NEEEIGH!
Her voice echoed through the station along with the horses’ whinnies.
✦ ✦ ✦
💎💎💎
THE man apologized profusely before Olivia boarded the opposite carriage from his, a stony expression on her face.
The carriages were long and thin, with wooden benches filling both sides enough for twelve passengers. There were only seven passengers in that carriage, including Olivia, perhaps because it was after peak time.
She sat by the window, leaned against the cool wall, and sighed.
I just blew up on him. I don’t care how rude he was; shouting like that isn’t good, either. Regretting her behavior, she also snorted at herself. And it’s probably not that surprising he’d call me madam.
If you were being complimentary about the navy clothes Olivia wore, you might say they were free of influence from fleeting trends. If you were being critical, you could call them unfashionable. There was a time when Olivia dressed herself up more, but she didn’t have time to spend on her appearance after the store workers quit without notice, so she ended up dressing like this.
To top it off, she’d barely slept the night before—she was exhausted. From behind, she probably looked like an unfashionable, tired woman. It was no wonder that man thought “madam” was the appropriate term of address.
While she was smirking at herself, a bell rang loudly, and the conductor shouted, “Capital service now departing!”
The horses neighed, and the carriages slowly began to pull away to the sound of clip-clopping hooves. The view of the station outside the window transformed as she stared out. Her eyes soaked in those sights, the familiar town beneath a cloudy sky, as she tried to burn it into her memory.
The horsecar passed out of town and entered a swath of farm fields. She pulled her eyes from the window, sighed, and took out her reference book on magic circles loaded with notes she used when making magic items.
I don’t really feel like reading, but I have the time. Might as well get some reading in.
She flipped to the bookmarked page and began reading, but she didn’t become engrossed like she usually did. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t process the information. After reading the same passage several times, she gave up and closed the book.
It’s no good. I just can’t manage it today.
She set the book on her lap and turned her unfocused eyes toward the scenery flying by outside the window. Suddenly, she found herself thinking about Henry.
Six years ago, when she was thirteen, she designed a piece of magic jewelry that received praise. They called the creation a breath of fresh air, and it won an honorable mention from a magic item design competition in the capital. It was nothing more than an extra award, nothing like the gold and silver winners of the competition, but her father went around bragging about how incredible she was after that.
Talk of her winning the honorable mention had spread through town, and the news reached the ears of someone in the Clockmakers Association in Daregas. Daregas was famous for its clocks, and the Association approached Olivia.
“We would love you to design a wristwatch for women.”
Despite being meant to be worn around the wrist, most wristwatches at the time were large, heavy objects only used by unrefined men. As more and more women began to participate in further areas of society, feminine wristwatches became high in demand—which led the Association to seek a new design.
Olivia gladly accepted the request and proposed a concept. The slender watch she created with birds and flowers on the face was a hit amongst the working women. The Clockmakers Association was delighted by this and returned to her every year to request a new design.
It was during that time that Henry’s father, Viscount Perigord, came across her work. He was the lord of the town and region, and he decided he wanted to bring her talent into his family.
“Your daughter has an incredible eye for design,” he complimented. “I would like her to marry my son, Henry.”
The Viscount’s proposal shocked and concerned Olivia’s parents.
The country they lived in had a system of nobility. Much of the population were commoners. Those who had achieved significant accomplishments or donated large amounts of money to the government could receive the title of baronet, which was considered a “life peer” title that did not pass on to their children.
Hereditary peers were nobles whose titles passed down from generation to generation, including barons, viscounts, counts, marquesses, and dukes. At the top, they were all governed by the royals.
Olivia’s father had received a baronet title in recognition of his accomplishments in the field of magic item development. He was technically a noble, but he didn’t rule any land, and his life was not all that different from other commoners’. And yet, their family had received a marriage proposal from House Perigord, the house that had ruled the region for generations.
Of course, they were going to be surprised.
And while Henry might only be the Viscount’s fourth son, he was still very much the son of a noble. The daughter of a baronet like Olivia couldn’t possibly be suited for him.
However, the Viscount insisted that the difference in rank was not an issue, considering Olivia’s talent, accomplishments, and the fact that she was likely to take over Carter’s Magic Items in the future. If their lord was that firm on the issue, there was no way Olivia’s parents could refuse.
Olivia sighed as she thought about those days.
My heart fluttered when I first met him. He was so handsome.
After their engagement, the two began to spend time together as instructed by the Viscount. They would gift each other presents for their birthdays and go on outings about once a month. When they went out together, Henry was the one who did most of the talking, while Olivia mostly listened.
Most of what he spoke about wasn’t that interesting since he was a well-mannered but superficial man, but he did often talk about parts of the world Olivia didn’t know, so it wasn’t like the time was unenjoyable. She was also more interested in maintaining a peaceful relationship and not rocking the boat. He was good-looking, and she didn’t dislike being with him. She figured she could do worse in terms of a marriage partner.
But the year after their engagement was formalized, Olivia’s parents passed away in short succession from a disease that was spreading around, and Olivia’s uncle and his family moved into the house. They took the shop’s money without permission and used it to buy her uncle a baronet title. That was when Olivia’s world was upended.
Henry’s attitude toward her slowly began to change. The once-a-month visit turned to once every two months, then once every three. He also didn’t send her birthday presents. Olivia heard rumors he’d been seen strolling around town enjoying Catherine’s company, and, in the end, he broke off their engagement. Henry chose Catherine, a lazy liar who hated working. Olivia felt like she was being forced to face the fact that all her work until then had no value.
I pretended it didn’t bother me, but it really was a shock.
Olivia’s eyes fell on her hands with neatly trimmed short nails in her lap. She knew she was average-looking. Her navy-colored hair was rather plain, and her eyes were a common blue color. Her facial features and build were utterly normal as well. She didn’t have the attention-grabbing looks Catherine had, but she was proud of the fact that she’d studied and worked hard.
But none of that mattered in the end…
Really now, what is with this dreary attitude of mine?
Olivia jerked her eyes to look out the window as she felt her nose sting. The horsecar continued toward the capital, passing several other carriages along the way.
After nine hours, the horsecar arrived in the capital just as the sky began to tinge with rose.