🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 26
“You’ve been taking care of me without a break, haven’t you? Plus, you’ve been busy teaching Buddy things… Today, don’t worry about anything and have a good rest.”
Solia gave Edel a warm look.
But Edel didn’t leave right away. She hesitated, curious.
‘What is she looking at? I can’t see the title from here, it’s too far…’
The young lady was sitting at the tea table, looking through a small booklet. Edel wondered what kind of book it was.
‘She’s always looked at thick plant books…’
Edel reluctantly looked away, turning her gaze to the wall.
‘Pretend you didn’t hear. Pretend you didn’t see.’
That’s what she learned when she started as a trainee maid at twelve, out of poverty.
Maids were just like furniture for their masters. The nobles didn’t even know Edel’s name.
If she made a mistake, she’d go without meals, or get beaten until her shoulders were bloody. That was common.
She almost never heard anything except orders to obey.
“You are nothing. Until your master decides to notice you. Even then, you never know when you’ll be thrown away.”
When the head maid shouted that, all the maids standing in line would answer together.
Hearing only things like that, Edel came to truly respect Solia after the tea leaf incident.
She was shocked when Solia told her that even maids should have pride. When Solia saved Buddy, Edel even felt a thrill in her heart.
‘Miss Solia is an amazing person… It’s my luck to serve her.’
How happy it is when someone actually sees you as a person…
‘If it’s for my lady, I feel like I could do anything…!’
Edel folded her hands together and smiled a little. She tried to hide her overflowing feelings.
“Is there anything else you need before I go on my break?”
“No, it’s fine. Don’t worry and enjoy your day.”
Solia waved her hand.
“Oh, Edel. Have you seen this before? It’s a booklet introducing mercenary guilds. I guess they even have catalogs now.”
Solia leaned her cheek on one hand and stared at the booklet.
“If I had a lot of money, I’d love to join one of the top guilds.”
Then she sighed lightly and took out a small, black notebook from her drawer.
With a quill, she began to write elegantly. She really did look like a princess.
‘Wow… How is she so graceful and classy?’
Edel watched in a daze, then let out a quiet sigh.
Solia was dazzling. Her golden hair and blue eyes looked truly magical.
She was a beauty that drew attention no matter how many times you looked at her.
‘The other servants call her a thorny, icy rose without tears…’
Edel didn’t fully agree, but she could see why people might say that.
“Have you chosen a mercenary guild you like?”
Caught up in the moment, Edel forgot herself and asked.
“Yes. I looked for one that was good at assassinations, and I found one.”
“…A-assassinations?”
Edel’s voice shook as she asked.
Solia laughed.
“Just kidding, Edel. Why would a noble lady like me ever need to kill someone?”
The way one corner of her mouth curled up was so charming.
‘My lady is so beautiful and smart.’
While Edel was lost in admiration, Solia set her notebook down.
[Baron XXX Rotten. Got horny and went to Leona Port, where he was eaten by a kraken and died.]
As she wrote her “kill list” with elegance, her brow wrinkled a little.
‘Really… What did the kraken do to deserve that? Even a kraken wouldn’t eat trash like him.’
“Edel, come over here.”
At Solia’s gentle call, Edel nervously stepped closer.
Solia showed off her notebook.
“What does this look like to you?”
“…Um. They look like letters! Or maybe pretty drawings?”
“They are letters. Do you know what language they are?”
“No, miss. I learned Imperial from my mother, but…”
Edel trailed off and guessed,
“I’m not good with foreign languages. Um… Is it from the western continent?”
“I wonder. I’m not exactly sure what the western letters look like, but… Hmm, does it look like this?”
Solia tilted her head, and Edel squinted, trying to focus.
“No… Now that I look, it’s totally different.”
The letters from the west, shaped like snakes, were different from these.
“Then what could it be?”
Solia pointed at the letters she’d written, and Edel carefully offered,
“If you don’t mind, miss… Should I ask a guild to investigate?”
“No need.”
Solia waved her hand lightly. She’d already figured it out from Edel’s reaction.
‘So, Hangul isn’t used here. Only someone like me, a possessor, would use it.’
‘No way… Is the ancient language here actually Hangul?’
She wondered if the writer of this world had bothered to make up a language or just reused Hangul.
‘What if it really is Hangul?’
If so, it would be almost cheating—so easy for her.
‘Is there anyone else here who knows Hangul?’
To check for real, she’d need to go to the Mage Tower. But not just anyone could get in.
Even the emperor needed special permission.
The Mage Tower was within the Bastia Empire’s land, but it was an independent district. Even the Empire’s laws didn’t apply there.
You needed the Tower Master’s permission to enter the tower or its territory.
‘The stone tablets with ancient language are managed at the Blue Winter Ruins.’
Only by going there could she see the ancient writing for herself.
But the Blue Winter Ruins were also Mage Tower territory.
It was strictly controlled. Only those with strong connections could get in—like being close to a high-level mage.
‘Neither I nor Noah have any connections, so it’s not possible now. Maybe later.’
Solia decided she would definitely investigate the Blue Winter Ruins someday. There were other things there she needed to find, too.
She snapped out of her thoughts as Edel said goodbye.
“…Then I’ll be off, miss.”
After saying a few words, Edel packed her small bag and left for her vacation. To make sure Edel could travel comfortably, Solia even used the baron’s money to call for a fancy merchant carriage.
‘Spending Rotten’s money is the most satisfying thing ever.’
Solia smirked and began organizing her situation in her notebook.
Scratch, scratch—
The soft sound of the quill on paper filled the air as her neat letters lined up on the page.
Before she became Solia Rotten, she had spent her whole life reading, writing, and learning Hangul as Yoo Chaehwa.
Even after being Solia seven times, she rarely had a chance to use it.
Now, it felt a bit strange. Still, she was glad she hadn’t forgotten it completely.
‘If I forgot Hangul, I’d forget my memories, my experiences, even myself as Yoo Chaehwa.’
‘I need to check what the ancient letters look like. And… I have to find out if I’m the only possessor here.’
There were two big things she needed to do:
Check if there are any other possessors besides myself. (If they’re hiding, it’ll be hard to find out.)
If there are, investigate whether they changed culture or the economy in a big way. (Start with the Empire, then the whole northern continent.)
Solia wrote out 1 and 2 in detail, then crossed them out.
“Right now, I’m stuck at the baron’s house… I should focus on getting a proposal from Noah and getting married.”
She needed to narrow her goals and plan her next steps.
Think of business ideas (using materials from this world)
Build a relationship with Cheryl Malone (she’s the Empress’s favorite since Duke Benzo’s wife disappeared)
“To run a business, I should use what I know from my old world…”
But so far, all she could think of was soap and perfume. Anything more complicated needed special knowledge.
“The quality of children’s clothes here is terrible, right? Hmm… I should write that down.”
In her old world, even children’s clothes were good quality. Baby detergent was common.
Here, there was no idea of children’s rights. Kids did hard labor or their parents’ work without question.
Edel started working as a maid at twelve, which was normal here. Many kids started even younger.
‘There isn’t really a concept of “children’s clothes” here… They just use leftover fabric from adults’ clothes.’
Maybe royal or duke’s kids got special clothes.
Noble girls only wore beautiful, high-quality dresses when they were old enough for debutante balls.
“The Iris Dress Shop controls debutante dresses, so I can’t do anything there…”
Clothes were not an area she could touch yet, so she decided to leave it for now.
