Chapter 14

The next day, His Royal Highness, the Prince, left the viscount’s territory to go to the Grand Duchess. For some reason, he brought his father along.

I think it would have been fine if he had just given the farewell letter acknowledging, "I've caused a lot of trouble for my family and given misunderstandings to those around me, so I will properly distance myself. Thank you very much for your kindness, regardless of my status." But perhaps there was something else.

Of course, Father was throwing a tantrum, not wanting to go! After all, the physical strength of a serving military officer is different from that of a civil servant whose vigor is starting to wane.

I received a kind letter and message from Lady Primera, who kindly granted me a leave of absence, saying, "Please come back after you’ve settled things in your territory and feel at ease."

This was a letter that His Royal Highness, the Prince, took out from his pocket when I was preparing to leave the viscount’s territory with him. He said it was his trump card in case I didn’t return quietly, but I think he should have used it from the beginning.

The letter was full of warm words, expressing concern for me, agreeing that it was better to resolve the matter before it became serious in my hometown, and suggesting that I should take my time to talk with my brother. He’s an angel.

Moreover, it ended with, "I miss you, Yuria, so I’m only giving you a three-day leave. I’m sorry." I was deeply moved.

I couldn’t help but suppress a scream, and ended up making a strange sound, "Nnnn!" I never thought I’d make such a sound in real life.

I felt the maid looking at me with a bit of a shock, but I think it’s because Lady Primera is just too much of an angel.

I want to see Lady Primera too.

But indeed, I realized that I had relied too much on the situation where I had a younger brother as the heir, and had abandoned my role as the eldest daughter.

When I had a heart-to-heart talk, it turned out that my stepmother was not a bad person at all.

Perhaps it was due to the preconceived notion that "stepmothers and stepchildren don’t get along," which is common in past lives.

I had thought she disliked me, but that wasn’t the case.

What a revelation. ...What a revelation.

My stepmother, whose name is Francesca, was born as the second daughter of a baron’s family. She was told to find a modest match and marry quickly since she didn’t have particularly outstanding looks.

Then, she was asked to become the second wife of the Viscount Fandied, and she was married without any say in the matter.

We don’t have much of a relationship with that baron’s family... or rather, we have no family ties at all. We are technically relatives, but the heads of the families only exchange letters about their current situations.

Anyway, she admitted that she had felt envy and jealousy towards me, the eldest daughter, who could debut in society even though we were poor.

However, at the same time,

she confessed that she had also felt sympathy for me, seeing her husband, who only thought of his first wife and was disappointed in his daughter.

Father...

When I wondered why she had scolded me so harshly when I returned, it turned out that my brother had taken over that role.

I had long thought that Father only had the minimum talent required of a civil servant, and that the viscount’s territory could produce a stable income but not much more.

There were no other ways to earn money, and they had been barely managing since my grandfather’s time. Currently, they had no savings.

Recently, Father had started associating with someone unknown to my brothers and had made some kind of investment that failed, leading to continuous deficits. That’s when he started asking me for money.

At first, the money I sent was supposed to be saved for when I returned, but Father started using it, and he was worried that the viscount’s family might be on the verge of ruin.

"Although my sister hasn’t married, she is a trusted lady-in-waiting to the princess, so I couldn’t let her be troubled by our family’s situation... It was a form of disownment, and my mother knew, but I thought it would be a way to escape using that as a shield. I was also struggling with whether to be honest with my sister, so I am also at fault..."

"...That was because I couldn’t bear the weight of being the eldest daughter of the viscount’s family and had turned a blind eye to reality. I’m sorry, Mother. I am ashamed as the eldest daughter of this house."

That’s right, how embarrassing.

I thought, since I have a brother and his mother probably dislikes me, if I leave, everything will be fine, lucky me.

I regret thinking that way. No, it’s not right; it’s my fault for only having that kind of mindset.

Even though I grew up knowing that I was part of the noble society because we lived near the royal capital, I found it suffocating and didn’t want to bear any obligations.

When I apologized, my stepmother said, "That’s not the case!" and was shocked that I had said it was a common phrase from her parents that I was disowned for not debuting in society. She was even more shocked to learn that my not debuting had left enough funds for Merle’s debut and the viscountess’s appearance, and she felt like she was going to collapse.

Honestly, I didn’t think that far, so please don’t bow so deeply. I beg you.

This way, my stepmother and I were able to reconnect as mother and daughter.

And when my brother said, "I’ve always wished for a day when my sister and mother could laugh together!" I thought, "Are you an angel?"

However, we need to do something about the territory.

If the funds that Father used for his investment or something caused delays in flood control projects, that would be a serious problem!

Ah, I see. The Prince took Father away to search the study, and I secretly understood.

I thought, "You should give proper instructions for such things. I’m not a professional! I’m a lady-in-waiting!"

What we found was a gambling bill. What are you doing, Father?

Moreover, this is usury, isn’t it? It’s not right, is it? And it’s overdue? The late fees are piling up?

Is this some kind of loan shark? Does such a thing exist in this world?

All these thoughts rushed through my mind!

Ah, I have to do something about this, but I can’t pay it off with just the salary I’ve saved up.

But it’s also really frustrating to pay it off normally... I’m sure Father was taken advantage of by some unscrupulous people, right?

However, there’s no evidence of that, and what I found out was that the financial institution Father likely borrowed from was called "Tarbot Trading."

Hmm. I think I’ll ask about it at the Rizil Trading Company.

And... I’ll also visit the "Jenda Trading Company" that I favor.

What? Shouldn’t I just enrich the territory?

With below-average magical power and only being good at making tea, what can I do?

Well, in my past life, I worked at a subsidiary of a large company, and I was just a regular clerk in the HR department. I only worked overtime when HR was busy and sometimes had work pushed onto me by the office ladies.

Specialized knowledge? I don’t have any.

But I’m good at listening to complaints and hearing people’s stories and rumors.

Of course, even now!