Chapter 87

"Thank you for always reading! I appreciate the reports of typos and missing characters.

'Why...'

On the way back from school, Emma was walking down the shopping street with Georg, William, and Joshua.

Even though it was after school, Francesca, Marion, Catherine, and Caitlyn were all busy and couldn’t play with her.

It was a rare week when her grandmother’s one-on-one hellish etiquette training was waived.

She had collapsed at last week’s ball (or so it was said), and her grandmother had sent a messenger to tell her to rest.

She had wanted to have a good time with her friends at Joshua’s newly opened store.

In the port town, it was too rural to have stylish cafes, and if they missed the bus that came only once every two hours, they couldn’t even go home, so they couldn’t play at all. After-school dates with friends were something she had always dreamed of.

Mou, she puffed out her cheeks in frustration at the situation.

"It can’t be helped. Everyone is busy with dresses, shoes, and decorations for the ball," William consoled her, but it was the usual group of brothers and Joshua.

Besides, it wasn’t even a girls’ day out anymore.

"Miss Emma, today we have a special dessert with lots of whipped cream, so please look forward to it," Joshua offered, but she had wanted to share such a wonderful dessert with her friends and chat a lot. She had been looking forward to a girls’ day out today.

Why did the king have to host a ball at this time... Emma raised her face to glare at the castle when, with a thud, she was hit from behind.

"Ah!!"

Caught off guard, she fell with a strange sound. The bag she was holding cushioned the impact, so she didn’t feel any pain from falling, but she instinctively let out an "Ouch..."

Come to think of it, her bag was still full of handkerchiefs she had made in her embroidery class at the beginning of the week. Nice cushion.

Well, she had just forgotten to take them out. Reflecting on herself, she realized she had become sloppy without her mother, who had left for the royal capital, to nag at her. She would forget to take them out of her bag when she got home.

Looking up, she saw a woman with a pale face earnestly apologizing. The scar on her face made her look even more worried. She felt bad for saying "Ouch" when she wasn’t really in pain. Blood was seeping from the woman’s hand.

Remembering the handkerchiefs in her bag, she tried to stop the bleeding, but the woman must have hit a bad spot and fainted.

"... I must sound like I’m telling a story to nobles who can’t understand, right? I’m sorry..."

She had carried the unconscious woman to the living space of Joshua’s nearby store and listened to her story. Emma’s friends were busy with dressmaking and couldn’t play. The seamstress must have been even busier.

Normally, it would be difficult to make one dress in a week. To make five dresses, no matter how hard she tried, it was impossible. If those five dresses weren’t completed, the shop would go out of business. But it was beyond her limits. And it was her fault the shop might...

Hanna, with a pale face and tears, told her story.

Hmm... I can really relate to this.

When you’re busy, you get even more work that you don’t usually get.

I know. I even took on extra work when I was in a hurry...

There’s no way you can handle this amount of work with this number of people.

I know. When I tried to get help, everyone else was just as busy.

Even if you give up your lunch break and 10-minute breaks, you can’t catch up, so you end up working overtime.

I know. But you need to eat to have energy.

No matter how much you work, the furniture in your house keeps decreasing.

I know. I even seriously considered selling my grandfather’s portrait, but who would buy it now?

Unreasonable demands from the royal family.

I know. My father at that time... he was always holding his head.

The flood of monsters.

I know. I wanted to finish this wedding dress today, but a large number of one-horned rabbits appeared... the preparation is really difficult.

... The memories of my busy periods in my previous life and the times when I was poor in this life came vividly to mind. Looking next to me, Georg, who was even more of a workaholic than me in my previous life, was nodding deeply. Brother... you often didn’t take weekends off.

For some reason, Pae-ta was also nodding, but I swallowed the urge to point out that he had quit within a year. His nods were as light as meringue.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!"

Joshua entered the room with drinks, desserts, and medicine for Hanna. The sweet scent of the desserts enveloped Hanna and the three brothers, lightening the gloomy atmosphere.

... Thinking about it, thanks to Joshua and his uncle selling silk from the palace, she could now live a life full of cats and bugs, which she loved. Thank you, Rothschild Trading Company.

"Wh-what...?"

After Joshua placed the items on the table, she took his hand and held it tightly with both of her hands.

"Joshua... really, really, thank you so much!"

She looked up at Joshua, who was taller than her, and expressed her gratitude with a slight upward glance.

A year ago, Yadvi had told her, "Princess, gratitude doesn’t always get across unless you say it. Even if it’s work, it’s okay to say thank you if you’re happy to receive it!" This was something Emma strongly believed since her reincarnation.

Fortunately, her whole family had been reincarnated, but she didn’t have a husband, children, or a boyfriend. In the port town, she had been supported by friends, colleagues, and various people. She had experienced firsthand that the feeling of gratitude might not reach the other person if not expressed immediately.

She needed to properly thank Joshua. Even though they were always together, it made her a bit shy... but she smiled and tried to hide her embarrassment.

"Ah!!"

Joshua’s face turned red as if a fire had been lit from below. Not just his face, but all the skin from his hand to the tips of his ears turned completely red.

... Yeah.

... I understand, Joshua. Saying thank you face-to-face is embarrassing not just for the one saying it, but also for the one receiving it. It makes you blush, doesn’t it?

However, the gratitude towards Joshua was a shared sentiment among the three brothers. Not just Emma, but Georg and William must have also wanted to thank Joshua.

From the side, Georg and William suddenly hugged Joshua and expressed their gratitude after Emma. Their momentum was so strong that Emma’s hand slipped out of Joshua’s, but she didn’t interfere in their male friendship.

"Ah!!! Hey, hey, hey!!! Hands!!! Hands!!! You guys!!! Hey!!! Hey!!! Get off!!! Hey!!!"

Joshua, embarrassed, used words he would never normally use. Yeah, yeah. This is male friendship. ... To avoid ruining the moment, Emma quietly stepped back.

"Joshua, really, thank you so much."

"Joshua, thank you."

Especially Georg, who had the longest memories of the workaholic and poor Stewart era, gave Joshua a firm hug. With his strong build, even Joshua couldn’t escape from Georg’s serious hug.

Joshua was flustered but couldn’t be entirely unhappy.

"Isn’t male friendship great?"

While washing and applying medicine to Hanna’s abrasions, Emma smiled, but Hanna looked puzzled and silent.

Should I point this out...?

...

Joshua: "Since Miss Emma held my hand... Ah, Miss Emma’s hand was so soft..."

Georg & William: "S-Sorry"

Joshua: "Please read the room. I appreciate the gratitude, but understand the time and place and know when to back off!"

Georg & William: "S-Sorry..."

Joshua: "That blushing face... It was the cutest... I thought I was going to die..."

Georg & William: "S-Sorry (If Joshua dies, the Stewart family will be over...)"