“What is that?”

“This is <Peridot>, one of the most popular bakeries in the capital. Some products there are famous for being difficult to buy even if you line up before the store opens.”

“And… Is it that delicious?”

“I don’t know because I haven’t tried it, but on the days noble ladies visit other houses, they say they always order servants to buy strawberry tarts from there.”

It was very appetizing, but she wondered if she had to eat it while making the servants suffer. After all, they had to eat, but not necessarily tea or cake. So she took Anna to a restaurant with a nice outdoor terrace. It was a restaurant next to a park with green leaves, so they could enjoy the food while breathing in the fresh air on the terrace. Since it was a restaurant frequented by aristocrats, the food was expensive, but she was willing to pay the money for Anna, who followed her around without showing any signs of annoyance.

‘I’m happy that I can buy and eat as much as I want without worrying about money.’

She still vividly remembered packing lunch boxes to save money in her previous life. When she was sitting alone in the kitchen and eating a boxed lunch, someone would open the window in annoyance, and someone would stare as if they were right.

‘Yes, just having a lot of money makes me happy. Let’s trust money rather than expecting something emotional from others.’

She tried to be strong and convinced herself. But it was unavoidable to feel bitter even thinking about it. Some people got the favor of others so easily, but why was she having such a hard time? But it wasn’t the time to lose heart. She shared bread with cheese and ham and a sea bass dish with Anna, chatting about this and that, then pretending to be an idiot to get her to the point.

“The commoners say they don’t have carriages at home? So, what do you use when you go on a trip?”

“Sometimes we rent a wagon, and sometimes we pay for long-distance wagons and ride them.”

“Then do you stay overnight at an inn on the way?”

“People with money stay at inns, and people without money stay homeless.”

If she was going to run away at night, she had to know in advance how to ride a long-distance carriage and how to stay at an inn.

“Wow, that’s amazing. Where do you ride the long-distance wagon? I’ve never seen one.”

“You will. Long-distance wagons look completely different from noble wagons. Think of it as a covered cart.”

“Ugh. I don’t think the ride will be very comfortable.”

“That’s why everyone says they take motion sickness medicine. The place where long-distance carriages from the capital gather is near the south gate.”

So a long-distance carriage near the south gate of the capital… She would need to prepare motion sickness medicine in advance.

“Do you send someone to make a reservation if you want to stay at an inn or something?”

“Usually, you just go into an inn you can see and stay if there is a room available, or you can’t. People without money sleep in a stable.”

“Sleeping in the stable? Why? Are the inns expensive?”

“A cheap place costs about 3,000 sena a night, but the expensive place costs even 7,000 sena, so it is expensive for commoners.”

She meant the inn costs about 5,000 sena a night? She made sure to memorize it. She ended the conversation about the trip with a mysterious face like a young lady who knew nothing about the world, although it was true. There were many things she wanted to ask, but Anna, a servant of the Ludwig family, couldn’t help but report on her going out, and if her tail was long, she would be stepped on.

“Is there anything else you need?”

“No. Today I’m just going to dispose of the jewelry I took off my clothes and open a safe. Thanks to Anna going with me, my mood has improved a lot. Thank you.”

Anna’s expression hardly changed after her thanks, but she said she’d been together for months, and she noticed that she was a little surprised. She just wished in her heart that it was on the positive side.

* * *

As long as she started seriously contemplating ‘running away at night’, she had to actively use the library to get information for living in this world, as she almost lived in a mansion. Fortunately, the people in this house didn’t seem to be interested in what books she read in the library. So today, too, she had been stuck in the library since morning, looking for books with the contents necessary for survival and reading them. She was researching ‘how to cultivate old beans in dried soil’ for a while, when Anna suddenly appeared and quietly called her.

“Huh? Anna? What is it?”

“I’ll take you to the Duchess’ drawing room, my lady.”

“Why? Who is looking for me?”

“Yes. The jeweler came, and the Duchess asked me to bring the young lady too.”

In the part where she said that the Duchess had been with the young lady for a long time, she already had the idea that Lize would be there. To be honest, she didn’t want to see Lise or Killian yet, but she was called by the Duchess and she couldn’t not go. Besides, wasn’t it a ‘jewelry’?

