Chapter 2
Chapter 2: Admirable and Pitiful Woman
The era when status guaranteed wealth was coming to an end. Disgusted by status discrimination, wealthy commoners and lower-class nobles boldly left the Norfolk Continent and built a nation in the New World.
The Republic of Fulda.
Fulda was like a milestone in an era where the walls of status were collapsing. Although a young country with less than a hundred years of history, it had grown dazzlingly, to the point where even the strongest power on the Norfolk Continent, the Herot Kingdom, could not easily ignore Fulda.
The previous King of Herot chose to engage with Fulda rather than contain it, and as a token of friendship, he built a campus of the prestigious Herollington University, the cradle of Herot's intellect, in Fulda.
Around the time Noah was heading to the Royal Palace, a woman was sitting in the reception room of a hotel near the capital of Fulda.
Her name was Olivia Liberty.
The cotton blouse and plain skirt she wore were not at all suited to the luxurious hotel reception room, which catered only to VIPs.
If it weren't for her appointment with that man, Olivia probably would never have come to this luxury hotel.
Sitting on the large velvet sofa, Olivia kept wetting her throat with water, choosing the words she had to say.
It was around the time the waiter had refilled her water glass for the second time.
"Olivia."
A low voice and a heavy presence fell over her head. When she looked up, a young man with striking looks was standing there.
He was Ansen Wilhelm, the head of Wilhelm Corporation, who had amassed global wealth with the groundbreaking invention called the Magic Dome.
"Ansen."
As Olivia tried to get up from her seat, the man smiled and stopped her.
"No need to get up. Stay seated."
Ansen sat down on the chair the waiter pulled out, taking off his gloves. As he did so, he quickly scanned Olivia.
The cobalt blue headband and voluminous black hair, the white, round forehead, and the smooth line that slid from the high bridge of her nose to her lips were all exquisite.
Wearing a white short-sleeved blouse and a blue flared skirt, she looked like a painting.
It was a sight that clearly explained why the newspapers across the sea in Herot had been reporting on her for days.
Ansen smiled gently and pointed to the water glass.
"You like iced coffee, don't you? You should have ordered some."
He said to the waiter standing nearby.
"One iced coffee and one hot coffee."
"Understood. Please wait a moment."
As the waiter walked away, Olivia stared silently into Ansen's brown eyes. Although she was trying to maintain a calm expression, she felt bloated and uncomfortable, as if sitting on a cold stone.
It was even more awkward because this meeting came right after Olivia Liberty, the hidden designer of Wilhelm Corporation, had declared that she no longer wanted to hide.
"..."
A desolate and uncomfortable silence lingered. Ansen quietly looked at Olivia with a soft, mask-like face.
In the end, it was Olivia who couldn't bear the silence.
"Is it not possible?"
Then Ansen frowned slightly, as if apologetic, and nodded slightly.
"No."
It was a very easy and simple refusal.
"Olivia, there are no women in the company. Even less so in the research team. It will be harder for you if you join. Let's just have you draw the blueprints as you do now, and I'll take them, review them, and you'll receive compensation accordingly. It's no different from joining the company."
At that moment, the waiter appeared, placed the drinks in front of each of them, and left.
Olivia, staring silently at the black coffee and clear ice in the white glass, looked at Ansen with eyes darker than the coffee.
"It is different, Ansen. You can't say it's the same."
"..."
"I designed the Magic Dome. But people think Oliver, not Olivia, is the designer. The reason I said I would join the company is that I don't want to hide anymore."
"That's why I gave you joint patent rights under the name Oliver."
"That's not something you gave me; it's something that's only natural."
Then Ansen's expression hardened. He leaned back, away from the forward-leaning posture he had held.
"Don't forget that I took the risk even though Fulda's patent office doesn't recognize women's patents, right? Besides, if it becomes known that you, a woman, designed the Magic Dome, a military facility, sales will plummet. It sold as much as it did because I said I designed it."
Olivia felt as if she were trapped in a thick fog. She found it hard to breathe from the stuffiness.
She had suffered all kinds of discrimination as the only female student in school. She comforted herself that it would be much better once she graduated, but the discrimination outside of school was extremely elegant and much more resolute.
In addition, she couldn't help but think about her monthly income.
"I guess it's a bit tough now that you've graduated and don't have a fixed scholarship?"
Olivia stopped breathing at Ansen's gentle voice.
"I think there must be a good reason why you suddenly want to become a formal researcher."
But a product released by a company with a female engineer as the main researcher...
Even though the world is collapsing, well.
Ansen shook his head slightly. He gently tilted his eyes and handed Olivia a thick envelope.
Olivia's gaze, who had stopped breathing, slowly reached the envelope. Her clenched fist on her lap turned white and trembled.
Ansen sweetly whispered to Olivia, who was staring at the envelope with a pale face.
"Let's do as we do now. I'll take better care of you so that your living expenses aren't cut off."
Olivia could easily infer the truth hidden in Ansen's words.
'So just hide behind the male name Oliver, quietly.'
How much did he have to look down on her to be able to say such things so confidently?
