TVBS 06

Episode 6

There was an exclusive boutique used by members of the Kerays family.

As soon as I was shown there, I was shocked by the astronomical prices of each dress.

Even though I had been given a generous allowance, buying two or three dresses would have been enough to spend it all.

“Lady, you don’t have to pay for anything you purchase here.”

“W-What?”

When I didn’t seem to understand, the well-dressed employee continued with a smile.

“For guests from the Kerays family, I simply record the purchases separately in the ledger.”

“Then what about the money?”

“His Grace the Duke will pay for it later.”

Ah, rich people really were different.

For a moment, I forgot about my original plan and became completely absorbed in the expensive dresses and jewelry in front of me.

And since none of it would be coming out of my allowance anyway, I happily picked out dresses and necklaces.

Once I came to my senses and properly set out on my journey, a problem arose.

I simply couldn’t get away from the people lined up behind me.

“Ah, I need to use the restroom for a moment.”

Whenever I said that, Maid Britta followed me.

“I’ve been walking around so much that my head hurts a little.”

Even when I sent a few of them away to buy medicine, it was no use.

There were still far too many people around me.

“Phew.”

In the end, I gave up.

Had that damned duke gone crazy over magic or something?

This was my chance to realize for certain that he was keeping such a close eye on me because he was afraid I might disappear somewhere.

“I bought this much?”

After spending the whole day wandering around the city, what I had acquired was a variety of dresses and jewelry.

Since I had been choosing this and that without even properly looking at anything, there was quite a lot.

When I returned to the mansion, I wanted to collapse onto my bed and rest my exhausted body, but I couldn’t.

“Lady, where should I put this?”

“…Huh?”

“The jewelry you bought is really beautiful. You should try it on at least once.”

“R-Right now?”

I stared blankly at Britta as she organized the things we’d bought.

But seeing her work so hard even though they weren’t her belongings, I couldn’t bring myself to simply rest.

Earlier, at the boutique in the city, I had just pointed at things here and there and chosen them, so I hadn’t tried anything on.

Britta must have secretly been looking forward to me trying them on at home.

Looking into Britta’s innocent eyes, I eventually got up.

“Should I try one on?”

“Yes!”

Britta clapped her hands together, genuinely delighted.

Of the dozen or so dresses, I chose a purple one that caught my eye.

A subtle purple dress that matched perfectly with my red hair.

My hair was swept up to make the ruby necklace and earrings stand out.

Maryann, thirteen years old and always looking cute and shy, now looked every bit like a proper lady who could attend a ball at any moment.

“Wow.”

“You’re really beautiful… my lady.”

The maids’ exclamations of admiration followed one after another.

Even I was surprised when I looked in the mirror.

“Oh, this is really pretty.”

Britta let out a small laugh at my words.

Then she carefully smoothed out the slightly wrinkled hem of the dress, as though she were tending to a baby.

The reflection of Britta in the mirror caught my attention.

“Britta.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Was this dress really expensive?”

I had been shopping so frantically that I couldn’t properly remember any of it.

Britta suddenly looked up in surprise.

“Of course! I think this might be the most expensive one among these dresses.”

“R-Really?”

I looked over the other dresses set to one side, then glanced back at the purple dress I was wearing.

They all looked more or less the same to me. What on earth was the difference?

Then I understood after hearing Britta’s next words.

“Not just anyone can wear this purple color. It’s something we could never even dream of wearing.”

“Not just anyone can wear it? Ah! Purple!”

Suddenly, I remembered the cover of the original novel.

Bianca, the heroine, had been standing beside the Crown Prince wearing a purple dress.

“My noble one, please accept my love.”

I remembered the scene where the Crown Prince confessed to Bianca like that and gave her an amethyst as a gift.

The reason he had chosen purple was because fabric dyes and amethysts were difficult to obtain within the empire.

It was a color that was that special. In other words, it was a gemstone that symbolized the dignity of high-ranking nobles and the imperial family.

‘That’s right! I remember someone saying that priests wore purple robes during Mass at the cathedral.’

