jewels that these men were discussing was part of the marriage culture of the continent.
Before the wedding, couples choose a pair of jewels and create matching accessories with them.
It was regarded as important as wedding rings.
“That said, we can’t choose low-quality jewels…”
Albert frowned, crossing his arms as if it was quite a headache.
‘That’s probably the only option…’
Eugenia, who had been quietly listening, finally spoke up.
“I think I can prepare the pair of jewels.”
The gazes of the two men suddenly turned to Eugenia.
“You? How?”
Eugenia swallowed hard, hesitating before she spoke.
“I have some heirlooms left by my parents… I thought it would be better for my younger siblings, who spent less time with them, to have them, so I entrusted it to them.”
“But the quality of the jewels…”
“I don’t know much about jewels, but they didn’t seem bad to me. It’s true that our family has fallen on hard times, but I heard we were quite well-off before I was born.”
She added a slight lie to make it plausible that she and the children could possess expensive jewels.
Fortunately, it seemed they didn’t find it suspicious, as they didn’t press further.
After a moment of thought, Enrique suddenly asked.
“Then can we see them?”
Eugenia nodded heavily.
“Please wait a moment.”
She stood up and headed straight to her room.
Joshua was pulling up the blanket for Selmia, who was lying on the bed.
“Joshua.”
“Is the conversation over?”
“No, it’s not that. I want to ask you for a favor.”
“What kind of favor?”
Eugenia struggled to find the words.
“Could I borrow the brooch and pendant that I brought from the Marquis for a few days?”
Even as she spoke, she felt embarrassed. Those were the only traces left of her parents for the children, making her feel even more guilty.
Joshua’s voice trembled as if he couldn’t believe what he heard.
“…What?”
She couldn’t bring herself to meet Joshua’s gaze as he looked up at her.
“I need matching accessories made from the same jewels to trick Enrique into believing we’re married. But that’s the only thing I can use right now.”
She couldn’t finish her sentence, and Joshua took a moment to think.
Then, he took a step forward.
He searched through his bag and came back holding two pieces of jewelry in his hands.
Without saying a word, Joshua quietly looked down at what he held, and then handed it to Eugenia.
“Take them. After all, they were meant for you.”
“…Joshua.”
Instead of immediately accepting the jewelry, she pulled the small boy into a tight embrace.
“No, you’re misunderstanding. I’m not taking them forever, just borrowing them for a while.”
“….”
Joshua didn’t respond, and Eugenia hugged the child even tighter, her voice trembling as she spoke.
“I promise I’ll return them, so don’t make that face. Okay?”
“…Okay.”
From her embrace, a small voice emerged, like an ant crawling, and she felt Joshua nodding a bit late.
The boy lifted his hand and gently pushed Eugenia away from him.
Joshua directly placed their parents’ heirlooms into Eugenia’s hands and said,
“I believe in you.”
“….”
“You’ve always kept your promises.”
In a way, it felt as though Joshua was comforting Eugenia with his tone.
“So I believe you’ll keep this promise too. You’ll definitely return them?”
Eugenia looked at him with teary eyes and hugged him tightly again.
“Yes! I’ll definitely return them! Thank you so much for understanding.”
In that state, she reassured Joshua several times.
Then his small hand weakly reached up, embracing Eugenia in return. It was a feather-light movement.
“Then hurry back. Don’t stay too late. I need to sleep to grow taller.”
Returning to his cool demeanor, Joshua turned his back to Eugenia without hesitation.
Following him to the bed, Eugenia pulled the blanket up to his neck, just as Joshua had done for Selmia.
“Have sweet dreams.”
After giving him a goodnight kiss on the forehead, Joshua’s face flushed like a sweet potato.
“Hurry up! Turn off the light.”
“Okay.”
Eugenia quietly closed the door behind her.
When she returned to the first floor, she handed what she had brought to Enrique.
“Here it is. Please be careful… and take a look.”
“I will.”
Enrique received the brooch and pendant and examined them closely.
His brow furrowed more and more.
Eugenia, feeling anxious, asked in a worried tone,
“What’s wrong? Is it not usable quality?”
“No, it’s not that…”
Enrique swallowed hard and resumed his halted words.
“This is quite a high-quality item.”
Only then could Eugenia finally breathe a sigh of relief.
“So, we can use them, right?”
“Of course.”
Enrique said as he handed the jewelry back to Eugenia.
“You will wear the brooch, and I will wear the pendant. We’ll borrow them until the day of departure.”
Eugenia nodded slightly in response.
At that moment, Enrique suddenly asked a question.
“By the way, did you work in the nobility before coming here?”
Eugenia momentarily lost her grip. She almost dropped the knife, which would have clattered loudly against the floor or at least hit a bowl.
But she managed to hold on tightly.
Her heart began to pound rapidly, as if it were about to leap out of her chest.
‘He didn’t notice I was flustered, did he?’
She gripped the knife so tightly that the knuckles of her fingers stood out.
In a brief moment, Eugenia’s mind raced.
If she answered sharply, asking why he would ask such a thing, it might make her seem suspicious instead.
Eugenia boldly nodded her head and admitted it.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
It wasn’t a lie; she had indeed worked in a noble household.
It seemed to be a question without much significance.
Enrique immediately got to the point.
“Then recall the details of the master you served.”
“… What exactly should I recall?”
“Everything—behavior, manner of speaking, etc. And make that behavior your own. Mimicking alone won’t be enough.”
“Ah, I understand what you mean.”
Eugenia blinked slowly.
She lightly tapped her cheek as she fell into thought.
As she calmly focused, the only noblewoman she had served came to mind.
The Countess of Kereiton, mother of Joshua and Selmia.
Every gesture she made was as soft and elegant as a butterfly gliding through the air.
Enrique’s voice cut through her thoughts.
“Can you do it?”
Eugenia stiffened her face.
Then, she deliberately tried to imitate.
The Countess’s gentle and kind smile.
With feather-light, graceful movements, she nodded toward Enrique and opened her lips.
“The answer is predetermined. I will do it no matter what.”
It seemed her imitation was quite successful, as Enrique’s lips curved into a smile.
“Good. I think you’ll do even better than I imagined.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
“Well then, let’s wrap this up. You must be quite tired after today’s work.”
Eugenia nodded and took a small breath.
Now, all that was left was to clean up. She lightly scanned the dining table.
Surprisingly, everyone had cleared their plates, so it seemed all she needed to do was wash the empty dishes.
‘The cleanup will finish quickly.’
Just as she was thinking of hurriedly tidying up and heading upstairs, Albert spoke up.
“By the way…”
Eugenia stopped her actions, and Enrique turned his attention to him.
“Don’t you think you need a maid?”
“A maid?”
“Yes. It’s customary for noblewomen to always have a maidservant attend to them.”
Eugenia’s eyes widened in surprise, like a startled rabbit.
‘No, no, no! Is it really necessary to go that far?’
Having a maid meant she would have someone constantly by her side, which meant she would have to act continuously without a break.
Moreover, she was also concerned about having another person around.
‘But is it really right for me to refuse this?’
Glancing around cautiously, Eugenia eventually pressed her lips together.
‘Ah, forget it.’
She decided to give up on thinking.
After all, she didn’t know if her opinion would be accepted or not.
Ultimately, all choices were made by Enrique.
‘I’ll just stay quiet. I’ll go along with it.’
It seemed that Enrique was also contemplating the matter of having a maid, lost in thought for a moment.
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Translator Note:
Next 15 chapters will be translated by RJR.
This chapter was translated by Gon. Next post will be released on August, 11.
If you like my work please support Gon on Coffee.
Or in Patreon, if you want to read more chapters.
