IPBPBD 22

Chapter 22

“If necessary.”

“……”

Jerome seriously considered it. Should he just quit?

He hadn’t expected things to be this unreasonable.

“I’m also going out to the battlefield—how do you expect that to make sense? Do you think I have more than one body?”

“At the very least, I don’t think it’s the time for you to be whining.”

Kirzen answered as though he was stating the obvious.

Jerome shut his mouth. At this point, ignoring him was the best choice.

The more he spoke, the more he would get dragged in. It was better to just go do his work.

Then, a few rumors he’d heard recently suddenly crossed his mind.

‘Should I say it or not?’

Jerome hesitated, but soon shook his head.

If Kirzen was already this fanatical, what would happen if he told him?

It was almost certain he’d just end up being bothered endlessly.

Kirzen might even ignore the fact that they were leaving for war the very next day.

That was practically a certainty. No—without a doubt.

Keeping quiet for now seemed like the wiser choice.

He’d report it later. Sorry, but there was no helping it.

Jerome quietly pushed it down his list of priorities.

For everyone’s sake, it was best to focus on the war for now.

And so, the next day, with Kirzen at the head, the long procession for departure to war set out.

A year had passed since the war began.

Emilina’s daily life had remained surprisingly unchanged.

She still chewed on hard bread, worried about the future, and occasionally attended social gatherings whenever she couldn’t endure Katie’s nagging.

It was, if anything, an ordinary, unremarkable life of a noblewoman.

Well… a bit harsher than most noblewomen’s lives, but still.

In any case, she lived by settling into her circumstances.

“Hm.”

But recently, her thoughts had started to change.

‘That damned money.’

It was money that had made her rethink things.

The cause of it all was just a few days ago.

“Baroness Klein has worn the same dress again today.”

“That makes four times, doesn’t it?”

“She must be very fond of that gown.”

“At this point, you’d think she would wear something new.”

While attending a ladies’ salon with her mother Katie, Emilina sensed the peculiar mood in the room.

It carried with it the tone of whispered ridicule.

“In contrast, Lady Klein is always dressed freshly, isn’t she? Of course, she’s at that age when it’s natural.”

“And that’s what makes it a pity, isn’t it? The gentlemen are terribly unkind.”

Eventually, laughter broke out among the ladies.

They hid their mouths behind fans and chuckled for quite a while.

One would have to be a fool not to understand.

They were pretending to be polite but were mocking her mother and her alike.

What really stung was the sneering aimed at Katie.

How detestable, those who mocked without even knowing the truth.

‘Mother may say she doesn’t care, but…’

Emilina wasn’t like that.

How could she feel fine when her own parents were being openly laughed at?

All the more because Katie had considered her feelings. Even if it was an unwanted kind of consideration.

The Kleins, at their core, were not stingy with money when it came to Emilina.

Even if she refused, they would rather overspend than let her suffer humiliation.

The problem was that they managed this despite their strained finances.

Like this recent salon gathering, for instance.

Ideally, they should have had two dresses prepared—one for her mother and one for her. But since that was too burdensome, only a single gown had been made.

Naturally, Emilina was the one who wore it.

Because of that, she ended up treated like a frivolous young lady.

It was unfair, but not entirely wrong, which made it hard to deny.

Honestly, she had thought things were manageable as they were.

She figured it was fine to live sparingly if money was short.

But after this experience, she realized she had been too complacent.

Because her parents would surely continue spending for her sake.

And she had no desire to become the kind of freeloader who bled her parents dry.

“The problem is how I earn money…”

Sighing, Emilina leaned her head back.

No suitable way to make money came to mind.

A business? She could make plans, sure.

But the question was—what business, and how to run it?

She had already experienced failure once.

Besides, all the profitable businesses were already taken.

‘And it’s not as if I can just go find a job.’

There weren’t many jobs a single noble lady could take on.

No—in truth, almost none.

At best, she could become a lady-in-waiting in a high-ranking household.

Of course, there were exceptions.

If she had good conduct and high repute, she might be recommended as a teacher of etiquette.

But that didn’t apply to Emilina.

And as for taking in a daughter of a low-ranking noble family as a lady-in-waiting—unlikely as well.

‘Should I really disguise myself and get a job?’

But that, too, worried her.

People would surely talk if a noblewoman did menial work.

She herself wouldn’t mind, but the Klein couple would never allow it.

At this point, her middling noble status felt like a shackle.

She couldn’t even freely work under the excuse of poverty.

‘In the end, is business my only option?’

“Argh.”

This was driving her crazy.

Back at square one, Emilina clutched her head.

She couldn’t come up with any clever solutions.

If only she could just live recklessly as she pleased.

But because of the Kleins, she couldn’t.

All she could do was sigh.

Just then—

“Phew—”

The sound of a long breath came from across the sofa.

Startled, she lifted her head to see Mactron sitting there.

He seemed to have heard her sigh as well, since his gaze was fixed on her.

Mactron was the one to break the silence.

“Milly. Is something troubling you? Your expression doesn’t look good.”

“You too, Father.”

“Well, I’m always like this. What about you?”

“I just have some things to think about…”

And with that, father and daughter didn’t continue further.

They both sensed the other was holding back, and silently drifted into their own thoughts.

Then Katie, passing through the living room, caught sight of them and spoke up.

“At this rate, the ground will sink under you. What are you both sighing about like that?”

“Oh, you were home? I heard you were going out today.”

Mactron rose awkwardly from his seat.

Emilina stood as well.

Katie stepped closer, arms folded, and pressed them.

“I just got back. So what’s going on here?”

“Uh, well, you see, dear…”

Mactron fumbled and couldn’t continue.

He glanced nervously at Emilina.

His eyes seemed to plead for help—or perhaps beg her to leave.

If it was the former, Emilina knew her best option was to stay quiet.

She, too, had no desire to be interrogated by Katie.

But before she could even think further, Katie pointed her out.

“Milly. You tell me first. What’s going on?”

“Uh, well…”

Emilina darted her eyes about desperately.

She couldn’t very well say outright, ‘I was trying to think of ways to make money because of you, Mother.’

So she needed some excuse to get out of this—but nothing good came to mind.

And if she tried to brush it off, Katie would surely dig deeper.

Her mother’s personality was such that once she suspected something, she never let go until she was satisfied.

At that moment, her eyes met Mactron’s.

And Emilina suddenly had an idea.

‘Sorry, Father.’

She decided to throw Mactron under the bus.

“It seemed like Father had something on his mind. His face didn’t look good all day. That’s why I ended up sighing too…”

She trailed off with a sheepish smile.

Katie studied her suspiciously for a moment before turning her gaze away.

Then, narrowing her eyes, she looked back at Mactron.

And finally, Mactron gave in with a weary sigh.

“Well, dear… it’s not something to discuss here, exactly…”

He cast a sideways glance at Emilina.

It was clear he found it hard to speak in her presence.

Katie caught on and let out a sigh.

“Milly, would you leave us for a bit?”

“Yes, of course.”

Emilina replied quickly.

For her, unable to reveal her true worries, it was a welcome dismissal.

The sooner she got away before Katie started grilling her, the better.

But then Katie clapped her hands as if remembering something.

“Oh! Actually, instead of just waiting, could you drop by Denka’s for me?”

I left something there by mistake, she said with a troubled smile.

Emilina blinked in surprise.

It was unlike her mother to make such a slip.

But soon she brushed it off and nodded.

“All right, I’ll go right away.”

With that, Emilina headed straight out of the house.