Chapter 14
‘Right. He’s a person too, so of course he has his own opinions. Don’t force him too much.’
I made a rational decision and quickly pushed away the disappointment.
As soon as I neatly wrapped up the problem that had suddenly appeared, I smiled at Harriet and nodded.
“Right. You should do what feels right to you. If you don’t want to help, then you don’t have to.”
“No…”
I gently shook my head and shrugged.
“You need to start paying attention to your own surroundings too. Put the people you really need to take care of first, and just think of me sometimes. The things you have to carry now aren’t light anymore.”
It wasn’t even difficult.
I had a huge advantage.
In a way, I roughly knew the original story—the future of this world.
Maybe just because my favorite character was standing right in front of me, I unconsciously wanted to lean on him.
‘Do I really need to rush? If I act ambiguously instead, wouldn’t that make me the bad one?’
I clapped my hands once and walked ahead, leaving him behind without hesitation.
‘Maybe I asked for too much and annoyed him. Well… that would make sense. Harriet must be busy too if he’s preparing to inherit his title.’
There probably wasn’t a single novel in existence with a carefree young duke.
Estimating how busy his schedule would become around his coming-of-age ceremony, I pressed a hand to my forehead.
‘With my stamina, I couldn’t even attempt it.’
There was only one reason my heart had become lighter after the debutante.
Putting aside the fact that the story had shifted slightly—
Harriet wasn’t someone who would easily let go of our relationship.
‘That’s why Lana gave up the ducal title and supported Harriet’s position. What an amazing friendship. Though my reasons are selfish.’
Once I bought a townhouse in the capital, I would maintain decent relationships with other nobles and survive a few years.
Even if war broke out, the protagonists would handle it somehow.
Even if some terrifying disaster happened, Celine would probably solve it with her brains.
And besides—
I wasn’t obsessed with the original story.
But I also didn’t want to change it.
I would quietly take what benefits I could, and if things started becoming strange, I’d step back.
That was enough.
‘Living like me is the smart way.’
Even while awkwardly walking because my shoes were uncomfortable, I confidently headed back into the imperial palace.
Harriet would return on his own eventually.
Ignoring the gaze I felt from behind, I walked inside.
⌜To Lady Lana⌟
⌜To Lady Demierd⌟
The moment I saw the two letters placed side by side—
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
Both arrived only one day after being announced.
One from Belthanio.
One from Celine.
‘These people seriously don’t care about wasting money.’
Did they really need to pay extra just to make letters arrive faster?
Using a knife, I roughly opened the letters that probably didn’t contain anything important anyway.
⌜I heard you attend the annual hunting festival every year.
I assume you’ll naturally attend again this year and enjoy yourself.
So how about our next meeting taking place there?⌟
I immediately frowned.
The Empire was peaceful.
Most ladies became passionate about salons and tea parties after their coming-of-age ceremonies.
But since those weren’t especially exciting—
Events like hunting festivals and celebrations became major events for noble ladies.
Maybe other ladies liked them—
But as someone who had already enjoyed plenty of entertainment while young, hunting festivals weren’t exciting at all.
‘Annoying.’
Too many bugs.
Too hot.
And a waste of time sitting there like decoration.
While other people secretly dated, I would just eat snacks and listen to gossip.
That was something I could do at a café.
‘Looking through Lana’s memories, she also seemed forced to attend. She was yawning every five minutes.’
And more importantly—
I needed to buy a townhouse in the capital quickly.
Soon, laws would change so even foreigners could buy property in the Empire.
Naturally—
Housing prices would rise.
You’re not my priority. Please leave.
Thinking that, I opened Celine’s letter.
⌜Dear Lady Demierd.⌟
Her handwriting was pressed down hard—
And so terrible that even years of handwriting practice probably wouldn’t fix it.
How had she been writing invoices all this time?
Who was even reading them?
Questioning her work ability, I continued.
⌜I don’t know if I’m allowed to write to you, but there’s something I want to say.
I’ve heard that Lady Demierd is respected by everyone for being modest and kind.
Since I still don’t understand this new world I’ve entered, I know this may be rude—but I want to ask a favor.
Please come to my tea party!⌟
It was a bold invitation with absolutely no elegance.
‘Not going. I’ll have nothing to talk about.’
The Beriker family’s first tea party appeared in the original story too.
That was where Celine argued with the daughter of Marquis Narti.
Celine was the type who replayed arguments in her head before sleeping if she didn’t say everything she wanted.
So she didn’t back down.
She argued until Lady Narti slapped her.
…At her first tea party.
Naturally, Kelient—who had been observing Celine—heard about it.
That became the chance for them to start talking.
‘Wait. If I go there… I’ll get to watch the fight? That’s not bad.’
Wouldn’t quietly supporting Celine and observing the chaos be more fun than going hunting?
A fight between—
A noble lady raised like she belonged on the streets and didn’t avoid physical fights—
And another noble lady who was bad at everything except arguing.
‘Keep this one. I’ll reply that I’ll decide based on my schedule.’
I asked Susan to bring me stationery and carefully wrote an elegant reply.
Do you know how hard it was to write a long and polite message that basically meant—
I’ll try to make time if invited.
‘Whew…’
One “okay” would’ve been enough.
I hoped the tea party would be worth all the effort I put into decorating my reply.
With anticipation, I sealed the envelope tightly.
“So nobles are offering how much per rough stone?”
“100 gold.”
“…That’s enough. We’ve reached the peak.”
Placing both hands on Susan’s shoulders after her thorough market research, I gave her a serious look.
A look that said—
You know what you need to do, right?
“When you give the final order to sell them, should I leave five and sell the rest? Should I find buyers?”
“Yeah. And leave only one stone. That ‘exploration stone’ doesn’t mean much to me.”
After sending Susan away—
I unfolded a crumpled paper.
A paper where I had squeezed out every memory I had of the original story.
‘The back has uncertain memories written down too… Ah, here it is.’
I vaguely remembered reading that the exploration stones were sold once the price reached exactly twenty times the purchase price.
So I had written:
[Sell exploration stones at around 20x. Later supply increases and prices drop.]
I smiled while carefully touching my messy notes.
Once I sold all the exploration stones—
I could buy a mansion one and a half times bigger than the townhouse I had been looking at.
That—
Was happiness.
That was the luxury and freedom I could actually enjoy.
‘Maybe because this is my first time experiencing financial healing in life… my shoulders keep rising on their own.’
Of course—
I still hadn’t told my parents I planned to move to the capital.
They were conservative.
And since they were comparing Ever and me while deciding who would inherit the title—
If I acted too differently, they might choose Ever.
‘First find a good property. Then create an excuse and become independent. House Demierd has a bit of a complex about weak social standing, so I’ll use that…’
I felt a little sorry toward Ever—
But someone like Lana could adapt to high society more easily with just a little effort.
To nobles who valued bloodlines—
The Duke and Duchess of Demierd’s decision had seemed absurd.
Many people criticized them for it.
Demierd territory was remote.
And Lana had spent all her time with Harriet instead of building connections.
But—
If she simply took one step away from the person closest to her—
Making new relationships in high society wouldn’t actually be difficult.
Suddenly—
That felt strangely wrong.
