The Isolated Marchioness Just Wants to Make a Living
Chapter 25
Either way, it was time to head back. Leopold would also need to finish cleaning up the scene.
I said a brief goodbye to Leopold and bowed my head to Baron Forman as well.
“Baron Forman, it was an honor to meet you.”
At that, Baron Forman took my hand firmly. Fixing his gleaming eyes on me, he spoke.
“Once all this commotion is over, you must visit the West.”
He added with an earnest expression,
“I shall host a banquet for you in Forman.”
“I will look forward to the invitation.”
I replied gracefully.
With that, our brief farewell concluded.
Just as I waved once to Leopold and turned to leave—
“Do not worry. Those after your life are also enemies of Nozen.”
Leopold said in a low voice,
“Everything will be fine.”
I gave a short nod.
As I walked toward the warp gate, I could feel his gaze on my back.
‘Did I do well?’
I blinked, lost in thought.
‘I looked natural, right?’
It was always my worry after speaking with Leopold.
‘I seemed… normal, right? Just like how I treat anyone else?’
My heart thudded in my chest.
To calm my nerves, it felt like I needed to hurry back and eat some bread.
Soon, my memories drifted back five years, to the day of the engagement ceremony.
My engagement ceremony had been held with great splendor.
It was the first engagement between the First 5 Families in a very long time, and members from all five founding families of the Empire were in attendance.
In the Empire, there were five founding families.
The Dukedom of Divostan in the East.
The Grand Duchy of Nozen in the West.
The Marquisate of Naisar in the South.
The Dukedom of Bakahun in the North.
And the Marquisate of Sears in the Central region.
My fiancé also belonged to one of the five founding families.
The engagement ceremony was magnificent enough that most members of the five families were present.
In truth, there was one other family among them that, like Sears, was high nobility in name only.
One year after the engagement ceremony, the Dukedom of Bakahun completely lost its ruling power.
Yet no matter how vastly their current standings differed, all five families shared their origins with the history of the Empire itself.
“Hahaha, how long has it been since we all gathered in one place?”
My father, Marquis Sears, was heavily intoxicated that day.
“It truly feels as if we are reliving the ancient glory of our ancestors!”
His face was already flushed, yet he kept draining wine glasses. At this rate, he seemed likely to join those ancestors before long.
The five families were said to have contributed to the founding of the Empire with their remarkable supernatural abilities.
Yet to this day, only two families still passed down their abilities through the direct bloodline.
of the Dukedom of Divostan in the East, capable of neutralizing curses and status abnormalities.
And of the Grand Duchy of Nozen in the West, capable of slashing through the air to deliver physical attacks.
The rest had faded into the passage of time.
It was said that the Sears family’s ability was . Of course, it had vanished somewhere along the family lineage without anyone even noticing.
No one even knew what the ability precisely entailed anymore.
“Brisa.”
Beside me, Mother whispered,
“Straighten your back more.”
At seven years old, I straightened my back with all my might.
Mother had gone to tremendous lengths to make this engagement happen.
She had poured in vast sums of money behind the scenes, all to spread my reputation to my fiancé’s family.
The daughter born to the last princess of Riente. Precocious from an early age, lovely, and gentle…
She made sure such rumors spread across the entire Empire.
And there was one more reason.
“The Marchioness of Sears is not mad. It is all baseless rumors spread by those Sebon scoundrels.”
“She is the sole remaining bloodline of Riente, so of course they would want to tear her down.”
It was to quell the rumors about Mother’s madness.
In that manner, Mother purchased the words of the people.
Father, who had clicked his tongue and stood by, dismissing it all as a futile effort, could not close his agape mouth once the engagement date was set.
“R-Really? That engagement was truly arranged?”
The engagement ceremony took place by Lake Beas. Because it was an engagement between the First 5 Families, the Emperor had temporarily lent an imperial estate for the occasion.
He even provided an excursion cruise boat for boating, encouraging everyone to strengthen their bonds after such a long time.
With many young children present, a boat outing was in many ways a better schedule than a formal banquet.
Once the lunch banquet ended, everyone boarded the boat.
“Brisa.”
Mother spoke to me tenderly.
“Tell me if you start to feel seasick. I brought some sleeping medicine. When it comes to motion sickness, there is no better cure than falling asleep.”
“Yes.”
Having grown up in the Central region, I had never been on a boat before. It was also my first time seeing such a vast lake.
The boat glided across the water.
“Wow!”
“It is truly beautiful. Oh my, look at that bird over there.”
People gathered in twos and threes by the railing to admire the scenery. I was no exception.
Father went inside the cabin with a few other nobles and began playing cards.
Beside me, Mother whispered softly.
“Brisa, everything was wonderful, but…”
That meant she was about to point out what was not.
“‘Delfoben’ is a place name in the West. So you must draw out the ‘fo’ sound.”
“Yes. I will be careful.”
“And when you are with people from the South, you must unfold your napkin to the right.”
“I am sorry. I remember now.”
Even so, it was a good day. Mother and Father both looked to be in high spirits.
The maids were all overjoyed because of ‘this engagement’ as well.
Even though I had only met my fiancé and his family for the first time today… and had hardly exchanged any words with them…
The food was delicious, the sky clear, and the sunlight lovely.
“Now then, please gather on the deck in ten minutes.”
As I was watching the sunlight sparkle across the ripples, a voice amplified by magic rang out.
“We will begin the raffle drawing.”
At those words, Mother gave an elegant smile.
“This should be fun. Isn’t that right, Brisa?”
“Yes.”
I pulled out the ticket I had received during the lunch banquet and nodded.
“I hope I get a doll.”
“How sweet.”
Mother’s green eyes curved gently.
Mother was perfect today.
It had been such a long time since she stepped out into high society, yet every gesture and word was flawless. People even bantered that she was ‘the Princess of Riente after all.’
“Let us meet often, Marchioness. A lady of such elegance makes me want to ask you to instruct my daughter as well.”
“Indeed. Why do you rarely appear in high society? Next time, you must come visit the East.”
My heart, which had been on edge the entire time, now felt foolish for worrying.
The maids had also been restless with anxiety for days, but they had reassured me, saying, ‘It isn’t night, so it will be all right.’
“The symptoms usually manifest at night, after all… The Princess left the Kingdom of Riente at night, so her mind keeps returning to that night she fled on the boat.”
“That’s right. So as long as it isn’t night, there is nothing to worry about. She has always been fine during the day, hasn’t she?”
True to their words, perhaps because it was daytime, everything was completely natural.
The maids were standing back at a distance where they could reach me if called.
Though they had kept quiet, they too had been fraught with tension, but now they were clearly at ease.
“It has been so long since I was on a boat.”
Mother murmured, staring out at the distant ripples.
“So very long…”
As far as I knew, Mother had never boarded a boat since her marriage. Usually, we always remained inside the marquisate mansion.
As I quietly took in the lake’s scenery, I spotted a large bird catching a fish.
“Oh, my goodness!”
I let out an exclamation before quickly clapping a hand over my mouth. My voice had been too loud. Mother would surely scold me harshly.
“Is something the matter?”
Just then, a black-haired boy who was passing by raised an eyebrow and approached.
It was the nine-year-old boy, Leopold Nozen.
