QBSLB 19

Chapter 19. Daughter-in-Law or Maid

The gazes of the other parents were also drawn to me, standing in front of the carriage door.

It was only a brief moment, but I could clearly feel an awkward silence settling over the surroundings.

Well, that’s understandable.

A shabby, worn-out dress.

A clearly visible stain of black tea splashed across it.

And on top of that, my hair was tied back with an old handkerchief instead of even the most ordinary hair ornament.

Perhaps everyone was thinking, Why is a maid getting out of the Morgans family’s carriage?

I carefully addressed Sophia, who was standing there with her mouth hanging open in shock.

“Um… Mother…”

Just one word.

That was enough.

At that, the other noble ladies gasped and began whispering among themselves.

“My goodness, ‘Mother’? Then could that woman possibly be the wife of the Morgans viscount…?!”

“She’s dressed herself so extravagantly, and yet look at the daughter-in-law—what kind of outfit is that?”

At those murmurs, Sophia’s face instantly flushed bright red.

It was almost the same shade as her fiery red hair.

Kael, who had been seeing Sophia off at the front gate, wasn’t any different.

Pretending not to notice anything, I smiled at the child and waved my hand.

“Then, Kael, have a good week. And don’t cause trouble for your teacher!”

Of course, Kael didn’t wave back at me.

Instead, he hurriedly looked around.

Compared to the other noble ladies’ carefully effortless elegance, I looked utterly miserable.

“Tsk… This is embarrassing, so Mom, hurry up and get back in the carriage!”

Snapping irritably, Kael disappeared beyond the front gate without even saying goodbye.

“My goodness. Did you hear his tone?”

“To his own mother… As expected of a nouveau riche…”

The whispers around us grew even louder.

Judging by how little they bothered to lower their voices, it seemed they were deliberately making sure Sophia heard them.

So this is why they call high society a battlefield without guns.

“Ho, hoho…”

For a moment, Sophia looked so shocked it was as if her thoughts had frozen.

But she soon regained her composure, let out an awkward laugh, and waved her hand toward the surrounding noble ladies.

“Oh dear… My daughter-in-law is just so modest and frugal.”

Once she herself acknowledged my shabby appearance, the other noble ladies finally began speaking to her.

“Oh? Is that so?”

“Yes, yes. You know, Resurrection Day is coming up soon, isn’t it? She said she wanted to wear only that dress for a while to honor the grace of the Lord God.”

Oh—quick thinking.

Resurrection Day was a holy festival of the Kritan faith, the state religion of the Croiten Empire.

In remembrance of the day the Lord God rose again after forty days of slumber, it was customary to eat simply and dress modestly on that day.

Some devout believers even lived austerely from before Resurrection Day, so for an excuse made up on the spot, it wasn’t bad at all.

As expected. When it comes to cunning tricks, Sophia’s mind works just fine.

Though in everyday matters, true to a minor villainous noble family, she was greedy and foolish.

If I contradicted my mother-in-law here, it would only backfire.

The ladies were far more likely to side with Sophia than with someone they were seeing for the first time.

“Yes, Mother is absolutely right…”

So I lowered my head and murmured softly in a delicate, pitiful tone.

“I… I was the one who suggested it to Mother first…”

I deliberately let my voice tremble at the end.

How’s that? My demure little act.

Seeing me act as though I had returned to the former “good” Aileen, Sophia smiled in satisfaction.

Her expression clearly said, I knew it.

The other noble ladies nodded, looking somewhat uneasy.

“Well… if the lady herself says so.”

Even if there were suspicious circumstances, what could they do when the person involved said she was fine?

Interfering too deeply in another household’s affairs was unbecoming of noble dignity.

Just as the situation seemed to be wrapping up—

I, still pretending to be meek, lowered my head deeply.

Huh? The handkerchief isn’t coming loose as easily as I thought…

I had tied it loosely on purpose, so it should have fallen off by now.

With my head lowered, I subtly shook it from side to side.

Slip.

There we go.

At last, the handkerchief came undone and dropped softly to the ground.

Right at that moment, I secretly inhaled and held my breath.

