Afterward, I had a brief chat with Pere-unni before we parted ways.
My request to become her right-hand woman was lightly brushed off, but it was clear that today’s events had brought us a step closer.
In any case, the start of my plan to get close to Pere-unni and turn her path of despair into a flowery one was off to a successful start.
As I left, I followed Pere-unni and handed out drinks and cakes to the maid and coachman guarding her carriage.
I also tucked a latte and a cake inside for Pere-unni to enjoy once she got home.
Seeing Pere-unni’s eyes widen at my thoughtfulness, I silently cheered, “Lucky!”
Thanks to that, I made a good impression on her maid, and I even secured a farewell greeting from Pere-unni, who seemed excited at the prospect of eating such delicious coffee and cake again later.
I stood at the cafe entrance, waving and smiling in satisfaction until her carriage disappeared from sight.
Once home, I took out my contact orb and reached out to a newspaper reporter I had bribed in advance.
Because contact orbs required specific gemstones and were quite expensive, most people relied on letters, but as a *nouveau riche*, I didn’t care about the cost.
“Did you take them?”
[Yes, I took plenty, and they came out very well.]
“Then please make sure it’s featured prominently in tomorrow morning’s paper. I’ll send the remaining payment after I see the paper tomorrow.”
[Of course, that goes without saying. Let me confirm one more time: is the front-page title ‘Periose Lady, embraces the mistakes of Odelon’s nouveau riche daughter Ellinea!’ correct?]
“No, that’s not it. The correct title is ‘Periose Lady, shows mercy to Odelon’s nouveau riche daughter, Ellinea.’”
The front-page story was meant to be about how I had acted rudely at a tea party, been slapped by the Lady, and returned home, only to commit the atrocity of making her come to the cafe in person to “apologize”—but the benevolent, saint-like Lady had forgiven me. Therefore, “mercy” was the appropriate word for the title.
[Ah, I see. Confirmed. We will proceed with that.]
“Yes, I’m counting on you.”
After hanging up, I briefly pondered whether to contact Pere-unni but decided against it.
One must know how to play hard to get; if I left her alone for today, she would surely contact me first after seeing the headlines tomorrow.
* * *
Patience is a virtue, as they say.
I held off on reaching out yesterday, and sure enough, I received a message from Pere-unni first thing in the morning.
When she suggested we meet, I made an appointment without hesitation.
“Why on earth does the young lady like me so much?”
To be able to meet her in the morning—I’m so lucky.
As I sat there grinning like a fool during our meeting at the duchy, Pere-unni asked me with a look of genuine confusion.
My focus was entirely on the iced latte and salt bread I’d brought, but her bewildered expression was cute, too, so it didn’t really matter.
In any case, the reason she called me was surely because of the front-page article: [Periose Lady, shows mercy to Odelon’s nouveau riche daughter, Ellinea!].
“Is there a reason to like someone? Then, why does Unni like His Highness the Crown Prince?”
“What?”
“If I were to ask that, do you think you’d have an answer right away?”
Because Pere-unni stiffened at my question, I quickly changed the topic.
It would be impudent for a mere viscount’s daughter to ask a noble lady such a direct question; in high society, it’s polite to be as circuitous as possible.
Pere-unni’s eyebrows, which looked like they were about to shoot up to the sky, slowly settled back into place.
Even her eyebrows are pretty.
“Anyway, liking someone blindly to the point of absurdity is more unpleasant than it is flattering.”
“I’ll do my best to hide this blind affection so you don’t feel uncomfortable, Unni.”
When I shot back, undeterred, Pere-unni let out a long sigh as if to say, “Let’s just drop it.”
“Please drink up quickly, it won’t taste good if the ice melts.”
She glared at me, then took a sip of the iced latte.
“Young Lady, you read the article, didn’t you?”
Pere-unni finally brought up the real reason she had summoned me.
I nodded and answered nonchalantly.
Pere-unni looked at me fixedly and asked if I was okay.
“What do you mean?”
When I asked with a bewildered expression, she fiddled with her straw for a moment.
Even her hands are beautiful.
“Because I never showed you any mercy, yet an article like that was published.”
It sounded indifferent, but there was a hint of apology buried beneath it.
For some reason, I felt as though I could understand her heart just by looking into her eyes.
“Who says that? That it wasn’t mercy? You definitely showed me mercy! Look, even now, you’re dealing with a cheeky *nouveau riche* like me!”
“You are aware that your family is the most influential one in the empire’s port business, right?”
“Of course, and the daughter of that influential family is on your side.”
“……Young Lady, you’re truly strange. Did you know that?”
“I might seem strange, but my feelings for you are sincere, faithful, and pure.”
At my words, Pere-unni let out a faint laugh.
Ah, our Unni is so pretty when she laughs.
At that thought, I unknowingly muttered, “Ah, you laughed.”
Upon that, Pere-unni immediately stopped, returning to her signature haughty and cold expression.
Actually, I like this face best.
“Anyway, as long as you didn’t have any strange misunderstandings after seeing the article, that’s fine.”
“Strange misunderstandings?”
