It clearly wouldn’t stop with just a marriage interview. If things continued like this, Kelly would end up getting married to some old man she’d never met to pay off her family’s debt. I couldn’t allow that; it went against her wishes.
“I’m categorically against a marriage interview! Kelly wants to focus on her job at the moment. And if she were to get married, I wouldn’t approve it unless it was someone better. Someone who wants to buy his wife is out of the question!” I shouted, panting by the end.
Lord Nazel placed a hand on my shoulder from behind.
“Let’s calm down, Agnes. I know the depth of your love for Kelly. Besides...” Lord Nazel paused for a moment, then looked directly at Kelly’s family. “I agree with my wife. Even if you’re Kelly’s family, we won’t let you have her.”
Kelly’s family bent back in shock.
“How can you be so cruel? Are you saying it’s fine for our family to end up on the street?” Kelly’s mother said. But Kelly wasn’t included in their “family,” was she?
Kelly’s brothers followed suit.
“She’s right! This is too much!”
“If we can’t have our sister, give us some money! You’re nobles, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, yeah! And besides paying off our debt, we need living expenses, and entertainment expenses...”
These people were truly awful. They refused to work, depended on their estranged sister, and demanded money from people they’d only just met.
But the worst part is how everyone in this family thinks it’s perfectly normal to sacrifice Kelly. She wasn’t a tool for them to abuse. She was a kind, gentle, and strong-willed woman, not someone they should use for their selfish reasons.
“I apologize for making you go through this terrible experience, Lady Agnes,” Kelly said.
“You have nothing to apologize for. You are the one going through the worst experience here, aren’t you?” I said.
Lord Nazel nodded.
“By the way, can you peek into their feelings, Kelly? I’d like to know if they’re feeling any remorse.”
“Yes, I can use my magic to identify how they’re all feeling. It doesn’t consume a lot of mana, so I can see several people’s feelings at once.” Kelly activated her magic right after.
I quietly waited for her to finish using her magic.
“I have finished,” Kelly said only a moment later.
“Huh? Already?”
“Yes, that’s how my magic is. Just as I expected, I couldn’t see any remorse in my parents or brothers. They’re only thinking of getting a handout from you, Lord Nazelbart, Lady Agnes. I could see their unhidden ambition and expectation clearly.” If Kelly said so, it had to be true. She wouldn’t lie in a situation like this.
“Uh-huh. They show no remorse despite racking up all that debt.”
From looking at us, Kelly’s family must have realized what she’d just done; they started making another racket.
“Kelly, I hope you didn’t use that magic of yours!”
“You’re as creepy as ever. We told you not to use that power in front of us!”
“Milord and milady of Sutrena, you shouldn’t trust our sister. She could be telling you different things than what she actually saw with her magic.”
“Yeah, what he said. Looking into people’s hearts is a dreadful power. If only she had something like my weather forecast. Our sister’s magic isn’t just useless, it makes everyone around her hate her.”
I looked at Kelly’s family in shock.
Don’t tell me... Had Kelly grown up constantly listening to those kinds of comments? She’d never spoken in detail about her family’s relationship with her magic. But from what I’d just heard, her magic might have been part of the reason behind her mistreatment. The rest of her family seemed to have the same opinion on her magic.
“Kelly’s magic is very valuable. It has helped me as well. I don’t think it’s right of you to insult her like that just because you have something to feel guilty about,” I snapped back.
“Then you’re saying that you’re fine with our sister peeking into your heart whenever, milady?” one of Kelly’s brothers asked.
I nodded.
“Of course. I just need to not think anything bad, right? I would be fine with Kelly doing that, though she wouldn’t peek into my heart for no reason.”
To begin with, Kelly’s magic could only faintly understand people’s emotions. She couldn’t read people’s detailed thoughts, but only roughly distinguished between good and bad intentions. As long as someone wasn’t harboring any malice in their heart, they didn’t need to be very cautious of her magic. And in my case, Kelly had helped me a lot by seeing through the malice of those around me in advance.
Lord Nazel stood up in a dignified manner and looked at Kelly’s family.
“You were hoping to get some charity out of us, weren’t you?”
Everyone in Kelly’s family nodded shamelessly. When she saw their reaction, she turned to Lord Nazel and quietly spoke to him.
“Lord Nazelbart, if you give them anything once, they will consider it the norm and come back for more and more. If you subsequently turn them down, they will likely hold an unjustified grudge. Please, don’t give them anything.”
