TPES 20

Chapter 20

“Miss. The lady of the house said earlier that you would be going to the shopping district together. Is it really all right for you to go separately to the Duke of Ameron’s estate instead?”

“It’s fine.”

“Yes. Then let’s go.”

The maid boarded the carriage without hesitation. She might have tried to stop me, saying I could get scolded later by the countess, but she didn’t.

“But don’t maids usually try harder to stop things like this?”

“Because the one who’ll be scolded is you, miss.”

She answered my question with a perfectly calm expression. She was a completely different type of maid from the ones I’d seen so far.

At her slightly bold yet rational response, I nodded.

“That’s right. You just need to follow my orders. Even if someone gets scolded, it’ll be me. Getting scolded for not going to the shopping district is—”

“Oh.”

The maid opened her mouth as if surprised by my words.

“I thought you’d be scolded for going alone to the Ameron estate. I saw Miss Rose earlier, pestering the lady of the house to marry her off to the Ameron family.”

“Ah, that. Don’t worry about it. Haren has absolutely no intention of marrying Rose.”

In the novel, the two were never involved at all. And at the prayer meeting, Haren had enthusiastically agreed and gone along with Flaria when she bad-mouthed the countess and Rose, so the chances of him ending up with Rose were close to zero.

“I know a few maids at the Duke of Ameron’s estate. From what I’ve heard, the young master of Ameron isn’t interested in women at all. He has no intention of marrying, so the duchess is very worried.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. Before the social season starts, most families try to sound things out little by little. The Ameron estate gets flooded with marriage proposals, but since Young Master Haren rejects them all, delivering the rejection letters has become even more difficult.”

“Really? They’re already preparing for the social season.”

“Yes. You’ll probably be receiving a few letters too, miss.”

“How do you know that?”

For a moment, suspicion crept into my mind at information an ordinary maid shouldn’t know. Matters like these usually stayed within noble families and rarely leaked outside. Yet she knew about letters that hadn’t even reached me yet.

“I have a pretty wide network. There’s at least one person I know in every noble household within the capital.”

“Really?”

Seeing that I still hadn’t completely dropped my guard, the maid pointed out the window.

“Over there, the second son of Count Parkenen is planning to marry you, saying, ‘At the very least, I need to secure a count’s title!’ He’s practicing ballroom dancing and musical instruments day and night, planning to stage a fateful meeting with you on the first day of the social season.”

Then she turned her head the other way and pointed at a mansion with her finger.

“And over there, Viscount Brunchen—he’s nineteen years older than you and has already been married once. He plans to propose to you this time. He thinks that if he pulls in the wealth of House Leon, his business will succeed.”

“Ugh….”

“You’re very popular among second sons who can’t inherit their families and among poor nobles, miss. You don’t have any rumored fiancé, your family is wealthy, and you’re set to inherit a count’s title.”

“Isn’t there anyone decent?”

By now, I had dropped my suspicion of her and was fully absorbed in the conversation. Since I’d been reincarnated into this world anyway, I wanted to take revenge on the con artists and enjoy my life too.

“There are some, of course. But it’s hard to say their intentions are pure.”

“I figured.”

“Oh, by the way—do you know anyone in House Kidne?”

“Yes. A friend who used to work with me went there recently.”

“Do you know anything about that house?”

“Nothing much. That family was on the brink of collapse before, right? But I don’t know what kind of business they’re running now—apparently the current Count Kidne has been making a lot of money. So they’ve hired a lot more staff.”

“That’s all?”

“Yes. They say it’s a really quiet household. Even though it’s a count’s family, there’s only the count himself, so there isn’t much work. They say it’s nice.”

“Hmm… Come to think of it, what was your name again?”

“Tonin.”

“Right, Tonin. Let me know if you hear anything else.”

I couldn’t blindly trust everything she said, but it was information that couldn’t hurt to hear.

I took out a fifty-ritas bill from my pocket and handed it to her.

“Of course. If you’re ever curious about anything, feel free to ask.”

Receiving an amount worth about half her monthly wages, she broke into a bright smile and busily tucked the money away.

Meanwhile, the carriage arrived in front of the Duke of Ameron’s estate.

“Ha, honestly, she’s unbelievable.”

Staring at Espin’s empty room, the countess clenched her teeth.

“Exactly. If Mother said we were going to the shopping district together, she should’ve just followed along without talking back. Ugh, this is so annoying. I was planning to buy clothes under her name.”

In noble families, each person usually had a fixed budget. Household finances were often managed by the lady of the house, but House Leon was different.

Count Leon had not handed that authority over to the countess. He personally set the budgets for the countess, Rose, and Espin, and only he and his administrators knew the exact amounts.

However, the countess and Rose knew that Espin’s budget was larger than theirs, and they were always dissatisfied with that fact.

Still, they didn’t have the courage to confront the count about it.

So the method they chose was to take Espin shopping and pay for dresses and expensive items using her budget.

Today as well, with the social season approaching and many events ahead that required new outfits, Rose and the countess planned to take Espin shopping.

Espin would be delighted to go shopping with them and happily pay for everything, and with that money they planned to buy all sorts of luxury goods…

“Where did Espin go?”

“I heard the young lady went to the Duke of Ameron’s estate.”

At the maid’s words, the countess’s hand gripping the doorknob began to tremble. Seeing that, the other maids cautiously stepped back, afraid they might get caught in the fallout.

“No, what is wrong with her? She knows I want to get close to Sir Haren, and she goes to the Ameron estate alone? Honestly, Mom, she’s really strange. She won’t even let me meet him, like she’s afraid I’ll steal her friends.”

Rose continued to pour out her complaints without pause.

“And what’s so special about that so-called childhood friend anyway? Why do they only stick together? Would it kill her to introduce Sir Haren to me? If I just had enough time to talk to him, I could charm him. This is all Espin’s fault.”

After hearing Rose’s words, the countess slammed Espin’s door shut and stormed toward her own room.

“Damn it! Did that girl take some kind of drug or something? Why is she suddenly going off the rails?”

As soon as she entered her room, she shouted, uncorked a bottle of wine she had hidden inside, and gulped it down. The smell of alcohol began to rise.

“You’re right, Mom. Something is definitely wrong with her head. Earlier she even ignored you when you told her to go change clothes. How long do we have to keep living with her?”

Forgetting that they were the ones who had come into House Leon from the outside, they instead acted brazenly, wanting to drive out Espin, the rightful fixture of the household.

“I was originally planning to marry her off to some weirdo, but…”

Judging from the count’s insistence on delaying Espin’s marriage, that wouldn’t be easy either. If the count were to pass his title to that strange man, she and Rose would be thrown out of the family with nothing.

“We’ll have to drive her out of this house now.”

The countess’s eyes gleamed coldly.

Seeing that look in her mother’s eyes, Rose finally smiled in relief. Her mother was always someone who would use any means necessary to get what she wanted.