🔊 TTS Settings
~Chapter 52~
Mia was young, but with her long years as a maid, she knew just as much as any adult.
The words she passed on to Shariette were softened, so this innocent pharmacist wouldn’t be too shocked.
For example, what she said as “The Marquis is the bad one” was actually a polite filter of what people really said: “The man who couldn’t control his lower body is the problem.”
“……”
In the past, Shariette wouldn’t have cared.
If you did something worth cursing, then being cursed was only natural.
But now, Shariette knew she was not a “rat.” She had not stolen blessings. She had not driven her half-sister into a sickly life.
It felt strange.
In some ways, it had been easier when she hadn’t known the truth.
“But knowing that it was wrong, and still leaving you trapped there—that’s your fault.”
In one ear, she heard “rat.” In the other, she heard “nonsense.” The sounds buzzed together.
Something rattled inside her chest.
Shariette pulled out a box from the bookshelf beside her desk.
The latch—turned half a circle and fixed into place—was firmly closed.
When she touched the latch with her fingers, the noise in her head quieted.
“Come to think of it, Lady Shariette, you’ve always kept that box, haven’t you?” Mia asked.
Back in the underground pharmacy of Argen castle, that dark green box with vine decorations had always sat in the corner of the desk.
“Yes. I brought it with me then.”
“There must be something very important inside. Ah! If it’s a secret, you don’t need to tell me!”
Mia waved her hands quickly, then frowned at the latch. For something that should hold important items, it looked too fragile.
“But if it’s important, shouldn’t you at least put a lock on it? I can buy one for you.”
Shariette shook her head.
“No. I don’t need that.”
“Of course, no one will come in here just to steal, but still—”
“There’s nothing worth stealing.”
“…Pardon?”
Shariette placed the box back on its usual spot.
She didn’t need a lock.
Just leaving it where it always was, closed tightly as always—that was enough.
After that, she went back to writing her reply. This time it flowed much more easily.
Reply Letter
Hello, Miss Hailey.
This is Shariette Verdette.
Thank you for inviting me to the tea party. I will attend together with Nixia.
As for Lord Caiel Genoa’s proposal, I refused. Because I already have someone to escort.
Take care.
After writing up to there, Shariette hesitated.
If she copied Hailey’s letter format, she should end with “With friendship.”
“Are we really in a relationship that has friendship?”
She murmured to herself, and Mia burst out laughing.
“Don’t nobles always write things they don’t mean? If every word were true, then all the nobles in Aylard would be in love with each other!”
Maybe this girl is smarter than me. Shariette listened carefully to the advice and added the final line.
—With friendship, Shariette Verdette.
She paused to look at the letter she had written.
Perhaps because of her hard effort last time, her handwriting was much neater now, almost like before.
And then…
“Invitation. Attendance. Tea party. Friendship.”
Unfamiliar words, but not unpleasant ones. In fact, they felt… maybe good. Another set of new words added to her life.
“Shariette, what should we do? That day I have an important merchant business I absolutely cannot miss. I don’t think I can go.”
Nixia dropped the shocking words.
Shariette nodded without thinking.
“Yes. Then I’ll rewrite the letter and say I can’t attend.”
“No, no. I can’t go, but you should still go and enjoy yourself in my place.”
…What?
Go alone?
Shariette looked up at Nixia like a puppy thrown out of the house in the middle of winter.
“Nixia. This is my first time at a tea party. To be exact—I don’t even know what it is.”
Her words carried the hidden meaning: You’re the one who invited me, and now you’re leaving me alone? Are you joking?
But such complaints meant little to Nixia, who had plenty of experience in society.
“We often have tea time with Mother, right? It’s the same thing, just with more people.”
“……”
“Come to think of it, I even bought the perfect dress earlier! See? I told you—if you buy clothes, an occasion to wear them will come.”
Is she joking with me? Shariette puffed her cheeks.
She knew she lacked social skills compared to others.
To act with a natural face, a natural gesture, or natural words, she always had to watch others and copy them.
‘At least now I’m better than when I was in Willowhill.’
Back then, people gave her nicknames like “White Crow” or “Gray Crow.”
Living alone, she had often run into thieves and robbers. That’s how she learned one truth:
“The best conversation is a fist, and the best compromise is a threat.”
Even the “Beast Repellent Spray” she had used to knock out Noxian at their first meeting came from that belief.
But here, things were safer, and it was easier to copy ordinary people’s ordinary manners.
Still, if she went alone, rumors would surely spread: “Nixia Rubellot’s friend is strange.”
‘Don’t people hate rumors?’
At least Blanche had. Or more precisely—Blanche had gone crazy if anyone said bad things about her.
“I’ll kill you, Nixia Rubellot! I’ll kill you!!”
Blanche would come back from every banquet or party cursing wildly, seven or eight times out of ten.
“Those useless trash are the same! I’ll drown them all in Lake Azenic! Aaaah! Shasha! Why aren’t you crawling here yet?! Ack!!”
Life is strange. Now Shariette was friends with the very Nixia who had been cursed so many times.
“Oh right, isn’t this your first time going out alone? I’ll assign you a personal escort.”
“Personal escort?”
Why would she need that?
Guessing her unspoken thought, Nixia quickly continued:
“Our family called you someone very important and precious. If we let you walk around alone without a guard, what will people think of me?”
“Just a talkative, irresponsible person.”
The harmless answer stabbed Nixia in the chest, leaving her speechless for a moment.
“…Actually, I was a little worried before. But now, I think I don’t have to worry at all.”
“Worried?”
“Nothing. Shariette, just be yourself. No matter what anyone says, you’ll always win.”
Nixia smiled, her lips curling up long.
This tiny friend of hers had quite a sharp tongue.
“Win? Am I going to fight instead of play?”
Yes—this was what Nixia meant.
That innocent way of stabbing straight into the truth.
Unseeing attacks are the scariest. Nixia looked at Shariette’s puzzled face and grinned.
“In society, we all play while fighting.”
Shariette thought: What a bunch of strange people.
“Lady Shariette needs an escort?!”
At the loud cry, a crowd of burly men gathered.
“Me! I’ll do it! Please let me!”
“That guy lost muscle recently, he’s not reliable. Pick me instead!”
“I’m from a noble family, so I’m perfect for escort duties anywhere!”
“Boo! Who cares about bloodline!”
Shariette thought: I wish they’d all just go away.
Mia noticed her sharp gaze and coughed loudly, then pointed at the knights who were all three or four times bigger than her.
“Line up! Speak one at a time!”
How did it come to this mess?
Of course—like most strange things around her lately, the cause led back to Noxian.
“I clearly said to only accept female knight volunteers.”
But even Noxian, the root of the problem, glared at the over-enthusiastic group of escort volunteers with an annoyed face.
“I apologize. Somehow word spread, and these idiots screamed about discrimination, so now it’s like this. I’ll go clear them up.”
Joseph ran off and began “clearing traffic” with his fists and feet.
