Prologue: Engagement Broken; Home and Shop Stolen
UGH, it’s so bright.
Olivia couldn’t help but squint as her blue eyes took in the drawing room in her home, a room she hadn’t stepped in for nearly a year. The wallpaper was studded with gold leaf, and gold ornamental objects glittered around the room while the massive magic chandelier lit the room as radiantly as the noon sun.
It was far from gentle on her tired eyes, seeing as she had only just gotten home after work.
What tacky taste. This drawing room has none of the elegance it used to have. It would never look like this if Mother and Father were still alive.
She couldn’t hold back her sigh.
Her attitude must have irritated the pudgy, middle-aged man perched on one of the sofas in the center of the room. He was clad in a gold jacket and bore a throbbing vein in his temple as he shouted, “Olivia, are you listening?!”
“Yes, I’m listening,” she replied flatly, shifting her gaze back to the four people sitting on the sofas.
The yelling man with a beet-red face was her uncle and adoptive father, Baronet Carter. Her adoptive mother wore expensive-looking clothing and a mocking smile. Joining them was Olivia’s blond-haired, green-eyed fiancé, Henry, with an angry expression in place of the usual sweet mask he put on for the ladies. Clinging onto and pouting up at him was Catherine, Olivia’s adoptive sister, clad in a revealing pink dress.
Thinking this was a rather depressing combination of people, Olivia spoke evenly, “I’m very sorry. I’m sure you can agree a misunderstanding here just won’t do. Could you please say that again?”
Her adoptive father’s face was bright red as he howled, “That’s exactly the sort of attitude of yours I can’t stand!” He stamped his foot and thrust a plump finger in her direction improperly. “Listen up! As of today, you are fired! Get out immediately!”
Olivia paused. “May I ask why?”
His mouth curled up triumphantly in response to her calm question. “You know why! The magic jewelry you claimed to design was all Catherine’s creations. Someone who steals their sister’s work and claims it as their own isn’t fit to be an artificer!”
Henry’s fine features twisted even more in a scowl, and he hurled, “I’ve also heard you’ve been tormenting Catherine for so long, bullying her for every little thing—even taking her belongings. You are despicable.”
“Oh, Henry, it was so painful,” cried Catherine. Her strawberry-blonde hair swayed and a delicate tear slipped from her green eyes.
Olivia looked at them with an unamused expression. They honestly believe it, don’t they?
Catherine was both Olivia’s cousin and adoptive sister. She was lazy, hated working, and had no interest in magic items—Catherine had never once been to the shop. Olivia had heard she didn’t have enough mana to become an artificer even if she wanted to. Why would these people think someone like that could design magic jewelry?
And I’m the one who had to live through hardship.
Shortly after Olivia’s mother and father passed away about a year and a half ago, Olivia’s uncle and his family moved into her family’s mansion, claiming she was underage and making themselves her guardians and adoptive family.
She lost so much to them. They took the rooms with good sunlight, her favorite clothes and jewelry, even the right to manage the home and her father’s shop, Carter’s Magic Items.
In the end, she only had a small room with barely any sunlight, a position in title only as “assistant manager” at the shop, taxing work, and a paltry salary.
Olivia was the one who was tormented and stolen from, not Catherine.
Her silence must have annoyed her adoptive father because he bellowed, “As manager of Carter’s Magic Items, I have ordered you, Assistant Manager Olivia, to be removed from your position as of today. And as your father, I cut all ties with you! Get out, now!”
“And I am also informing you that our engagement is over. I no longer love you,” proclaimed Henry in a shrill voice as he put a protective arm around Catherine. The girl smiled triumphantly.
Olivia slowly narrowed her eyes. She wanted to say so much, but they wouldn’t listen even if she did. And if they listened, she would just be forced to watch more of this farce.
I’ve put up with so much this past year to protect Father’s shop, but I’m done.
She whispered a secret apology to her father, then lifted her head with resolution—she would leave with her head held high. Olivia was not being chased out; she was walking out.
With a straightened back, she looked her adoptive father straight in the eyes and cooly said, “I understand.”
“Uh…what?”
Apparently, they hadn’t expected that response from her because all four looked utterly taken aback.
Her adoptive mother annoyingly shrieked, “Do you even understand what we’re saying to you?!”
“I do. I am to leave the house and the shop, and my engagement is over. Is that right?”
“Y-yes…that’s right.” Her adoptive mother flinched back from Olivia’s calm reply.
Catherine scowled and yelled, “What is with you?!”
“What do you mean?”
“How can you be so…so normal about this?!”
It seemed like Catherine had been confident that Olivia would cry and scream. Instead, she looked coolly at Catherine as she thought, This is the last time I’ll see them. Might as well say everything I want to say.