“Oh my!”

At the same time, gasps erupted among the noble ladies.

“My goodness, Lady Morgans! Your hair—!”

The wrinkled corners of Sophia’s mouth twitched.

“Ah, well, that is—”

“N-no, it’s nothing.”

Before she could come up with another excuse, I snapped my head up and spoke first.

I shook my head vigorously, looking flustered.

Thanks to holding my breath while my head was down, my face was bright red—

as if I were desperately holding back tears.

My personal secret weapon, often used when pretending to be pitiful in front of unreasonable customers.

This too was one of the 101 ways to deal with troublesome people I had mastered over ten years as a barista.

With a flushed face and teary eyes, fidgeting with my cropped hair as though at a loss, I cried out:

“M-Mother only did it to make me prettier…!”

A completely different level of shock rippled through the younger noble ladies.

“D-don’t tell me… that hair?!”

“My goodness! How could she do such a thing, as a woman herself!”

Dressing a daughter-in-law in shabby clothes was one thing.

Cutting her hair was on an entirely different level—

especially in a conservative society like this one, where a woman’s long hair was considered her very life.

Looking at Sophia’s face, which had gone from red to downright blue, I secretly grinned to myself.

Monday morning, an unusual scene unfolded in front of the academy’s main gate.

The parents had split neatly into two groups.

“Viscountess, you shouldn’t endure everything in silence.”

“That’s right. No matter how obedience to one’s mother-in-law is a virtue in the Kritan faith… you don’t have to put up with getting your hair cut!”

Gathered on the right side of the gate were the younger noble ladies.

In other words, they were all daughters-in-law themselves.

They sincerely tried to comfort me.

On the other hand, the noble ladies around Sophia’s age—who had come to see off their grandchildren—were gathered on the left side of the gate.

If they had come out to a place like this, they were mostly the overbearing mother-in-law type.

Even though they knew Sophia’s actions were wrong, they still defended her, saying things like, Just how badly must the daughter-in-law have behaved…

“Well… still, Lady Morgans, you were a bit too obvious in disciplining your daughter-in-law.”

They couldn’t quite hide their displeasure, but—

“These days, times have changed. You get criticized for treating your in-laws like the old days.”

“Exactly. Back in my day…”

“Daughters-in-law nowadays have it far too easy…”

Their real point was: Why did you torment her so openly and make us mother-in-laws look bad?

Birds of a feather really do flock together…

No wonder Sophia was friends with people like them.

But it didn’t matter.

“Viscountess, please come visit our estate next time.”

“Ours too! I’ll send you an invitation to a tea party!”

Enthusiastic invitations poured in my direction.

It didn’t matter what Sophia and the older ladies were grumbling about over there.

Once I began participating in society in earnest, it would be these younger noble ladies—comforting me now—whom I would mostly associate with.

Among them, those with particularly overbearing mothers-in-law were especially eager.

In their eyes, an indescribable sense of camaraderie had already formed.

You could call it solidarity among daughters-in-law.

At a tea party, we’ll be able to complain about our in-laws to our hearts’ content.

That sounds fun. I was smiling and nodding when—

From far away, Sophia’s urgent voice rang out.

“By the way, I heard the tea house has a new set of high-quality black tea these days!”

She called out repeatedly to the older noble ladies.

“I’ll treat!”

Most of those who kept company with vulgar, nouveau riche Sophia were from insignificant families.

She maintained those relationships by spending money lavishly.

She was probably trying to smooth things over with money again this time.

Whipping her head around, Sophia glared at me and shouted viciously,

“You—!”

Then, glancing at the young noble ladies around me, she abruptly changed her tone.

“…Aileen? My dear daughter-in-law. You should return to the estate first. I’ll lend you the carriage.”

She added magnanimously,

“I’m yielding it for my precious daughter-in-law.”

Watching her, I secretly grinned to myself.

…How is it that my mother-in-law moves exactly as I predict, without a single exception?

From the moment I prepared that handkerchief at the estate, everything up to this point had been within my expectations.

All for the sake of going to meet my fairy godmother.