‘Okay. If I think about the day I will run away at night, I have to rip it off beforehand when I can.’

Emotions would disappear someday. It was foolish to miss the important things by being buried in emotions that would disappear.

“Okay, let’s go.”

She left the book with the librarian and followed Anna into the Duchess’ drawing room. In the drawing room, not only the Duchess and Lise were present, but also Cliff and Killian. They had already spread out the products brought by the jeweler and were picking out things that would suit Lize. She was really reluctant to join the friendly atmosphere, but she smiled like it was nothing.

“You called, Mother.”

“Ah, Edith! Come on.”

Unlike the Duchess, who greeted her warmly, Killian’s gaze was still cold. No, he looked at her as if it was a burthen that she had come. It’s a huge improvement compared to the wedding day when he didn’t even turn his head in her direction.

“This is Mr. Felix Eppard, the owner of <Eppart>, a jewelry store that has been dealing with our family for a long time. It’s been a long time since good things came in, so if you like something, pick it up.”

“Thank you.”

On one sofa sat the Duchess, Lise, and Cliff, and on the other side were the jewelers Felix and Killian. She had no choice but to sit next to Killian. After a moment of awkwardness, they started playing princesses again, trying this and that on Lize.

“Doesn’t this sapphire match Lise’s eyes too well?”

“How about this pearl necklace?”

“Oh, that suits you too! The white pearl necklace I bought last time wasn’t bad either, but this one looks better because it’s cream colored.”

Lize continued to wave her hand, but the Duchess and Cliff seemed excited. Killian couldn’t actively participate, probably because of Edith, and was only pointing at things that seemed fine between her. Watching that scene reminded her of reading this episode in the original story.

‘Ah, that’s it! The jeweler episode where Edith was humiliated!’

Even in the original work, the people of the duchy only cared about Lise. Lise, who couldn’t see that, offered Edith a small necklace, but Edith said, “Where would you recommend something like that?” and bitterly refused. And sitting proudly, whenever someone placed jewelry on Lise, she didn’t even look at her and just spat out, “I’ll do that too.” The jeweler was at a loss and said, ‘Everything here has only one piece’, and Cliff buys all the jewels in this place with a blank check. Leaving only the necklace Lise recommended to Edith. And to Edith, who gets angry, Killian throws the necklace, saying that there was nothing left for her, so she couldn’t help it.

‘At the time, I thought it was exhilarating, but now that I’m in Edith’s position, I understand. It must have hurt her pride.’

Of course, Edith’s attitude wasn’t right, but couldn’t she have been hurt so much that she had no choice but to take that attitude? No, why did they call someone in the first place and treat that person like a bag of barley? While she was blankly thinking about the original work, Lise pointed to one of the necklaces and said, as if it was embarrassing that people only recommended jewelry to her.

“I think this necklace would look good on Edith!”

Even if she didn’t mess around, the original episode progressed steadily. The necklace Lise pointed to was a thin gold necklace with a small drop-shaped red jewel attached to it.

‘I thought Lise refused because she chose something strange, but it’s pretty! As expected, did you just hate it because Lise chose it?’

Although the size of the jewels was on the small side among the items that the jeweler spread out, honestly, from a modern perspective, she liked these better than couture-class accessories piled high with large jewels.

“Oh my, how pretty! This… Is it a ruby?”

She took it because she only knew ruby as a red jewel, but luckily ruby was right.

“You two are very discerning. This is the highest grade ruby. The filigree design and bezel setting were also done by our best artisans.”

There’s no way for her to know what’s great, but it must mean pretty and expensive anyway. In fact, the vivid and transparent red ruby was pretty, so she looked into it for a while.

“Please try it on.”

“Yes, Edith. It can be different from what you see once you put it on.”

The jeweler and Lise recommended it. She smiled shyly and reached for the necklace. However, there was someone who picked up the necklace before her.

“Killian…?”

He unlocked the necklace without a word. She wondered why he was acting like this all of a sudden, but it caught her eye that the Duchess was watching with a proud face on the other side.

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