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Chapter 11

Dale led me ‌‌‌to an enormous herb garden tucked away on one side of the Shopping District. More ‌‌‌‌precisely, it was a place that sold medicinal herbs.
"These seeds should suffice for now. And seedlings—just this amount for the present."
We needed to conserve our funds, after all.
With our arms laden with materials to cultivate the field, Dale and I made our way to the next establishment.
It was a shop masquerading as something far more ‌‌secretive—a clandestine bank.
"I've kept it under the name Ann Heart."
I provided the alias and retrieved the items I had entrusted to them.
I sold some of ‌the pieces for currency ‌‌‌and packed the rest into my bag.
"Jewels, then." ‌‌‌‌
Dale, who had been observing ‌‌‌‌‌me intently, spoke.
"When did you notice?" ‌
"I simply saw them."
Dale seemed far more interested in me than I had anticipated.
I had assumed he showed no particular interest, given that despite his kindness and gentleness, his ‌‌expressions rarely ‌‌‌shifted.
"Do you ‌have a fondness for jewels?"
"I did when ‌‌I was at the Marquis House. Not anymore."
In the first place, my frenzied collection of jewels at the Marquis House had been to prepare for the future and to amass funds for my escape from The Emperor. ‌‌
"Yet you do seem to like them."
"There's hardly a person alive who dislikes jewels."
I smiled faintly at his earnest question. He appeared to be ‍pondering something with considerable gravity.
"Would you like to possess more jewels?"
"It would ‌‌‌‌be nice."
But they were cumbersome.
I had purchased several pieces before, ‌‌‌but moving residences so frequently made them burdensome cargo.
That's why I had invested a considerable sum in an enchanted ‌‌‌bag with infinite capacity.
Eventually, even that proved insufficient, so I ultimately entrusted them to this vault.
'Does Dale like them too?'
Seeing him ‌‌lost in thought, it seemed our shared interest might indeed be jewels.
'And surely others would find them equally captivating.' ‌‌
I gazed at the jewels I had withdrawn from the vault, and a smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.

* * *

Adeline greeted me dressed as though she were the castle's mistress, her attire resplendent and refined.
"Thank you for coming to my tea party, Anne."
"It's nothing. It's just a tea party, after all."
"...Pardon?"
Adeline's expression hardened visibly.
I'd been admiring the Lord's Castle and ‌‌forgotten to pay attention to what Adeline was saying. What had she said again?
Adeline was staring at me with a bewildered look.
"I apologize. ‌‌I misspoke. It's hardly a difficult matter."
I smiled brightly.
One cannot spit at a smiling face, after all. ‌‌‌‌
"I meant to say that I would come anytime at Adeline's invitation."
"Ah, I see..."
"I'm unfamiliar with the proper etiquette befitting nobility, so I made a mistake. I do hope you'll forgive me."
"Oh, well... such things. Of course. A commoner ‌‌‌like you wouldn't be accustomed to it, naturally."
Adeline fanned herself with an ambiguous expression, her fan fluttering softly.
She tilted her ‌‌head uncertainly for a moment longer, then smiled radiantly and opened the door wider.
"Do come in. ‌‌Welcome."
Thud!
At that moment, a woman standing near the door collided forcefully with the opening door.
She had brown hair ‌and wore a shabby ‌‌black everyday dress.
"Are you all right?"
I quickly approached and helped her to her feet. She was a thin woman with drooping eyes like a sad puppy.
I hadn't seen her face among those who had visited our house before.
"U-ugh, th-thank you."
The woman trembled as she barely managed to stand.
'She's not wearing an apron, so she's not a maid. Who is she?'
I knew the Lord's Castle didn't have the funds to employ ‌‌separate servants.
It was the same reason why the lord's own adjutant had personally handled the real estate ‌brokerage when I first arrived in Grunvalt.
In such an impoverished domain, even lacking sufficient funds to pay proper wages, maintaining a large household was nothing short of extravagance.
‌‌
"If you're referring to Adeline Kidland, she is indeed currently residing at the Lord's Castle. The two territories continue to maintain their exchanges."