“Yes. Like assuming I was the one who had it published, for example.”
*But I was the one who had it published.*
“Since it wasn’t me, such baseless misunderstandings……”
“Oh my, Unni. Did you call me here because you were afraid I might misunderstand?”
“Since it wasn’t me.”
“Of course I know. I’d bet my life that you are innocent.”
“Why would you bet your life on my innocence? ……Anyway, why do you trust me that much? How can you be so sure?”
*Because I was the one who did it.*
“I can’t explain it, but I trust you. Even if you killed someone, I would believe you if you said you didn’t.”
Though she does have a history of hiring someone to kill me.
“You truly are strange, Young Lady.”
“Still, please don’t hate me.”
“What? There is no way I could hate you……”
Pere-unni, who had been speaking sternly, suddenly realized her slip and bit her lip.
Realizing she had just admitted she couldn’t hate me, I smiled broadly.
“Please don’t forget that I will be on your side no matter what happens.”
* * *
When I returned home, Jemma came into my room with a pile of invitations.
Jemma was Ellinea’s nanny, the person who had raised her like a daughter after she lost her mother at a young age.
“What is all this?”
“These are invitations sent by the young ladies of various houses.”
“Ah, is that so?”
As I tore them open one by one, they were all invitations to tea parties.
“Uh…….”
Seeing the mountain of invitations, I looked a bit bewildered. Jemma just smiled gently.
“As expected, everyone is finally noticing your loveliness, My Lady.”
Jemma even teared up with joy.
No, isn’t the pace of your emotions a bit too erratic?
As I wiped away her tears, I accidentally cut my hand on the sharp edge of an invitation.
“Ah.”
“Oh my goodness! Are you alright?”
“Ah, I’m fine……”
“Dabi! Dabi!”
Jemma grabbed my hand and shouted urgently toward the door.
A girl about my age with freckles, presumably Dabi, rushed in. Seeing the blood slightly trickling from my hand, she looked shocked and shouted toward the hallway.
“Relli! Medicine box! Quickly! The Young Lady is hu—”
“I’m just hurt!”
Because they were making such a huge fuss over a tiny paper cut, I blinked in confusion.
Actually, it wasn’t covered in the original story, but could Ellinea have been even more of a villain to her servants than the villainess Periose? I asked Jemma cautiously.
“I’m fine. Have I ever whipped or beaten you whenever I got hurt?”
I watched their expressions closely. At my words, Jemma and Dabi froze in surprise.
*Oh, is it really true….*
I was worried about whether I’d possessed a body that treated servants poorly, but suddenly, Jemma and Dabi burst into laughter.
“You’re always so whimsical, Young Lady.”
“The Young Lady, whipping us? Hahaha, I’d love to see you even once looking angry.”
Hearing their response, I was relieved that the original Ellinea wasn’t a tyrant.
“No, I really know how to be angry. I’m actually quite scary when I’m mad, you know?”
I said jokingly, recalling my notoriety from my previous life, where I made the empire tremble with dark magic.
Then Jemma, Dabi, and even Relli, who had rushed over with a medical kit, all looked at me with adoring eyes.
Jemma applied medicine to my finger and praised me, saying she would never meet another person as lovely as I am.
At that moment, I thought the original Ellinea must have lived a good life, and a silly thought crossed my mind that she must have surely gone to heaven.
“Isn’t that why you’ve received so many invitations?”
Dabi added with a smile. She bragged that the nobles who had come to know me couldn’t escape my charm.
It’s natural for servants to flatter their master, and while it wasn’t bad to hear nothing but good things, being praised to this extent made me shy.
“You all are lovely, too.”
I said it with the intention that we should all be lovely together. Joyful smiles blossomed on their faces.
“Anyway, if I have to reply to all these invitations, staying up all night won’t be enough.”
I muttered, looking at the pile on the table.
They were likely trying to find out the truth about the newspaper article.
Since the story painted Pere so perfectly that even she feared people would suspect her, they must have had a hundred questions for me.
I decided to take this opportunity to attend them all and share just how well Pere treats me.
Thinking I needed to cultivate a few more heartwarming stories, I took out my contact orb.
Knock, knock.
“Lady Ellinea, a letter has arrived from Lady Caroline.”
Becky, my personal attendant, handed me a letter with a green seal, indicating it was an urgent dispatch.
Instead of calling the reporter, I opened the letter.
For an urgent dispatch, it contained only a brief, cold request for me to come to the baronial estate quickly, without a single affectionate word or polite inquiry.
For some reason, it didn’t fit with the public image people had of Caroline.
“I have to go to the baronial estate. Prepare the carriage, Becky.”
“Yes, Young Lady.”
Whatever her reason, I couldn’t ignore it.
After all, she was the protagonist of the original story—and the person I saw as the villain who always made our Pere out to be a villainess.
I’d meet her, listen to her, and take this chance to reshape the protagonist’s mentality.
She had such a prickly personality that it always made our Pere froth at the mouth, so I would talk until my throat was dry about our sister’s beauty, coolness, and superiority so she wouldn’t dare offend her again.
With that, I set aside my other plans and headed to the baronial estate.