"Oh, thank you, Killian."
"If you'd like, I'll buy back the things you sold."
"No! The things I sold are things I really don't need."
Instead of buying them back, I'd like you to buy me something else or give me money, but it's really hard to say.
"I wish you would have said something to me before you sold them."
Killian looked quite upset, probably because he thought I was short of money enough to throw away my aristocratic pride.
I felt the need to comfort him.
"It's all stuff I should have gotten rid of when I went down to the estate with you later, anyway. It's just unnecessary baggage."
"The estate......?"
Oh, did I say anything wrong?
Well, I'm being insensitive. Leaving for the estate means Killian has to leave his beloved Lizé behind.
"I didn't know you were already thinking about that."
"Oh, that's because......"
What if he says I'm being presumptuous?
It would hurt my feelings if he said, "Who said I'd take you along?"
"No, rather, I've been a little too carefree, I suppose, when I should have been preparing to leave for the estate."
"No, of course not."
"I'm glad to hear you've gotten rid of your stuff in the spirit of packing, but the truth is, there's a lot more to buy here. The Ryzen estate itself isn't a bad place, but the castle we'll be staying in doesn't have much stuff."
Huh? He's surprisingly okay with this topic!
But why am I blushing so hard? Is it because I'm excited to move into a new castle?
"The furniture is all crude, and there's not a single thing to decorate the castle. There's no luxury goods manufactured in the area, so we have to buy everything here."
"Ah...... I see."
"We'd better order the furniture in advance, it'll take a while to get it all made."
"We can use what we have......"
"No, we'll have to order everything, starting with the crockery and candlesticks, because you'll have to personalize them to your taste as the hostess."
because you, the hostess, will have to customize everything."
I was about to say that we can use what we have, but the word "hostess" struck a chord with me and I stopped myself.
Killian Ludwig, who used to look at me with hate as if he wanted to throw me out at any time, called me "my wife" and then "hostess". I can't tell you how overwhelmed I am!
The struggles of the past few months seemed to flash before my eyes.
But the feeling didn't last long. The commoner in me was quickly hitting the calculator.
An overwhelming feeling is a thing, but wasting money is a different thing.
"I'd rather just use what I can use."
"It's all going to be clunky."
"It just needs to function properly."
"So you don't mind if it's peasant farmhouse furniture?"
"As long as it's not inconvenient."
Killian frowned as if he didn't understand. "Why on earth would you do that?"
"It's a waste of money."
His eyes widened again.
I wondered how many different expressions he could make.
"......I will give your allowance as soon as possible, so please forgive me."
He must have thought I was sarcastic about him forgetting to pay me.
I didn't mean that......
But I didn't need to stop him from giving me the allowance, so I just nodded.
***
A few days later, I got a really huge allowance.
"My parents asked me to make sure I told you they were sorry too."
Killian apologized again, and I fought to keep my mouth from falling open.
"I'm sure you didn't do that on purpose. Thank you, Killian."
I thanked him gracefully and looked down at the money in front of me as soon as he left.
"How much is all this......"
As the daughter-in-law of this family, I am entitled to a whopping 2 million sennas a month. Including the money I haven't received in the past eight months and this month's money, I have a total of 18 million sennas in front of me.
"Wow...... so easy to get this much money......"
While I was happy to get the money, I was also a little overwhelmed.
Money is so easy for some people, and so hard for others.
I remember taking money out of my emergency fund the month my brother stole my paycheck.
I felt like I was on an airplane that might crash at any moment, and my parachute was being gradually reduced in size.
I realized how suffocating it was, how many times I had to think about each withdrawal, and how my hand was always shaking as I pressed the 'withdraw' button.
In my previous life as Choi Soo-na, I lived so hard because every penny was hard to come by, but now......
'Well, even though I have a lot of money now, I'm destined to be beheaded sooner or later, so...... no, no, no, let's not think about that.'
I cleared my head of the depressing thoughts.