I also remembered that a comment someone had posted had risen to the top.

‘In my previous life, it was such a common color. But in this world, it’s a precious one.’

After the maids left, I wrote down “purple fabric” on a piece of paper.

I needed money to escape the Kerays family.

And to raise that money, the best option would be to establish a merchant company under someone else’s name.

And perhaps this purple fabric could become the merchant company’s first product.

“Phew. That’s enough for today.”

Now I was really going to rest.

Since I was inside the mansion, there was no one following me just because I was taking a walk in the garden.

I’d even told everyone to please leave me alone.

“Don’t follow me! Ever! Never!”

And so, at last, I got some time to myself.

I slowly wandered through the mansion’s backyard.

The familiar sight of the sunset slowly fading away looked just like yesterday.

It seemed like it had already been almost a month since I had come to the Duke of Kerays’s residence.

Was every day going to repeat itself like this, until eventually everything proceeded exactly as it had in the original story?

As I gazed at the sky, which had deepened into an even more intense red in an instant, I realized that I had unconsciously wandered onto a side path in the backyard.

‘Huh…? Where am I?’

I turned around, and fortunately, I could see the path I’d come from.

It was evening and getting dark, but the light coming from the warehouse made it possible to see my surroundings.

‘Britta will come looking for me. I’d better hurry back.’

If I disappeared from the Duke’s residence, Britta was the only person who would genuinely worry about me and come looking for me.

Thinking of Britta, I hurried along.

It was just as I was passing the warehouse.

“Ahh…”

At the strange sound that suddenly reached my ears, my body stopped on its own.

What was that? What had just made that sound?

Ever since coming to this mansion, it seemed my hearing had become unusually sensitive.

I was about to take another step, thinking I must have heard it wrong, when—

“Mmnh!”

Another, even more suggestive sound reached me, and I immediately realized what kind of situation this was.

Because the first sound had clearly been a woman’s, while the second seemed to have come from a man.

No way…!

Drawn in by an instinctive, intense curiosity, I cautiously leaned my ear toward the warehouse.

The muffled sounds became even clearer.

Gulp.

I swallowed unconsciously, nervous.

My body was that of thirteen-year-old Maryann, but my soul belonged to an adult who knew exactly what was going on.

There was no way I wouldn’t recognize what a man and woman were doing.

‘If they’re in the warehouse, they’re probably servants, right?’

There must have been cases where servants fell for each other while working.

And there probably wasn’t a better place than this to express their affection privately.

In that case, I should stop intruding and leave.

I gave a small nod, regained my composure, and was about to go on my way.

But then I heard what they said next, and I couldn’t.

“Phew. Come away with me. Let’s leave this place.”

“Ah… How can we leave?”

The man’s voice slipped through the slightly open window of the warehouse.

It was a voice I’d never heard before.

But the woman’s voice was definitely someone I knew.

‘Th-That’s the wet nurse…!’

It was the voice of the wet nurse of the third child, Krimu.

Her unusually coquettish way of speaking had confused me at first, but there were so few servants I’d met in this mansion that I quickly recognized her.

“We still haven’t… saved enough money.”

The wet nurse’s weak voice prompted the man to speak with a sigh.

“Don’t worry. It won’t take long. But His Grace the Duke is so thorough. He even checks the ledgers himself.”

“Then how long do we have to wait?”

“Just wait a little longer. All the work will be finished by the end of this week. We just need to secure the money we owe the Kunu shop district.”

“Mmm…”

Hearing the wet nurse’s nasal whimper, I shuddered.

Ugh… My ears are going to rot. That wet nurse is really something else. And to think she’s Krimu’s wet nurse.

‘Come to think of it, what do they mean by saving money? And what ledger?’

I had seen the Kunu shopping district when I’d gone into the city.

When I’d been making my way around the boutiques in the square and trying to secretly escape, the Kunu shop had been standing right in my way.

As far as I remembered, they sold various materials for leatherwork there.

But why were they talking about securing money to pay the Kunu shop?

I suddenly had a very strange feeling about this.