Hayley did not understand what Minabel meant, but somehow, she wanted to trust the young lady before her.
“I’ll do my best.”
* * *
“Maybe I acted too rashly by provoking Paneschula at the book club. Of course, I know regretting it now won’t change anything, but still…”
“Tie.”
“Obviously targeting Hayley and the Delphoi family was the right move since they control both military industries and mana stone mines. But with the Violet family involved too, maybe I didn’t need to interfere so directly. I was careless.”
What in the world had I been thinking?
After we escorted Hayley Ginevra home first, she stared at me for a long while with an expression tangled with countless emotions before finally departing slowly.
‘I shall eagerly await your letter.’
In ordinary conversation, people would not add the word eagerly.
Someone from House Rosena would never casually offer an invitation, and yet Hayley had deliberately inserted those three words.
She probably truly wished to express how sincerely she would be waiting.
Which meant I had not left such a terrible impression after all.
“Tie, from the sound of it, Lady Ginevra seems to have taken quite a liking to you, so why are you so worried? You did wonderfully. Or did something go wrong regarding her fiancé?”
“That part isn’t a major problem. We already finished investigating the Delphoi family. Honestly, everything there was practically arranged neatly enough that we only had to read the documents.”
When I first said I would attend the book club, my sister had questioned the morals of everyone involved and worried endlessly about me. Only after hearing that did she finally smile.
“Ah, so our people were quite helpful then.”
That was true.
Regarding the Delphoi family, my sister’s information guild had done its absolute best.
Just when had she prepared all of this?
Thanks to her, I only needed to worry about the book club itself.
‘Though I’m sure Minabel will handle things properly…’
Ever since meeting the prince that day, my sister seemed to have opened her heart somewhat toward Minabel, because she now addressed her gently.
“Minabel.”
“Yes?”
“Were there any insolent young ladies among them who dared trouble our Tie?”
The unspoken ‘including you’ seemed audible only to me, but since Minabel appeared deeply touched, I decided to let it slide.
And truly, Minabel had done everything she could.
Whenever questions arose that I would have difficulty answering, she stepped in herself, even so forcefully that it was obvious she was overexerting herself.
“The incident in the middle was unexpected, but it’s nothing impossible to clean up. I knew Hayley wasn’t feeling well, but I didn’t realize it was because of that.”
“Her hands kept drifting toward her lower abdomen, her posture suggested back pain, and she left her seat several times midway through. Plus, the dress she wore compressed her stomach quite tightly.”
“She usually leaves often whenever situations become uncomfortable, so I noticed it even less. Besides, I have my menstrual cycle settings turned off through the system…”
“……”
I’m jealous. I wish I could do that too. Can’t I buy that system somehow?
After coughing awkwardly, I finally regained my composure.
No, that wasn’t what mattered right now.
“I only acted that way because I could use the Rosena name, but I still feel sorry in case this causes trouble for you, Bell.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
Paneschula could never openly attack Rosena.
Even scheming behind the scenes against us would not be easy.
But targeting Minabel and Hayley—the two people I was openly protecting—and hurting me indirectly through them?
That was entirely possible.
If the day ever came when Rosena itself became the direct target, it would mean everyone standing before us had already been destroyed first.
And yet Minabel, who would obviously become the first target herself, was worrying about me instead.
“I’m sorry.”
“Ah, you’re worried about me and my family?”
“Yes.”
Because Minabel came from another world, her feelings toward Marquis and Marchioness Cherita seemed strangely faint.
Not nonexistent, but not especially deep either.
It was probably because she possessed both Minabel Cherita’s memories and lingering feelings from her original world.
That seemed to leave her with less attachment toward protecting her house itself. Besides, she had admitted that she still did not fully understand noble society.
“If your family collapses, you don’t know what could happen to you either. This isn’t something you should remain so calm about.”
“That may be true, but somehow I have this baseless faith that you’ll protect me.”
And besides, if things truly became impossible, she casually added that she could simply return to that mansion we visited before and live there alone for decades if necessary.
Without even realizing how deeply those words pierced a person’s heart.
It still bothered me how she acted like someone unable to fully adapt to this world.
“More than anything, I wanted to save Hayley too. And honestly, I’ve already done plenty of things that would make people dislike me, so it’s fine. I’m good at this sort of thing. Deliberately making myself seem irritating to others.”
Minabel smiled softly.
Even my sister now looked toward Minabel with concern in her eyes.
“But I still couldn’t solve the issue with Hayley’s fiancé…”
Well, according to what I heard before attending the book club, in my sister’s first life it had been Serphina’s role to recruit Hayley.
“Tie and Minabel shouldn’t behave the way I do. I’m a terribly wicked person, but the two of you aren’t.”
“No, Sister. You’re not wicked.”
“Tie, for your sake, I could abandon not only morality but being human altogether.”
Back then, after being expelled from Rosena, my sister had disguised herself with a new identity at the Mage Tower before reentering high society.
Afterward, she cleverly drove a wedge between the Crown Prince and Paneschula. In the end, Count Paneschula became trapped by his own schemes and was executed by the Crown Prince’s supporters, while Lillian lost both her title and wealth.
Hayley supported those efforts in every possible way and eventually succeeded in marrying her fiancé.
Of course, their ending was far from happy.
‘The Delphoi family were knights loyal to the Imperial Family. While protecting their lord in the collapsing Empire, Jade was eventually beheaded by the emperor after he descended into madness, and Hayley took her own life.’
Neither Minabel nor I possessed my sister’s bold eloquence or magical ability.
And unlike my sister, whose goal had been revenge, I was trying to stop the Empire’s destruction altogether.
Rather than simply allowing them to collapse, I needed to actively recruit and preserve them, and it made my head feel ready to burst.
I had vaguely suggested beforehand that recruiting the Ginevra family, who specialized in military production, and the Delphoi family, who represented legitimacy and loyalty, would be ideal.
The situation had merely become more complicated because of the variable named Violet.
Though admittedly, that complication was my own fault too.
Well then.
I should clean up the mess I created myself.
“There apparently aren’t any actual problems within the Delphoi family right now. So if something happens, it will likely be something Paneschula fabricated. What’s the worst dishonor a knightly family could possibly be accused of?”
“Serving another master, or harboring disloyal intentions.”
“Ah, something like that… Then I can roughly predict the direction Paneschula will move in. And Sister, do you know much about Violet? The family that distributes magical artifacts?”
“If you mean Violet… are you talking about Aubrey Violet?”
“Aubrey Violet is the second daughter. I mean the youngest one who attended today. She looked too young to have even had her debutante yet.”
“The youngest would be… Phoebe Violet? She’s the pampered youngest child. That’s about all I know. Though I have noticed they frequently send her to these sorts of events early on, probably to help her develop independence.”
My sister briefly made an expression of weary understanding.
Aside from that, she added that Aubrey Violet, who normally handled most social obligations, had apparently been ill recently, so the younger sister may have attended out of necessity.
“The eldest daughter already married and left the family. Still, they aren’t impossible people to communicate with.”
“Yes. I already asked Phoebe Violet if we could arrange time to speak later.”
“You did well. The Violets… I never contacted them personally before, but I did see letters being sent to the Mage Tower, and Aubrey herself occasionally visited there.”