There's no point in trying to decide who's more unhappy, Choi Soo-na, who is struggling for every penny, or Edith, who has a lot of money but might die a miserable death sooner or later.
For now, I had to focus on finding a way to survive.
"Anna, let's go out!"
I called out to Anna in an unnecessarily excited voice as I prepared to go to the bank on Darsus Street.
We were just about to get into the carriage.
"Oh, Edith, are you going out too?"
I heard Lizé's cheerful voice.
At that moment, I realized that today is Friday. The day Lizé and Killian are going out together.
"Lizé, you said you were going to Le Belle-Marie Street today, didn't you?"
"Yes. I'm excited, it's been a while since I've been out."
Lizé looked so innocent, as if she didn't have the slightest malice.
Behind her, Killian was looking at me with a strange expression on his face.
"You seem to go to Darsus Street often."
"There are a lot of really good dessert shops there. Perdot is also on Darsus Street."
"Yes, but......"
Killian looked like he was about to question me about my outing again, but Lizé didn't give him time to ponder.
"Killian. We're going to be late."
"Oh, okay. I'll be going then......"
Killian looked at me and waved goodbye.
It could have been a courtesy gesture, but I felt unnecessarily excited because it seemed like he was telling me he would come back to me.
"Bye. I'll be going too."
He nodded slightly, and then he and Lizé pulled away in the carriage.
I stood silently watching the carriage leave, and only when it was completely out of sight did I let out a small sigh and climb onto my carriage.
My business on the Darsus Street was quickly finished.
I put all my money in the safe, except for the emergency fund, and was pleased to see a balance of 32 million sennas.
I was a little disappointed to have to pay a fee to use the safe, but it was a decent amount of money to get things going.
"Since we're here, why don't we have some cake?"
A generous balance makes for a generous heart.
I took Anna to Peridot to make my excuse to Killian true, and to give back a little to Anna, who always accompanies me.
As expected of a famous bakery, the interior is luxurious.
"Do you have company?"
"No. Just me and my maid, and I'm looking for two seats."
"I'm sorry if you're bringing your maid, we can't seat you on the second floor, only the first floor."
"No problem. Show me."
I felt awkward having to speak informally to an employee of my grandfather's age, but I had no choice but to do so in this world.
Anna and I were shown to a seat by a sunny window.
Apparently, the menu is too expensive for commoners to eat, so most of the people on the first floor are nobles with their maids.
The second floor is only for the nobles, it seems.
"Wow, this place is so nice."
"Yeah, I've never been in here before either."
Even Anna, who seemed to know everything, looked around in wonder.
After much deliberation, we ordered a smooth, unflavored black tea, a strawberry shortcake, and three dacquoises.
The weather had turned cooler, and the warmth of the tea was soothing.
What made it even better was the fact that Anna looked so happy.
"Oh my God, I've never tasted anything this good!"
"Yeah, it's really good!"
Anna and I admired the moist strawberry cake.
This bakery's signature strawberry tart was delicious, but the strawberry cake was just as good.
In fact, if you like something soft, you'll probably prefer strawberry cake.
The dacquoise was equally delicious.
The tiny size and wicked prices reminded me of the dessert cafes I couldn't get into in my previous life.
'I can afford this now! I'm rich!'
For a moment, I thought it was a bit petty to feel rich in a place like this, but so what?
Anna and I were enjoying a satisfying tea time, and she, too, was relaxed and said something she wouldn't normally have said.
"By the way, miss."
"What?"
"It's...... I know I'm being presumptuous, but......"
"It's okay, tell me."
Anna looked down into her teacup, hesitated, and then spoke, "I thought you were in love with Master Killian?"
"What?"
"I'm sorry. That's not something I dare to say......"
"Oh no! It's not like that, it's because I'm surprised. Why were you curious about that?"
Anna seemed a little torn between her position as a maid and her curiosity.
But I secretly patted her on the back, glad that she had finally said something like this to me.