These words had come from their very own daughter and sister. I found these people pathetic. Their attitude earlier during the conversation had often made me think that Kelly really was right about them. I didn’t know if Kelly had been giving them any money. Perhaps this family had relied on Kelly’s labor when she had been little, and also the money she’d sent home after becoming independent. It looked like she wouldn’t be sending them money anymore, though. Kelly’s family thought it was natural for her to work for their sakes, and they threw a tantrum if she refused. I could easily imagine things playing out the same if we gave them any money now.
Just like Kelly said, it would be better not to simply try to solve this with money.
Lord Nazel also smiled to reassure Kelly.
“I agree. Irresponsibly handing them money wouldn’t benefit them. I’ve decided against it.”
“Wha— Come on!” Kelly’s parents shouted.
Lord Nazel continued speaking to rein them in.
“In exchange, if you are interested in a steady job, feel free to talk to me anytime. I’d be happy to give you that kind of assistance.”
“You have to be kidding... Are you fine with us falling into destitution?!”
Even this late in the game, the people of Kelly’s family were still saying such selfish rubbish. Not a single one of them was showing the slightest intention to work.
Kelly’s mother appealed to Lord Nazel with a pitiful expression.
“Y-You’re putting us in a bind. Besides, we’ve already given our consent for Kelly to marry that gentleman.”
“Huh?” I muttered. Consent? What did she mean by that? No one had mentioned this until now. “Did you arbitrarily consent to Kelly’s marriage?” It seemed that they’d told the other party the marriage was decided without getting Kelly’s approval. That was why they’d gotten desperate and kept sending letters to Kelly, who’d refused the marriage interview.
“What is this gentleman’s name?” Lord Nazel calmly asked Kelly’s family.
“Bill from the Shipish Company. He said he primarily sells products imported from abroad.”
According to Kelly’s family, it was an up-and-coming trading company that had suddenly started expanding its business into the capital lately. But why did a man from that company have his eye on Kelly? She was neither a noble nor from a wealthy merchant family—just an ordinary farmer’s daughter.
A rapidly growing trading company should be more likely to arrange a marriage for political gain. Kelly normally lived in Sutrena, so there was no way he’d fallen in love with her at first sight either.
“Hmm... I’m going to look into this Bill fellow. If he comes to your house again, I’d like you to tell him about me,” Lord Nazel declared as Kelly and I watched. “He might know that Kelly is the head handmaiden of the House of Florescruz and is trying to press her into marrying him.”
Lord Nazel’s words made things in my mind click.
“So this Bill guy is trying to establish contact with Sutrena through Kelly? Perhaps in order to gain a connection with you, Lord Nazel?” I suggested.
“I don’t know his goal, but I believe that’s the most plausible theory at the moment,” Lord Nazel replied.
“Oh no...” Perhaps Kelly’s father and brothers had already been targeted the moment they’d visited the capital. It’s also likely that they’d intentionally been led to a gambling house in order to set up this marriage interview with Kelly.
“The reason Bill went after Kelly’s family instead of talking to her directly was likely because it was easier that way. He probably didn’t want Agnes or me to find out about Kelly’s marriage because he knew we’d be opposed to it.”
“He can’t come to Sutrena directly because he must have something to hide!” His approach had definitely been on the sly side. “That’s all the more reason not to hand Kelly over to such a sneaky man.”
“Yes, that’s exactly right, Agnes.” Lord Nazel nodded deeply, then turned to Kelly. “You have nothing to worry about, Kelly. I’m actually sorry I brought you all the way here. You must have felt awful.”
“Yes, I’ll be the intermediary from now on. I won’t let them meet Kelly.” I took a stance to protect Kelly from her family and resolutely stood between her and them.
“Lady Agnes,” Kelly muttered.
I stared at Kelly’s family while supporting her.
“Now then, you’ll have to excuse us here,” I said.
Kelly’s family chased after us in a panic.
“Please wait! Are you going to just leave us like this?!”
“My husband already explained everything. We’re taking Kelly with us. We won’t leave her with a family that would sell her off! We have a duty to protect her! Farewell!” I spoke loud enough so that the neighborhood people—who’d come to secretly examine the situation—could hear me. I wanted to stop them from spreading any untoward rumors, such as that we’d opposed a marriage Kelly wanted and taken her away by force.