WYDM 38
“But it’ll be difficult to do right away. Since neither Sana nor I originally worked in a noble house, preparing the refined food that nobles eat will take some time.”
It wasn’t something they could do immediately—they needed time to grow.
“If this isn’t just for one party but the first step toward future social life, please give me some time. And in the meantime, how about attending parties held by other ladies or wives? I could go with you and check what kinds of food they serve.”
Romina nodded repeatedly, satisfied with her own suggestion.
And Sehera was doing the same.
- Hold a perfect party at the estate to show she was thriving.
- Before holding a perfect party at the estate, first attend others’ parties to spy a bit and naturally show them her presence.
“Right. Rather than trying to pull it off completely from the start, it might be better to approach it more naturally like that.”
What had been just one option floating around in her head seemed to become an official method, making her feelings clearer somehow.
True impact had to exceed what anyone could imagine to be shocking. That’s why even the slightest sloppiness would make the impact disappear.
Holding a party at the estate right away would certainly have plenty of impact, but there would be countless things to worry about.
Sehera nodded. Her slightly tense face after making the decision looked both cute and a bit pitiful.
These were things she should be doing at her age. But whether she married or not, normally she’d proceed step by step under the watchful eyes of adults nearby, who’d point out mistakes from behind and help redirect her while she learned the methods.
When she’d been at the estate, she’d grown up learning everything herself under parents busy with merchant company affairs, and even at the ducal estate, no one had guided her on what to do or what direction not to take.
She must have felt like she was living through the world alone.
What was harder… what had made her weak was perhaps because she wasn’t completely alone…
Romina gazed at the beautiful count’s daughter sitting in the warm sunlight.
Still, even alone, she was moving forward step by step like this. Having learned how to fill her side with needed people when no one was there, her growth would accelerate from now on.
“Do I just have to wait… for someone to invite me?”
Lost in deep thought, she remained beautiful. Sitting on the attic rug lost in contemplation, she looked like a painting.
Romina barely suppressed the urge to suggest commissioning a portrait since she’d soon be a count anyway.
“Ah, Rabo sometimes brings letters that arrive… should we check if there’s anything there?”
“Hm…? Letters? Those came?”
Sehera blinked, seemingly unaware. Romina smiled and added an explanation.
When she’d first come to the estate, she’d seemed to be waiting quite eagerly for letters. Sana, Romina, and even Rabo, who’d been hired as estate employees, all knew what she was waiting for.
But initially, what came to the estate were things like pointlessly slanderous letters from pretentious noble ladies about her divorce, or marriage proposals from insignificant provincial nobles.
So the three of them started checking incoming letters first. And they began filtering out the aforementioned ones.
Since she wouldn’t reply anyway, they hoped to spare her from feeling bad by reading such content.
Gradually the number of letters decreased, and the task had become the responsibility of Rabo, who diligently went around the estate from morning.
“Rabo’s been collecting those letters. We decided to filter out all the useless content and only bring you things that would help with your work…”
“Aha. So you might not have given me invitations. Since there was no such content before.”
Romina nodded at Sehera’s muttering.
“I see. If it was Rabo, and it was an invitation from a noble lady who’d troubled you, don’t you think he would’ve judged it unhelpful and not shown it to you?”
Romina had a somewhat motherly feeling. Even talking about Rabo, there was no hint of criticism, just a tone like embracing her child.
Sehera felt that warmth pleasantly along with the sunlight and gathered herself to stand.
“I’ll go see Rabo. Want to come with me, Romina?”
She opened her eyes properly from where she’d been squinting in the shadow cast by Sehera, who moved without delay, and nodded. She thought she needed to know what Sehera was doing well to help at the right time and place.
Leaving the cleaning supplies on the fourth floor, Romina followed Sehera down the stairs.
But as they approached the second floor, Sehera’s steps were slowing slightly. About to step on the next stair without thinking, Romina nearly bumped into her back.
“Even though Sana seems clumsy, she’ll be doing fine, Miss.”
Sehera’s shoulders visibly flinched even from behind. Romina grinned at her own accurate intuition, then quickly lowered her lips.
It wasn’t difficult to know what she’d been thinking this past week, how she felt now.
“You’ve been nursing him all this time… are you sure it’s okay not to check on him?”
There must be some reason she’d left it to Sana, but considering how she’d nursed him, it seemed impossible not to worry.
Sana had heard Sehera’s story and angrily cursed the duke as a bad person, but Romina was thinking something slightly different.
That she’d been treated that way by the duke at the ducal estate and felt such despair… was probably because she had that man, who’d been deeply wounded and lying in bed all along, in her heart.
If someone she didn’t care about had returned severely injured, she might have worried. But she wouldn’t have been this deeply hurt by not being able to nurse him.
That was why Romina didn’t simply hate that man lying in the room inside. Even when Sana and even Rabo showed hostile feelings toward him, Romina just laughed it off.
The person her lady held in her heart… that terrible feeling she still couldn’t properly wash away… she couldn’t curse while knowing it.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Like Romina said, Sana will do well. But for Sana who has to work going around everywhere, it must be pretty tough.”
Sehera had grown stronger. Even with a hurting heart, even when her insides probably weren’t very settled, she’d gained the composure to laugh it off with a joke.
“I’m taking good care not only of the duke’s meals but also Sana’s snacks.”
At Romina’s words, Sehera suddenly stopped walking down a couple more stairs and looked back at her.
“She’s going to the kitchen to eat properly, right?”
How many nobles would care about their employees’ meals like this? Romina nodded pleasantly with a smile.
“Would Sana skip meals? She comes down on her own, eats well, goes back up. She was even worried she might gain weight from eating well and just sitting around.”
At the very Sana-like worry, Sehera let out a small laugh. She was a child who’d push a mop and clean with a patient beside her.
“That’s good. He can move around now, so would something terrible happen if he’s alone for that short time?”
Why did she say that one sentence with such a determined face when it wasn’t that difficult?
Our lady, you’re going to be thrown into high society crawling with noble ladies—how will you survive being this cute?
Even knowing it was disloyal to see her as too young, Romina couldn’t help it. Serving such a lady well was her job, she thought while following Sehera’s fluttering blonde hair.
* * *
“You’re here already.”
Right behind the estate building was a small house. It was where Rabo lived while doing the work of a gardener and butler.
When they’d found Ethan collapsed in the backyard, this was the first place they’d run to.
Though Rabo had difficulty mingling with others, sometimes he worked as a carpenter handling wood to supply firewood or make simple furniture, and sometimes managed the stable as a coachman.
In many ways, it seemed better for him to live here alone, so they’d arranged this place for him.
Though they’d hastily converted the storage, they’d still taken great care to make it not too shabby and comfortable for living.
The moderately sized room was filled with various tools covering both walls and a large table. What stood out most was a wooden chest full of letter envelopes.
What looked like easily dozens of them were sealed envelopes with stamps.
But… they didn’t look like things he’d receive. Like subtly shimmering crimson envelopes or ones seemingly tied with ribbon bands.
They were obviously things women would send.
When she’d first met him, he’d just been a big man silently taking a beating. When she’d asked what could make a territory person who rarely got angry beat someone up, the man had apparently stolen something.
He’d obviously looked like he was struggling to make ends meet, so she understood why he’d tried to steal. But… while wondering how he’d earned such anger, when she saw what he’d tried to steal, her jaw dropped in disbelief rather than anger.
The anger was justified. What he’d tried to take was a sack of flour. That would be difficult to carry even normally, yet he’d tried to secretly steal away with it.
So she’d thought he’d been caught trying to run away with it. But that wasn’t it.
