“I know it’s a little sad that I have to say goodbye to them, but they’re doing this to encourage me. I have to reciprocate their sentiments!”
Sara was about to protest this idiocy, but the moment she heard the words “say goodbye to them,” her eyes suddenly lit up. “Milady... So you’ve finally made the big decision!” she exclaimed, clasping both of Jeanette’s hands. “I’ve been waiting so long for this day—the day you finally part from them!”
“Really?! Sorry... I never realized!” Jeanette exclaimed.
Sara roared with laughter. “It’s all right! I mean, you always seemed fine with everything. Maybe you were even enjoying it this whole time?”
“Th-That’s a little far-fetched... I just thought it’d be a good learning experience.”
After all, her stepmother’s cynicism made for a great way to practice dealing with troublesome customers. And unlike with actual clients, even if Jeanette handled things somewhat poorly or made mistakes, the consequences would simply be the same kind of nasty remarks she’d grown used to hearing. For this reason, Leila had indeed been the perfect sparring partner.
When Jeanette explained as much, Sara sighed. “I suppose your indomitable spirit is a strength of yours, my lady. But my one point of complaint lies in the fact that it’s you leaving the house. Rather, you should be the head of this household...”
“That’s not true, Sara,” Jeanette said with a shake of her head. “Even my father said that Ariel should inherit this house, remember?”
“I know, but...”
Indeed, Jeanette’s father had said that he wanted to pass his peerage onto Ariel, and allow Jeanette to succeed him as the president of the Roussel Corporation. That had been why Jeanette had dedicated herself to studying commerce every single day.
That said, Mother never mentioned anything about the company... Jeanette pondered. Ah! Could this also be a part of my reward?!
While Jeanette thought things over, Sara’s expression soured. “Milord may have decided as much, but I truly loathe those two women! Pardon me for saying as much, but Milord’s poor discernment of women’s characters was a fatal flaw of his.”
Indeed, the marriage of Jeanette’s biological parents had been arranged between their families. In contrast, Leila had brought Jeanette’s father home on a night when he’d been extremely drunk. Without knowing Leila’s personality or anything about her at all, he’d been tricked into remarrying before he even realized it.
“Really?” Jeanette asked Sara. “Well, I think they’re very kind for not trying to have me killed...”
“Isn’t that way too risky? It’d cause a scandal if they tried to go that far!”
Jeanette giggled at her maid’s words. “But you know, Sara...the true owner of this house is still my father,” she said, gently stroking a small painting. It was the portrait of her father in his younger days, her late mother, and Jeanette herself when she was still a baby. “Mother might have decided otherwise, but even when my father was struck by lightning thrice, he survived. It’s too soon to write him off like that.”
Not to mention, only a week had passed since her father had gone missing. From what Jeanette had heard, there had been heavy rain during her father’s business trip to the neighboring Voltaire Empire. This had caused the road to be very slippery, and his horse-drawn carriage had slipped off a cliff. However, though the wreck of the carriage had been discovered, there had been no trace of her father anywhere.
“To be honest, I feel like I should go looking for him,” Jeanette said. “But as a woman, I’d need a permit to travel abroad, and I’m not familiar with the lands anyway. So I think I should find someone trustworthy and ask them to find my father!” she decided, getting fired up at the idea.
Jeanette had heaps of things to get done. First things first, she’d get in touch with some of the businessmen she knew and see if any of them would be willing to hire a female helper not yet of age. Once she’d gotten a job to sustain herself, she’d find someone who could locate her father.
And also... Jeanette thought, recalling one more very important thing she had to do. I have to ask Lord Claus to break off our engagement!
Count Claus Guivarch—Jeanette’s fiancé of many years. At the thought of him, she squeezed her hands together tightly.
Their engagement happened when Jeanette was thirteen years old, and Claus was seventeen. He was the heir of a venerable yet bankrupt family. His grandfather had borrowed large sums of money and had fallen into colossal debt. During his time as count, Claus’s father just about managed to eke out a living, but his means had reached a limit one day.
Right when they were on the verge of being forced to sell their peerage and residence, Jeanette’s father appeared gallantly on the horizon.
Father not only wanted to buy a peerage, but also wanted to arrange my engagement with Lord Claus. After we helped House Guivarch repay their debts, the family began financially assisting the Roussels in turn...
And in the end, Jeanette’s fiancé Claus became so popular that the entirety of high society knew his name. His silver hair shone with a nigh divine luster, and his violet eyes were clearer than gemstones. He looked like a beautiful archangel straight out of a painting. On top of all of that, he was so kind that he’d earned the reputation of being a saint. The first time he paid their family a visit, Jeanette herself was surprised that such a pretty man even existed.
But there was one person who was more infatuated with Claus than Jeanette was—Ariel.
It seemed Jeanette’s stepsister had fallen for Claus at first sight. She had made a great fuss to Jeanette’s father about wanting to be engaged to Claus, but stopped upon realizing it wouldn’t happen.
Instead, Ariel started relentlessly hounding Jeanette and spying on her while spreading baseless rumors about her to destroy her reputation little by little. And since there were many young noble ladies who were jealous of Jeanette, they happily swallowed those rumors.
That’s why I’m pretty happy to be able to break away from the world of high society... Jeanette thought as she packed her clothes away into her bag.
She’d never been able to have a proper conversation with the noble girls anyway, and Claus had told her she could do anything she wanted since their engagement. Plus, many tasteless remarks were surely reaching him because of her. Some of the noble girls would say that Claus had sold himself off, and Jeanette had even overheard the following conversation taking place in public:
“Do you think Lord Claus would marry anyone as long as they pay up?”
“I mean, think about it. He’s even engaged to some nouveau riche! That speaks for itself.”
“If he needs money that badly, maybe I should have a word with him? I’m happy to splurge in exchange for spending a night with him.”
Each time Jeanette heard slander against Claus, she felt herself getting angry. It didn’t bother her in the slightest when others spoke ill of her, but she couldn’t allow such a wonderful, benevolent, perfect man as Claus to be disparaged in that way.