"Don't call this living expenses."
The face that slowly lifted up seemed to have tried its best to exert strength, but from Ansen's point of view, it was only delicate.
However, Olivia, trembling, faithfully spat out what she had to say.
"This isn't living expenses; it's the compensation you're obligated to pay me."
Olivia opened the envelope, quickly counted the money, put only as much as she should receive into her bag, and pushed the rest back to Ansen.
It was a strange thing that she had gone through so many ridiculous things and still hadn't developed immunity.
"I've heard your answer, so I'll get up first."
Olivia got up from her seat as calmly as possible. Then she turned and walked toward the door.
Whether the word contempt was attached to the money, the bag was too heavy.
She didn't have time to think about how she got out of the reception room. As she crossed the magnificent door and walked aimlessly down the hallway, a noblewoman standing at the corner of the hallway called out to her.
"Miss Liberty."
In an instant, cold sweat ran down Olivia's spine.
Surprised, she quickly turned her head, and there was a middle-aged woman who looked very much like Ansen Wilhelm.
"...Hello, Mrs. Wilhelm."
Mrs. Wilhelm, Ansen Wilhelm's mother, slowly scanned Olivia. Mrs. Wilhelm's eyebrows rose crookedly at the sight of her increasingly beautiful figure.
She checked that no one was in the hallway and then opened her mouth.
"It's getting awkward to keep running into you."
Tired, Olivia didn't even have the energy to respond.
"Oh dear, you don't understand because I spoke indirectly. I didn't want to say this, but listen carefully."
She articulated each syllable sharply with a frighteningly hardened face.
"A girl shouldn't be wandering around hotels carelessly. If my daughter were meeting men at hotels like you, I wouldn't stand for it."
Olivia replied with a pale face.
"I came because I had something to discuss with your son. Most of the reception rooms in this hotel are for business..."
"What could you possibly have to discuss with my son?"
Mrs. Wilhelm glared at Olivia with coldly shining eyes and whispered.
"Ask anyone on the street. Ask them if the reason you came was for discussion, or to somehow..."
"Mother."
At that moment, Mrs. Wilhelm's fiercely hardened face changed unbelievably softly.
"Oh, Ansen. My son."
Olivia stepped back from Mrs. Wilhelm and said.
"Mrs. Wilhelm, ask your son. Ask him if I had something to discuss or not."
And before she could react sharply, she said to Ansen as well.
"Next time, try not to meet in places like hotels. I have to deal with unnecessary misunderstandings. No... I don't think we'll have to meet in the future. Then."
"How dare you!"
Mrs. Wilhelm immediately raised her voice, but Olivia ignored her and turned away.
Her legs were shaking, but she couldn't collapse in front of those two.
"Vicious."
Mrs. Wilhelm stared at the spot where Olivia had disappeared and muttered with malice.
She was displeased that she, a poor commoner, had graduated from Herollington University, which only nobles attended. How vicious would she have to be to make that possible?
She was very unhappy that such a woman was hanging around her son. What she was even more unhappy about was her son's reaction.
His eyes, his tone, every action. She couldn't put her finger on it, but he was clearly treating Olivia specially. It was a mother's intuition.
"Ansen, if you want to expand your business further, you can't be hung up on a worthless girl like that."
Ansen was silent. Mrs. Wilhelm grabbed his hand tightly.
"This Fulda is a republic, but status still exists. The people who dominate the political and business circles are all from noble families. Keep your head on straight."
What kind of expression would Mrs. Wilhelm make if she knew that the 'worthless girl' was the one who created the 'Magic Dome,' the core of the business?
She probably wouldn't care much.
She would probably say, 'Who would believe that?'
Ansen chuckled and nodded.
"You're worrying unnecessarily, Mother. Let's go inside."
Ansen escorted his mother down the hallway. Even so, his gaze naturally turned to the window.
There, she was just getting into a carriage.
The tragic genius, the beautiful Olivia.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
Olivia, who had boarded the dark carriage, tried to forget the barrage of abuse from Mrs. Wilhelm.
The hand that gripped the bag tightly trembled pitifully, but she couldn't vent this sad feeling to anyone, so she forced herself to swallow it.
Not having parents and not having wealth meant that Olivia didn't have a cozy fence. She would forget about it when she was bravely overcoming obstacles, but on days like this, she missed it and regretted it sorely.
Staring blankly out the window, Olivia took out an old notebook from her bag. When she opened the first page, there was the initial blueprint of the Magic Dome that she had drawn.
The face of the boy Ansen, who had put his head together with her over this, flashed by like a phantom.
"Using the attractive force between Magical Power to strike monsters? Then mages won't have to strike monsters one by one as they do now!"
"That's right. One mage's Magical Power can strike hundreds of monsters. So I named it this."
"What is it?"
The boy Ansen leaned forward, his eyes shining. Olivia smiled meaningfully and replied.
"Magic Dome."
Olivia's eyes, recalling the past, finally turned red.
"Don't cry, Olivia. You mustn't cry."
But in front of the crumpled wad of money, she finally cried silently.