When I asked Dale about it recently, he said Adeline had been staying at the Lord's Castle for quite some time.
'It seems ‌‌‌Adeline Kidland is ‌‌‌‌receiving some financial support from the Kidland Marquis in exchange for staying here.'
I ‌quickly grasped why Adeline carried herself ‌‌with such confidence in someone else's territory.
"Sophia! You again!"
"Oh, I-I'm sorry, sister."
Sister?
That's when Adeline seized the woman she called Sophia by the arm, gripping it as if to tear it away.
"Ah, sister...."
"Sophia! What on earth are you doing!"
Suddenly, my eyes met Adeline's.
She instantly released the force she'd been applying, as though her nails were scraping away at skin.
"How could you worry your sister like this, Sophia?!"
"...Sister?"
"I told you that you ‌‌‌‌have a weak constitution and shouldn't wander about like this. ‌Look at how poor your sense of direction is. I explained that today we have many guests from outside, so you mustn't roam freely—didn't I? I'm truly worried."
Her delicate voice dripped with tenderness and affection.
Adeline brushed the dirt from Sophia's backside with her own hands.
"Go ‌‌rest in your bedroom, all right? If you're bored, you can come into my bedroom too."
"Really, truly?"
"Have you lost your mind? Of course not...!"
Then Adeline ‌glanced around before our eyes met once ‌more.
"Of course you can! Why are you asking such strange questions, Sophia? Oh my, your palms are scraped. Go apply medicine and ‌‌rest properly. Understood?"
"Thank you, sister...!"
The woman called Sophia bowed her head quickly and disappeared.
'Sister?'
I tilted my ‌‌‌‌head in confusion.

* * *

The tea party led by Adeline unfolded exactly as I'd anticipated.
'Is she openly excluding me this time?'
The only difference was ‌‌that the attendees were no longer neighbors from before, but wealthy women instead.
My seat was positioned directly to the right of Adeline, the hostess.
"By the way, today is Adeline's birthday, isn't it?"
"My goodness! How did everyone find out, and how did you all prepare all this? ‌‌‌‌I told you not to."
I took a sip of tea.
Though she hadn't mentioned it to me, it was clear that everyone present knew this tea party was held to celebrate Adeline's birthday.
Those gathered seemed to be local nobility, daughters of merchant houses connected to the Kidland Marquis House, or mostly her followers.
Kiddleland was a wealthy ‌‌territory, and it distributed high-quality minerals found only there.
Friendship with her translated to profit.
Adeline glanced at me with a smile.
"I said there was no need to bring anything since this is just a small, casual gathering... but you're all so thoughtful! Aren't you, Anne?"
She nudged me lightly with a laugh.
"Since they've brought gifts all this way, it would be rude not to ‌‌accept them, so I suppose I must." ‌‌‌
"Of course! Adeline, please look at my gift ‌‌‌first."
Everyone rushed to hand her their presents.
Most were jewels that Adeline would appreciate, but as similar items kept appearing one after another, she couldn't hide her growing boredom.
"Well, thank you all so much. Then."
Finally, she looked at me as if she'd been waiting.
"Anne, did you bring my gift?"
"...."
"It's fine, Anne. Don't feel too pressured—I ‌‌‌told you ‌‌‌‌‌to come as you are." ‌‌‌
Adeline smiled with apparent ‌‌kindness.
"But still, it's my birthday...."
"Exactly. You were invited to the party through Adeline's kindness, yet isn't it rather shameless?"
The gathered women began to whisper among themselves. ‌‌‌‌‌
"I asked my ‌‌father to bring an expensive face cream that can only be obtained from other kingdoms. Please remember!"
"Thank you. Of course I'll remember, Sally."
"Kyaa! Thank you so much!"
"Adeline is so kindhearted. How could such a ‌‌wicked woman steal Adeline's man away...."
"Shh."
Adeline frowned and silenced her quietly.
"Such talk is rude to Anne."
Adeline furrowed her brow as she looked at ‌‌me.
"I'm sorry. They're not usually like this, but since they're my friends, they seem ‌‌‌unable to view you favorably."
"I see."
I put a piece of cake in my mouth and nodded. It was quite good, wherever it had come from.
But Adeline's expression didn't ‌‌‌seem satisfied.
"Ha ha, ha ha... ‌‌it's fine, so please relax and enjoy yourself, Miss Anne."
She smiled with gentle warmth. In that moment, I rose from my seat.
"You're leaving already? Please, stay longer."
"I will."
Adeline's eyes, which had been formally restraining me, twisted with displeasure.
She couldn't contain her momentary confusion, her brows drawing together sharply.
"But it would be a misunderstanding to think I haven't prepared a gift for you, Adeline."
I looked at the ‌woman who had fawned over Adeline with the eager ‌‌‌‌enthusiasm of a dog wagging its tail.
Then I retrieved the box I had hidden away in the corner.
The moment I produced the box, all eyes fixed upon me. I smiled at them.
"Of course I prepared it. A gift for you, Adeline."
Simultaneously, Adeline's brow furrowed as though creased by paper.

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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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