She glanced at the gathered party and gave an exasperated shrug. “Honestly, there’s no reason this would surprise me.”
“What?”
Olivia slowly turned her eyes to her adoptive father. “Three months ago, you brought two new workers into the shop. I thought that was odd. You barely gave me a salary, yet you insisted they were to help me because I seemed to be having a hard time. It was odd you’d use such a compassionate reason for hiring someone. You actually wanted me to train them so they could replace me, yes?”
He looked away guiltily.
“And you, Henry. You haven’t come to visit me these past six months. You haven’t even sent letters or gifts. It was like you’d forgotten we were engaged. However, I’ve seen you often in town with Catherine, so perhaps you were too busy with her.”
“I-I…” Henry’s face turned red, then white as his mumbled words failed to leave his mouth.
At that, Olivia’s adoptive mother stood with a nearly demonic expression and screeched, “Stop saying such insulting things!”
“Speaking of,” continued Olivia, looking at her with emotionless eyes, “yesterday, you told me to lend you money. At that point, the decision would have been to chase me out of the house after borrowing my money, knowing you wouldn’t have to return it. Unfortunately, I had no money to lend you.”
“Agh!” The woman’s lips flapped in sheer rage.
Olivia watched her out of the corner of her eye as she went to leave the room. Baronet Carter shouted, “Wait! Where are you going?!”
“To my room. I need to pack my things.”
“No need for that. I packed for you. I can’t allow a thief to roam the house.” The enraged expression fell from her adoptive mother’s face and was replaced with a smirk. Catherine smiled mockingly and added that she helped with the packing.
Olivia glanced at the dirty, worn-out suitcase in the corner of the room and shrugged. “No, thank you.”
“What?”
“I said, no, thank you. You’ve probably shoved all sorts of unwanted objects in there, haven’t you?” She brought the suitcase to the middle of the room, expressionless, as she ignored her adoptive mother’s shrieks to stop and opened the luggage for all to see.
“Ah!”
The inside was crammed with patched and faded clothing, underwear, scraps of paper, and other useless things. None of it looked like anything more than garbage.
Henry was at a loss for words, stammering something at the sight of how horrible it was, while Catherine and Olivia’s adoptive mother went pale and started to make some meaningless excuse.
Olivia ignored them and quickly ran her eyes along the suitcase’s contents. I didn’t think there would be anything good here, but I am honestly surprised at how bad it is. Upon further inspection, she let out a small sigh. And my design sketchbooks are missing.
Amounting to around twenty small pads, her sketchbooks contained her own ideas. There were original designs for things like brooches and pendants drawn in detail. They were essential for when she made new items.
I see now. That’s why they’re so forceful.
They must have thought that with her sketchbooks and a replacement artificer, they didn’t need her anymore. She really wanted to get them back but dropped her eyes instead.
I didn’t sign my sketchbooks. I can’t prove otherwise if Catherine claims they were her drawings. She could insist she’d drawn them, but putting that to this group would only warrant calling her a thief again. I don’t like it, but I guess I have to accept it’s my fault for leaving them out in my room.
She gnawed on her lip, trying to listen to her own advice as she scanned the clutter again. “Where’s my bank card? Wasn’t it in my room?”
Her adoptive mother looked sly as she answered, “I don’t know, I didn’t see it. Where did you put it? I can go look if you tell me.”
“…No, thank you,” she replied flatly, and her adoptive mother grew angry again.
“I said I’d go look for it for you! Just tell me!”
“And I said, no, thank you,” Olivia repeated coldly, thinking that even if she did tell her, she would pretend she never found it and steal all the money from Olivia’s account.
The woman glared at Olivia, who softly shifted to look at Catherine. “I look forward to seeing what designs you come up with. Though, I imagine I’ll have seen them all before.”
“H-how mean of you! Why do you always have to bully me?” barked Catherine as she broke into sobs and leaned against Henry.
Olivia didn’t bother watching the farce. She took two worn silver keys from her well-used leather bag and set them side by side in front of her adoptive father. “This is the key to the house, and this is for the shop. As you can see, I have returned them. Henry, you can be witness to that, yes?”
“Uh, yes.” His eyes widened, but he nodded, Catherine still in his protective embrace. Her adoptive father was caught off guard by her forthright behavior.
“Now, I wish you all the best,” she bade, leaving the four of them flapping their mouths in an attempt to say something.
She left the room, her back straight, and everyone behind her. Olivia walked down the gold carpet on the hallway floor and out of the mansion. She closed the front door behind her and leaned back against it.
“I’m so tired…” she let out with a sigh.
She straightened up once more, fixed her eyes directly ahead, and disappeared into the night town without one look back.